As a parent, it is unimaginably painful to contemplate the case of Kelsey Smith, whose body was recently discovered after being abducted. But also as a parent, I feel more commited than ever to ensure my karate training is not wasted by forgetting to train my children in the essentials of self-defense.
Please make no mistake, I am not claiming that Kelsey Smith could have prevented her abduction if only she had known karate. Such a claim is cruel to the family, dishonors her memory, and pretends omniscience. The bitter truth is that our world is inhabited by ugly people who commit horrible atrocities. What I am claiming, is that as parents, we have an obligation to our children to arm them as best we can against the many worst possible situations that they may face, work to change our society where we can, and then pray every day for their safety.
The most imprtant rule of self-defense is avoid trouble. I think being in a mall, Kelsey was no more in trouble than any other public place. Being with friends might have improved her chances of not being selected for this horrible crime, but there are times when that's not possible. Awareness is also part of avoiding trouble. Be aware of tricks that attackers use to put their victims unaware and use innate politeness against them. Scenario training can make someone more comfortable resisting such situations without feeling stupid about over-reacting.
The second rule of self defense is to act quickly and fight like hell to protect yourself when trouble threatens. Teens in such situations need to scream, kick, gouge, and refuse to comply. Once you're in the back of a van, you are often well on your way to being dead. Please see this short video on karateforge. If you're reading this and are a self-defense expert, please contribute to the information on the site.
My heart goes out to the parents of Kelsey and all parents with children. Please suggest ways we can solve the bigger problem of bad people and vulnerable children. For example, is anyone aware of a fund for the reduction of violence against children and teens?
Showing posts with label self-defense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self-defense. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Karate vs. Bear
I was just walking in the woods with my wife. We love to get out in nature and train, so to speak, on the mountain paths. We've both been training about 8 years in Shotokan karate, but came on a situation and were untrained for the circumstances.
As we came around the corner, we came nearly face-to-face with a cinnamon bear (technically a black bear). We were within 10 feet and could see that he was huge, probably 300 pounds, beautiful, the morning sun was at a low angle and backlit his bushy fur, and his hunched shoulders made him look unopposedly powerful. And he seemed totally unafraid.
His lack of fear contrasted my reaction. I can't say I was afraid, but I could feel the adrenaline kicking up. I knew not to turn my back on any opponent - and I did consider him an opponent, but also knew not to engage to provoke a reaction. I kept talking to him, using a light command voice to create a boundary. He just stared back. I called to my wife to get closer to me and we made ourselves larger as a pair.
The bear just stared, and then apparently unimpressed, turned his back and wandered of in search of food. He looked back a few times, so we must have made some impression on him, but was largely unconcerned and sauntered rather than jogged away.
In my first draft of this story, I used the phrase "unprepared for the encounter", but as I typed, I realized that wasn't true. I changed the phrase to untrained meaning that we never explicitly trained for a bear encounter. I realized, however, that karate has prepared us, even for the unexpected, even if imperfectly.
Our training taught us how to react to situations. We had to control our adrenaline, to analyze a situation quickly, and to generate options. We also knew that while we felt some fear, we had to communicate total commitment to a possible showdown. I don't believe the bear was belligerent, but don't know if a fearful response on our part might have triggered an agressive response, either.
Should I run? Definitely not. Scream louder, maybe. Wave my arms? Maybe. Grab a stick? I should have. What I did do, depended on his reaction to us. I knew that many charges are bluffs, and was ready.
In the end, we both walked away, both unwilling (or at least uninterested) in tangling with the other. I'll claim it as a win. We reacted well, and won by not fighting.
As we came around the corner, we came nearly face-to-face with a cinnamon bear (technically a black bear). We were within 10 feet and could see that he was huge, probably 300 pounds, beautiful, the morning sun was at a low angle and backlit his bushy fur, and his hunched shoulders made him look unopposedly powerful. And he seemed totally unafraid.
His lack of fear contrasted my reaction. I can't say I was afraid, but I could feel the adrenaline kicking up. I knew not to turn my back on any opponent - and I did consider him an opponent, but also knew not to engage to provoke a reaction. I kept talking to him, using a light command voice to create a boundary. He just stared back. I called to my wife to get closer to me and we made ourselves larger as a pair.
The bear just stared, and then apparently unimpressed, turned his back and wandered of in search of food. He looked back a few times, so we must have made some impression on him, but was largely unconcerned and sauntered rather than jogged away.
In my first draft of this story, I used the phrase "unprepared for the encounter", but as I typed, I realized that wasn't true. I changed the phrase to untrained meaning that we never explicitly trained for a bear encounter. I realized, however, that karate has prepared us, even for the unexpected, even if imperfectly.
