I mentioned in the last blog that we were moving. Well, that's happened and the new location is 105 Parr Dr, Huntersville, NC 28078.
The facility is still in the bumping in phase...we've got a wall to paint, a heater to hang, a hole to plug and more mats and a wooden floor to lay but it's getting close to done.
PALADIN PRESS
I'm working through the rough edits of the DVDs making any last minute changes that need to be done and, because of that, as well as it being the holidays, the launch dates looks like being mid-Jan. Will keep everyone posted as to the exact date.
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
Not much of a blog from a self protection view point but most everyone is with their family and friends anyway. I'd just say, don't drop your guard because it is the holidays, thanks for reading (and insisting I keep doing this) and look for regular and hugely informative posts in the New Year.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Due to popular demand...
Every time I try and get away from blogging to focus on writing another book I get a slew of emails asking me to keep putting them out.
So, with that in mind I'm going to get back into this on a regular basis and post at least once a week.
If there's any subject you want me to deal with in particular let me know and I'll get on it.
In the meantime I'll give you a run down of all the projects I've got going on (in a lamentable way to make excuses for my not posting on a regular basis).
So, the Paladin DVD series has been shot and the first few have been edited and are in the can. Expect a Christmas/early in the new year release according to everyone at Paladin. (great people to work with by the way).
The Krav school is going gang busters and we're moving yet again. The new location will be bigger and a bit easier to find and we shouldn't here quite the same amount of noise from our neighbors.
The shooting school aka Defensive Shooting Solutions, is up and running. Our first big class will be held Dec 28th and there's another smaller one before then that's semi-private.
The online University for my Combatives is about to relaunch. We got hacked by some jackasses in the Middle East and the rebuild is going on right now. Should be up and running again right before Christmas if all goes to plan.
Working on my newest book which is going to be on hard skills as opposed to the soft skills emphasized in "How to be Your Own Bodyguard." Hoping for a Spring release.
Just back from teaching a seminar for my brother Frazz in KC. Great bunch of people training up there...if you get a chance to drop in and work out with them you should.
Launching our kid's anti-bully martial arts program in the New Year...stay tuned for details.
Also, look for our teacher training program and expansion of Warrior's Krav. Kansas City is our first and Indiana looks like being next. Again, keep watching this space for more information on both the programs and school locations.
Finally, working on a new central web site where everything will be in one place; i.e. upcoming seminars, books and reviews, shooting class info, blog entries, TV/film work, the Paladin stuff, the online University, and so on. Going to be very cool.
Alright, look for an self protection themed blog post in the next few days...
So, with that in mind I'm going to get back into this on a regular basis and post at least once a week.
If there's any subject you want me to deal with in particular let me know and I'll get on it.
In the meantime I'll give you a run down of all the projects I've got going on (in a lamentable way to make excuses for my not posting on a regular basis).
So, the Paladin DVD series has been shot and the first few have been edited and are in the can. Expect a Christmas/early in the new year release according to everyone at Paladin. (great people to work with by the way).
The Krav school is going gang busters and we're moving yet again. The new location will be bigger and a bit easier to find and we shouldn't here quite the same amount of noise from our neighbors.
The shooting school aka Defensive Shooting Solutions, is up and running. Our first big class will be held Dec 28th and there's another smaller one before then that's semi-private.
The online University for my Combatives is about to relaunch. We got hacked by some jackasses in the Middle East and the rebuild is going on right now. Should be up and running again right before Christmas if all goes to plan.
Working on my newest book which is going to be on hard skills as opposed to the soft skills emphasized in "How to be Your Own Bodyguard." Hoping for a Spring release.
Just back from teaching a seminar for my brother Frazz in KC. Great bunch of people training up there...if you get a chance to drop in and work out with them you should.
Launching our kid's anti-bully martial arts program in the New Year...stay tuned for details.
Also, look for our teacher training program and expansion of Warrior's Krav. Kansas City is our first and Indiana looks like being next. Again, keep watching this space for more information on both the programs and school locations.
Finally, working on a new central web site where everything will be in one place; i.e. upcoming seminars, books and reviews, shooting class info, blog entries, TV/film work, the Paladin stuff, the online University, and so on. Going to be very cool.
Alright, look for an self protection themed blog post in the next few days...
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
The Last of the 5 "Fs"
So, we've gone through Fight, Flight, Freezing and Fronting which leaves us with "Folding." Just as it means quitting in Poker folding is the same response in a confrontation.
