Kids Self Defense Class

I taught a self defense class for children during a summer safety camp. Fun times, most were great kids eager to learn and please. They were fairly smart and had some good questions and comments. The first part of the class was theory. I know, not really thrilling but so very necessary. We discussed how to keep ourselves safe so we don’t need to use self defense skills. We talked about how adults, mostly the ones with bad intentions, think and act.

The most popular question I had, and we are talking 12-15 kids out of 40 asking me this with very eager faces, was…. “So what would you do if you were surrounded by 4-6 guys that want to hurt/kill you?” I brushed off the first few but after a while I had to ask them

“How old are you?”

“9-11 years old….. (their age range)”

“And exactly where do you hang out that you are worried about this kind of attack?”

This was a good time to review “How to stay away from dangerous places, The Buddy system, Let your parents/an adult know where you are at all time”… because apparently they weren’t listening very close to that part of the lesson.

The problem is that a lot of those kids had martial arts training, TKD or Karate mostly. They already knew everything, why pay attention. I am not knocking either one of those arts. Martial arts training for kids are a great idea. But one part that is a bad idea is when they train for unrealistic things. We need to train our kids for things that will most likely happen to them. According to some of those kids, they could take down a guy that would shove a gun in their face, they could fight off a herd of ninjas, but not very many knew why it’s a bad idea to go help a person they don’t know to go look for his/hers “lost dog”. Yes make believe is fun and all kids (and a lot of adults) do it. But training to save your life should be based in reality.

“Train for what happens the most and you will be prepared for most of what happens”- Marc MacYoung NoNonsense Self Defense

Another bad part of their training is that they are sent home with a sense of false confidence. They think they can carry a real fight with a 250 lbs highly trained operator and win. What they learn in their class is mostly sport applications that is performed with people in their own weight class or even larger opponents that is taking it very easy on them. They never had to “test” their skills. When your skills are never tested, they either never achieve their intended results or they rust. You start doing things half ass since it really doesn’t matter. You know you are getting out of it anyway. They have illusions that things will work just like they do in the movies. You kick the gun out of the bad guy’s hand with a spinning round house kick, you take him down with one punch to the chest and you ride away in the sunset with the pretty girl. That is fiction. This is not even close to reality.

We are doing our kids a HUGE disservice when we train them in such a way that they go home thinking they are Captain America.

Another point is we all talk to our kids about “stranger danger”… at least I hope we all do. But how many trains to actually role play those scenes that are so much more likely to happen to them then being surrounded by a roving band of mercenaries.

Taking care of your kids is not just about providing for them. It’s also about teaching them to be able to take care of themselves.

Be smart, stay safe and teach your kids to do the same!

Great article from Marc MacYoung

Self-Defense: Deadman's 10, Hollywood BS, Fence and Not Getting Killed

Survival of the fittest

“Survival of the fittest”

This expression is often attributed to Charles Darwin and, although it appears in the fifth edition of his Origin of Species, 1869, it is there attributed to Herbert Spencer:.

We have all heard this expression before but what does it really mean? Survival of the strongest? Survival of the smartest? Survival of the richest?

Before we make a decision, let’s learn from nature. Who has survived out there, who has not. Theories are nice but proof is always in the pudding. Here are a few examples

· A dramatic change was too much for the dinosaurs. Most were not able to survive. It does not really matter if that change was climatic, meteorite impact, flood, there are still a lot of arguments on how it really happened, but the fact is they failed to adapt to the changes and became extinct.

· Bacteria have been designed to be adaptable. Their surrounding layers and their genetic information are actually capable of alteration.

· Flies have been around for 10,000 to 15,000 years. They have hair to keep them warm, they can eat anything, and they can live anywhere.

· The dodo birds lived on an Island. They could not fly and they built their nest on the ground, this made them very vulnerable. Since the birds were easy to capture, colonists soon consumed most of the dodo population. Animals they brought with them, especially dogs, cats, and pigs, ate the fledglings and broke the dodo eggs to consume the yolks. They were not built for survival. They could not adapt. They did not survive.

· The crocodiles have been around for millions of years. They have a sturdy constitution and do not seem to suffer from any indigestion. They also have an extraordinary ability to go without food. They are made rough and tough and heal better than most other animals. In addition to being hale and hardy, let alone fast and fierce, crocodiles are also smart. They seem to learn quickly, particularly to avoid dangerous situations.

