Personal Defense

Can the sight impaired be taught martial arts?

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.

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!

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

How to Fight if You Need to Defend Yourself

May 25th, 2009

by admin.

1 comment

How to Defend Yourself

Often times we find ourselves in need of defense. Is it over something trivial? Then walk away. If you really are in a sticky situation, run or yell for help. If all other options fail then follow these steps.

Steps

Yell for help first if you are confronted by an attacker.
Run if possible.
If you must fight, get into a low stance with legs bent.
Be aware of your surroundings, watch the attackers center of gravity, be able to Know when and at what direction he will attack.
Block punches with your forearm or open hand, block kicks the same. If possible simply dodge the strike.
Attack when they are off balance. After an attacker strikes, they usually are not totally balanced and can be caught off guard. A sharp kick to the side or legs can cause lots of damage. Punch to the side of the face or use an elbow. If you punch someone squarely you could break your hand.
Knees and Elbows work best close range.
Don’t kick to the head unless you have a good opportunity or are trained to do so.
Many attackers try to take you to the ground and so try to stay on top of your attacker.
If you can’t overpower them, then return to a standing position or try to hit an attackers pressure point. i.e. neck, ribs, or biceps.
Once the attacker has been weakened or injured run for it. Try to find a policeman or call 911.

Tips

Most importantly always report that you have been attacked. It is vital to be able to claim self-defense in court.
Always try to talk or bargain your way out of a situation before it occurs.
Even the strongest opponent can have bones broken and can have pressure points used against them.
Pressure points can be found anywhere a bone attaches to muscle or where joints are connected as well as nerves.
To learn more take a self-defense class.

Warnings

Anyone can be hurt in a fight.
Always know that you can go to jail for hurting somebody if it isn’t for self-defense.
It cannot be stressed enough that the best thing to do if confronted by an attacker is to run.

Article Source: Wiki-How – How to Defend Yourself

Republished 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!

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

85 Year Old Defends Self

May 2nd, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

One is Never too Old to Defend Self

granny defends self

Believe it or not, here’s a real self-defense story of the day? It’s the pistol-packing, 85-year-old grandma edition. Story details on how elderly woman defends self found here.

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

What is self-defense

Apr 14th, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

Self Defense – Another Look

Self-defense is the ability to come out of violent situations alive and if possible unhurt and with all of your possessions. For most persons, self-defense is learning how to beat someone up (or use any other suitable technique like throws, locks,…). This is the stuff you will learn in most martial-arts or self-defense classes. Unfortunately this is only a part of the whole self-defense business. In my eyes, self-defense consists at least of the following parts:

Conflict prevention
Conflict avoidance
Situation analysis
Fear control
Deescalation
Running away
Use of violence
Stopping the use of violence
The law

In the following I will try to explain what I mean by the respective points.

Conflict prevention

The most important part of the whole self-defense business is something that is hardly self-defense at all. It is the prevention of any conflicts. Important factors in conflict prevention are education, guidance, tolerance and parents/educators attention (and maybe to a certain degree, punishment). These are measures that have to be present from the beginning and are lacking in certain cultures, regions or groups in society. If they are not there, they have to be built up step by step, until a peaceful society exists. Each individual can influence its surrounding by increasing the level of non-violence through his actions (the most extreme case for this is certainly mahatma gandhi). Other ways are the legal system, education by the parents or the education system.

Conflict avoidance

The standard sentence “don’t walk down dark alleys” tries to capture the meaning behind the conflict avoidance subject, it goes much farther than simple rules though. Avoiding a conflict can start by not going to places (the dark alleys) but for this, these places have to be identified and it has to be possible to not go there (if you work near such a place or in such a region, you just have to go there). It continues with the standard “how to behave” rules like having straight posture, looking up, walk confident and so forth. These things help to a certain extend (and good posture is anyway a good thing). The next thing and this is where it starts to become harder, is to watch your surrounding, try to identify people that don’t belong there or look suspicious and try to go out of their way if possible. This is hard as most people have much better things to do than to be suspicious all the time. You can train to be subconsciously aware of your direct surroundings (the people around you and how they behave) as you are aware of your surroundings when driving a car (how the vehicles are driving, braking and turning) .