Think of some sexual predator trying to drag a women to his vehicle to leave crime scene A for crime scene B (in this example his house of horrors in his basement). She could fight back, she could run away, she might freeze, she might try and bluff or she can capitulate and go with him which in this scenario would be a perfect example of folding.
In a street fight scenario it might be a bigger, louder aggressor screaming at someone "You, sit the f**k down and shut up before I knock you the f**k out." at which point our victim complies.
There are a lot of very naive people I've run into over the years who mistakenly believe that this is a viable option. Their belief is that if they do what the bad guy says they won't antagonize him to the point where he'll become violent." I've seen far too many examples of where the opposite happens and the weakness on display incurs the wrath of the aggressor and it drives him to incredible lengths of violence.
Who can forget that for years the police actually advised women to "fold" during rapes dispensing the myth that fighting back will only make him hurt you more. Thank god studies have dispelled this load of crap. I was actually interviewed about self defense on a TV show and they wheeled out a Police Inspector who said as much in counterpoint to my view of fighting back. He didn't look to happy when I asked him if he went to prison would he follow his own advise when the alpha male prisoners decided to bend him over in the shower.
Final point on folding or not. Studies have shown that women who fight back during rapes, even if they're not successful recover from the trauma of the ordeal far quicker than victims who did not. If you want to read more about that get hold of Dr Judith Herman's book "Trauma and Recovery." She mentions in there that "fighting back is effective whereas conversely pleading, reasoning or appealing to a rapist’s humanity is not - the latter being "almost universally futile,"
I purposely saved this fifth "F" till last because it is hands down the most useless out of the five possible responses. All the others have some merit...this one, if I can use just one more "F" is "futile."
Think of some sexual predator trying to drag a women to his vehicle to leave crime scene A for crime scene B (in this example his house of horrors in his basement). She could fight back, she could run away, she might freeze, she might try and bluff or she can capitulate and go with him which in this scenario would be a perfect example of folding.
In a street fight scenario it might be a bigger, louder aggressor screaming at someone "You, sit the f**k down and shut up before I knock you the f**k out." at which point our victim complies.
There are a lot of very naive people I've run into over the years who mistakenly believe that this is a viable option. Their belief is that if they do what the bad guy says they won't antagonize him to the point where he'll become violent." I've seen far too many examples of where the opposite happens and the weakness on display incurs the wrath of the aggressor and it drives him to incredible lengths of violence.
Who can forget that for years the police actually advised women to "fold" during rapes dispensing the myth that fighting back will only make him hurt you more. Thank god studies have dispelled this load of crap. I was actually interviewed about self defense on a TV show and they wheeled out a Police Inspector who said as much in counterpoint to my view of fighting back. He didn't look to happy when I asked him if he went to prison would he follow his own advise when the alpha male prisoners decided to bend him over in the shower.
Final point on folding or not. Studies have shown that women who fight back during rapes, even if they're not successful recover from the trauma of the ordeal far quicker than victims who did not. If you want to read more about that get hold of Dr Judith Herman's book "Trauma and Recovery." She mentions in there that "fighting back is effective whereas conversely pleading, reasoning or appealing to a rapist’s humanity is not - the latter being "almost universally futile,"
I purposely saved this fifth "F" till last because it is hands down the most useless out of the five possible responses. All the others have some merit...this one, if I can use just one more "F" is "futile."
Friday, June 14, 2013
Fronting
So, in our last post we mentioned two more "Fs" to add to the mix of "Fight, Freeze or Flight" and they were "Fronting" and "Freezing."
As promised I'm going to go over them both in a little more detail.
Fronting is also known by some as posturing and it amounts to putting on a show designed to intimidate the other side so they back down and leave.
Wild animals have been doing this for years. In the picture below is a harmless Australian frilly lizard but to look at the pic you'd think he was a spawn of Satan not to be messed with. I used to catch these things as pets growing up and, once you call their bluff and pick them up, they've got nothing. They do look intimidating to the uninitiated though.
Humans do exactly the same thing in response to potential altercations. You'll encounter chest thumping, loud vocals, spitting, hissing, threats of impending doom, the jutting of the chin and the chest, stamping and walking forward quickly et alia with no actual punches being thrown.
Here's a classic example in the picture below...notice the jutting chin I mentioned above (really bad idea by the way as it's a hell of a target to stick in someone's face.)
