October Is Domestic Violence Month

Last Thursday, I was invited by my friends at WLTX TV to come onto their morning show and talk about the free self defense workshop I was doing in honor of Domestic Violence month.

You can see a video of the segments below:

Thanks again to WLTX for being such a gracious host.


Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Take Downs

This will be a short review of the two basic take downs we work in class.

The idea is to take your attacker down, regardless of their size.  This can be quite challenging for a smaller woman, however, if the techniques are applied properly, size really won't matter and you will be able to take down any person if necessary.

Take Downs

For beginner students, I focus on two basic take down concepts.

1.  The first one is to place your hip (right hip in this example) against the right hip of your attacker.  You want to place your right heel behind your attackers right heel.  Your hands should be on both shoulders of your attacker.

You want to push with your right hand and pull with your left hand, creating a circular motion with the attackers upper body.  At the same time, you want to press your hip into your attackers hip and keep the attackers right leg secure.

The concept behind this take down is to rotate the attackers upper body around your hip and drop them to the ground.

2.  The second basic take down is particularly effective against a larger attacker.  You want to place your hands in the same position as the previous take down was described, but this time, you want to plant your right foot around the attackers right leg and place the ball of your foot in between his legs.  Your heel is up just before the moment of take down.  When you drive your heel down, it straightens your leg and rises up against the attackers and should have the effect of taking the attacker off balance onto one leg.  You rotate the upper body at the same time the heel drops and you should be able to drop your attacker to the ground.


Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

The Power of Your Voice

Your Voice As A Weapon

You feel threatened, but are unsure of the intentions of the person you are talking

to.  

What can you do?

You have the power of your voice to help avoid confrontation whenever possible.

The trick is to learn what level is needed in order to engage the attacker.  Here is a

glimpse at what I believe the 4 levels are and the type of voice used.

Level 1

Non-Threatening, Uncomfortable Behavior

Office, mall or grocery store, conference room

If you are uncomfortable with the persons behavior!

Tell that person in a calm way to stop that behavior.

Avoid saying please!

you want to be seen as assertive.

If that person does not stop threatening behavior!

Trust your instincts

Move to a safe zone

Level 2

Non Threatening-Public place

Restaurant, mall, store or parking lot. 
You are not isolated.

Make a scene!

Be loud enough for people to hear you.

This may embarrass the person confronting you and cause them to stop.

Keep your eyes on the person the whole time!

Call for help or move to safe zone!

Level 3

Threatening Behavior 

Try to defuse or de-escalate 

Best example of defusing situation!

Offer up wallet or credit cards or cash

What is the motive? (money, sex, power, murder)

Try to defuse situation!

Talk in a calm assertive voice

Let your potential attacker know that you won't be an easy prey! 

Tell him you know how to defend yourself (black belt?)

Talk but don’t necessarily provoke him. 

    


Level 4

Imminent Threat or attack

Verbal boundary of defense 

Look them in the eye!

Hold out your hands in front of you!

Yell “Stay Back!” or “Stop!”! 

If your attacker threatens you if you speak!

    
Yell, because that is exactly what he doesn’t want you to do

Yell loudly and keep yelling

Yelling “FIRE” attracts the most attention from bystanders

Yelling helps give you more power and pushes away the pain

The power of your voice means many things - the willingness to try and talk your way
out of conflict in a very civil manner, or screaming at the top of your lungs letting the
attacker no in no uncertain terms will you give up without a fight!

It's another tool in the toolbox of self defense.

Use it!

Sensei Chris Feldt

Samurai Karate Studio

Columbia, SC 29229

803-462-9425

samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Falling

Learning how to fall is an important aspect of your karate training.  First, you will be practicing with fellow students at times during class, and need to know how to fall when being taken down during a self defense form.

Secondly, you want to know how to fall to the ground, should you get knocked down by an attacker.  This is more important, as you get older and you are more susceptible to injury.

The 4 B's of Falling

Whenever you practice falling, always practice with the 4 b's:

1.  Bite down (to protect your teeth and avoid biting your tongue)
2.  Bare down (touch your chin to your chest)
3.  Breathe in to get large
4.  Breathe out as you break-fall (slap hands to ground at 45 degree angle to your body)

Always practice in the beginning from the sitting position.  As you gain more confidence, you can move to a squatting position and then eventually standing tall.

Remember, even when standing tall, you will always try to get into that squatting position before reaching the ground.  You DON'T want to fall like a tree in the forest -- or you might get injured.

The point of the fall is to let your bottom absorb as much of the fall as possible, as you spread the energy to your back and arms.  You never want to let your spine make contact with the ground, as well as your head.

Here is the sequence of last semester's students doing a backfall:

One last thing....when you reach the ground, you want to kick your legs straight out anywhere from 6-12  inches off the ground.  This will prevent you from rolling backwards and find yourself in a very awkward and dangerous position if under attack.

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Personal Space

As a general rule, I try to stay alert at all times and avoid a confrontation that involves a physical reaction to a threat.

Why?

