Newcomer Where can I avail self-defense training in BA

[CarliNeces]

With all these horror stories , I am hearing from all expats..I am beginning to get paranoid though I have been lucky to escape some incident so far. But who knows how long my luck will last.

Rather than leave it to god or my destiny, I want to do something about it.

I am looking for some self-defense training in a training school in BA or 1:1 in a park by some some private coach.

Any tips on such possibility of finding a school or a trainer for this kind of training?

I am a very tall guy with a good built..I want to maximize the advantage by learning some self -defense as well at least for a 1:1 combat in my house or on the road.

 

[AmirJacks]

With all these horror stories , I am hearing from all expats..I am beginning to get paranoid though I have been lucky to escape some incident so far. But who knows how long my luck will last.

Rather than leave it to god or my destiny, I want to do something about it.

I am looking for some self-defense training in a training school in BA or 1:1 in a park by some some private coach.

Any tips on such possibility of finding a school or a trainer for this kind of training?

I am a very tall guy with a good built..I want to maximize the advantage by learning some self -defense as well at least for a 1:1 combat in my house or on the road.

Arrgh, the problem with threads like this! You're not hearing from ALL expats, not even my point of view. It would be less than 1% of expats who ever comment on this forum.

No issues with learning self defense, never a bad thing for anyone anywhere to learn. But did you get the same urge living in inner cities elsewhere in the world? Or did you travel in South America and have the urge then??

Paranoia does feed on itself. I've been robbed twice - once in Kenya, once in Chile - does that mean I should be paranoid, stop traveling until I learn self defense, or just use common sense and continue to live my life?

(but like I said, nothing wrong with learning self defense as a general activity )

 

[Carlspmw]

Don't let these stories get to you!!! The bad stories here only represent a small percentage of what actually goes on!

Anyway if you are going to learn a self defense I recommend Krav Maga. It is straight to the point, really effective and a great workout. I have seen a few places doing it here but I can't remember where. So if you find a martial arts gym ask about Krav Maga.

But don't let paranoia or fear get hold of you! This is a biiiggg city so of course things happen but remember it's the minority of the time! Enjoy BA, at the end of the day it's a great city regardless of the some of the madness

 

[MiltonHouses]

Hey, say what you want, but there IS in fact more crime in BA and it IS more prevalent than a majority of the major cities in the world. I'm sorry...and if you think otherwise, you're kidding yourself. I would say it's pretty difficult to find an expat on this website that hasn't been a victim of a crime.

I think classes on prevention is the way to go rather than self defense. Also how to react when being a victim of a crime is great preparation for what may lie ahead. It's never a good idea to fight off a robber because they're usually armed anyhow, and down here they're not afraid to use it.

 

[CarliNeces]

If I am robbed on the road, I dont mind giving them my wallet with 1000 pesos and my iphone.

But if they rob me when I am sleeping in my house and want to take away my laptop with my data and my back up data and my i phone and my passport and my money ....I have a problem!

I want to be ready!!

 

[CarliNeces]

On another note, where can I take training in pistol shooting in BA. Not that I intend keeping one. I heard its possible in BA to take training

 

[earlyretirement]

I wouldn't be paranoid about these comments. While I think there is a lot of petty crime, I still don't let it bother me or make me worry too much.

I don't let it really effect me walking around at night. I'm not walking around sketchy areas and don't keep a lot of money or valuables with me.

My philosophy is don't carry around anything in the street you will be too bothered in losing. Just paying attention goes a long way.

Break ins at residential apartments, especially if you're in Recoleta or Palermo is very rare. I know it happens quite a bit outside of the Capital but in the city I've not heard problems of this in good areas.

 

[Lenono]

When you let others have the drop on you there's little else you can do but comply.
But daily life is not all about those extremes you describe with a paco-zombie aiming a loaded gun at you, so please do not stick exclusively to the extremes so your "do nothing" attitude makes it a reasonable stand.

Practicing some kind of combat sport will teach you about fighting attitudes, body language, timing, etc.

You must learn how to look at your environment, how to flow in it and a lot of other things that work with preventing being an easy target and eventually how to react if you become one. There will be a lot of shades of grey, not just black or white situations.

If your spidey senses tell you to get the hell out of Dodge, you listen to them. You can work on them and do your best to train those senses to your advantage.

