We live in a crazy, unstable, unpredictable world, that’s for certain. You can never tell when someone may be looking to rob or steal from you or your family, and many times it’s when you least expect it. What if someone breaks into your home in the middle of the night? Are you prepared to confront them and protect yourself?
Recently, a Florida man was robbed from his wheelchair by two men, luckily he was able to get back into his chair and seek medical attention. With all of these news articles coming out about people being robbed in wheelchairs, I thought it would be good to share some self defense tactics and resources that may be helpful if you have a disability.
In searching through some good articles online, I found a good resource for Wheel Chair Martial Arts. Maybe some have already heard of wheelchair martial arts, but if you haven’t and are looking for a fun new hobby that is great exercise, a new challenge, a discipline, and a great way to meet new people, I would check this out.
On the Martial Arts with Disabilities blog, you can find abundant information, videos, profiles, and techniques on how you can protect yourself when you are in a wheelchair. They have built and continue to add various videos from around the web that include different martial art styles from Karate to wheelchair Jujitsu. They even have some videos showing European wheelchair karate competitions. These competitions are judged by strikes landed and are set up in a bracket like format in which the two best competitors meet in the finals.
Throughout the blog, they even list some bios of some of the martial artists and a little info about who they are. One man who specifically struck me as interesting was Joe Beimfohr, a retired military staff sergeant. Joe is the co-founder of Able Warrior System, a program that is geared toward teaching those with disabilities that self defense is still possible, and a fun activity to boot. Joe is committed to teaching as many people with disabilities as possible about the benefit of learning and mastering martial arts.
Even more, this blog goes a step further and lists out some of the various schools within the country where you can learn some of these skills and techniques. To discover more about the different types of martial arts, videos, stories, locations, and everything else you could ever want to know about martial arts, check out their blog here and start your journey today. https://martialartistwithdisabilities.blogspot.com/
I'm a huge proponent myself, as I have been practicing Muay Thai (a Thailand-style of boxing) for the past three years. It's not only a great workout, but it’s always good to be able to protect yourself in any situation.
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bout the Author: Justin Racine, from Boston, serves as a Category Manager for Invacare Supply Group. He graduated from Western New England University with a B.S.B.A in Marketing Communication/Advertising. When he’s not busy with Marketing, Justin enjoys competing in 10K races, Boston sports, and spending time with friends and family.