Situation analysis

As soon as a potentially dangerous situation arises, it has to be analyzed as fast as possible to decide what actions have to be taken. The analysis includes the following:

What is the “level” of the situation (angry glares, hefty discussion, punches flying, rage,…)
Number of attackers and who is their leader
Number of attacked persons
Are weapons involved
Are improvised weapons around
What is the location (a forest or in the middle of a supermarket)
Is there help available
What are the escape paths

Each of these factors influences what you are going to do next. You have to learn how to judge these factors and take your decision as fast as possible as soon you detect a self-defense situation.

Fear control

When a self-defense situation arises it is possible and even probable, that you will be filled with fear. This is normal. You can learn to cope with this fear. This means, that you have to prepare yourself and train how to overcome this state of fear (the fear won’t go away) and still do something despite the fear. This is partly something you can try to train by simulating fear-like situations and partly something that you have to mentally prepare by visualizing situations that can create fear and what you have to do when they arise.

De-escalation

Many nasty situations can be solved by purely talking to the attacker(s). Whether this is possible largely depends on the state of the attacker(s) and how far the situation has escalated so far. The tools you can use to deescalate are to be found in subjects as rhetoric and psychology. Some means you have at your disposition are apologies, agreement (it’s harder to be angry at someone who agrees with you), avoid contradiction and so forth.

Running away

A very clever solution to many self-defense problems is removing yourself from the scene. In most cases this can be done by running away, but driving away, taking the next bus or entering a building can lead to the same result. Running away can be a solution at any point of a confrontation, before it starts, after an attacker has hit you, after you have hit him once and after you have controlled him.

Use of violence

Applying violence is the last resort you have when being attacked. You try to inflict enough damage or control to your attacker so that the fighting stops. The use of violence is the main subject that is taught in most martial arts classes. It should contain at least the following points:

technique against unarmed and armed attackers, standing and on the floor
development of force, stability and speed
learn how to fight (take away the fear of hitting and being hit)
positional judgment of the attackers
vulnerable points of the human body
training of situations (attackers that grab, punch, shove,…)
simulation of the reality (as close as possible in a controlled environment)

There are many teaching methods on how to learn these things.

Stopping the use of violence

As important as it is to recognize when to start using violence, it is to stop using violence. This can be the case in these situations:

The attacker is no longer able to defend himself (you become the attacker)
The attacker is fleeing
The attacker does no longer attack (e.g. he became reasonable)
Another solution becomes the preferred one (e.g. the attacker’s friends turn up and you should start running)
The police arrives and starts to intervene

The law

As soon as a violent confrontation is over (and in some cases even after non-violent ones) someone (most of the times the counsel for the prosecution) will see if there is need for an accusation. If this happens, the accused person will have to defend itself on a trial. Even when you act in self-defense it can happen that you are this person. It may not be clear from the outside, that you were the one who was defending himself (the attacker or witnesses can lie), you can also have exaggerated the violence you used in the given situation (many countries have laws to cover these cases). If you land in such a situation it is certainly advisable to get yourself a good lawyer. But more importantly, if you train your self-defense, train for appropriate behaviour and actions. It is very bad to train how to smash someones larynx (a deadly technique), when he just slaps you on the cheek. If you train that way, the probability is big, that you will act the same way in a real situation.

Conclusion

Self-defense is a very complex subject and has to be treated that way. Most self-defense courses focus way too much on the violent part of the whole thing. It is very important to give the other parts a more prominent part in the teaching of self-defense. Each of the points I mentioned so far could easily fill a whole blog post (or even a whole book). So maybe I will take up on one or the other and expand on it at a later point.

Source: Ste’s Self-Defense

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Why martial arts for seniors?

Apr 7th, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

Stay Young Longer

self defence cane fighting Why martial arts for seniors? Or, to pay lip service to being pc, why should boomers and old folks be interested in a martial art? Simple answer: reversing or slowing the effects of age. Sorry, I can’t help with the grumpiness! Actually, exercise is a great stress reliever and mood elevator so, maybe I can…<grin>. When I googled effects of age +exercise, I got 9,880,000 hits. It is a huge topic. Huge. And you’ll never find this article hidden under all that! If your understanding of the martial arts comes from the movies as it does for most people, then you can be forgiven for thinking that only 20 year old hard bodies practice the traditional martial arts for fame and fortune.