• · The current shark species as we know have been around for 100 million years. Their anatomy has been improved over those million years of evolution. Sharks have undergone two major adaptation phases and survived at least five mass extinctions that many other creatures did not. Sharks are able to adapt to different environments.

• · The old, the very young, the sickly, the slow… those are the animals that get attacked by predators. Their lack of ability to stick with the rest of the herd during a dangerous situation will prevent their survival.

I see a pattern here, do you?

The fundamental law that governs this world is CHANGE. Nature favors those organisms most capable of adapting to ever-changing conditions.

So survival of the fittest really means survival of those who are the most capable to adapt to their surroundings, circumstances. It’s about resiliency.

The ability to adapt is a critical tool for your survival. Many people can easily adjust to a wide variety of circumstances in order to deal with the different situations that can arise during their daily lives. Meanwhile, others will remain unyielding and go into extreme denial because they dislike change and prefer the familiarity of their established routine.

Change is not always comfortable. Change is not always fun. But there are times when it is necessary and inevitable.

By having confidence in your abilities during a crisis or an emergency, your ability to adapt to abrupt and life-changing events will help to make you a survivor.

People that are unable or unwilling to adapt to the changes around them are bound to decimate themselves.

Adaptability compromises a number of different traits that can help you to survive.

· Being reasonably healthy and fit

· Being reasonably intelligent

· Being flexible

Those are not only physical attributes but mental and emotional aspect should be just as strong. A balance state is always the strongest.

Not everything always go your way. If you let it crush you mentally, you are doomed. You have to be able to accept challenges and obstacles coming your way.

You also need to avoid going into a state of denial that will not allow you to adapt properly to your circumstances. You are only fooling yourself if you refuse to accept that your situation has changed because of a crisis or an emergency. It is our ability to adapt to our environment that has allowed us to survive some of the most hazardous and extreme conditions known to man.

You also have to be able to adapt physically. You cannot let diseases, injuries, and other physical dangers harm you to the point of no return. Just like the bacteria, shark and crocodile are able to conform to the need of their environment so do you. Hence why a reasonable amount of fitness and health is required.

All living things have to make adaptations to survive in their environment.

If the environment/ circumstances change and you can't adapt, you can't survive.

How does this applies specifically to self defense? You may have train for a specific purpose. You may have rehearsed different scenarios, different settings or set of circumstances that may apply to you. This is fantastic. But not everything always goes according to plan. You need to be able to adapt to a particular situation. If something is not working, you have to be flexible and be able to adapt and switch to something that works. This is another reason why learning principle based self defense versus just learning techniques may just save your life. Principles will apply to just about anything. Specific techniques may fail you depending on the circumstances.

Remember, survival of the fittest does not mean survival of the strongest physically but of the strongest mentally and emotionally as well. Some of the smallest creatures have survived and thrived despised their circumstances or environment. They made it work for them. Make it work for you!

What are you doing to survive and adapt?

Be smart, stay safe!!!

Just play

"Master your instrument, master the music, and then forget all that crap and just play."

-Charlie Parker

Over confidence

There is a huge difference between "confidence" and "over confidence".

Confidence is brought upon by good solid training, the kind you can rely upon working for you because you have proven to yourself it's effectiveness. Competence breeds confidence.

Over confidence is usually brought upon by poor quality training, the kind that let's you get away with poor techniques, or never let you break a sweat (physically or emotionally). It is also brought upon by the "couch training method". You know the kind where you either sit on the couch and watch people on TV doing something awesome and you think you'll be able to copycat them in time of need without ever practicing it, or when you see some unrealistic techniques and you start using them during a poor quality training session Either way, it might get you killed

Be smart, stay safe!!!!

Training against negative energy

There has been a lot of talk lately about training outside of your weight class because this is most likely the kind of person that will attack you.

There is always someone bigger and badder than you out there

Nightmare

Those blogs are so awesome, I can’t add anything.

But I want to discuss another side to this kind of training. Training against negative energy.

What does this mean? A lot of us are martial artists. We train in a safe dojo, with friends and partners we trust. Feeling safe while you are learning is a good thing. It frees your mind to absorb the knowledge. But you also need to put you newfound knowledge to the test. You need to know if it works. Kasey and Rory eloquently described that fact. Once you know your stuff, once you are confident it will work against larger opponent, you need to also test it during an adrenaline dump stage. Will this work for me when I am under extreme stress.

