While I believe that studying a martial art and/or self-defense is very important for improving our chances of surviving a potentially violent situation, there are some fairly easy things we can do to improve our chances of surviving more common, potentially harmful situations.
As children return to school, we see the roads filling up with bicycles each morning. Some of them are doing great at practicing bicycle safety. But some of them are proving that the Palo Alto area is NOT full of the smartest kids! Take a look at how many of them are riding with their helmet on the handlebars… They probably put it on for a few seconds while they rode away from the house, in case their mother was watching, only to take it off as soon as they got around the corner, before any of their friends might catch them being a “goody-goody.”
Well, these goody-goodies wearing their helmets are the ones more likely to survive.
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How much work does it take to put on a helmet? And how much effort is involved in putting on a seatbelt in the car? Not taking these simple safety precautions may seem “uncool” to some people. But I say that people who think that was are actually pretty far from “cool.” Look at the best bikers in the world (Tour de France, for example) or best drivers in the world (Indy 500?). They are taking their safety precautions seriously. They know that it’s worth the effort (and it really isn’t all that much effort).
And some of these kids are texting on their phones while riding. No hands on the handlebars and often the same ones that are not wearing a helmet. And often the same ones are going through intersections without looking out for the cars that are swerving out of the way to avoid them. Some parents and educators claim the kids here are much smarter than elsewhere(?)
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Parents: I urge you to discuss this issue with your children. Make sure they understand how important their safety is and that it isn’t “uncool” to wear a helmet when riding a bike, or to use a seatbelt. Smart, cool people do these things every day.
We may someday experience a life-or-death situation where the outcome hinges on whether or not we perfected our defensive strategy. Or we may someday experience a life-or-death situation that hinges on whether or not we put on a helmet when we got on our bike that morning… Do the easy thing. Do the right thing. Stay safe.
