Sensei Chris Feldt Receives CPR Certification

I completed a challenge course over the summer and received my 2 year certification in CPR and AED training. Honestly, this is a requirement of the University of South Carolina, as all professors teaching courses in the physical education program must be certified.

However, I believe learning CPR is just good self defense, as you never know when you might need to use it. Consider some of the statistics I reviewed at the Women's Heart Foundation:

Heart Attack Facts

1.5 million heart attacks occur in the United States each year with 500,000 deaths.

More than 233,000 women die annually from cardiovascular disease.

A heart attack occurs about every 20 seconds with a heart attack death about every minute.

Sudden death is more common among women with heart attack.

The National Registry of Myocardial Infarctions (New England Journal Med., 22Jul99) reports that women have a worse outcome than men after having a heart attack. Data showed that women under the age of 50 had twice the mortality of men after having a heart attack. Variances likely reflect increased severity of the disease in younger women.

Almost 14 million Americans have a history of heart attack or angina.

About 50% of deaths occur within one hour of the heart attack ––outside a hospital.

There is a 6% to 9% early mortality from heart attack for those who survive long enough to reach the hospital.

From 1983 to 1993, heart attack deaths fell about 30% overall but have not fallen nearly as much for women.

Studies show the most common time for a heart attack to occur is Monday morning. Saturday morning ranks second. Another common time is during the early morning hours, when blood platelets are stickier.

Deaths from cardiovascular diseases in women exceed the total number of deaths caused by the next 16 causes.

60% of women erroneously listed cancer as the leading cause of death among women. Deaths from all cancers in the USA are half as common as deaths from cardiovascular disease.

Only 31% of women know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the USA.

On the average, women take 2-4 hours longer than men to respond to symptoms of heart attack, limiting the beneficial use of some newer treatments like clot busters that work best within the first hour after onset of pain or discomfort.

Chewing an uncoated aspirin right away, at the first sign of chest discomfort or distress, can reduce the amount of damage to the heart muscle during a heart attack.

Costs related to heart attack exceed 60 billion dollars per year.

Heart attacks continue to be one of the top 10 killers for men and women in the United States.  I think it only makes sense to train as many people as possilbe, particularly, since the first few minutes of a heart attack are critical to the survival rate.  Knowing CPR and how to use an AED might just save the life of someone you know and love!

If you would like more information, you should contact The American Red Cross for dates and times of their classes.  Certification usually takes 2-3 hours depending on your knowledge or experience in CPR and generally costs around $50.

 

Sensei Chris Feldt

Samurai Karate Studio

Columbia, SC 29229

803-462-9425

samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

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Sensei Chris Feldt
Samurai Karate Studio
2000 Clemson Road
Suite # 9
Columbia, SC 29229
803-462-9425
samuraikaratestudio@gmail.com

Styles of Martial Arts

  

There are many styles of martial art's to chose from today.  Depending on what your interests are, you have a wide variety to learn self defense from.


Of course, I happen to believe karate is one of the best, partly because it involves both kicking and punching with emphasis on good stances and power.  That is the style I teach at my school, Samurai Karate Studio.


The truth is, virtually every martial art has something positive to offer the beginner student.  What's probably the most important is the connection the student has with the instructor and the philosophy of the school.  You train many years to achieve your black belt, so it is necessary that you feel comfortable with the school and the type of program they teach.


Here are a few styles to consider:


1.  Karate --  Karate loosely translated means "empty hand".  It was developed in Okinawa in the early 1920's and 1930's.  Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan karate, is generally credited with having introduced and popularized karate on the main islands of Japan.  After World War II, many service men stationed in Okinawa were able to train in the system.  Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands.


2.  Aikido -- Aikido is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba  with the goal of defending yourself without hurting your attacker seriously. The idea behind Aikido is to redirect the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on.  In other words, you use the attackers energy to defend yourself, including various joint locks and throws.  While a very harsh system initially, as Morihei aged, he saw the value in developing a "peaceful" system that could prevent someone from being assaulted, yet wasn't punishing on the attacker.


3. Tae Kwon Do -- TKD is loosely translated as "the way of the hand and foot".  Kicking and board breaking are a substantial element of this art.  The style was developed in Korea, where today, it is a national sport.  In the United States, it is one of the most popular styles, which is largely due to the TKD association which has done a very good job promoting the style.


4. Kung Fu --  Kung Fu is one of THE oldest martial arts, originating in China hundreds of years ago. It was an art developed for hand to hand combat.  What makes the style unique, is the art mimics animals, popularized by the movie Kung Fu Panda.  This is a very beautiful style using by power and grace in it's movements.


5.  Krav Maga -- Krav Maga is the official self defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, and has been taught to hundreds of law enforcement agencies and thousands of civilians in the United States.  Krav Maga is a simple, effective self defense system that emphasizes instinctive movements, practical techniques, and realistic training scenarios.