I can’t speak for men, I have never been one, but I can speak for women. One of the most stressful /scary time for us is having a large angry man coming at us with mean intents. This bad intent/negative energy is something so strong it can almost be touched. It is terrifying and paralyzing. A larger opponent during a sport match or an exercise is one thing; a larger opponent that is trying to rape you or kill you is a completely different animal.

You need to be able to experience it, to get “desensitized” to it for lack of better terminology. You need to know how you will respond to it before this becomes a real life and death situation. You need to work with it and build the confidence that “yes, I can do this… might not look as pretty as I intended it to, but I made it worked. I survived this confrontation and I am going home alive”. You need to be able to rely on this confidence. If you try to do something without a strong lack of belief in its validity, it will most likely fail you when the time comes that you need to depend on it.

So make sure you add this as a part of your training. Have a larger male come at you with anger, mean intent and solid threats. Experience the fear, the shaking, the adrenaline rush. Understand what it is like to work with only gross motor skills. Understand that your voice may fail you, that you may have tunnel vision, mind blocks. See firsthand what it is like to freeze under stress. Then learn to deal with it. Learn to go ahead despite all those draw backs and to be pro-active, to make a solid decision and to follow through with it. This is probably the most helpful self defense training you can receive.

Be smart, stay safe

VIOLENCE DYNAMICS SEMINAR INFORMATION

VIOLENCE DYNAMICS SEMINAR INFORMATION

VIOLENCE DYNAMICS

Violence happens by surprise - closer, harder, and faster than in most martial arts training.

The VIOLENCE DYNAMICS seminar bridges that gap and prepares martial artists to prevail against the realities of violence.

About the Instructors

Marc MacYoung

Marc MacYoung grew up in situational poverty in the gang-infested streets of Los Angeles. Before turning his life around, he freely admits he was 'part of the problem.' As well as living in some of the most violent and crime-infested areas of LA, he's worked as a body guard, bouncer and director of a correctional center. He's taught de-escalation and defensive tactics to police from nine different countries. He's the author of 21 books and videos on subjects ranging from crime avoidance to professional use of force to street knife violence and street survival.

Rory Miller

Rory Miller spent more than 17 years in a metropolitan jail system as a line officer and supervisor, investigator, tactical team leader and mental health specialist. He also spent a year teaching Iraqis how to run humane and effective prisons. He is the author of several books including; "Meditations on Violence", “Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected”, and Drills: Training for Sudden Violence

Kasey Keckeisen

Kasey Keckeisen is an experienced Police Officer, SWAT team leader, and SWAT training coordinator. Keckeisen has taught Control Tactics to Universities, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Special Operations Teams across Minnesota.

VIOLENCE DYNAMICS SEMINAR SERIES

9/25 Sunday

Buki Waza (Weapons Techniques)

9/26 Monday

Conflict Communications (A.M. Law Enforcement)

Conflict Communications (P.M. Civilians)

9/27 Tuesday

Force Physics (A.M. Law Enforcement)

Martial Mechanics (P.M. Civilians)

9/28 Wednesday

Practical Applications of Defensive Tactics

Day 1: Low Level (restraint) Force

9/29 Thursday

Practical Applications of Defensive Tactics

Day 2: Higher Level Force

9/30 Friday (Evening)

Martial Mechanics

10/01 Saturday (Morning)

Introduction to violence

10/01 Saturday (Afternoon)

Edged Weapons

10/02 Sunday (Morning)

Scenario Training

$75 for each class Or $250 for the entire seminar

CONFLICT COMMUNICATION (Marc MacYoung and Rory Miller)

How often do martial arts instructors advise their students to avoid violence? But do they ever teach how?

Martial Arts training has an emphasis on punching and kicking. But how much practice time do students get identifying when they are on the road to violence or how to get off that road without using physical force?

Conflict Communications provides that training.

The purpose of Conflict Communications is to teach you how to prevent conflict whenever possible and to minimize its impact when unavoidable.

Conflict Communication improves understanding of violence, and interpersonal communications.

Conflict Communication increases verbal skills and helps to make use of force less necessary (lessens the need)

If you're emotional and caught up in the default human conflict behaviors, the best de-escalation training in the world (Verbal Judo, C.I.T., etc) is of no use to you. You're not going to be able to do it.

The essential message of Conflict Communications is -

De-escalation starts with you.

Most conflicts can be successfully controlled by using the principles of this system. This isnot specialized education only a select few can master. The program is designed so anyonecan use it to prevent a conflict. This is done by teaching you to de-escalate yourself first.

