Personal Defense

If you were to ask a random person what the term 'self defense' means, you'd probably hear something like, "Defending yourself against an attacker." While there's nothing wrong with this common definition, it does lead one to think of self defense in a narrow sense as a physical act. As such, I generally prefer the term "personal defense" which I define as the act of preventing or defending against attacks carried out against one's self and others; and to a lesser degree the protection of one's property. This broader definition reframes the idea of self defense to include more than just the physical techniques used to fight off an assailant. From here, we can begin to explore these ideas with the personal defense framework.