Self-defense

We've been having problems with our rehearsal building being left open at night. We aren't the only people who use the building, and with regular classes starting up, it's hard to find a solution that is convenient for everyone involved. However, it's not very fun to come back from Solvang at 11:00p at night and realize that the building is completely open, and completely empty, and you have no idea how long it's been that way. There are no windows back where my office is. I told my higher-ups that if I ever found the building like that again, I would lock the front doors without going inside the building, and go home to do the paperwork. I am lucky in the sense that they seem just as concerned about this as I am, and we are currently working together with the other departments who use the building at night to form some kind of security plan. Between that situation and my car getting broken into, I've had self-defense on the brain a lot lately.

It's great that people are concerned and all; really, I do appreciate their work so far in this, but I have had three seperate people say something along the lines of "You're a black belt. What are YOU worried about?!" I usually respond with a gritted-teeth smile and say "Yes, I am. And the first rule of self-defense is to NOT PUT YOURSELF IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU MIGHT HAVE TO USE IT!" Then I try to say something more benign, like, "Fighting is a waste of energy. I don't go looking for fights." They usually blink and agree after that. I know it's not their fault for automatically falling into Hollywood stereotypes, but honestly. I'd like to think that I could hold my own in a fair fight, but an attack, by definition, is NOT a fair fight. The attacker has surprise on his side, and more importantly, wants to fight and cause pain. I don't. The idea of actually doing full-out some of the things we do in haganah is a little stomach-churning, actually, although if it came down to me or him, I know which one I'd pick. I'm a black belt, yes, but not Superman, and the style I rank in isn't the one I would instinctively turn to in a dangerous situation. If someone really wants to hurt me, they could, and all the martial arts knowledge in the world isn't going to help you if someone has a gun aimed at you and is pulling the trigger. My goal is just to be able to survive something like that, God forbid it should ever happen. And if it turns out that I can say, "Yeah, but you should see the OTHER guy!" at the end of it, that's just icing. Of course, should that person survive, he'd then get hunted down by my daddy, my baby brother, and all my FIGHT guys and I would not pity him in the slightest.