Dr. Soniya Dulal

I spent whole of my productive years in study and here I am armed with knowledge and skills of Medicine as Consultant Medical Oncologist. But, I always felt insecure either inside hospital wall where “hospital vandalism” by patients and care takers or relatives has been very common or while traveling beyond walls in an odd hour.
Hence, I and my niece, Albira Acharya, a Civil Engineer decided to get equipped with Aikido Techniques from the brilliant Guru Arjun Shrestha, the 5th Dan at New Baneshwor Dojo, Kathmandu. The “graceful moves” in self defence attracted both of us towards Aikido more than Dance and Jumba.
Despite my hectic schedule at home with a hyperactive kid and at hospital with high volume patients, we managed to learn great skills of self defence - Aikido.
Surprisingly, we gathered confidence to protect ourselves from the attacker in a risky situation, no matter how physically strong the opponent is.
Hence, I would like to express my gratitude to honorable Aikido Guru Arjun Shrestha and his team for transforming me from an introvert and meek female to a confident and bold lady filled with peace and harmony with positive attitude.
As no profession is immune of violence, I felt it is important to learn some self defence techniques since the predator will not ask who I am before an attack.
Globally, interpersonal violence resulted in 475,000 homicides in 2012 (overall rate of 6.7 per 100,000 population), of which 60 per cent were in males aged 15-44 years, making homicide the third leading cause of death for males in this age group, according to the Global Health Observatory (GHO) data.
This issue is not only devastating for survivors of violence and their families, but also entails significant social and economic costs. Violence against women is estimated to cost some countries up to 3.7 per cent of their GDP – more than double what most governments spend on education, according to the World Bank, September 2019.
One might avoid violence by staying out of harm by locking doors and windows but the escape is not possible because the threat of violence may also occur within four walls of own home, schools or work place or behind those doors, no matter which age or gender or which profession we are from.
Aikido, a modern Japanese martial art is the only art that uses non-violent techniques even in defence unlike other arts that need physical power and seem to be violent. The main Mantra of this art is applying the opponent’s power back to the opponent themselves. All the defence techniques in this martial art revolve around the principles of universal peace and harmony, which is the beauty of the Aikido.
Another beauty is – Aikido enables to defend against the attacker, no matter of size or number, with or without weapons. No matter whether you are a person of a small built or without a weapon, Aikido techniques support you to direct the force of the predator towards himself and you stay safe.
With these techniques, I am confident enough to act wisely in any circumstances and can bring any attacker under my control and keep myself safe though I am a woman and the attacker is physically stronger than me.
Yes, we all live with hectic schedule, but it isn’t impossible to manage quality time for your own safety by learning life saving techniques. Prevention is better than cure and preparedness is always better than response. Hence, I would recommend everyone to learn Self Defence techniques and live your life confidently, without fear. It’s never too late to begin.