It's fine to have a passive attitute, You just go ahead and do that. It will probably keep one or to roaches off my back and more interested in yours.
But learn to keep a cool head, you will need it. During and after the facts. Fear is extremely contageous.
If you take some measures to protect yourself you wont feel so helpless if sh*t happens. Research PTSD and study how it manifests itself.

Anyways, do what you feel is best for you but try not to object to others determinations. To each its own. It's definitely PERSONAL.

 

[Dexter]

I can only hope that people are sensible enough to realise that if you are attacked for money / personal items the person attacking you values their life a lot less than you value yours.

Comply. Give them your belongings, stay alive and stay healthy.

Certainly be aware of danger, plan so that you don't expose yourself as an easy or worthwhile target, but once attacked switch to comply and survive mode.

Thoughts of attacking your attacker are moronic, egotistical and based on having watched to many hollywood movies where the bad guys can't shoot straight and single kick or punch renders them unconscious.

It's not about feeling helpless, it's about recognising the safest path out of bad situation and congratulating yourself for coming out healthy and unscathed.

Anything else is extremely bad advice.

 

[Lenono]

I wasn't picking on you, my apologies if it looked like I did.

Unfortunately, it seems you must go one way or the other (a prey or a predator-as seen by the lamb's eyes-), that is not the case. Also these seem to be sort of political stances, fervently defended/attacked. There's absolutely no point in doing that.

We must learn and teach our children. We must work with all the data available and not disregard some of it because it doesn't "please" us. There 's a lot of unpleasantness out there, denial won't make it go away. BTW tell that to Garré, now her statistics have noticeably improved, real life didn't get the memo, though.

 

[bwyonsea]

I think anyone who attacks someone pointing a loaded gun at them for a Macbook Pro or an iPhone or money or any other material thing is pretty idiotic.

Compliance always works with people who are "stable". Sure, a professional robber points a gun at you and all he or she wants is for you to give him or her what you have and let him or her get away with it all. And that is exactly what you should do. Let the robber have everything they ask for because you can always buy it all back.

The problem is, everyone on this thread who jumps up and says "oh no, comply! Oh horror!" seems to forget that there are also plenty of "unstable" people like drug addicts or just plain insane people who don't really know what they want and will shoot just because they feel like it. This is highly unlikely of course, but it does and can happen.

My stance is that if its your life or the life of your loved ones on the line, you do not want to be in a helpless situation.

As for Krav Maga, disarming four guys or girls at the same time is probably not possible but it is quite possible to disarm one person using Krav Maga. Krav Maga is considered by many as the most practical way of defending yourself. I don't know how much you know about Krav Maga, sleslie, but one of the first things they teach you is that if you see trouble coming, run in the opposite direction. Krav Maga was created in the streets for the sole purporse of survival by people whom the police or the military didn't want to protect and at times those two forces were the enemy they needed protection from.

This has got nothing to do with hollywood or Chinese movies (would have been a more accurate reference). It also has got nothing to do with art (Karate). And last but not least, it has got nothing to do with your ego, if anything, any sane instructor of Krav Maga would tell you to take your ego and shove it where the sun don't shine.

Let's all be practical and not pretend to know about things we have no idea about.

PS: Just want to add that even disarming one person isn't a "piece of cake".

 

[Lenono]

Fear not the gun, you'd be barking at the wrong tree.

The mortal enemy is the guy holding the gun. And he is either a professional, there to do a quick and effortless job, or a punk, who doesn't give a sh*t and has no life. So he doesn't have a clue what having a life means.

 

[earlyretirement]

Honestly, I don't think there is any big risk of your place getting broken into if you practice good common sense.

I've only heard of a few incidents where people had things stolen from their properties and each time it was just plain stupidity.

1) I met this guy from Europe before that admitted he got robbed not once but twice. But get this...he was picking up random gay guys at some club and bringing them home. The first time I guess he got robbed. The guy put something in his drink and he woke up the next day with his laptop stolen.

This foolish guy a few nights later went back to the same place he met this guy and picked up another guy and got robbed again!

2) I heard about a few foreigners that picked up prostitutes and brought them back to their place. And in their place they had tons of expensive stuff like ipads, ipods, iphones, laptops, etc. All out in the open. The next morning when they woke up they had stuff missing.

Honestly, if you are careful and don't let strangers in your place your odds of getting robbed are very slim if you live in an apartment in a nice neighborhood.

