Self-Defence for Senior Citizens: Time for Tai Chi
Australia isn't an especially dangerous country (aside from the wildlife). The rate of robberies has declined in recent years. Living in Australia, you may never experience a violent crime, but this doesn't mean you shouldn't take precautions. As a senior citizen, you might occasionally feel vulnerable—like you're a potential target due to your age. Nobody expects you to morph into Bruce Lee, but there is a range of martial arts that can become an efficient self-defence tool for senior citizens. It might be time to look for a self-defence class that teaches the Chinese art of tai chi.
Form and Motion or Combat
You might think of tai chi as being a series of slow movements, almost like yoga. This is one way in which the martial art can be practised (and in tai chi, it's known as taolu), primarily concerned with form and motion, without the need for a direct opponent. However, tai chi can be a combat martial art (a type known as tuishou, or pushing hands).
Fluid and Low-Impact
Because the required range of motion is fluid and low-impact, it's an ideal style of self-defence for seniors. Like all martial arts, it requires discipline, with the end result meaning that the practitioner (which is you) should be able to instinctively maintain their stance (balance), accommodating an incoming attack while avoiding the direct force of the assailant before releasing or redirecting the power back at your attacker.
Points of Vulnerability
Regardless of how far you progress with tai chi, you shouldn't think of yourself as Batman or James Bond ready to incapacitate your opponents in an acrobatic manner. In terms of self-defence for senior citizens, it's more a case of sufficiently disabling an assailant so that they break off their attack, allowing you to escape. When tai chi progresses to sparring, there's an emphasis on targeting points of vulnerability, such as the eyes, the throat, and the genitals. Don't think of your self-defence classes as fight training, but more as training that should allow you to end a fight so you can get to safety.
As a senior citizen learning tai chi for self-defence, it can be helpful to think of your new skills as a type of insurance—beneficial to have, but you hope that you never have to use it. Look for self-defence classes you can enrol in near you to start your training. You'll likely learn to defend yourself and have a good time.