seniors self defence women's self defence

The reality is that many folks over fifty train for health and relaxation and to prepare for later years. One five time winner of the U.S. national grand championships won his division titles while in his sixties, having started his training in karate at forty-seven years old because he was double his health weight and had developed heart problems. As the fitness generation edges up into their pre-senior years they have kept their commitment to fitness for health and have refused to go gently into muscle loss, frailty and balance problems. In their search for a stronger and healthier retirement they have the support of a number of university studies that have focused on identifying the process of ageing and methods to slow the process down. Dalhousie University in Halifax reports that after the age of thirty the changes of ageing; loss of muscle mass and strength, brittle bones and tighter joints are inevitable. Since these changes are exactly the same as the deterioration you suffer from an inactive lifestyle, if you do not exercise into your forties and fifties you are in effect doubling these detrimental body changes. This greatly impacts your quality of life during retirement. The good news is that the ageing process can be drastically slowed down by exercise, which also reverses the losses attributed to an easy rider of the easy chair lifestyle.

“Active people decline at a far slower [rate]…that means that people who are physically fit can lead an actve life longer. They’ll be able to take care of themselves [better than] someone who is sedentary.”

~ I say: DUH

They also claim that it is never too late to gain the benefits of exercise whether you are looking for muscle tone, muscle building (size) or joint loosening. Emotional benefits of starting an active lifestyle at any age include feeling better from the release of stress and tension, decrease in depression and increase in self confidence. Osteoporosis (brittle bones) and balance problems also decrease. While Victoria doctor Richard Backus, whose credits include the dramatic recovery of Olympic rower Silken Laumann, is mostly involved with the rehabilitation of injuries, he has found that his work translates well into the special problems of the elderly.

“Much of the ageing we see is not an inevitable process but rather a decline due to prolonged inactivity. We need to reactivate those people.”

Even if you are presently nursing an old injury, exercise and not rest is one recommended cure.

“Activity is the key to recovery from soft tissue back injuries, not extended bed rest,” says Dr. Kelly Flannigan of Victoria’s Summit Rehabilitation.

Dr. Flannigan is also known for prescribing martial arts techniques to help show clients how to use legs and hips properly, in order to save their back from extra stress.

But why a martial art?

Self Defence Martial arts training is deeper than mere self defence although you may become prepared to defend your family in the training. I have seen a lot of improvement in my mature students over the years. My Raising Canes students are particularly quick to achieve confidence in self defence. The oldest student I ever taught was eighty-four years old and had significant loss of eyesight. Not having an interest in working through the belt system or self defence, this gentleman started karate training to offset his personal fraility. He gained significantly in his joint looseness, flexibility and balance. His strength increased to the point where he started to feel that the self defence aspects of the art might not be outside the limit of his years. He only quit when his eyes failed totally. Fitness I too am a bit of a late bloomer, not starting my training until I was in my mid-twenties. When I realized how old and out of shape I felt at twenty-five, I knew real old age would be a disaster. But I also realized that every day putting off the pain and other costs of working out would make my life that much more painful later. That started my martial arts career. Now at sixty years old, with thirty-five years of training behind me, I have never been as strong and balanced as I am now. I relate the success of my mature students to the fact that I can structure the classes so that everyone only competes against himself and not others. I know that no person over the age of forty or fifty has the energy or stamina of a twenty year old and usually has different goals. If you do become interested in practicing a martial art, look for a club with the ability to accommodate a wide range of goals that has a proven record of providing service to a wide range of student ages.

Martial arts training is a great life time activity

It is ever changing and there is always something new to learn and something old to perfect. A sprained ankle sidelines a volleyball or badminton player but the karate-ka will merely switch to hand drills and the grappling arts for the duration of the injury. Those who play old-timer hockey or slow pitch have an off season and martial arts training can bridge the gap and ease season opening trauma. The training itself is a perfect complement to all other sports, especially those demanding coordination and balance. Karate training has stayed fresh for me, even after thirty-five years of repetition because the amount of material is beyond anyone’s ability to digest (or perfect) in one lifetime. Karate teaches by means of choreographed forms called kata. The learning curve (and therefore the sustained-interest curve) rises steeply into the stratosphere as you become proficient with the basics and learn how to learn the kata. The kata can be done at home in any spare moment. Martial arts training is perfect for all those who hate the mindless repetition of jogging or aerobics classes. Add in the enjoyment of learning about the culture of origin of the style you choose, and another world of learning and opportunity for growth presents itself. The list of physical improvements you can expect from most martial arts training include: increased anaerobic efficiency and aerobic fitness, increased strength and flexibility, increased endurance and stamina, and increased muscle tone. Increases in balance and coordination will be experienced relatively quickly. These changes will enhance your abilities in all your activities in your broader lifestyle. Though a dedicated exercise like running or weight lifting will show greater improvement in that exercise, martial arts training usually hits the full scope of related body needs: balance, agility, gracefulness, strength and flexibility. Character improvements available in the training include: increased self esteem, self confidence and assertiveness, which is not to be confused with aggressiveness. Relief from the effects of stress are quickly reported. Also the classes themselves tend to teach the (younger) students emotional control, how to work co-operatively in a group, how to lead a group as well as initiative and independent learning. As you can imagine, quick thinking and problem solving become a way of life very quickly.

