Teenage Self-Protection

11.05.2025

Ahead of festival attendance and various other activities that are putting teenagers aged 16 and up at potential risk, I was contacted to teach a relevant two-hour session. The all-girl group were very attentive, focused and enthusiastic despite training taking place on a hot Sunday at midday with exams on the horizon.

Although attitude, awareness and agency were a running themes through the entire session, I selected specific gender-related material. We looked at the insidious assault that is most likely to occur with teenage girls and women, the most common perpetrator being a male partner. It was a surprising statistic to most in attendance, but they agreed it made sense. Gavin De Becker's PINs were given a lot of time, as they teach individuals to watch out for predatory behaviours especially those of a manipulative nature.

Physical skills were scalable in nature. After we looked at preserving personal space, testing blocking vs pre-emption and tactical escape, we moved onto methods used for the most likely types of assault. Simple interceptions of grips and releases from said grips, in addition to pre-emptive striking and forward pressure. We finished with a simple game of grab-the-pad, which brings in natural ground grappling skills and develops tenacity.

The session was finished a check-list on recovery from a physical incident.

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