Our training taught us how to react to situations. We had to control our adrenaline, to analyze a situation quickly, and to generate options. We also knew that while we felt some fear, we had to communicate total commitment to a possible showdown. I don't believe the bear was belligerent, but don't know if a fearful response on our part might have triggered an agressive response, either.
Should I run? Definitely not. Scream louder, maybe. Wave my arms? Maybe. Grab a stick? I should have. What I did do, depended on his reaction to us. I knew that many charges are bluffs, and was ready.
In the end, we both walked away, both unwilling (or at least uninterested) in tangling with the other. I'll claim it as a win. We reacted well, and won by not fighting.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Karate and Authentic Learning
Authentic learning is a method of constructing learning experiences (you can't quite say teaching) that places the learner in the center of situations which as much as possible simulate the performance environment. Arguably, it is one of the most effective learning methods around. It also goes by the name apprentice learning.
Different karate dojos (learning environments) may or may not be authentic.
Before diving in to the question of whether karate is authentic learning, however, we have to ask - what is the performance environment? What are we trying to accomplish? Answering this question is the key to answering the other question -- is karate authentic learning? -- and answering it at the personal level -- is my karate authentic learning?
So, ask yourself, "What do I want to be able to do?"
The reason the question of authenticity is so important can be illustrated by the goal "Defeat a mugger." I'll illustrate with a story.
I began learning karate eight years ago. After about a year, I experienced my first free sparring. Because I had been learning traditional karate-do (the art form), I was very good at jabbing by extending my fist forward, lunging, and pulling my draw hand to my opposite hip. I attacked my opponent (a third-year student) with all my enthusiasm and confidence. I missed. Bam. With my draw hand pulled back to my hip, there was a huge opening around my entire right side, which my opponent's huge fist filled. His fist cracked into my head, drove my glasses into my head, popped the lens out of the frame, and left a half-inch, freely bleeding gash in my eyebrow. I was so stunned (literally) that I spun as I fell to the floor. Less hurt than disillusioned, but that hurt deeply in its own way.
The hurt was the starting point of my answering what do I want to get out of this practice? Do I want to be invincible? Not gonna happen. So what, then? I decided I wanted the following out of my dojo:
So, my recommendation, is to determine what you want out of karate and align what you want with your learning environment. If you're in your perfect environment, your very lucky. If not, you may have to talk with your current instructor to request custom learning, a change of lessons, or even advice on changing dojos.
What you can't afford to do, on the street, is find out that your karate was not authentic. I have a small scar to remind me how lucky I was to lose that sparring match.
Acknowledgements
I was inspired to write this column by the blog http://vickygraboske.blogspot.com
Different karate dojos (learning environments) may or may not be authentic.
Before diving in to the question of whether karate is authentic learning, however, we have to ask - what is the performance environment? What are we trying to accomplish? Answering this question is the key to answering the other question -- is karate authentic learning? -- and answering it at the personal level -- is my karate authentic learning?
So, ask yourself, "What do I want to be able to do?"
- Get a black belt.
- Defeat a mugger.
- Keep my family safe.
- Compete in karate.
- Stay in shape.
- Beat up the bully.
- Be part of a venerable tradition.
- Live through a war.
- Seek perfection of character. (See Funakoshi's Dojo Kun)
- Take down criminals.
The reason the question of authenticity is so important can be illustrated by the goal "Defeat a mugger." I'll illustrate with a story.
I began learning karate eight years ago. After about a year, I experienced my first free sparring. Because I had been learning traditional karate-do (the art form), I was very good at jabbing by extending my fist forward, lunging, and pulling my draw hand to my opposite hip. I attacked my opponent (a third-year student) with all my enthusiasm and confidence. I missed. Bam. With my draw hand pulled back to my hip, there was a huge opening around my entire right side, which my opponent's huge fist filled. His fist cracked into my head, drove my glasses into my head, popped the lens out of the frame, and left a half-inch, freely bleeding gash in my eyebrow. I was so stunned (literally) that I spun as I fell to the floor. Less hurt than disillusioned, but that hurt deeply in its own way.
The hurt was the starting point of my answering what do I want to get out of this practice? Do I want to be invincible? Not gonna happen. So what, then? I decided I wanted the following out of my dojo:
- personal drive
- health
- more safe (rather than a guarantee of safety)
- companionship
- last, and least, some art
So, my recommendation, is to determine what you want out of karate and align what you want with your learning environment. If you're in your perfect environment, your very lucky. If not, you may have to talk with your current instructor to request custom learning, a change of lessons, or even advice on changing dojos.
What you can't afford to do, on the street, is find out that your karate was not authentic. I have a small scar to remind me how lucky I was to lose that sparring match.