Source: Defend Yourself 101

Adapted & republished 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!

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Safety strategies for EMS

Mar 31st, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

How to Stay Safe

By: Dave Heuthe

How can we as EMTs and paramedics stay safe? Our job puts us in potentially dangerous situations every day. We deal with the public in a similar way that the police do. People call us for help and they expect us to solve problems or resolve disputes that they can’t resolve on their own. Though we don’t deal with criminals in the act of a crime, we do deal with people who, for a variety of reasons, medical and/or emotional, may see us as a threat.

Emergency situations can escalate very quickly into a physical confrontation. This is where the police have a big advantage. They have weapons. We don’t. They are trained and authorized to use deadly force. We are not. So how can we deal with the reality of our job? Is there a way we can stay safe with the limitations we have? I believe there is.

In a previous article entitled “Awareness: our first and Best Defense” I wrote about how to avoid dangerous situations, but as you know we are not always in full control, mistakes happen and we can find ourselves face to face with danger. What do we do then?

Here are some basic strategies to stay safe.

1) If you find yourself in a dangerous situation LEAVE. If it’s obvious that you won’t be able to treat the patient, GET OUT OF THERE and call for the police. You remember them, the guys with the guns. It’s nice to get a medal for heroism, but not posthumously. People will talk about how brave you WERE, but your family will still be without you.

2) Speak in a calm voice. Don’t allow your emotions to take over. Don’t shout or yell. The Bible says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath.”

3) Don’t challenge. If a person puts his fists up don’t mirror him. He’ll see that as a challenge, which could escalate into a fist-fight. Step back with your hands out, palms facing him, saying, “I’m just here to help you.”

4) Put your ego in your pocket. We can’t allow ourselves to take what people say, in the heat of the moment, personally. Others may insult or accuse you, but remember they don’t know you. It really doesn’t matter what they say so let it go.

As I said before mistakes can happen, but if you follow these simple rules, your chances of going home safe are greatly increased.

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

ATM Safety

Mar 26th, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

Avoiding ATM Robberies

ATM cash machines have been incorporated in our way of life. They offer a real convenience to those on the run, but at the same time offer an element of risk. Using an ATM machine safely requires awareness and a little planning. Just because an ATM machine is open and available twenty four hours a day does not mean that it is safe to use it.

Most ATM robberies occur at night between the hours of 8PM to midnight. ATM robbers are usually males under the age of 25 years of age and most work alone. ATM robbers usually position themselves nearby waiting for a victim to approach and withdraw cash. Most ATM robbery victims are women and were alone when robbed.

Most claim that they never saw the robber coming. Most ATM robbers used a gun or claimed to have a concealed weapon when confronting the victim and demanding cash. If you or your family members use the ATM cash machine on a regular basis, here are some tips that can make the process safer:

• Carry a stun gun, pepper spray, pepper gun, or mace spray
• Use only ATM machines that are in a well lit area with high traffic areas. Don’t use ATM machines that are remote or hidden such as being located behind a building, behind pillars, walls or away from the public view.
• Choose an ATM machine that looks and feels safer, even if it is a couple of miles out of your way. Try and limit your use to daylight hours. Take someone with you after hours, if you can. When you drive up to an ATM location, scan the area for any suspicious persons. If you see anyone suspicious standing nearby or sitting in a car, drive away. When you approach an ATM on foot be prepared and have your access card ready. Memorize your personal PIN number to prevent loss and speed the transaction. Never accept help from a suspicious male ahead of you at the machine.
• If you use your car, at a drive thru ATM machine the same rules apply. Keep the car in gear, with your foot firmly on the brake, while using the ATM machine. Keep a close eye on your rear and side view mirrors during the transaction. Robbers almost always approach from the rear on the driver’s side. If you see anyone approaching, drive off robber, just give up your money without argument.
• Avoid ATM machines adjacent to obvious hiding places
• Have your card ready and leave quickly, not counting your cash in public
• Beware of offers for help from strangers during an ATM transaction
• Don’t fight with or attempt to follow the robber
• Drive or walk to a safe place and immediately call the police
• If you are confronted by an armed robber, use your pepper spray, mace or pepper gun to defend yourself. The other option is to give the money to the robber and get out of there as quickly as possible.

