“So That One May Walk In Peace”

Self-defense is about learning to kick ass if you have to.

It’s also about learning to walk in peace.

I have not had to use my Krav Maga training in real life thus far, but there was one night I thought I might and it was an important lesson.

In LA, I was walking on the sidewalk at night, about to turn into my gate. I saw this guy seem to just appear not far ahead. He approached fast and with a wall to both sides, my best move was to move over a few feet.

He swaggered along the sidewalk and just before I thought he’d pass, he swung his body towards me and leaned in. He paused with his face not more than a foot away and mumbled a few deliberate, yet indistinguishable words under his breath. Then he backed off and walked away.

This is the part I most want you to know.

At the moment he was in my face, my first thought was “I do not want to have to handle this guy.”

As in, I don’t want to have to physically touch him. I think I can handle him, but I really don’t want to have to actually touch him because he was dripping with sweat and stench.

I did not think, “I hope he doesn’t hurt me.”

How much of him backing off had to do with my holding a space of “don’t mess with me”? Looking back, it had a lot to do with it.

This phenomenon is something police and self-defense experts talk about. Perpetrators of crimes don’t want to mess with anyone who will potentially give them trouble. Yeah, he scared me. At the same time, I felt confident and capable.

If you’ve been thinking about learning self-defense in any way, just start.⁣

You’ll never regret it.

You’ll also never forget it. I haven’t thrown a punch in two years before shooting this video.

Message me if you’d like suggestions for Austin or Los Angeles studios, or even how to find a good one where you are.

“So that one may walk in peace” is a phrase often used in Krav Maga contexts.

Originally published at http://jolynjanis.com/so-that-one-may-walk-in-peace/.