How young do you teach SD?

[Flea]

What if she had had self-defense training?

Balrog's other thread on the 4 facets of SD got me thinking on another tangent. He showed a video of an 11 year old girl getting abducted as a jumping-off point on how she might have escaped. (Considering the outcome of that particular case I find it to be in questionable taste, but that's a separate conversation.)

Is it reasonable to expect an 11 year old child to defend oneself in a physical confrontation with an adult? And if not, at what age can we expect it? Or if so, how young can that expectation reasonably go?

Of course there is no OSFA with this any more than there would be with an adult. I'm curious about it. And for those who teach children, I'd be interested in how you balance effectiveness in SD with age-appropriate information.

 

[mook jong man]

I think it is reasonable to expect an 11 year old child or even younger to be able to defend themselves against an adult.

I have taught children as young as about six , one thing to remember is that it doesn't matter how big an attacker is , they still have the same amount of skin covering their shins as what you or I do.

A well placed low heel kick delivered to this area can be extremely painful , if executed with speed , power , and focus.
Of course it has to be backed up by a decent stance with a lowered center of gravity in which to transfer the bodyweight into the target.

This in conjunction with a few other simple techniques can provide the split second opening or distraction that the child may need to escape.

 

[chinto]

I think you have to be careful what you teach at younger ages. you do not want to teach something that if used on say the school playground would be serious... but really, depending on size, a child may be able to effect an escape, and all of them can make a lot of noise!

 

[Aiki Lee]

For the most part, I think SD for children should be focused on escaping from predators. Its entirely possible to teach 5 and 6 year olds to do it, but it has to be simple and the kid has to be willing to do it.

Stranger danger, safety around starnge animals, safety around abandoned drug needles or weapons should be taught too I think.