It's just much safer to avoid confrontation than engage in it.  It doesn't matter how skilled a martial artist you are, there is always a chance that the attacker will get that "one" good punch or kick in that gets you by surprise and knocks you down, or worse, knocks you out!

Personal space is a concept to think about all the time.  It's kind of like your own alert status!  The moment someone approaches your personal space, you should be looking for escape.

The moment that person walks into your personal space, if escape is not an option, you need to go into self defense mode.

Personal Space Rules

1.  Anything approaching 20 feet from where you are standing should cause you to think about escape and avoidance.

2. As the attacker approaches, you want to maintain a minimum of two arm lengths away from your attacker at all times if possible.

Why two arm lengths?  The attacker is still out of range to strike with a punch or a kick and they still can't grab a hold of you.

3.  Once you have determined the attacker is going to enter 1 arms length, and you feel threatened, it is my opinion that you do whatever is necessary to protect yourself.  If escape is an option, always take it; however, don't be afraid to make the first strike if you feel your life is in danger.

Personal space is a very simple concept, but one I find many beginner students don't pay attention to.  In large measure, I think repeated training helps the student become more aware; thus able to avoid confrontation more often than not.

Legally, use the personal space principle in determining the threat to you and do what is necessary to survive.

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Kicks

We work on 5 basic kicks in beginner karate.....the front kick, the 1/2 round, the round, the side kick and the back kick.

All but the back kick have 2 chambers, which are utilized for more power in the kick.

Front Kick

From guard stance
Square up your hips to the front
Use the back leg (beginners)
2 chambers
Weapon is the ball of your foot

1/2 Round Kick

Use lead leg from guard stance
2 chambers
Keep knee horizontal
Weapon is the top of your foot (or toes if you have on heavy shoes)

Round Kick

Use back leg from guard stance
Don't forget to pivot that front foot to avoid ankle pressure (injury)
Keep knee horizontal (same kick as 1/2 round, just from rear leg)
Same two chambers as 1/2 round kick
Weapon is the top of your foot

Side Kick

Use lead leg from guard stance
2 chambers (first chamber points back with hip pointed at attacker)
Weapon is the heel

Back Kick

Use the rear leg from guard position
Look back over opposite shoulder to look at attacker
No chambers
Weapon is the heel

With these 5 kicks, you will be able to protect yourself in most self defense encounters.  The side and back kick are generally considered the strongest and the 1/2 round and front the quickest.  With practice, all of the kicks can become lethal and fast!

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Basic Elbows

On often over-looked tool in our self defense arsenal is our elbows.  This is a very powerful joint in our arm and the bone is relatively strong and can inflict a powerful blow.

In beginner karate, we focus on 6 basis elbow techniques that cover a wide range of self defense situations.


Elbow # 1

This is a lateral strike with the attacker generally in front of you.  You strike with inside of the elbow as you post up with the back of your hand on your chest.

Elbow # 2

This is for the attacker who is right behind you.  You flick your hand out and drive your elbow straight back.

Elbow # 3

This is for the attacker that is in front of you as you move the elbow up vertical as you attempt to make contact with the tip of the elbow under the attackers chin.  This is also a great covering technique, especially someone trying to hit you on the head with round house type punches or even worse, maybe a hard object like a stick.

Elbow # 4

We use the tip of our elbow and drive vertically straight down.  We often use a principle called "drop heavy" where you jump down into the strike.  This increases the energy when exacting your blow.

Elbow # 5

You point your elbow in a horizontal position and slide to your side as the tip of your elbow strikes the attacker.

Elbow # 6

This is the elbow where you stand like you are preparing to throw a football, and you drop heavy in a circular motion downward.  This is typically an elbow that might go to the back of an attackers head who is bending over.

Obviously, I am just briefly describing the elbows here as simply as possible.  We covered them in much more detail in class.  The idea is to remind you of the techniques enough to jog your memory and practice them on your own or in class.

Elbows are a great "inside" tool to use when defending yourself in close to your attacker.  They can unleash a mean strike and take quite a bit of abuse.

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Wrist Releases

Wrist grabs are commonly used when the attacker wants to control their victim; prevent them from escaping and/or to deliver punches or kicks to the victim.

Our first option is to always remain as alert as possible and avoid being grabbed in the first place.

But, in the event you do get grabbed, there are 3 basic principles I use to escape.  Eventually, you will learn how to use these principles and apply them to nearly any kind of wrist grab situation, whether multiple attackers, grabbing from the front or from the back.

For purposes of this discussion, assume someone grabs your wrist like in the photo above (just the way we practiced in class).  First thing you want to think about is to protect your head and be ready to deflect a strike.  Next, flex your fist so that it is nice and strong.  This will make your wrist nice and firm and strong, which will help break the grip.

In wrist grab releases, we always counterattack and focus on the thumb of the attacker, which is the weakest point in the grab.

Principle # 1

Tighten the grip, drop your elbow down and slightly forward, as you bring your wrist back towards your head.  Point your thumb up and pretend you are saying to yourself "I am defending me".  Just be careful not to poke yourself in the eye or chest as you bring that thumb back to your body.

Beginners often make the mistake of pulling their wrist (arm) away.....this does not weaken the grip of the thumb.  You need to drop the elbow and bring the wrist back towards you.

