With the recent rise in crime especially towards women and the much publise Canny Ong case many parties have been touting about self defense for women.

However, no one actually highlighted the definition of self defence.

As a result many would be thinking about self defence in terms of learning martial arts, may it be karate, taekwondo, wushu or even silat which unfortunately is not the end of the road where the concept of self defence is involved.

Undeniabley, taking up martial arts will definitely tone up your physique, natural relfexs and for some their confidence level as well when facing adversary.

However, having learnt a few manoeuvres or even defense and attack techniques is not sufficient at all in preparing one to face his or her assailant in real life -- which most of the time happens on the street or in your own home in the night.

Also, for people who have never experienced street fights or who have never experienced the breaking out of cold sweat when a 6 inch vegetable knife was pointed at their stomach, learning martial arts with the sole purpose of self defense may only serve to give them a false sense of security which may cost them dearly.

In most places around the world, the enforcement agency has always advise their citizens to use precaution when facing assailant especially with one who is armed.

The most common advise is to refrain from fighting back which may serve to agitate the already agitated assailant but instead to go along till there is an absolute chance for you to retaliate.

However, in real life situation, the absolute chance to counter attack may never come, on the other hand, if you opt to retaliate at the first point of contact you may also be at a disadvantage because the aggressor may already be expecting your reaction.

So, no matter whether you are a 1 Dan black belt exponent or a White Belt junior, you must understand that the experience you gained in the dojo doing katas and the experience you gain from sparring with your fellow martial artist is not sufficient in preparing you for the real life encounter.

For those who really wanted to take up martial arts for self defense, it would be wise to check out what the martial arts school can offer in terms of training your natural reflexs, toning your physique and most importantly sharpening your mental alertness in avoiding and evading confrontation.

Should the confrontation is unavoidable you must be ready to disable the assailant with speed, precision and iron clad determination. Hesitancy in such situation will only jeopardise your chance of survival. Always remember that your assailant may be more agitated than you are scared so any hesitancy in your action will be follow by dire retribution by the assailant.

In learning martial arts one should not only go for the forms, like blocking, punching or kicking but one must also focus on mental training. In ancient time, mental training comes in the form of meditation however, given today furious pace of living having to meditate for a minimum of 4 hours a day is not practical.

The alternative is to engage in mental visualisation of a "what if" scenarios. This kind of mental visualisation has been used by most atheles in sports and it has a proven record in achieving results.

So, when you go around looking for a martial arts school to join, do make sure that they have qualified instructors not only in free form sparring and katas demonstration but importantly that they actually put aside time to instruct you in meditation based on mental visualisation.

Lastly, having learnt martial arts would not transform you into a Bruce Lee or a Hang Tuah, the best defense is still to be alert and observant of your environment and avoid placing yourself in a disadvantageous position.