“It’s much more complicated,” warns Jakub Otipka against simplifying self-defense. “Everyone would like to know specific grabs right away, but they are of no use if they are not mentally prepared for the conflict,” he points out. He has been practicing self-defense for 20 years and trains both civilians and security forces. For Aktuálně.cz, he explains how not to get drawn into the conflict and why it is important to first define your relationship to violence.
“It has never been as safe as today. This is simply a statistical fact, despite the cases that come to us every day,” Jakub Otipka opens our interview in the gym in Prague’s Nuslí, where he teaches krav maga. Otipka started this self-defense system twenty years ago after he himself became the victim of a brutal attack at the age of 14 and was placed in the witness protection program.
Over the years, he was not only promoted to instructor, but he is also the director of the Czech Krav Maga Association, for several years he was even in charge of the development of the entire self-defense system of krav maga around the world. Likewise, krav magu, which is originally a set of techniques developed for the Israeli security forces, is taught worldwide not only by professional troops, but also by civilians.
Photo: Tomáš Vocelka
“Various films and stories that reach us, for example, depict rape as an act of the street, something that takes place in a park or in a dead-end street by an unknown person. However, statistically, approximately 85 percent of the victims know the rapist in question,” he points out. He points out that by delegating security to the police or the army, we do not encounter potential danger from a young age, but adds in the same breath that people lose the ability to take responsibility and deal with the situation that has arisen. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be life-threatening extremes.
“For example, most of the bullying and abuse is from a known collective – club, school, work, home. Most such predators are also able to use the social context, to dress decently in order to appear distinguished. They will explain very well that they are doing it for your good and you have yourself to blame,” he warns.
While we are discussing, on the tatami next to us, a Krav Maga course is being finished under the guidance of one of the trainers. Every now and then groups of couples shout at each other. “Get away from me! Get out!” But everything is played, the participants pretend to be in conflict with each other in order to simulate real situations. But why do they fight rather than use different self-defense techniques?
“One must first be able to handle any crisis situation emotionally,” explains Jakub. “Everyone wants to teach grasping and touching right away, but for me it’s the opposite. We can teach people anything, but if they don’t have the emotional and rational availability for it, it’s a waste of time. Our brain freezes in stressful situations, we’ll face danger and we won’t nothing at all – and that’s completely understandable.”
Therefore, during the courses, they try to exert pressure on the participants to a certain extent. “However, it requires immense sensitivity, kindness and knowledge. It is important that our environment is physically and emotionally safe, because we often work with people who have experienced assault, bullying, domestic violence, rape…”
According to Otipka, there are two good reactions to mentally demanding exercises – either she voluntarily participates in the exercise, or she backs out of it immediately. “The worst thing is when he goes into it against his will, for example, he is afraid to reject the instructor or he is afraid that he will be the only one who does not want to do it. On the one hand, we have overcoming discomfort, on the other hand, setting boundaries. And it is great, when someone uses rejection as self-defense, it strengthens self-esteem and reinforces boundaries.”
How not to raise a victim
With her team, Otipka also trains military units, protection teams, SWAT teams and other security units around the world. In addition, the civilian population also exercises and in projects such as Security for the elderly a Safety Academy teaches the most vulnerable population groups how to take care of themselves in terms of safety.
“When I give lectures at schools, I ask children how to deal with bullying. Every time I hear: ‘Let’s go report it to the teacher!’ It scares me, because in this way we only cultivate a victim mentality in children. I discussed with them whether it is better to tell the person concerned first, because he may think that it is still a game, he does not know that it is bullying. In such cases, it is important say stop, take responsibility for your experiences. Only when it doesn’t work, it’s a good idea to seek help. And we learn this practically, not theoretically. That’s why we create more psychologically challenging situations in a safe space in our courses.”
Photo: Tomáš Vocelka
Meanwhile, Otipk’s colleague and instructor Ladislav Sedlák joins us. He has been involved in Krav Maze for 13 years. He just listens to our conversation for a while, but then he contributes to the debate himself. “At trainings, people often ask when they have the person in question, if someone persistently and intrusively begs money from them on the street, to ‘reach out’ to a potential attacker. But there is no answer to this. Feel free to talk to him about his life, or let him they refuse to be in a hurry. It’s important that it’s a conscious decision, that it comes from them. That’s what we’re trying to guide them to do.”
“And after all,” adds Jakub Otipka, “on the physical level, we have decades of experience that hurts us. A kick in the groin, a stab in the eyes, a blow to the neck. It’s simple, no techniques are needed. We’ll do anything when we feel threatened, and we’ve known how to do it for tens of thousands of years. What’s more, we’ve had it locked in the ‘this is wrong, this is not done’ drawer since childhood, and we lose a rational approach to it in situations where it makes sense to open that drawer.”
Evolutionarily, self-defense is much older than all martial arts. “That’s why at the beginning of the course I tell the participants that they already know everything, I’ll just help them find it in themselves, open the Pandora’s box at the right moment, which is evolutionarily in each of us,” says Ladislav Sedlák.
Both trainers generally advise each other to compare possible scenarios in advance, which can occur anywhere – from the park and the street to the work or home environment. As already stated, in the middle of a conflict, an untrained person cannot come up with anything, and it is therefore important to define a relationship to violence in advance. “The goal is not to induce paranoia, but to make a person find his own peace,” instructs Jakub Otipka.
The art of being subtle
The way aggressors choose their victims is also a big topic. “They are most often looking for dominance, so they logically look for the easiest ones. This is often determined by their posture. But nothing should be overdone, on the contrary, if we were to ‘do the shoulders’, it could attract a different type of attacker. For me, it is optimal to be inconspicuous in the good sense of the word ,” explains Jakub.
“What to do when we get into a cross?” Jakub repeats the question. “To be calm, to stay together, above all not to jump on the aggressive wave of the other. Sometimes it is a terrible wave of energy that rushes at us like an avalanche. The defender or the victim must develop the energy in himself capable of facing such an attack. If I give an example : someone comes up to you in a pub saying you’re looking at their girlfriend. It’s fine to calmly reply that she reminds you of someone you know. Or if someone stops you in a car and scolds you because you passed them, it’s a good idea to apologize that you’re in a hurry to pick up a baby wife or simply to the toilet. And I remind you again, it’s not possible except through lived experience.”
Soft skills play just as important a role in self-defense as physical abilities. “We can learn to communicate, set boundaries and say no in any situation, from unsolicited calls to harassment on the street,” concludes Jakub Otipka.
