[nagdu] BOOK ON SELF-DEFENSE

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Joy,

Well said!  I don't go charging down dark alleys, but I do love to go out
and about, dog or no dog, and I've always felt pretty confident that I can
do so safely because of my 'tude. /smile/

Because of those dratted injuries, and the resulting fibromyalgia, then the
long road back once I could afford treatment, I spent a couple of years
having to really work at body awareness and balance, so I definitely felt
more vulnerable.  Then when we started retarcing the injuries, my balance
would change all that time, so that made things a bit more challenging.
Ugh!  I used my years as an equestrienne to focus mentall on my center of
gravity in my movements, which would help a lot with  balance and posture,
but it was exhausting!  Now, except for off days, walking around seems so
incredibly easy that I can't figure out why it was such a problem.  /smile/
I also did a lot of balance and walking work at the dog park while Mitzi was
running around, and the soccer I play with her has done wonders!

I'm still not confident of my ability to fend off physical attack, but as I
get stronger and my body responds to what I tell it to do, I don't worry as
much about being all helpless and stuff.

As for walking...  Since I moved out here to the land of few sidewalks, I
don't get out and walk nearly enough to get from here to there.  I end up
arranging trips with Daisy's Dad in the car for the most part, since it is
simply the safest travel option.  They are finally getting to work on our
road, so in another year or two I can mend my wicked ways!

When I lived closer in to downtown, I walked all over the place as much as I
could!  I used mass transit instead of paratransit, although when I was
going to an appointment the results would be iffy while I was building up my
navigation skills.  /lol/  I still use mass transit to go downtown, but I
don't have the need to very often and get lazy about going just to get out
and about.  The dog park is pretty close, but I usually work Mitzi on the
way there -- or she works me!  Getting to the scary road has plenty of
navigational challenges, and that street crossing keeps us both sharp.  Then
we take a grassy hill down to the winding trail that we follow to get to the
off leash area.  It's not very long, but it is good practice.

Mitzi likes to get out and go and do guiding work more than she likes
hopping in the car, leading me through the grocery store, then hopping back
in.  So I try to get in some real walking work when we're out and about so
she can really show her stuff!  Now that I know a safer route to and from
that store, I really need to suck it up and get back into the habit of going
down there.  It's about a mile, so just right, and the bus we can catch down
there is more reliable than the one here.

Don't know if that's a good answer, but it is sort of where we are these
days. /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Joy Relton
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:02 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] BOOK ON SELF-DEFENSE

Hi folks,

I believe that taking self-defense classes or studying martial arts would
help a great deal. I studied karate several years ago and one of the most
important things that I learned was awareness of my body and how to use my
strengths and weaknesses to my advantage. Very often it isn't practical for
a blind person to flee in the event of confrontation, so, there are other
techniques that work to help to fend off attacks or make yourself less
venerable to attack. For me, I believe that one of the most important things
that one learns in studying martial arts and self-defense is to have
self-confidence. Sometimes, the simple ability to say to someone that you
are in control of yourself   will serve as a deterrent. This is all part of
being assertive, which is very different from being on the offensive. This
whole thing about self-confidence helps when you want to be received as an
equal in a restaurant or any other setting. If you don't believe it, watch
people. Those who walk in as though they belong there, without apology or
aggression are much more likely to be admitted without hastle than those who
walk in tentatively and aren't sure of what they are doing. It makes you
venerable. Having said all that, I'm not advocating that you charge down
dark alleys. I mean, gain confidence in your abilities and go forth. Develop
and use good travel skills and good thinking skills to solve problems. It's
a process and you won't always succeed and you won't always feel that
confidence inside. It takes a lot of self talk. I encounter this frequently
just crossing certain streets because my sense of direction and ability to
"hear" buildings and the like has been changed due to an aneurism which
burst in my brain. I am determine not to become a couch patatoe so I
obtained some tools to help me overcome some of the physical problems, and
some extra training from an O&M instructor to help remind me of certain
physical land marks that I can use to confirm my direction. When I was
working with the O&M instructor the other day and we went to cross a street
whose curbs, of course, don't line up I asked what I could do to help me be
sure that I didn't miss the curb completely and she showed me some
techniques, like simply intentionally aiming in from the corner a little and
then working my way back once I was across the street. What I have found is
that a big part of my travel errors and problems relate to confidence. When
I step out and walk in normal steps at a good rate instead of taking
tentative and slow steps I cross better. So, I have taken the phrase "sin
boldly" from Martin Luther's writings as my mantra to give me that kick. I
have no doubt that there will be times when it isn't the whole answer, but
it will get me closer to what I want to do. It's all about taking a chance
and going forward.

A question relating to this whole issue of venerability and confidence is,
how often does the average blind person actually walk in their environment
for more than a block or two. In working with the Seeing Eye instructor who
came to do the juno walk with me this week, I found that an increase number
of blind people are using Para transit as their only means of transport and
movement. So, they walk from the house to a van and from the van to their
office building and reverse that whole process. As a result their travel
skills aren't well used or developed, and the dog doesn't get a chance to
keep his/her guiding skills finely honed. I'm curious, how many of the
people on this list actually walk more than a mile a day? Of those, how many
take different routes? How many use mass transit extensively to go to
shopping malls, restaurants, doctor's appointments, or to the office. I'm
asking these questions to get a feel for what sort of travel folks are
doing, and not as a form of criticism. We all live in different areas and
have varying levels of travel skills and physical abilities, I'm just
curious.

Joy


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