February, 2010:

Go Home Safe To Your Family!

Self Defense w/ Jiu Jitsu Martial Arts Training

No matter what your line of business, your number one job is to Go Home Safe to your family! I’m a paramedic in NYC who’s experienced more than one close shave; they scared me enough to want to pursue self defense training, which I believe has saved my life more than once in my, over ten year, 911 career. Details of my experience are noted in My Story.

Are you an EMT, Fire Fighter, Paramedic, Nurse, Social Worker, or just an ordinary Joe or Jane on the street, who’d like to have an added element of security, confidence, and control? Jiu Jitsu Martial Arts is one of the most effective tools in mastering Self Defense. Why? Because Jiu Jitsu doesn’t rely on size, strength or athletic ability, but on using an attacker’s energy against him.

I have specially designed classes to teach the basic elements of jiu jitsu self defense to the beginner, intermediate and advanced student. JOIN US by clicking on the >> Join Us << link, or on the “Classes” tab on the top right side of this page.

Or, if you have a question, or need a little more information, please >> Contact Us << at your earliest convenience.

Published by: Dave Heuthe, American Kobe Jiu Jitsu Federation Black Belt & Certified Instructor. Dave provides group personal defense classes where lessons are taught in various locations, privately, at Bob Malvagno’s School of Self Defense, and through in-house work programs (e.g. -Fire Department, employer, churches & synagogues, community centers, etc.) in the Nassau County and Sufflok County, Long Island (LI), NY area. Dave’s business is to provide programs that help his students (adults, seniors, teens & children) master self defense. BECOME A CLASS MEMBER TODAY!

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Martial Arts as an Evangelistic Tool

Feb 17th, 2010

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The Gospel & Martial Arts

By Dave Heuthe

In our society there are many options competing for people’s free time. One of the challenges of the church is how to find ways to share the gospel so that people will attend the event. Right off the bat let me say that I’m not talking about altering the gospel in any way.

The gospel of God is that man is basically sinful, completely unable to save himself and so in desperate in need of a savior. God has graciously provided that savior in the person of His own Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross as a substitute for sinful man. When God opens a person’s eyes to see this and gives him faith he then repents and believes and is saved. That is the true Gospel. The method of communicating the gospel can vary as long as it doesn’t violate other principles found in God’s word.

Now when most people think of martial arts they think of fighting, monks and Bruce Lee kind of stuff, but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about self-defense, learning how to be safe in a dangerous, sinful world.

We can serve the community that God has placed us in by helping them better deal with the world they live in. In this way the gospel and the concept of self-defense are compatible. The reason I can say this is because self-defense is all about staying safe. True self defense teaches you to avoid conflict whenever possible. The scripture states that we are to live at peace with all men as much as it lies with us. There are times however when conflict cannot be avoided.

By offering a community self-defense course you could draw people into your church that might never set foot there. You would offer them something they would see as of value to them and their family and weave the gospel into the course which could bring them the one thing they really need, salvation. This could be done as an after school program. You could teach the children and then have a graduation/demonstration program and end with a gospel presentation. You could do it as an Adult Ed program at night. Many school districts offer courses the difference would be you would be offering something far more valuable, the gospel.

The scripture teaches us that we are to serve people’s natural as well as the spiritual needs this type of program would do both.

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Can the sight impaired be taught martial arts?

Feb 11th, 2010

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Anyone Can Be Taught Jiu Jitsu Martial Arts Training

By Dave Heuthe

In the 70’s TV show Kung Fu one of the masters in the temple was blind. In fact he seemed to be Cane’s primary teacher and mentor. There was such a bond between the two that years after he left the temple Cane traveled to meet master Po for his birthday. There was also a TV show, Longstreet, in which the main character was blind. In one episode Bruce Lee was a guest star who taught Longstreet Kung Fu. Is this just TV hype or can a sight impaired person be taught and more importantly effectively perform martial arts. In my experience they can.

First of all let’s remember that being blind or sight impaired has a legal definition. The continuum is from those who are legally blind, in regards to driving a car, to those who have no sight at all. Given this span the degree of ability varies greatly, but with time, patience and properly tailored instruction they can be taught.

One concept is this: Every weakness is a strength, every strength a weakness. What does that mean? We all have strengths and weaknesses, that’s a fact. How we view them is just as important. For example, if you’re small someone might look at you as an easy mark. A strong attacker might drop his guard assuming you cannot defend yourself. If you can defend yourself he’s made a fatal mistake. He will be quite surprise as he looks up at you from the ground. In the same way a sight impaired person, who is trained, has an advantage because the attacker will assume that he can just walk up and assault or rob him.

How do you teach the sight impaired martial arts? First of all we must realistically look at the limitations of the student in choosing a style and understand, to be effective the sight impaired student must be in close contact with the attacker. Therefore, Jiu Jitsu with its combinations of infighting strikes locks and arm bars would be the most easily learned and most effective style.

Second what method of teaching do you use? The main challenge is that you cannot use visual cues. To say “Do this” or “move this way” doesn’t help the sight impaired because he can’t see what you’re doing. Like with any other skill it needs to be broken down into well described steps. Once you walk through the technique the student can begin to work off his other sense cues like touch once he acts out the movements with a partner. The more he practices the more natural the movements become and therefore the faster they are performed.

Thirdly, the student needs to how to rely on her other senses in jiu jitsu the same way she relies on them for the other situations in her daily life. It has been proven that the brain actually remaps itself using the portion that is normally used for sight and using it for other senses making them more acute. This is taught by testing the student’s senses and demonstrating to her how she connects with her environment.

Fourthly, like any other skill it takes practice. With all the instruction and work with the instructor if the student does not practice with a partner the newly taught skills will be lost. With diligent practice a sight impaired person can learn to defend herself in real life situations.

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