Source: Lanes of Self Defense

Re-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!

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Awareness: Our 1st and best defense

Mar 12th, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

Self Defense Awareness

By Dave Heuthe

When we think about self defense we tend to think about physical techniques. We picture in our mind what we might do if someone grabbed or choked us. What if you’re walking down a dark street? Well, why are you walking down a dark street? Do you feel safe there? Feel safe? What does that matter? Most people don’t think it matters, but it does.

We live in a dangerous world and what makes it more dangerous is that most people are blissfully unaware of it. If ignorance is bliss you would think you’d see more happy people. All kidding aside the best way of being safe in a dangerous situation is to avoid being there. Wouldn’t it be great if someone could tell us we’re walking into danger before you get there? Like when you’re watching a horror flick and the victim is about to go in the basement. You know what’s down there but they don’t. So you yell “DON’T GO IN THERE”. But they don’t listen, they never listen. They walk right into DANGER. Wouldn’t be great to have a voice to warn you? YOU would listen. Well you DO have a voice and YOU DON’T LISTEN!

We do have a voice to warn us. We call it our gut, a funny feeling, the hair standing up on the back of your neck. What is that, intuition, a sixth sense? No.

We as human beings can only focus on one thing at a time. When we are walking down the street, thinking about something, looking at something that’s what we are focused on. The rest of our senses, however, are still active. They are receiving input from our surroundings but because we’re focused on something else we ignore them. Well, where does the information go? Do we forget it?

Studies have proven that we never forget anything. The information goes into our subconscious. Once there it can trigger a memory and cause the same feeling we had at the original event. It’s not about memory it’s about recall. We can look at our brain like a computer. There is lots of information but if you don’t have the file name you can’t get to it. When we pick up something or someone out of the corner of our eye, smell something odd, hear something strange, our brain accesses the file that causes the feeling of danger.

So what do we do? We listen to the voice within us. The next time you have that funny feeling, don’t ignore it! Look around check out your surroundings. If there is someone there they no longer have the element of surprise. If there’s no one there good, you’re safe and that’s the goal GO HOME SAFE.

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Tips for Jiu Jitsu Beginners

Mar 10th, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

Important Tips for Jiu Jitsu Beginners

During my journey into grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I have come across several principles and pieces of advice which have greatly accelerated my progress. I often find myself wondering just how much further ahead I would be today if I had known of them at the start of my training. It is for this reason that I try to ensure that the beginners I teach and my private clients are aware of them at the start of their grappling careers. The tips below are the ones I feel are most significant for the beginner.

Prepare your body for training

No matter what anybody tells you, you need a certain basal level of strength and fitness to get the most out of jiu-jitsu. You do not play sports to get fit – you get fit to play sports. The fitter you are, the more relaxed you will be during the sparring segment of your classes and therefore the more your mind will be able to absorb. A good level of cardiovascular fitness will speed up your recovery between sparring matches and between training sessions themselves. Resistance training and the increased muscle hypertrophy and joint strength it brings will go a long way in the prevention of jiu-jitsu related injuries.

Contrary to popular belief, an expensive gym membership and a bunch of machines and equipment are not a necessary requirement for getting fit. All you need is your own body, a small space and a degree of willpower. I will be including sample workouts in future posts to this blog.

Leave your ego at the door

Your ego can be a great (if not the greatest) hindrance to your progress as a grappler. As a beginner you will tap often. Nobody likes to submit in front of the other students and spectators at their academy. Acknowledge that it is your ego that causes this discomfort and then do everything you can to overcome it. Accept the fact that you will be dominated and beaten regularly during the initial stages of your triaining and embrace it as part of the process. The time will come when you are the one causing the others to submit, but before then you will need to pay your dues. But remember that you should not be doing jiu-jitsu to learn to dominate people and prove that you are the toughest guy around. You should be doing it to learn about yourself.

