THE LAW !

Do you know what the law is where you live? Many people don’t know the law as well as they should, some people rely on others for their information but do those people really know what they are talking about. I would humbly suggest to you that many of them don’t, even the people that you would think that should, too many of us rely on hearsay.

The law doesn’t expect you to know all laws but it does expect you to know the laws of your profession and any activities that you carry out. For instance I like knives I need to know when it is legal for me to carry and use a knife and what types of knives I can use where I live.

IGNORENCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE

If you’re driving down the road with your friend and your chatting away and you don’t notice the speed limit sign the legal limit has now just dropped by 20 km /miles per hour. Is the police officer still going to book you for speeding because you didn’t know it had changed? Of course they are. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know that the law exists or not, you break it and you can be prosecuted
In martial arts and combative training systems we learn many different ways / techniques to defend our selves. Are they always appropriate? Would a reasonable person do the same thing in the same situation? The law in Australia demands that you must act reasonably. Let’s look at an example you’re a dedicated practitioner of the combative arts you find yourself unfortunately in a situation where you are going to need to defend yourself and yo have every legal right to do so. You’re a good kicker and your technique of choice is a roundhouse / turning kick to the head. It works perfectly your opponent is knocked out unfortunately the bad guy hits his head on the concrete and dies. The question that now needs to be asked /answered and it will be in a court of law is would a reasonable person do the same thing in your situation. Here’s the thing, how many people do you know that have the talent and ability and have put in the time effort and training in to carry out this technique. What is the likelihood of the average person (who will be on your jury) thinking that what has happened being a reasonable response to the situation? Are you able to justify what happened in a heat of the moment in the cool cold atmosphere of a court room? Where people that are skilled with words are trying to twist and manipulate everything that you say, good luck. It does not matter what the technique is, if a technique is used in a manner that the average person would not consider to be reasonable you are going to have problems

CSSD/SC PRIDES IT’S SELF ON EDUCATING PEOPLE ON THE LAWFUL USE OF FORCE

You must know the law where you live, take the time to do the research and find out what the legislation is that covers self defence / use of force, know what you can and can’t do when you need to defend your self. Know what tools / weapons can and can’t be used and in what circumstances because you can not use a illegal weapon to carry out a lawful task. Above all be safe.

A wise man once said “to be aware is t be alive”