In many cases it works. The other side, usually fairly inexperienced or not very brave themselves, will assume the posturing/fronting is actually backed up by some powerful mojo and will make themselves scarce.
Sometimes, of course, it doesn't and the bluff gets called. That can only go one of two ways. Either the posturing one wins, or he loses.
Not all fronting has to involve appearing to know how to fight. Threatening to call the police for example can be a form of fronting. We're laying down a big enough threat in the hope that we'll intimidate the opposition so that they decide discretion is the better part of valor.
Should it be part of your toolbox is probably the bigger question here and the answer is "it depends." If you can fight and you're using it to dissuade somebody so you don't have to actually engage in combat (usually a bad idea) then I'd say yes. If it's because you don't have anything to back it up but you think by appearing to be a bad ass you'll be left alone then I'd say no.
One final thought...in a lot of cases this type of behavior is being used by the aggressor to work himself into a frenzy and build up his courage enough to launch his assault so beware...it's not always used for the purpose of bluffing.
next post we'll talk about "Folding."
As promised I'm going to go over them both in a little more detail.
Fronting is also known by some as posturing and it amounts to putting on a show designed to intimidate the other side so they back down and leave.
Wild animals have been doing this for years. In the picture below is a harmless Australian frilly lizard but to look at the pic you'd think he was a spawn of Satan not to be messed with. I used to catch these things as pets growing up and, once you call their bluff and pick them up, they've got nothing. They do look intimidating to the uninitiated though.
Humans do exactly the same thing in response to potential altercations. You'll encounter chest thumping, loud vocals, spitting, hissing, threats of impending doom, the jutting of the chin and the chest, stamping and walking forward quickly et alia with no actual punches being thrown.
Here's a classic example in the picture below...notice the jutting chin I mentioned above (really bad idea by the way as it's a hell of a target to stick in someone's face.)
In many cases it works. The other side, usually fairly inexperienced or not very brave themselves, will assume the posturing/fronting is actually backed up by some powerful mojo and will make themselves scarce.
Sometimes, of course, it doesn't and the bluff gets called. That can only go one of two ways. Either the posturing one wins, or he loses.
Not all fronting has to involve appearing to know how to fight. Threatening to call the police for example can be a form of fronting. We're laying down a big enough threat in the hope that we'll intimidate the opposition so that they decide discretion is the better part of valor.
Should it be part of your toolbox is probably the bigger question here and the answer is "it depends." If you can fight and you're using it to dissuade somebody so you don't have to actually engage in combat (usually a bad idea) then I'd say yes. If it's because you don't have anything to back it up but you think by appearing to be a bad ass you'll be left alone then I'd say no.
One final thought...in a lot of cases this type of behavior is being used by the aggressor to work himself into a frenzy and build up his courage enough to launch his assault so beware...it's not always used for the purpose of bluffing.
next post we'll talk about "Folding."
Monday, June 10, 2013
The Five "Fs"
Listen to anyone talk about self defense or emergency situations long enough and you'll hear the term "fight or flight." What they're referring to are your choices in an emergency which are to either stand your ground "FIGHT" or run away "FLIGHT."
For a while now some better informed instructors have added "freeze" to the mix which is also a viable option. Freezing can happen because you have no trained responses to relate to or it can be a voluntary choice to avoid detection by someone or something for example.
I covered all three of these in my book "How To Be Your Own Bodyguard" but, in my never ending quest for more information, I'd be remiss if I didn't add two more recent discoveries to the list.
They are "Fronting" and "Folding"
In the next couple of blog posts I'll go over them in more detail but in a nutshell "fronting" is posturing or bluffing in the hope to intimidate the opposition enough that they change their minds about fighting you and "folding" is submitting to them i.e. curling up and copping a beating hoping at some point they'll tire of it and leave you alone.
Just like the other three they can be effective options given the right circumstances and that's what I'll talk about at length over the next couple of posts.
Stay tuned...
For a while now some better informed instructors have added "freeze" to the mix which is also a viable option. Freezing can happen because you have no trained responses to relate to or it can be a voluntary choice to avoid detection by someone or something for example.
I covered all three of these in my book "How To Be Your Own Bodyguard" but, in my never ending quest for more information, I'd be remiss if I didn't add two more recent discoveries to the list.
They are "Fronting" and "Folding"
In the next couple of blog posts I'll go over them in more detail but in a nutshell "fronting" is posturing or bluffing in the hope to intimidate the opposition enough that they change their minds about fighting you and "folding" is submitting to them i.e. curling up and copping a beating hoping at some point they'll tire of it and leave you alone.
