What if PE Taught Self-Defense?

The best years of my life were at college. After 13 years of bullying and cliques in a small midwestern community school, my reflection of college was like heaven. I was finally able to live life without being harrassed daily and I could surround myself with people who were similar to me. It was there that I experienced epiphanies that changed my view of life.

So, it was with great shock and sadness when I heard about the shootings that occurred Tuesday at Virginia Tech. I can only pray that the survivors may find a positive epiphany out of their sorrow.

Whenever I hear of such tragedy at the hands of an armed gunman, I begin to feel defenseless and helpless. It is from such a feeling that I wonder why we are not better equipped to handle such situations in our lives. Why aren't we taught how to defend ourselves in school?

I recall hearing the news on April 20, 1999 as I imbibed some cocktails with co-workers at a restaurant in the Denver Tech Center area. I watched the TV screen at the bar with disbelief as local and national media recounted the story umpteen times about Columbine.

I then thought, what would have happened if PE classes routinely taught self-defense to all grade levels? What if all students knew how to confidently, proactively, quickly and respectfully diffuse a negative physical altercation?

It's all fine and dandy to know our readin', writin', and 'rithmetic, but how does that prepare us to live as good, responsible citizens? How can we prepare our children, our next generations, to be better citizens and be responsible and caring members of our society? How can we teach our children to face evil and subdue it?

Our first response is not the trained police or authorities in these situations, it is people like you and me. We are the first response. I'm not talking about arming teachers and professors with weapons, as I believe weapons are motivation for violence (we all go off the edge ever so often, and I can't imagine what would have happened if one of my worst teachers had ready access to a gun--doubt I would be here today). I'm talking about knowing exactly how to deal verbally to calm a potential violent situation, to infuse kind respect to everyone involved, and if there is a weapon (a fist, a knife, a gun, a kicking leg, etc.) that those involved can make quick, unnoticable motions to take over the weapon, safely secure it, and calm the perpetrator to the good of all who surround the incident.

Then, the nation was jolted by the events of September 11, 2001. I immediately thought, what would have happened if the people on those three fateful planes could have known how to properly diffused that terror situation in the air? They had the strength in numbers. But they didn't have the knowledge to intelligently overcome the terrorists and physically subdue them.

The after effect of the tramatic events of September 11th was not to equip all citizens in our nation with self-defense strategies to subdue any form of terrorism. No, it was to put guns in the cockpit. What will that accomplish? Guns, in the hands of someone preoccupied with something like flying a plane, can easily be used against them.

Now, if pilots and flight attendants knew self-defense and knew how to coordinate efforts by the passengers to maintain control of their plane at all times, then we could say we've done something to combat terrorism.

Flash forward to this week. Again, victims were held defenseless because instead of being taught how to defend themselves through 13 years of primary school, they were taught how to do the tinikle (You know, when you had to jump between the rhythm of the clapping bamboo sticks? Our PE teacher would call it double dutch with bamboo sticks.) in PE class.

What would have happened if the girl and the RA practiced self-defense against the attacker in the dorm? The worst that could have happened if they had tried to subdue the attacker with self-defense moves is exactly what happened to them that fateful Tuesday morning.

The best thing that could have happened is that they would have been able to successfully subdue the attacker before the gun was raised, or even if the gun was raised, they strategically and successfully gained control of the weapon from the attacker, were able to subdue the attacker while maintaining respect and consideration to the attacker as a fellow human, and allow him to understand that his decisions and choices to attack were not the right thing to do.

I know this is a pipe dream in a utopian world. But, just imagine... If we were all taught how to effectively think through choices and make decisions in our daily lives that would not only benefit ourselves, but also benefit all those around us? If we were taught not only self-defense, but also how to maintain positive relationships, regardless the situation?

Think about it. Imagine.