Try this as an exercise in gaining control of your ego: Make it your mission to be tapped fifteen times at your next class. Bizarrely, this will actually make you a better fighter. Firstly, because you will come to not fear tapping anymore, you will begin to relax alot more during your sparring. As we know, there is direct correlation between how relaxed you are and how quickly you will learn. Secondly, by letting opponents put you in compromising situations and submissions you will quickly become familiar with them. This familiarity will ensure that you are more composed and hence more likely to escape if and when you are faced with these situations during competition.

Focus on the basics

When you begin training it may be overwhelming trying to memorize and incorporate all the techniques you learn into your game. There is something you must understand and that is that you do not need a thousand different moves to be good at jiu-jitsu. There are so many grapplers out there who can demonstrate hundreds and hundreds of techniques as well as the counters to them and even the re-counters to those. Most of these guys cannot put even a fraction of this technical knowledge into practice against a resisting and determined opponent. A technique only becomes a skill once you can use it successfully in a fight. As Bruce Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Replace ‘kicks’ with ‘armlocks’ or ‘chokes’ and the same holds true for grappling.

After 8 years of training I still find myself coming back to the most basic movements and techniques and trying to refine and tweak them to reflexive proficiency. As a beginner you should take a handful of simple things and work on them until they are part of you. Focus on the high percentage, fundamental moves such as the snake/shrimping motion and the bridge. This will ensure that you lay a solid foundation for your entire game.

Work on the things you find difficult

After many years of training it will be more difficult to break bad habits and correct weakness you have developed. If you are intelligent, you will not allow the these negative tendencies to take hold when you start training.

Overspecialization breeds weakness. If you are a someone who loves to fight from the top and has no bottom game, sooner or later in class or competition you will meet someone who you cannot dominate from the top and your lack of ability on the bottom will cost you.

If something is difficult for you, make it your focus. For example, if you hate playing from the guard, make it your number one priority during training. Try to get your opponent into your guard whenever possible and work from there. If you are diligent and can accept that you will have your guard passed many times in the beginning (leave your ego at the door), soon your guard will become strong. This applies to all positions and techniques.

For more tips and lessons visit http://jiujitsubrotherhood.blogspot.com/

Nicolas Gregoriades
http://jiujitsubrotherhood.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=S_Kent

Re-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!

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Email This to a Friend

Link HTML:

Permalink:

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Staying Safe in Todays World

Mar 10th, 2009

by admin.

No comments yet

Stay Safe!

Depending on where you live, crime rates are either getting higher or lower. Regardless of where you live, it still pays to be aware of personal safety and self-defense. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, U.S. residents age 12 or older experienced approximately 25.9 million crimes during the year 2000. An amazing 6.3 million of these were violent crimes. That’s less than the year before, and even less than the year before that, but it still sounds like a pretty big number to me.

These potentially violent crimes can happen anywhere, from big city to small town, in your home, your workplace, your car, or almost anywhere. I don’t mean to be an alarmist, but we need to take crime more seriously, and there are several things we can do to take special care that we do not become the victim of crime, violent or not.

Here are a few safety tips to consider:

Never carry large amounts of cash, and keep only small amounts of cash in your home. A robber who doesn’t find what he’s looking for will usually move on.
Consider installing video surveillance equipment in your home and in your business. Not only will it help you to get a conviction if you ARE robbed, but devices such as these can actually decrease the chance of a robbery or burglary if they are displayed openly.
If you do things late at night, like jog or go to the gym, or make the bank deposit for your business, vary your time and route occasionally. You never want to develop a pattern that an assailant could use to his advantage.
Stay aware of your surroundings at all times, especially at night leaving restaurants or clubs, or using the ATM. Keep a steady pace and look straight ahead, making quick checks to your sides. Muggers are less likely to approach a person who seems alert and in control.
Carry a self-defense device, whether it be a stun gun, mace or pepper spray. You don’t want to use these if you don’t have to, but if you’re accosted, quite often all you have to do is show or mention your device and the assailant will move on.

Whether you’re a homebody in the suburbs or a night owl in the big city, you are susceptible to possibly violent crime. It is of utmost importance that we make sure that we, along with our families, are as safe from crime as possible. With just a little forethought, we can make sure that we do not become victims or worse yet, statistics.

Source: Martial Arts & Self Defense

Share Self Defense Classes w/ Your Friends

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks