In recent years there has been an influx of information in the martial arts media concerning pre-emptive striking and whether you should use it as a part of your self-defence training or not.

This media frenzy generated a lot of interest in the subject (for and against) so this article is going to provide a slightly different approach to the issue and bring into the equation how this affects martial art teachers from the perspective of adults AND children.

========== ADULTS ==========

O.K., first of all, should we teach hitting first at all? I think, yes, we should. However it is obviously not as simple as that, even when only taking into account adults.

Where adults are concerned, if you choose to teach them pre-emption, you need to make it clear that it is a last resort! Also you need to make it clear that they MUST be in fear for their safety for it to be acceptable.

They need to be sure an attack on them is imminent essentially.

Of course, you must have faith in your students to suggest such a direct course of action - you must trust they won't abuse such knowledge!

If in ANY doubt DO NOT teach it at all!

============ CHILDREN ============

Where children are concerned hitting first, and teaching such strategies, is in my humble opinion a big NO NO! You cannot really compare situations a child and an adult might find themselves in (perhaps many of you will disagree?).

Indeed I actually think to teach hitting first to children as part of a martial arts class is irresponsible and dangerous.

It would be highly likely to create situations at school and home where the child could justify his hitting people first by saying his or her martial arts instructor said it was acceptable!

Obviously there may be the rare occasion where it would be in their best interest to do so, BUT I feel this is outweighed by the potential problems it could cause.

While teaching children I think the best course of action is to focus on building strong character traits through structured physical training and avoid the 'nastier' side of the arts until they are older with a little more life experience.

============== CONCLUSION ==============

It is (obviously) hard to make a concrete conclusion about such a subject.

I feel for those (adult) students you trust totally, highlighting pre-emptive strikes as a viable option when they have no other option is acceptable.

For children I think, as stated above, it is not necessary and the time is better spent developing their characters and physical skills.

After all, they grow up fast enough, and showing the grittier aspects of the arts only serves to unnecessarily speed up this process.

(c) Tim Webb 2005

Tim Webb is a fitness instructor, Ju Jutsu instructor, and competitor. His site http://www.JuJutsu-Training.com offers inspiration through articles and product recommendations that can boost your mental focus and physical fitness for martial arts!