Modern Hygienist - October 2008 - (Page 44)

life | SELF-DEFENSE Training for life Self-defense skills to up your con dence and your muscle tone. by Julie Kong, MEd, RD, LDN What do you want to learn in self-defense?” In my class, women tell me they want to learn how to protect themselves by reacting fast, hitting hard and escaping safely. Because many self-defense classes are taught over several hours or over several weeks, it’s important that women can apply what they learn after the class is over. But how do you train your body so you can react reflexively and quickly? Two fundamental principles in self-defense teaching are to keep the movements simple and to have the women constantly repeat the movements so those movements become incorporated into their muscle memory. A fun way to do this is to incorporate self-defense moves into core exercise routines that you are familiar with and enjoy doing on an ongoing basis. TOP The choke attack. LEFT Go for the eyes or the throat. This will stun the attacker so that you can run away. SQUATS watch this! Confidence can make the difference if you’re confronted by an attacker. Check out this video on overcoming timidity. Many people are familiar with squats, a lower body exercise. Squats are great for strengthening your quadriceps muscles in your thighs, your glutes and even your lower back. They are done by bending the legs at the knees and hips as you lower your trunk between the legs (as if you’re going to sit down in a chair), and then raising yourself to stand up straight again. The cool thing about squats is you can vary what you do with your arms but still get the same workout for your legs. Diving Squats. As you squat, shoot your arms out at a 45° angle as if you were going to dive (but keep your head up!). The self-defense application to this exercise is that in a front choke—i.e., if the attacker tries to grab your neck—you can immediately shoot your arms out into his eyes to blind him or into his Adam’s apple in the neck. Regardless of the application, you’re training your arms to move forward toward the attacker. Punching Squats. As you squat, punch using both arms. The knuckles of the fists are vertical, stacked one over the other, and the punches are thrown over your wrist. Elbows are held close to the body (no chicken winging!). The self-defense application is that punching with both of your arms rapidly—also called “chain punching”—will keep your attacker off 44 modernhygienist.com | October 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DwYRFRxGhs http://www.modernhygienist.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Modern Hygienist - October 2008

Modern Hygienist - October 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Letters News Modern Solutions Trends: Homecare Trends: Perio Trends: Ergo Trends: Mid Care After Chemo Professional Rewind Esthetic Expertise: Make or Break Relationship Hands-on Hygiene: Have You Seen the Light? Going the Distance Training for Life Presi-dental Politics Ad Index Moonlighting

Modern Hygienist - October 2008

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