How Do You Avoid Bullies With Martial Arts?

Bullying happens every day. At school, online, even at home. With back-to-school season already here and October the National Bully Prevention Month, it makes the topic of bullying even more important to address now.

Fortunately we, the martial arts industry, are already doing a lot to address this issue. As we all know, training in martial arts helps children develop confidence and decreases their chances of becoming a bully's target.

As individual marital artists, we can make a difference in our community, but as a united movement… we can change the world. That’s why we started Martial Artists Against Bullying, and developed the free “Done With Bullying” program to share and make a difference. Bullying is a day-to-day problem that needs our attention and support for prevention. Below is a list of The Five Rules of Personal Safety we teach to our students:

1. Use your mind – this means thinking about all of the things that you can do to stay safe.  It means to create safe habits. 
2. Use your words - If you ever find yourself being bullied you often times can  use your words  to talk your way out of trouble. 
3. Use your legs - If you are unable to talk yourself out of the situation, you try to ignore it and walk away if you can. Just pretend the bully is invisible. Try to look completely unfazed. Or, you can look at something else and laugh as you are walking away.
4. Ask for help - It is always good when you can handle your own problems but it is perfectly OK to get help if you need it.
5. Defend yourself - You should try to avoid a physical confrontation if at all possible and only   defend yourself as a last resort. But at the same time, it is important to remember that no one has the right to harm you.

If this mission speaks to you, our non-profit organization, Martial Artists Against Bullying is a great way to get involved. Together we can help stop bullying for good.

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Martial Artists Against Bullying is a not-for-profit project, teaching participants Awareness, Avoidance, and Assertiveness. If you would like to help contribute to these global efforts through activities with your student body or local community, please register your school at our website: http://donewithbullying.com/.