This week has been declared Security Week 2008. The police force is here to assist you in your difficulties, but it has now become important to be able to defend yourself with your hands. ?Attack me and I?ll make you sit with one finger and stand up with two fingers!? You are surprised? I was too but I?m not anymore. I?m convinced I can make it. You are likely going to ask how?

A few more questions before giving you the answers. When situations become part of daily life, what are you going to do if you are likely to be the victim of an assault? What are you going to do when there is only you and your aggressor and no one to rescue you? What are you ladies going to do to defend yourself from a rapist, who is throwing himself upon you? Well! Jujitsu is the answer to apply to take your security in your own hands.

Jujitsu is a self-defence martial art. The core of it compromises a system of throws, joint locks, strikes, strategies and ground fighting. Based on the principle of using an aggressor?s energy to one?s own disadvantage, Jujitsu skills can be used by men, women and children, to counter aggressive situations ranging from unwanted harassment to armed physical assaults.

This martial art is not based on strength but rather on knowledge, skills, techniques and speed to counter attacks made on you. Jujitsu gives you the ability to prevent yourself from being attacked with an arm, it gives you the right reflexes about when, where and how you shall attack the aggressor and how to immobilize him. It is important to highlight that the principle of Jujitsu is not to attack. It is to defend yourself. That?s why it is called a self-defence art! The principle of Jujitsu says that you shall never attack first. Let your aggressor attack you first and then you start working on him, to defend yourself.

Learning it ?

But where?

You have to defend yourself and be able to get out of an aggressive situation safe and sound but at the same time, it does not mean that you can kill your aggressor or down him into a coma. You have to cause as less harm as possible to the aggressor as all you have to do is immobilize him. ?Jujitsu prepares you for the first attack made upon you and how to counter it even when arms are being used and that you are unarmed. It is not about harming or killing others but it is rather controlling and counter attacks to defend yourself?, explains Farook Pirbacosse, second Dan of Jujitsu Martial Art and Director of the Self-Defence School.

Besides self-defence, Jujitsu teaches you moral values such as honesty, integrity and commitment. It offers personal and physical development as well as strength improvement, fitness, fun, socialization, mental control, self-esteem and self-confidence. If you want to learn this art, there are several Jujitsu classes given around the island.

However, there are also the self-defence schools in Vacoas, Glen-Park and Paillote. There, you can find students aged five to 43 years old. Women, young ladies, children and men of all ages learn Jujitsu. The reasons for learning it vary a lot. If some want to defend themselves from risky situations on the road and in their professions, some want to learn it as they don?t want to become victims of domestic violence. ?We teach our students to defend themselves and escape from risky situations without hurting themselves and the aggressor. I have been the victim of an assault a long time back and I don?t want others to undergo what I underwent?, says Farook Pirbacosse.

The police are certainly doing a great job by providing various services to the public. But the police cannot be everywhere and at any time permanently. It also takes time for the police to make interventions and, by that time, your aggressor can harm you a lot. When you are alone and have no weapons to defend yourself; it?s up to you to take your security into your bare hands. Probably there would not have been so many victims of aggression if more people knew how to practise Jujitsu...