Britons rush to take self-defense classes after the terrorist attacks. Demand has increased tenfold
The demand for self-defense classes in the U.K. has increased significantly after the country was hit by three terrorist attacks within three months, self-defense schools saying that the interest is so high they need to hire extra staff.
Reece Coker, chief instructor at the Combat Academy UK in Buckinghamshire said that the prospect of being attacked with a knife by a terrorist lead Britons to take self-defense classes.
”With bombings or shootings, people tend to think that there’s nothing much they could do. But with the style of attack that we saw at London Bridge, killers roaming the streets with knives, there is a sense, rightly, that there is,” Coker said for the Sunday Times.
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According to Coker, the number of inquiries had jumped by 70 per cent since the terrorist attack in Westminster in March.
Other schools reported a tenfold spike in inquiries in the immediate aftermath of last weekend’s terrorist attack on London Bridge, saying that they struggle to recruit sufficient instructors to cope with the demand.
John Aldcroft, head of the British Academy of Krav Maga, said such events typically generate a spike in demands for self-defense classes.
”The number of people signing up for our trial classes rose ten-fold in the 24 hours after the last incident. We’ve found that interest always spikes after these types of events — and they seem to be happening with depressing regularity now,” he said.
Also, traffic to the website of Urban Fit and Fearless in South London doubled after the last attack.
The business is run by Patrice Bonnafoux, a former commando in the French army, who specialises in practical self-defense “rather than the Jack Bauer (from 24, the American thriller) stuff”.
“Situations like this aren’t binary. There are always variables, always things you can do. Attackers like these are only interested in easy prey,” head of Urban Fit and Fearless, Patrice Bonnafoux said.
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