Courses / Seminars

Practical Self Defence seminars

Alan Gibson has taught martial arts for many years and has held many Practical Self Defence seminars and courses including work for Southampton Dept. of Adult Education, the Probation Service, Southampton City Training, Southampton University and many youth groups. He is also registered with Southampton Sports Development Unit. We can arrange one-day seminars or short courses in Practical Self Defence at fairly short notice. We can teach at our fully equipped gymnasium or at an appropriate venue near you.

The Practical Self Defence Course will provide a complete set of exercises and training drills, based around the martial art of Wing Chun. The system has developed over many years and is designed to serve as a natural internal protection for the body, as well as being effective as self defence.

"Improve self confidence, assertiveness and self esteem."

The effectiveness of Wing Chun is well documented; it has been refined over the years for economy and direct application. The apparent simplicity of the system disguises the effectiveness behind its subtle technique.

"Superb all round body protection."

Training to deal with and prevent physical violence can help reduce, and put into perspective, every day psychological stress and strain. Fitness of the mind and body will help improve self-confidence, assertiveness and self-esteem.

All aspects of self-protection will be covered including psychology and the law, but the primary aim will be to teach practical self defence skills.

Alan has graduated in sports studies and is the author of the popular Why Wing Chun Works, trillogy of books trilogy available from all good book stores (or from Alan). He is now producing a series of benchmark instructional DVDs.

Reality Seminars

The methods presented in all reallity seminars will offer effective physical & mental drills, which will make any practising martial artist more effective in their own system. What we offer doesn't conflict with other methods instead it will blend with it, making your art more functional for the street & today's environment.

The Fence. This deals with the protection of our personal space. Most confrontational situations start from conversation range, this is a gap of no more than 2 ft between you and your potential aggressor. From here this distance will be closed rapidly as he/she attacks, literally exploding into violence. Imagine yourself facing such a situation with your hands down or in your pockets, you wouldn't stand a chance. You'd end up getting punched or head butted before you even realised you had a problem. By using the Fence, you will be able to control this vital gap long enough to either verbally dissuade your aggressor or if necessary strike pre-emptively so you can end the situation quickly.

The Pre-emptive Strike. The law in this country clearly states that if an individual is moving towards you in an aggressive manner that makes you fear for your own safety, then in such circumstances you have the right to strike the individual down pre-emptively in self-defence, so that you may escape injury and remove yourself from the situation. In such a situation striking first, fast and hard is the only thing that works. Forget waiting to be attacked in the hope that you may block and counter, in the real world it just doesn't work everything happens too fast. Being pre-emptive is the only safe option. This seminar covers techniques, the Law, The hit & run principle, the pre-emptive blitz (compound attacks) & the use of killer instinct.

S.T.A.B. Course (Strategic Tactics Against Blades). This course puts forward a training syllabus that will offer you a chance in a knife situation, if you can't run, and make no mistake running should be your first option if available, then the tactics learned here just may save your life. This is by no means the complete answer to a very difficult and dangerous problem; there is no complete answer to the knife problem. Never the less this course will give you a good chance of getting out alive in such a situation. This course covers, understanding the edged weapon threat, understanding body language, your best options, Escape, Equaliser, Eliminate threat, knife drills, simulated real world attacks, scenario drills. Note. Protective equipment & wooden knives will be used & safety will be prioritised.

Ambush attacks. Being aware and switched on to our environment, and to everyone and everything within it, is the power base to a good Self-Protection game plan. However we are only human and sometimes we may allow our guard to drop. If at such a time we find ourselves in the middle of a violent confrontation, where we have to rely on a spontaneous reaction to defend ourselves, then you are in the middle of an ambush attack. This is why it is useful to learn a few techniques well, that will work in a variety of situations, rather than lots of different ways of dealing with an attack, none of which will be remembered under pressure. This seminar deals with the most common types of unarmed street attacks, as well as various escapes, from choke holds etc. concluding with last resort street grappling methods should you go to the ground.