Teaching Children Self Defense

This entry deals with how I am teaching some very specific children self defense.

One of my married daughters, her husband and their seven children arrived late Saturday. They will be with us only until tomorrow after lunch, which gives me just two days to address some of the fundamentals of self defense with the older ones.

My son-in-law and daughter attended the WARSKYL Conference held in Peoria a couple of years ago, and my daughter knows some of the indispensable areas covered by Gavin De Becker in The Gift of Fear and Protecting the Gift. Thus, they are equipped to teach my grandchildren the Biblical principles (and their application) about avoiding and evading violence.

So, in the time we have, I decided to focus on teaching some defensive combat skills to the 4 eldest (ages 10-14). Their parents also participated -- for them it was mostly review.

I know it's a heavy responsibility to impart the knowledge of how to cripple or kill to youngsters, but we (sadly) live in a kind of world where they may desperately need such skills. In order to ensure that they did not misuse such knowledge, I gave them a little theology lesson in oath-taking followed by the administration of an oath.

I previewed the oath & my intentions with the parents beforehand, so that I could change any parts that might present them with a problem. Here is the pledge as I administered it to them:

The (Family Name)/WARSKYL Pledge

I do solemnly pledge that I will

• Listen carefully to my instructor and ask appropriate questions if I do not understand;
• Follow instructions as closely as possible, to avoid injuring myself or others;
• Always put the safety of my practice partner above my own pride;
• Use WARSKYL methods only for defensive purposes against those who try to cause me or my neighbor serious injury, and not in petty squabbles with family members;
• Never use WARSKYL methods to bully others;
• To do my best to avoid fighting by seeking Scriptural solutions to my disagreements with others

In taking this pledge, I call upon God as my witness that I will faithfully perform all of it to my best ability. I understand that violation of this pledge may result in the temporary or permanent suspension of my privileges as a WARSKYL trainee.

Amen.

For me, it's kind of cool that 4 of my grandchildren are now bound to me as trainees. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's session & future get-togethers.

If any readers have experience/ideas about teaching self defense to children, please share in the comments section.