UnderGround Forum >> Keenan's fathers letter (copy and pasted)

shen - 
I definitely RESPECT and support Mr. Callos in his words and his actions. 100%. (Period)

BUT as a separate topic, in terms of organizing to teach self-Defense... there is no reason to re-invent the wheel when it comes to women's self-defense training. It's not a new concern. There are people who have been doing this training for a LONG time.

There are actually some pretty good women's self-defense programs out there (and many more terrible ones!).

FWIW, here's an very OLD clip of one such organization I teach for (I'm the guy in the suit):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OC4eYsOc1k

IMO, this is a decent women's self-defense course -none are perfect- and there are other that are decent too. But many such programs just don't tend to associate themselves with the larger martial arts community. As a result, many guys in the MA world don't really know anything about them.

As a rule, these programs don't tend to get the same students as martial arts studios. We get referrals from psychologists for student who have been raped or abused. I have NEVER taught a class that didn't have a portion of the class that had been assaulted --some horrifically so. They know from our reputation that our class is "safe" emotionally for people like them. They know that carefully done adrenaline-stress training is proven to help people be less hyper-vigilant and feel more empowered.

Compare that to when a so-called "rape prevention" class is offered by a typical martial arts school, it's usually little more than a marketing gimmick to get more female students in the door.

So, while many MA instructors feel like they are combative experts who "stoop down" to graciously teach women or children "self-defense", in actuality, your typical martial arts instructor is NOT really equipped to teach self-defense. A martial arts instructor and a self-defense instructor are two different animals --though the typical MA instructor often doesn't realize that!

A short-term "self-defense course" is a specialized type of training. It's really easy to do, but very hard to do well. Any such course should offer SOME level of training in topics like: awareness, the role of intuition, applied criminal psychology, the effects of adrenaline, verbal deescalation skills and legal aspects of self-defense. It should have a very low "technique threshold" meaning the moves are SIMPLE to do. Further, it should offer some scenario-based training element where the students get ADRENALIZED AS THEY WOULD BE DURING AN ACTUAL ASSAULT. That is imperative.

Truthfully, how many gym owners are prepared to do that?

So, massive amounts of "regular" martial arts instructors (i.e. non-self-defense instructors) teaching "Women's self-defense" is NOT something we need more of --it's something we already have!

In fact, there is TOO MUCH bad "short term self-defense training" aimed at women out there. Most of it, while well intentioned, is a far too complex, non-instinctive hodgepodge of martial arts techniques, which a group of women students will giggle their way through then shortly forget all about. That doesn't truly serve anybody.

tomcallos - A thank you to the people in/on this forum for your nice words and support. It's a weird, weird time for the martial arts world --and due to all of this, a weird time for our family. What a sad, messed up, disheartening, slap-in-the-face for the martial arts community. What a dishonorable record of shame. Helio Gracie, Meada, and Kano must be spinning in their graves. I too, in the shadow of this disgrace, find myself questioning whether I have wasted my time pursuing the study of the martial arts as a path to any sort of clarity. When these are our "Masters," what does it say about the martial arts? Ugh.

A great, big thank you to Mr. Callos for posting here.

TTT

tomcallos - A thank you to the people in/on this forum for your nice words and support. It's a weird, weird time for the martial arts world --and due to all of this, a weird time for our family. What a sad, messed up, disheartening, slap-in-the-face for the martial arts community. What a dishonorable record of shame. Helio Gracie, Meada, and Kano must be spinning in their graves. I too, in the shadow of this disgrace, find myself questioning whether I have wasted my time pursuing the study of the martial arts as a path to any sort of clarity. When these are our "Masters," what does it say about the martial arts? Ugh.

for snowman95

Forrest Gimp - Ryan Hall's letter to the Martial Arts community:

http://livingthemartialarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Open-Letter-to-the-Martial-Arts-Community-2.pdf

Wow.  I saved the pdf and it is heartening to see this, the Gracie video, Tom Callos, and others come forward and show what martial arts is really about.

Let's keep the balance on the side of right.  There's a lot of it out there and I'm proud of and grateful for that.

TTT and keep fighting the good fight.

And keep fighting what's wrong.  Never stop fighting what's wrong.

That's what it's all about.

Encouraging to read Ryan's letter.

Thank you, Ryan.

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aaaaahhhhh...heart warming..Master Lloyd Irving is so nice he loves to give......................NOT

tomcallos - A thank you to the people in/on this forum for your nice words and support. It's a weird, weird time for the martial arts world --and due to all of this, a weird time for our family. What a sad, messed up, disheartening, slap-in-the-face for the martial arts community. What a dishonorable record of shame. Helio Gracie, Meada, and Kano must be spinning in their graves. I too, in the shadow of this disgrace, find myself questioning whether I have wasted my time pursuing the study of the martial arts as a path to any sort of clarity. When these are our "Masters," what does it say about the martial arts? Ugh.

ttt

Quel surprise, comments and rating disabled for the above informercial.

cheesesteak - You know shits bead when you have to start disabling comments on your sales videos