If you do feel the need to bring strangers home then just have any valuables locked away and preferably in a safe that is not in view.

I'm sure there are LOTS of ex-pats (both males and females) that are going to pick up people at bars/clubs but if you are careful about it you will avoid problems.

Even if you live in a nice apartment and it's nicely furnished, if you keep a low profile and use common sense who you allow in your place.... your odds of getting broken into are not likely.

 

[CarliNeces]

I have been living off and and on in BA for 6 years. Luckily, never got robbed etc

I know 3 people personally who got robbed in their homes in last 6 months and hence my quest for preparedness.

Case 1 : Guy sleeping in the afternoon ( noon nap after lunch) at home. Wakes up and finds himself bound to bed. Everything stolen. He did have a history of hiring prostitutes but that day he was alone.

Case 2 : Girl ( normal girl not a working girl ) comes home from office and finds home ransacked.

Case 3 : A couple ( normal couple/ no prostitute involved) making love in their apartment hearing a knock on the door. Guy opens the door and "hey presto"..Gun on his head..Everything stolen in front of his eyes.

All these 3 different buildings had no concierge service though!

 

[Lenono]

Not so sure anymore.

Recently I approached a police officer to ask a simple question and overheard on her radio that there were 6 individuals ranshackling a building somewhere near.
That sh*t is becoming more and more frequent and was unheard of a few years ago.

The odds of me overhearing that transmission is what scares me most. Got a few friends in the Forece and they also tell me is not uncommon anymore.

It's not just you that has to screw up. Any of your building's tenants can open the door to the wrong people. or they might gain access otherwise.

Back on topic, what is needed are just a few names or places and not you opinion on how the law abiding are to behave. It still remains a simple fucking question.

 

[earlyretirement]

I have been living off and and on in BA for 6 years. Luckily, never got robbed etc

I know 3 people personally who got robbed in their homes in last 6 months and hence my quest for preparedness.

Case 1 : Guy sleeping in the afternoon ( noon nap after lunch) at home. Wakes up and finds himself bound to bed. Everything stolen. He did have a history of hiring prostitutes but that day he was alone.

Case 2 : Girl ( normal girl not a working girl ) comes home from office and finds home ransacked.

Case 3 : A couple ( normal couple/ no prostitute involved) making love in their apartment hearing a knock on the door. Guy opens the door and "hey presto"..Gun on his head..Everything stolen in front of his eyes.

All these 3 different buildings had no concierge service though!

Wow...this is not the norm. What neighborhoods were these in? I'm the first to admit that petty crime has drastically increased but I hadn't heard of places getting broken into like this becoming a big problem and I literally know hundreds of locals/friends there.

Absolutely if the guy in case #1 was seeing a lot of prostitutes probably she let her friends know about this guy.

I've only known one person that had her place broken into but she lived out in San Ysidro where I'd say it's more likely but most of my friends live in Recoleta, Palermo, Puerto Madero, Barrio Norte and Belgrano and not the norm there.

 

[CarliNeces]

Wow...this is not the norm. What neighborhoods were these in? I'm the first to admit that petty crime has drastically increased but I hadn't heard of places getting broken into like this becoming a big problem and I literally know hundreds of locals/friends there.

Absolutely if the guy in case #1 was seeing a lot of prostitutes probably she let her friends know about this guy.

I've only known one person that had her place broken into but she lived out in San Ysidro where I'd say it's more likely but most of my friends live in Recoleta, Palermo, Puerto Madero, Barrio Norte and Belgrano and not the norm there.

Case 1 : Barrio Norte

Case 2 : Apartment building right next to Plaza Italia subte station

Case 3 : A nice building in Las Canitas. In case 3, they even threatened to rape the girl cos the guy was resisting the robbery, plus his Spanish was zilch.

 

[earlyretirement]

Case 1 : Barrio Norte

Case 2 : Apartment building right next to Plaza Italia subte station

Case 3 : A nice building in Las Canitas. In case 3, they even threatened to rape the girl cos the guy was resisting the robbery, plus his Spanish was zilch.

Yikes! Those are nice areas. That's disturbing to hear about so many cases of break ins with apartments. I literally know tons and tons of locals and not heard of this many break ins.

Yeah, I guess if I had 3 friends that all got robbed I'd be paranoid too.