Self Defense

Self-defense (or self-defence — see spelling differences) is the act of defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. While the term may define any form of personal defense, it is strongly associated with civilian hand-to-hand defense techniques. Self-defense defines a civilian activity as opposed to Hand-to-hand combat in a military context. The use of self-defense as a legal justification for violence is available in many jurisdictions, but the interpretation varies widely.

In politics, the concept of national or mutual self-defense to counter a war of aggression refers to a defensive war organized by the state and is one possible criterion in the just war theory.

Many styles of martial arts are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques. Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other martial/Combat sports can be effectively applied for self-defense.[citation needed] To provide more practical self-defense, many modern day martial arts schools now use a combination of martial arts styles and techniques, and will often customize self-defense training to suit the participants' lifestyles, occupations, age groups and gender. The practice of combining martial arts styles for competitive sport is most often referred to as Mixed Martial Arts or MMA. In order to assist people in learning self-defense techniques, dojos and self-learning videos have sprung up. Self-defense courses are intended to give the layperson some instruction in self-defense in a short period of time, but the effectiveness of these is debated