the things you learn

I have been doing this for a pretty long time, and just when I think that nothing will amaze me, this happens!

We all know that only about 40% of violent assaults and rapes are actually reported. That leaves 60% that no one ever hears about. keeping this in mind:

* 1 in 4 women will be the victim of a sexual assault in their lifetime.
* Most college women will be assaulted before they complete a 4 year degree
* There are approx. 241 sexual assaults that occur everyday in the US
* Utah ranks in the top 5 for violent attacks on women

(FBI statistics for the first three from 2009)
(The last point is from my investigations)

Think about this, if only 40% are reported the numbers here are staggering! Most of the attacks that happen are from someone the victim knows IE: spouse, boyfriend, friend, classmate, family member etc.

You need to learn to handle ALL assaults the same no matter where or who they come from. It bears repeating that the criminal (and I will say that anyone who commits a crime against another is a criminal, no matter what the reasons), doesn't have any feeling for you if they are committing a violent act against you, the love, sharing, feelings whatever that were felt at one time have been thrown out the window the minute that he decided to put his hands on you in an aggressive way. You have to treat him the same way that he intends to treat you.......with the same lack of caring violence that he is using on you.

You can learn to hit and punch another in a variety of ways for a number of years and it will do nothing but hurt your hands.....until you learn to INJURE the other, all of your training is for nothing other than a false sense of security.

Those who know me know that I am a big guy, and those who have trained with me know that I can take ALOT of abuse. In fact, I sometimes enjoy it! however, one thing that I cannot take is an injury. When you get injured, the body goes into a shut down mode to protect you. So, this being said, the first one to get the injury.........wins! EVERY TIME!

Now, this was all a long winded way to say that I was speaking to a local law enforcement official the other day in my "oh so safe" town of Park City, and as we were discussing training and crime in the area, he told me a disturbing secret, and I quote "Oh a lot more things happen here than will EVER be reported or let out, and if you ask anyone about it (meaning law enforcement) they will simply deny it" What does this mean? It means that if they were to tell you about all of the attacks, assaults, robberies, and other crimes committed here in this beautiful area, people would begin to freak out! He also told me that he is a firm believer that people should learn to defend themselves because the police are simply not equipped to protect the public from the criminals. If someone breaks into your home and attacks you, and you call 911, and the officer assigned to your area is 20 miles away on another call....guess what? You are a statistic!

Please understand that I am in no way advocating that we live scared of everyone and that we arm ourselves for the unthinkable, but I am saying that chance favors the prepared mind. If you know what to look for in an asocial mentality, then you will be able to avoid about 90% of possible attacks that could happen if you were not trained and informed.

Food for thought!

See you soon