<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b></p> <p><b>WHAT IS SELF-DEFENSE?</b></p> <p>A modern definition of self-defense is in order. One way of defining self-defense is to explain what it is not. Personal self-defense is not warfare; it is not vengeance; it is not an art; it is not a sporting event; it is not a movie or television fight scene.<br />Self-defense is preparation to minimize the possibility of assault. It is training to discover and use appropriate and effective physical actions if there is no practical available alternative.<br />Self-defense manual is the beginning of a process of learning how to avoid becoming a victim.<br />Many victims of assault are victims not because they lack the capacity to win fights but because they have been given absolutely no preparation to cope with this special kind of emergency.<br />The old-fashioned view that self-defense manual is training to reach a high level of fighting skill has the effect of eliminating those individuals who have the greatest need. <br />It is precisely those people who are unable or unwilling to become fierce fighting machines who benefit from practical self-defense manual to the greatest degree. <br />Our capabilities ought to bear some relationship to real-life objectives. People learning to defend themselves against assault ought not to be trained as though they were preparing for warfare. The concepts, techniques and methods appropriate for training Samurai warriors are not those appropriate for teaching