6.  Jiu-Jitsu -- There are really many forms of Jiu-Jitsu, but certainly the most popular style is based on the Gracie family.  This is a legendary family from Brazil, that created a system of fighting primarily from the ground.  This is a wrestling kind of style that uses locks, bars and chokes to disable an attacker.  This style is very popular today with The UFC and the military offering this style of training in the Army.


Of course, there are many more styles of martial art's than the ones listed above, these are just a few of the more popular styles today.


All styles offer something of value when it comes to learning self defense.  The important thing is to find a style that suits your tastes and needs.


Once you achieve the rank in one of the styles, many students will train in other styles just to compliment their self defense skills.

11 Facts About Hunger in the U.S.

In 2009, 50.2 million Americans (up from 35.5 million in 2006), including 17.2 million children, are food insecure, or didn’t have the money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives.

 
In 2009, 65% of adults reported that they had been hungry, but did not eat because they could not afford enough food.

In 2008 alone, a rise of about 6% in the price of groceries has led the poor to adopt a variety of survival strategies, from buying food that is beyond its expiration date to visiting food banks.

About 33.7 million people in America participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- a program that provides monthly benefits to poor households to purchase approved food items from authorized food stores. According to the USDA, the average benefit per person was $124 per month and the Federal government spent over $53.6 billion on the program in 2009.

America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s major food bank network, annually provides food to over 23 million people. That is more than the population of the state of Texas.

5.6 million households obtained emergency food from food pantries at least once during 2009.

To find out the rest of the facts, please visit Dosomething.org.

Sensei Chris Feldt

Samurai Karate Studio

Columbia, SC 29229

803-462-9425

Tackle Hunger

With Christmas right around the corner, let's not forget those families that are struggling to make ends meet and going hungry.

You can help!

Please consider donating to Harvest Hope, or a local food pantry in your neighborhood.

That is the spirit of Christmas!

Yes?

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

What You Don't Know About Rape on College Campuses

Sexual assault crimes against female students is alarmingly common. And taking steps to stop these occurrences and putting the criminals behind bars just isn't happening. Cosmo investigates why that is...

BY ZOE RUDERMAN

A survey conducted by the Chicago Tribune found that of the sex crimes reported on college campuses in the past six years, only seven percent resulted in arrests and less than three percent resulted in convictions. That is well below the national average; about 25 percent of reported rapes result in arrests and about two-thirds of those arrests turn into convictions, according to the Tribune.

The newspaper looked at 171 cases that took place at a variety of Midwestern schools. Some of the schools they investigated, like Northwestern, had over 20 reports of sexual assault, but not a single arrest or conviction. Other colleges, such as Notre Dame, didn't have much better stats: they had 34 sex crimes and just four arrests and zero convictions. And Indiana University had a whopping 69 allegations of sexual violence and only one conviction.

And according to Russlynn Ali, the assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education, this isn't just happening in the midwest. She told the Tribune, "These kinds of data are illustrative of the disturbing and alarming trend we are seeing across this country."

This comes on the heels of another scary revelation that some campuses may be neglecting to correctly and completely report sex crime statistics. A few weeks ago Yale University was found to have omitted certain "forcible sex offenses in its report of annual crime statistics when the crimes occurred". The university claims that the mistake has been corrected, but they still stand to lose federal funding for student aid because of the violation.

Read more: Sexual Assault on College Campuses - Reporting Rape Leads to Few Arrests - Cosmopolitan

7 Myths About Sexual Assault and Dating Violence

Sexual assault survivors are men and women and boys and girls of all races and social class, but 80% of them are under 30 years old when the violence takes place. DoSomething.org talked with Megan McKendry, a board member of Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER), who dispelled 11 myths about sexual assault and dating violence.

Myth: Most rapists are strangers.
Fact: 77% of female sexual assault victims know their assailants. On college campuses, 9 out of 10 female victims know their attackers.

Myth: If victims don't aggressively fight back, they weren't raped.
Fact: Intentional sexual contact without consent of the other person constitutes sexual assault, regardless of whether or not victims fight back. Victims may not use physical force for a number of reasons, including fear or physical incapacitation.

Myth: Rape requires the use of a weapon.
Fact: According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 80% of rape and sexual assault incidents do not involve a weapon.

Myth: "Promiscuous" women cannot be raped.
Fact: Just because someone has consented to sex many times beforehand does not mean that he or she has consented to all future sexual acts. All 50 states have "rape shield laws" that apply to criminal cases and limit the introduction of evidence regarding a victim's sexual history.

Myth: Men cannot be raped.
Fact: 1 out of 33 men will be a victim of rape or sexual assault in his lifetime.

You can read the rest of the article at DoSomething.org.

Sensei Chris Feldt

Samurai Karate Studio

Columbia, SC 29229

803-462-9425