With the rise in interest in self defense practices, including the martial arts, in the 1940s and during the Second World War, the demand for various kinds of self defense products exploded. Indeed, for the first time in centuries, during the 1940s, everyday citizens around the world began seeking not only self defense training but various types of self defense products as well.
This trend can be traced on into the 21st century. The civilian population's demand for various types of self defense products has continued unabated. Indeed, the demand for such self defense products has kept increasing significantly over time.
When it comes to self defense products in the 21st century, there are a number of different avenues a person can take to find such self defense products. When looking for self defense products, the first question to ask is what type of self defense training a person is interested in pursuing.
For example, the type of self defense product that will be most appropriate differs between a person is interested in using the martial arts for self defense, and a person who is not interested in the martial arts. A person interested in martial arts will be likely to make an effort to learn martial arts a person, while a person uninterested in martial arts may turn to something like pepper spray or similar type of self defense products.
Someone interested in the martial arts is less likely to purchase self defense products such as tools and devices. Rather, such a person will be more inclined to purchase self defense products such as martial arts training aids. Also, these people will be likely to purchase such things as padded mats and gloves to assist in martial arts training.
Besides buying self defense products that have a practical application in today's world, many individuals collect vintage self defense products. One particular era of interest to these people are the hand to hand combat books of World War II and the 1940s. (As mentioned previously, during the 1940s there was a marked increase in the number of civilians who began self defense training, including the martial arts. Thus, there are some interesting types of self defense products from the World War II Era that are actively sought by collectors.)
A collector interested in historical self defense products is able to see how the popular types of self defense products for a given era reflects the perception of society as a whole to self defense and self defense training. In many ways and on many levels, self defense products reflect the face of a society as a whole.