I have to get this off of my chest.

Welcome everyone to 2012, I haven't posted in a while as I have been very busy with a new job and also getting ready for my first teen course that I am teaching at the Wasatch Parks and Recreation Building in Heber City , Utah. I have been taking alot of time to study and make sure that I am giving these kids the lessons that they will need to know how to identify and survive a potential situation, whether it may be a peer pressure or bullying incident at school, or a possible deadly encounter on the streets.

Which brings me to my blog for this evening.:

I know that sometimes I can sound a bit harsh on alot of the "experts" in the self defense industry and people that teach others how to protect themselves and their loved ones, and I apologize if I offend anyone or hurt feelings, but I just have to be honest with you.

Every single Martial Art out there today, while having good intentions, is leading people astray. Oh I know, I see you there in the back row, jumping up and down and I know that you are probably calling for my head, but it is the way that I feel. Please let me say that I am not trying to make you believe that these classes dont have their place in the world as they do. What I am simply trying to point out is the few following points:

1. How can a Martial art, take a child of 8, 9 or 10 years old who has trained for a while in a given style, and slap them with a black belt? If my 12 year old son, who is 5 feet tall and weighs about 90 pounds comes up against a pedophile who is  6 foot 5 inches and weighs 290 pounds, what do you think would happen? What good is that black belt?
2. How can a Self defense class take a 120 pound woman and each her a 2 or 3 hour course on self defense, expect her to walk out the door with the tools necessary do survive a "real life" knife attack?
3. What is going to happen to anybody in a dojo setting who is dressed in a gi, and learns to fall on a 2 inch thick soft mat and learns to "tap out" at the first sign of any kind of pain, gets jumped by two or three gang members and beat down in the parking lot of the school?
4. What is going to happen to that student who trains regularly and practices his/her art daily, and is taught how to defend themselves against a co ordinated attack by other students in the school who know what they are going to do and what the counter is and how to fall so they don't hurt themselves, when they are walking home one night and are jumped from behind and thrown to the ground so violently that it knocks the wind out of them?
5. And what happens to the new, timid white belt who took this class to learn to be more confident, and to learn to defend themselves and they are taught different forms and katas and techniques from this 1000 year old art, do when they are confronted by an attacker with a gun as they leave their first class and are robbed or raped? Are they confident enough to use what they learned in that first class, or even100 class to survive and go home?

You see, I'm not bashing these people's art, I am simply trying to make sure you realize that true, real world violence is going to happen when you least expect it, and it is not going to be "just like class" and its not going to be pretty or co ordinated.

If you are ever in a real situation, it is going to be damned scary, and violent, and bloody and painful because there is not one predator in the world who gives a crap about your feelings, or the police, or the consequences of their actions. All they care about is taking what you have at any and all cost TO YOU! Not to them. True violent criminals do not play by society's rules, they make up their own. And unless you are prepared to play by the same rules, which means throwing out the passive, non violent life that you have grown up in, and the "don't fight at any costs" way that your mother and father raised you in in then you will be the next victim that the attacker will claim! It is just that simple.

Whew! That was a load off my chest, and yes, you in the back, I hear you screaming that I am teaching people to be the next violent criminal and to go out and look for trouble! Well sit down and shut up! I am in no way saying that you should go out and find the guy on the street who looks like he is up to no good and just pound on him for a while, nor am I saying that the next time someone comes up to you on the street you should take a bat and beat them to death.

What I AM saying is that if a true attack were to happen, and you will know when that is (And if you don't then we seriously need to spend some time together), I am saying that you will have only two choices to make, survive or die. It is your choice.

Prepare to Survive, until next time.

Ill preach this until Im blue in the face!

As I have stated before many many times, and as you will see as you read the following story, what most self defense classes teach you is a joke! Now don't get me wrong, I am and have been an avid martial artist since I was 9 years old, but when it comes down to true, unbridled, real world violence you have to make sure that you are training the right way!

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=17926066&title=suspected-serial-atm-robber-rapist-arrested

SALT LAKE CITY — A 22-year old Kearns man is in police custody accused of robbing and sexually assaulting several women at automated teller machines across Salt Lake County over a four-month span.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said the suspect is believed "to be responsible for 16 to 19 separate incidences."

"Theses were violent attacks on our citizens," Winder said. Authorities arrested Helaman Jose Pragana for investigation of several aggravated felony charges in connection with "a string of violent sexual assaults and robberies that have occurred in a minimum of four jurisdictions," Winder said.