Principle # 2

Just like the original "Karate Kid" movie, where the main characters spends hours waxing Miyagi's cars, you want to think of "wax off".  You want to create a circle motion from the inside to the outside.  If necessary, you can even step to the outside of your attacker to make the circle stronger.

Principle # 3

The opposite of principle 2, we are going to circle from the outside to the inside.  This is actually, the strongest of the 3 releases and may be the best option to use if you have a much bigger or stronger attacker than victim.  This technique puts the most pressure on the attackers wrist and if they don't let go, there is a possibility you can injure their wrist.

When practicing these releases, use a soft grip at first in order to become comfortable with the techniques and not get your wrist all raw from someone holding too tight.  As you become more experienced with it, then add power to the grab.

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425

Redirecting and Entering

The concept of redirecting and entering is a simple one, yet more difficult to execute.  The idea is not to let the person threatening you grab you or make contact with a punch.

Shoulder Grab

The classic movement we covered in class is the two arm shoulder grab.  This is when the attacker moves in and grabs you by the shoulders.  This is dangerous because they now have control of you and can inflict harm via striking or kicking.

The idea behind redirecting is simply to bring your arms up in an outside blocking motion, making contact with your fists or forearms on your attackers mid forearms. You strike hard enough, so that the arms move outward, thus staying away from your shoulders.

Entering, you can pull down on the attackers arms and move in for a knee strike.

A Punch

As the attacker starts to throw a punch at you, use your feet to pivot to the side while you are slapping at the punching hand.  (More advanced is to use an inside block and hammer the attacker forearm.)

Maintain contact with the punch hand pushing it across the front of the attackers body.

Entering, move forward as you keep pressure on the arm and kick to the knees or strike to the head of the attacker.

The concept of redirecting and entering is a very core principle that can be used in many different attacking situations.  We just covered a couple in class that you can use as a beginner.

What If You Panic?

It is very common for beginner students to struggle with the timing of techniques in the beginning.  It takes a lot of repetition and practice, before your body will start to act more instinctively.

If you are attacked on the street (and you can't escape) and you forgot what to do with regards to redirecting and entering; just throw your hands up to cover your head and move into the attackers chest.  The attacker will usually miss the punch to your head and you will be close enough to strike or elbow to the head.

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

The 4 Arts of The Samurai

The Samurai were great warriors that lived hundreds of years ago.  While their primary responsibility was to serve their lord, even if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice, they would not hesitate to do that.  After all, honor was a key character trait of the Samurai and giving your life in the service of your lord was a "good" death.

For all the fighting skills these men and women possessed, most people don't realize how well educated the Samurai were.

The 4 Arts of the Samurai

The Samurai studied poetry, music, art and self defense.  From an early age, Samurai boys spent much of their day in class, studying the humanities as well as the sciences.  They were typically well versed in religion and philosophy; as well as in math and history.

Aside from their combat training and schooling, another revealing characteristic about the Samurai was their focus on family.  The family was the center of their life and they would do anything to promote it as well as protect it.

While I admire the Samurai for their legendary fighting skills, I am equally impressed with their desire for education and you can better understand why they were admired and feared throughout the land.


Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

The Legacy of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs recently left us, falling victim to Cancer after battling this horrid disease for several years!

 

Even though he passed away at the relative young age of 56, he had radically changed the world we lived in.  The Apple computer, the Ipod, the Ipad and the Iphone; just a few among the over 200 products he developed.

 

He created a special company devoted to creating movies for children called Pixer and spun out many classic stories, the first being Toy Story.  Today, Pixer is the largest animated film studio in the world.

 

Below is a video of Steve Jobs addressing a graduating class at Stanford University.  Intensely private, Steve Jobs almost never talked about himself, however, during this commencement address he talked about his own life and offered great advice to the graduates.

 

It gives you insight into the man, his passion and his life.

 

 

 

We will miss you Mr. Jobs!



Thank you for your vision of the world!

Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425

One Day!

 

There is so much conflict in the world!  

From the Middle East to Afghanistan to Iraq.

From the Arab Spring which has resulted in regime change and the loss of thousands of lives.

From the economic crisis in America and Europe, with the near collapse of our banking system, that is slowly reaching into Asia.

From the Tea Party rally's to the Wall Street demonstrations.

From the high unemployment rate with millions without a job, to a growing homeless population.

 

The left is attacking the right and vice-versa.

 

Washington has mastered the art of the "blame game" with neither party accepting responsibility for what is going on.

 

One Day!

 

I am confident that one day, we will be part of a kinder, gentler world, because of the work we are doing!  As school owners, we have audience to a large sphere of influence if we make the most of it.  

 

Our curriculum touches on all things human -- strong and vibrant as well as frail and compassionate.  

We have the power to CHANGE the world; one student, one parent, one community at a time!

 

One Day!

 

  

 

This blog post is a part of The Ultimate Black Belt Test (ultimateblackbelttest.com), an undertaking of The 100 (the100.us), and a part of Samurai Karate Studio (samuraikaratestudio.net).