Times of India Chennai :: Martial arts a rage for those on the road

Motorists Join Self-Defence Classes — From Karate To Krav Maga — To Cope With Violence While Driving

Chennai: You’ve heard of self-defence instructors modifying lessons to cater to women. Now, you’ve got martial art instructors in Chennai teaching men and women how to defend themselves against increasing incidence of road rage. And to make sure the setting is just right, cars and bikes are brought to the classes to simulate real life.

What do you do when someone tries to hit you through your window? Or a motorbike rider and his friend stop you on the road for bumping into them? Or an autorickshaw driver gets violent over the fare? Students here take turns as bike riders and drivers and learn to defend themselves through open windows and doors and balancing on bikes.

“We train our students on how to handle all this. Some guys even come to class asking what to do if he is riding and other riders harass his girlfriend or wife who is riding pillion,” says Krav Maga instructor S Sreeram, who adds that of his 70 students a large number of the men have come asking about how to “handle road conditions.” Krav Maga is a hand-to-hand combat technique developed in Israel, which focuses on threat neutralisation and simultaneous defensive and offensive manoeuvres.

Additional commissioner of police, Chennai traffic, Shakeel Akhter says there are not many road rage cases that are registered as people end up sorting out the matter out themselves, but he admits there have been a number of cases of speeding and drunken driving. “As per our statistics, as of July, 23,000 cases of speeding were booked this year, while we’ve had 7,000 cases of drunken driving,” he says.

The spurt in the city’s vehicular population in the last five years has clearly outpaced efforts to improve road infrastructure, resulting in greater levels of stress for motorists. Prabhu S, 30, a software engineer, says he joined Krav Maga because he wanted to know how to handle his own road rage as well as be in control when things go out of hand.

“There is a liquor shop near my house and it can get pretty unsafe sometimes. Less than a year ago, a bunch of drunk men on bikes banged into my car and I rolled down the window and started yelling at them. They parked their bikes in front of my car and asked me to get out. We all ended up abusing each other but I was frightened. I was lucky they did not start hitting me,” says Prabhu, who adds that he felt helpless despite being a weightlifter. He says he feels a lot more confident after starting Krav Maga lessons.

It’s the same story with 43-year-old dentist Dr D Arunachalam, who says that he used to encounter a lot of drunk drivers on bikes on his way home from the hospital, especially late at night. “We learn several simple and subtle techniques that bystanders won’t even notice there is a fight going on. For instance, we have something called the ‘educational stop’ where we stretch our arms to stop someone from getting closer. Our fingers are positioned straight at the Adam’s apple and the slightest nudge can make him feel choked,” says Arunachalam, who has been learning for the last six months.

Other martial arts instructors in the city too say these days dealing with road rage is one of the first questions students ask them. “I tell them to carry playing darts with them. If someone hits them and runs, I tell them to just throw the dart — it cannot kill but it is extremely painful,” says karate instructor Shihan Hussaini.

Anger Managament on the move

Psychiatrist Dr Vijay Nagaswami on how not to get worked up on roads

The best way to deal with road rage is to prevent it. Once you’ve crossed the limit in terms of anger, there is no going back. When it comes to road rage, wearing a seat belt is possibly the equivalent of counting to ten. Strapping yourself down before you head out on the road is a good enough way to keep yourself from jumping out of your car to fight Anticipate that there are adverse road or traffic conditions that might lead to minor bumps on the road, which means it is best to practise defensive driving

• Take responsibility for your rage; you cannot blame anyone else for it
• Lead a balanced lifestyle – even a little physical exercise everyday gets rid of negative energy
• Listen to calming music in the car, not the head-banging type that gets you worked up

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