[alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117382818726251679027″ ualb=”6385116282918754449″ imgl=”fancybox” style=”wall” row=”4″ size=”400″ num=”8″ shadow=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center” max=”100″]
Defend Yourself 2017
BY NG HAO EN JAMES
Most Singaporean sons might have the mentality that, “I went through Basic (or Intermediate) Close Combat Training in the military! I don’t need another event like this to teach me self-defence!”
However, the session did not disappoint.
Our instructor for that day was Master Zackiee Ng. When he walked in, he appeared to me as someone that I will not want to fight with, but throughout the three hours, he proved to be a hilarious instructor.
Master Zackiee Ng from U-Elite Martial Fitness
We were first taught the three principles of self-defence, which are “Aware, Alert, and Avoid”. He always stressed, “Avoid going into fights at all costs.” And I can’t help but to agree, because prevention is always better than cure. He reinforced these three words by getting us to repeat these words, and I must say that it had been really effective.
Then, he showed us the correct stance so that we will not lose our balance, and had a few movement drills to get us accustomed to moving without tripping over ourselves. He also demonstrated the passive guard position. Along the way, he shared stories ranging from his own life story, to the stories he has heard. His purpose here was to tell us; self-defence is not a sport. When we get hit and fall to the ground, no referee will be around to stop the assailant. We are on our own. This is why self-defence is important.
James in the passive guard position
What should we do when we are sure that our assailant has hostile intent? We switch to Ip Man! I mean, he emphasised that we must not clench our fist, but guard ourselves with an open palm – “CCTVs might be around and you wouldn’t want visual evidence against you.”
Ip Man’s signature move
When in danger, where do we strike? The targets for self-defence, and clearly demonstrated by Master Zackiee, are the eyes, ears, throat, and the groin (specifically for the males). At first I had no idea what he was trying to do, and thought that he was referring to the three monkey emojis which covered the eyes, ears, and mouth respectively. But the targets were fundamental to the rest of the event as he taught us many techniques to block the incoming blows (by focusing our eyes on the “centre point of the chest”), and how to throw out those strikes as well.
Targets for self-defence
There were other things that he taught us, such as the characteristics of the warnings that we should issue before defending ourselves – we have to be “positive, direct, and firm”, and how to react to the situation when our hair or hands are being grabbed by the assailant. And we had a cat fight! Not literally, but we came to the conclusion that females are better than males (can’t deny that!).
Cat fight
Like all Singaporean sons, I thought I had sufficient training in the military to defend myself, but in the civilian world it’s a whole new world. I would not have known what to do if someone assaulted me. Like what Master Zackiee said: “When it comes to self-defence, there are no rules. We must fight dirty. Know where to strike and protect.” It might be true that Singapore is so safe that we have become complacent, but we must never forget how to defend ourselves. A three-hour course will never be sufficient to master all the techniques that he had graciously taught us, but more importantly are our takeaways.
Diagonal shield position