Go Ahead Punk! Make My Day!

As a pharmacist I am often acutely aware of the fact that I spend my days surrounded by a lot of drugs. Primarily these drugs are for the sole purpose of making people better but in amongst them is a significant number of drugs that are abused and have a "street value".

Over the years a number of pharmacies have been robbed or held up by criminals armed with guns and knives. I remember reading last year about 2 of my colleagues in Belfast whose pharmacy was held up by 2 men in balaclavas and armed with knives.

My colleagues tried to comply with their demands and were trying to give them what they wanted but despite that both of them were stabbed - one very seriously injured.

Another one of my colleagues, whose pharmacy is just over a mile from mine was held up by a man with a hammer. Fortunately on this occasion nobody was injured.

It made me think about my own situation and wonder what I would do in the circumstances if I was faced with a desperate criminal, armed with a weapon and trying to rob me.

I started looking into potential methods of self-defence and I took a particular interest in a system called Krav Maga.

Krav Maga

Krav Maga is a system of self-defence develop by the Israeli military and is regarded as the world's most practical form of martial arts. It teaches students to defend themselves against a variety of attacks and a variety of weapons.

We learn how to defend against knife attacks, gun attacks, stick and machete attacks, bare fist attacks as well as how to escape from potentially deadly situations such as being choked or strangled, pinned against a wall or pinned to the ground.

The classes are both fun and highly energetic. The most important thing for me is the confidence I have gained from knowing that should I ever be faced with such a situation in real life then I would now have a realistic chance of surviving it. I'm not saying that my attacker will have to have his knife surgically removed from his back passage (although he might!) but the key thing is I have a chance to walk away alive and unharmed.

Making The Grade

It's all very well learning these new skills but at some point you have to be able to show that you can use them in a real-life situation. Like all martial arts. Krav Maga has a system of belts that students can try to achieve. The belts are only awarded to those who reach a certain standard at a "Grading"

For me - that day came today when I faced my first ever grading.

I don't mind admitting that this morning I felt more nervous than I ever did before my university exams.

The grading itself was 3 hours of continuous pressure testing where we were all put through life-like scenarios faced with attackers armed with guns, knives, machetes, clubs and also sneaky unarmed guys who appeared out of nowhere to wrestle you to the ground in a headlock.

It was probably the toughest 3 hours I have gone through in the last 20+ years and at one point during my 4th session I thought I was going to pass out from exhaustion due to the relentless attacks. But I was determined to see it through and I manged to fight my way out of every scenario.

Over the course of the morning I got punched in the jaw, elbowed in the side of the face and a (blunt) knife to the back of the head. I am covered in bruises...

But you know what? It was all worth it because I passed the Grading and was awarded my blue belt afterward.

Why am I telling you this?

For me learning Krav Maga represents 2 very important things. Firstly it is a huge confidence builder to know that I am better equipped to defend myself and my friends or family if the need arises. Secondly it represents a huge step outside my comfort zone.

Stepping outside your comfort zone is something we must all do if we are ever going to achieve anything significant in life.

In the grading today I was by far the oldest person there. I'm in my late 40s now and I was up against people in their teens, 20s and 30s. It would have been easy to make excuses such as "I'm too old for this" etc but instead I just got bogged in and gave the best possible account of myself.

When building an online business we all need to step outside our comfort zone and do things that seem difficult or just plain hard work. What do you do when you encounter problems? Do you see the problem and just make excuses - I can't do it! Or do you see a problem and think only of finding the solution?

Whatever you are doing today, be sure to step up to the plate and face it boldly!

As Dirty Harry used to say when faced with a criminal, "Go ahead Punk, Make my Day!"

Kick ass!