Acknowledgements
I was inspired to write this column by the blog http://vickygraboske.blogspot.com
Karate and the Wiki Community
If you're both a karate practitioner and a netizen, you've probably tried to use wikipedia to learn more about your martial art. As far as it goes, wikipedia is pretty good. As far as it goes.
What WP lacks, is depth of subject and proper orientation. WP is about karate not in support of learning karate. What the net needs is a community supported site. A site where we work to gether to capture and even develop new knowledge about learning and practicing karate.
That need is why we, members of the Palmer Lake Shotokan Karate dojo, created a wiki site for collaboratively building up the knowledge we'd like to see about martial arts, and karate in particular. That site is KarateForge - the place where karate can be hammered to our needs.
We're just getting started, but we already have articles on techniques that wikipedia doesn't have. And we cover those subjects from the I-want-to-learn-how perspective. Sure we throw in a little encyclopedic knowledge, but it's mostly about how.
We're also humble. We don't believe we know it all. Come join with us to create the Martial Arts Book of Knowledge (MABOK). Membership is easy and you will never have your email shared with commercial interests.
We're also frugal. We don't think it takes a lot of money to learn karate. We won't charge you a thing for membership.
We're also lonely. If you run a dojo and don't have a web page, come join us. Put your page next to ours and make this the place to go on the web.
If friends are not enough to convince you, think how easy it is to run a school where you can make announcements, refer to articles that you've written, and have lively discussion of the art vs. application of karate.
What WP lacks, is depth of subject and proper orientation. WP is about karate not in support of learning karate. What the net needs is a community supported site. A site where we work to gether to capture and even develop new knowledge about learning and practicing karate.
That need is why we, members of the Palmer Lake Shotokan Karate dojo, created a wiki site for collaboratively building up the knowledge we'd like to see about martial arts, and karate in particular. That site is KarateForge - the place where karate can be hammered to our needs.
We're just getting started, but we already have articles on techniques that wikipedia doesn't have. And we cover those subjects from the I-want-to-learn-how perspective. Sure we throw in a little encyclopedic knowledge, but it's mostly about how.
We're also humble. We don't believe we know it all. Come join with us to create the Martial Arts Book of Knowledge (MABOK). Membership is easy and you will never have your email shared with commercial interests.
We're also frugal. We don't think it takes a lot of money to learn karate. We won't charge you a thing for membership.
We're also lonely. If you run a dojo and don't have a web page, come join us. Put your page next to ours and make this the place to go on the web.
If friends are not enough to convince you, think how easy it is to run a school where you can make announcements, refer to articles that you've written, and have lively discussion of the art vs. application of karate.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Karate, Heroism, and Virginia Tech Tragedy
There are those of us who first come to karate because we believe karate will make us invincible. We believe that learning karate will ensure our personal safety, always. We have this illusion destroyed in our first sparring match with a senior student. If we're not dejected by this and quit, we continue training. We get better. If we train hard enough, we develop to the point where we can beat the average person in a sparring match most of the time.
But life's not a sparring match. Real life can involve attacks from behind, being jumped by a gang, or even attacked by a well-prepared, seriously disturbed individual prepared to die and take as many people as he can with him. So what is the point of karate?
The point for Karate's founder, Gichin Funakoshi, is to "seek perfection of character." Perfection of character includes many things, and I'm certain it includes heroism. Reading the story of Liviu Librescu is as fine a case of heroism as any ever written.
A recent article at CNN.com celebrates the heros of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Liviu Librescu was a professor at Virginia Tech. He was also a holocaust survivor. When he heard shots in the hall, he didn't think of himself - he thought of his students. He barred the door to the hall. It allowed his students time to escape. In the process, two students were wounded, and Professor Librescu was killed.
Karate isn't victory. Perfection of character means doing what's right. It means standing up to danger and taking the needed steps, regardless of the cost. Ideally, we survive. If not, we lived doing the right thing.
Liviu Librescu, I am humbled.
But life's not a sparring match. Real life can involve attacks from behind, being jumped by a gang, or even attacked by a well-prepared, seriously disturbed individual prepared to die and take as many people as he can with him. So what is the point of karate?
The point for Karate's founder, Gichin Funakoshi, is to "seek perfection of character." Perfection of character includes many things, and I'm certain it includes heroism. Reading the story of Liviu Librescu is as fine a case of heroism as any ever written.
A recent article at CNN.com celebrates the heros of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Liviu Librescu was a professor at Virginia Tech. He was also a holocaust survivor. When he heard shots in the hall, he didn't think of himself - he thought of his students. He barred the door to the hall. It allowed his students time to escape. In the process, two students were wounded, and Professor Librescu was killed.
Karate isn't victory. Perfection of character means doing what's right. It means standing up to danger and taking the needed steps, regardless of the cost. Ideally, we survive. If not, we lived doing the right thing.
Liviu Librescu, I am humbled.
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