Just like the other three they can be effective options given the right circumstances and that's what I'll talk about at length over the next couple of posts.
Stay tuned...
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Where Angels Fear to Tread
So, last blog was about the death of my mate when he walked in upon someone burgling his house. Rather than rehash all my old blog posts I figured this would be a good time to discuss that.
I've had the pleasure of working with and training SWAT teams (usually in executive protection) and even those guys get shot going into houses trying to winkle out a barricaded or hidden suspect. To try and do so on your own, without training and/or weapons is pure folly.
This is not a criticism of Chris by the way. I wasn't there and he may not have known the burglary was in progress. It's entirely possible he walked in on the guy who was waiting for him when he heard the door open.
The point I'm making is, if you come home and see signs of forced entry DO NOT go rushing in to try and find out what's missing, what happened or catch the bad guy(s) as tempting as that will no doubt be. Back away quietly, call the professionals and await their arrival.
One cool thing about cops is that they love to catch bad guys in the act. Tell them your house has been broken into and they may not even send someone out to take a report. Tell them there's a possibility the bad guys are still inside however and they'll be there faster than a rat up a drainpipe.
I've had the pleasure of working with and training SWAT teams (usually in executive protection) and even those guys get shot going into houses trying to winkle out a barricaded or hidden suspect. To try and do so on your own, without training and/or weapons is pure folly.
This is not a criticism of Chris by the way. I wasn't there and he may not have known the burglary was in progress. It's entirely possible he walked in on the guy who was waiting for him when he heard the door open.
The point I'm making is, if you come home and see signs of forced entry DO NOT go rushing in to try and find out what's missing, what happened or catch the bad guy(s) as tempting as that will no doubt be. Back away quietly, call the professionals and await their arrival.
One cool thing about cops is that they love to catch bad guys in the act. Tell them your house has been broken into and they may not even send someone out to take a report. Tell them there's a possibility the bad guys are still inside however and they'll be there faster than a rat up a drainpipe.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Take Ten
A lot of these blogs will be from my old self defense blog and I'll update any that require it.
This one was about taking a few minutes whenever you pull up to go somewhere or exit a building etc. We were taught in the Foreign Legion that time spent gathering intelligence was seldom wasted and that's the concept we're stealing here.
You're exiting the mall for example, stop, take a minute to look around and see if you can spot anything that causes concern. Where is your car for example and what's between you and it? What or who is parked next to it? Is there anything going on you should be bothered by. I was told a story once about a mother and daughter who walked out into the middle of two gangs involved in a shoot out and didn't realize until they were right in the middle of it.
How about coming home? Before exiting your vehicle stop and take note. Is everything the way you left it? This saved my neighbor in Wilmington years ago. She came home and noticed a window wide open and foot prints and scuff marks up the front of the house.
She called the cops - smart girl - and they found evidence of the break in. She told me later that prior to hearing my presentation she probably would have run in to confront whoever was inside which can often lead to tragic outcomes.
And, just in case you're thinking you'd run in and confront whoever was inside back in Jan of 2011 a friend of mine and fellow Aussie Chris Radok was the first murder victim in Charlotte when he walked in on a burglary in progress.
This one was about taking a few minutes whenever you pull up to go somewhere or exit a building etc. We were taught in the Foreign Legion that time spent gathering intelligence was seldom wasted and that's the concept we're stealing here.
You're exiting the mall for example, stop, take a minute to look around and see if you can spot anything that causes concern. Where is your car for example and what's between you and it? What or who is parked next to it? Is there anything going on you should be bothered by. I was told a story once about a mother and daughter who walked out into the middle of two gangs involved in a shoot out and didn't realize until they were right in the middle of it.
How about coming home? Before exiting your vehicle stop and take note. Is everything the way you left it? This saved my neighbor in Wilmington years ago. She came home and noticed a window wide open and foot prints and scuff marks up the front of the house.
She called the cops - smart girl - and they found evidence of the break in. She told me later that prior to hearing my presentation she probably would have run in to confront whoever was inside which can often lead to tragic outcomes.
And, just in case you're thinking you'd run in and confront whoever was inside back in Jan of 2011 a friend of mine and fellow Aussie Chris Radok was the first murder victim in Charlotte when he walked in on a burglary in progress.
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