Helaman Pragana

Pragana was booked Wednesday into the Salt Lake County jail where he awaits formal charges.

Winder said the perpetrator would approach mostly women in vulnerable conditions at ATM's or gas stations, abduct them, rob them and "then terrorizing them after the assault hoping they would not contact law enforcement."

Winder said the perpetrator began his attacks in April, committing primarily robberies — sometimes targeting men — but the alleged crimes eventually escalated and became more violent and more focused on women.

"This individual became (emboldened) as these crimes went on," Winder said. "Had this gone unchecked, we might have seen even more heinous actions on his part."

He said the perpetrator allegedly started out committing crimes of opportunity and increased this level of violence when he realized he could get away with terrorizing and assaulting female victims.

Winder said investigators were able to track the suspect using "very unique" forensic evidence, luck and "some good old gumshoe leather." Pragana was arrested in a joint effort that included the Unified Police Department, Taylorsville Police and the U.S. Marshal Service.

Taylorsville Police Chief Del Craig said the alleged victims were typically accosted at night and threatened with a handgun, then ordered to take money from their accounts. When the alleged crimes became more violent, the female victims were also assaulted, he said.

Despite the number of crimes committed from April to August, police had a tough time getting a fix on a suspect.

"He certainly used the element of surprise and the cover of darkness as a means of concealing his identity," Craig said.

With the arrest, investigators hope other victims may come forward, strengthening their case.

Authorities said Pragana has a prior arrest for robbery in 2004.

Now, most self defense classes have to training to defend the aggressor that comes at you from the front and telegraphs his attack so you can be prepared for and get your counterattack ready. the above story shows you that most criminals when staling their prey, will conceal themselves or hide until it is too late for you to mount an offense and use a "surprise" attack to catch you off guard and have you beaten and compliant before you know what happened.
The only way that you are ever going to be able to survive the kinds of attacks that happen in real life, is to use the same tactics and surprise on the attacker, before he can use them on you. If you are not ready to use the same brand of violence and brutality first and injure him before he can injure you, then you may want to either hone your "spidey sense" so you can feel the attack before it happens, or just plan on staying home and not going out.
The above story is happening more and more frequently in our own backyards, its only a matter of time before it may find yours!
Prepare to Survive!
Until next time......................

It can happen anywhere...

As you read the following story, I want you to remember that all of us, at one time or another, has gone to a store like this thinking that it is safe for all of us.

AUSTELL, GA — Police are searching for a man they say raped and robbed a woman whom he kidnapped as she exited an Austell drug store.
The man approached the 24-year-old woman at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday just after she walked out of the CVS Pharmacy at 800 East-West Connector in Austell, according to Cobb Police. He then forced the woman into her vehicle and had her drive him to an unknown location, where he raped her, police said.
He then forced the woman drive to various ATMs in the Atlanta area to withdraw money from her bank account, according to police.
Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said police plan to review the victims’s ATM records to get an idea where she was taken because she had little memory of the ordeal.
“The victim has been traumatized to a point where she was not able to produce much detail as to where she was able to drive to,” Pierce said.
After taking an undisclosed amount of cash from the woman, the man got out of her car and fled the area on foot, Pierce said.
The woman was hospitalized but has since been released, Pierce said.
Store video shows the man walking “very casually” in front of the drug store, waiting for the victim to emerge, Pierce said.

I was obviously not there when this happened, but I can say with most certainty that he didn't decide to pick this woman at the moment she left the store. I am positive that he had been watching her and maybe even following her for some time to make sure that she was an easy target, which unfortunately she turned out to be.

It is far better to be prepared for the worst and never have to use it, than to have the worst happen and not be prepared for it.

PREPARE TO SURVIVE!

Until next time.......

If  she would have been more aware of what was going on around her, she may have been able to "see" her attacker as he stalked her, or noticed that the same man she saw at the other place is now outside and done something to protect herself against this kind of attack.

TSA, or Total Situational Awareness is the key to avoiding a situation like this one. Now, what could she have done as the attack occurred to make sure that she was not his next victim? The best thing that she could have done is to drop him like a bad habit and brutally attack him in the same manner he did to her BEFORE he had the chance to do it to her. She could have done this if she had the right mindset and the proper training to learn the mindset and the skills necessary to survive the encounter and go home safely.