Originally designed for law enforcement to be used when confronting violent felons, the principles of this program also works in business, social and familial situations

By understanding how and why confrontation occurs, Conflict Communications will show you conflict management, de-escalation, situation resolution and, if necessary, articulation of why action was both necessary and reasonable.

Martial Mechanics (Marc MacYoung)

Martial arts evolved in very dangerous times to deal with dangerous situations. In the modern era, where armed bandits and invading Mongols are rare, some of the hard-earned lessons of the past are easily missed.

"Almost every technique in the Martial Arts works," says Rory Miller, "If you know when and where to use it."

If you've spent years practicing your responses to violent situations, you owe it to yourself to spend two days studying violent situations. How do criminals attack? Why? How can I see it coming? Which of my skills evolved from dueling and which from ambush survival? What is the law on self-defense?

Martial arts can be used for effective self-defense -- if you know the concepts necessary to restore lost aspects, repair corrupted information and analyze errors in whatever martial arts system you study. Martial Mechanics focuses on those concepts.

Martial Mechanics is not a defensive tactics system or a “martial arts” style.

Martial Mechanics is a training method developed to enhance your ability to use the martial arts system you are trained in more efficiently. Increasing your competence, and confidence in your existing training.

Martial mechanics not only teaches you how to use what you know successfully in a violent confrontation, it also helps you understand what you don’t know. Martial mechanics teaches the physics that make martial arts work.

Knowing those fundamentals allows:

· Strikers to defend against throwers

· Throwers to defend against strikers

· Stand up artists to move on the ground

· Grapplers to move while standing

Martial Mechanics is an excellent opportunity to apply what you have spent years learning and know for sure that it is effective

Martial mechanics will not only make you better at applying force to a violent encounter, but will help you understand the fundamental principles that make the application of force possible.

Not only will martial mechanics make you better at your art, but will help better understand what makes your art work. Making you a better teacher

Martial mechanics enhances your ability to successfully use martial arts to defend against an aggressive violent real world attack and keep you out of the morgue, the hospital, or jail.

Introduction to Violence (Rory Miller)

Violence happens by surprise - closer, harder, and faster than in most martial arts training

Introduction to Violence focuses on using your martial art skills to defend against real world violence

Rory Miller says, "Almost every technique in the Martial Arts works. If you know when and where to use it."

Introduction to Violence focuses on when and where to use it.

Introduction to Violence teaches:

· How to apply your martial art system in a dynamic situation.

· How to choose, apply and justify an appropriate force response.

Introduction to Violence a non-system specific way to train yourself to adapt to emergency applications of force

Topics covered will include:

· Context of violence

· Efficient movement and evaluating efficiency

· Violence Dynamics (Types of violence)

· Self-Defense law

· Improvised weapons training

· Use of environment / terrain

· Force Articulation

· Action Debrief

· Peer feed back / counseling

Buki Waza (Weapons Techniques) (Kasey Keckeisen)

Buki Waza develops fundamental martial art principles through the use of traditional weapons training:

· Kenjutsu (sword techniques)

· Jojutsu (staff techniques)

· Hanbo Jutsu (baton techniques)

· Tanto Jutsu (knife techniques)

Fundamental Principles

· Structure

· Power Generation

· Avoiding / Receiving Force

· Positional Relationship

· Movement defeats strength

Buki waza focuses on the relationship between weapons techniques and empty hand techniques (Taijustu) strengthening both.

Topics covered include the relationship between weapons training and:

· Atemi waza (Striking Techniques)

· Uke waza (Blocking / Receiving Techniques)

· Kansetsu waza (Joint Locking Techniques)

· Nage waza (Throwing Techniques)

Students will have an opportunity to apply the fundamental principles in a live environment through sport chanbara Tsukinami-shiai

Tsukinami-shiai or “in house” tournaments are fun safe and educational way to incorporate force on force weapons training.

“If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball” – If you can dodge a bokken you can avoid a punch J

This is an excellent way to introduce weapons training to your own school, plus whacking each other with training swords is just fun

Equipment will be provided but a large turn out is expected. So if you have Chanbara or sparring equipment (head and face must be covered) please bring your own.

SEMINAR LOCATIONS

Mermaid Convention Center

2200 County Road

10, Mounds View MN, 55112

Keishoukan Dojo

2210 Silver lake Road, New Brighton MN, 55112

Scenario Training locations TBD