KJK Judo Club hosts informative self-defence seminar
“These 16 days are only in December but it really should be every day of the year”
Dangerous situations and life-threatening scenarios can arise at the drop of a hat. Training the body and mind to expect the unexpected goes a long way to ensuring personal safety.
KJK Judo Club enlisted the services of a member of the Public Order Policing Unit, Captain Etienne Tereblanche, to teach the mothers, daughters, aunts and grandmothers of those associated with the club a trick or two. Using a hybrid self-defence technique labelled ‘Defendo’, Captain Tereblanche imparted some of his experience and wisdom as part of the club’s contribution to the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
The seminar focused on a term coined ‘OODALOOP’. The ‘LOOP’ is the way the technique can be viewed as a complete cycle, and the ‘OODA’ stands for observation, orientation, decision and action. The teachings encourage one to always be aware of one’s surroundings, know the exit routes to pre-empt danger, decide quickly what course of action is best, and then act with 100 per cent purpose in the execution of that decision.
Another facet of self-defence is the colour-coded mental alert level structure. From white to black, the five levels escalate from being oblivious to one’s circumstances, to succumbing to the inevitability of your fate. Yellow, orange and red are the three intermediate levels with Etienne advising, “Yellow is where you always want to be. It is being aware without being in a heightened state of stress.”
Some, including Etienne, have questioned why a determination to protect women and children cannot be an all-year commitment. “These 16 days are only in December, but it really should be every day of the year. We focus on the women and children but in reality it should be aimed at anyone who is vulnerable,” said Captain Tereblanche, an ex SADF paratrooper with roughly 400 jumps under his belt.
Joining the seminar was Judo for Hope, led by International Judo Federation ambassador, Roberto Orlando. Based in Hillbrow, Roberto uses judo as a tool to nurture young men and women. Judo is more than just an Olympic fighting discipline, it is an holistic lifestyle structure that turns the naïve into the prepared.
