It’s friday!
This means most of you will come into me nice and early to get your training out of the way for the day, then as soon as the whistle blows to finish work, you’ll be into your glad rags and out on the town.
And fair play, you possibly earned it.
Possibly.
For the best part of 10 years I was one of those people you walked past with barely a nod on the way in and out of your pub of choice. I stood in the shadows around the dance floor as you danced, oblivious of the people around you. For ten years I was a Doorman, not just in Dublin either, but in Andorra in the Pyrenees Dubai in the UAE and Canberra in Australia.
And regardless of the location, the story always went the same.
Each and every shift, myself and the other lads would watch as the alcohol kicked in, guards dropped, egos inflated and before we knew it we’d be in. If we got there in time we’d be diffusing a situation, if we didn’t we’d be pulling two or more bodies apart and physically removing them from the venue.
A lot of the time it was just something stupid, a silly argument that got heated. Sometimes it was more sinister.
Even on the route home after a shift, I’d see the same things happening on the street. I’ve seen pickpockets tailing some of the people that had left the bar not long before I did. One night I turned a corner and saw a woman on her own with three youths attempting to snatch her handbag. They succeeded, but ran the wrong way. They ran towards me, when they should have run the other way.
Now I’m not writing this for the glory, look at me the hero doorman, no I’m kind of reminiscing over people innocently landing themselves in bother or people setting themselves up as victims almost inviting a predatory attack. I’m thinking, could these events been avoided or handled differently.
And the answer is a resounding yes.
With a few simple pointers, these people may never have gotten into these situations.
I’m also looking at the Central Statistics Office website at the Assault figures and seeing the number rise year on year going from just over 13 thousand to over 15 thousand cases. Cases of trespass have nearly doubled from 2004 to 2007 and has continued to rise.
This is why from time to time I run a workshop looking at the simple and basic elements of self defence. It’s kind of what the cool kids call “Reality Based Self Defence” or “Self Protection” I’m not cool and rather call a spade a spade, so to me the title of “Basic Self Defence Skills” is good enough.
The next one of these will take place on the May Bank Holiday Weekend. You have the chance to join me from 1000 – 1600 on Sunday 5th for Basic Self Defence Skills and again on Monday 6th for Rapid Response Knife Defence.
Here’s some of what we’ll look at:
Sunday 5th May:Basic Self Defence Skills
Environmental Awareness
Situational Awareness
Avoid/Evade/Confront Continuum
Fundamental Body Mechanics for Power Generation
The Three Fundamental Arm/Hand Strikes
Wedge Defence
Monday 6th May: Rapid Response Knife Defence Skills
Flinch Response
Blocking, Parrying, Passing &Trapping Skills
“Safe” position
Counter Offensive techniques from safe position
Simultaneous Cover & Counter
Each day will cost €50, or attend both for €70. No entries will be taken on the day, so drop me a line about putting down a deposit.
This workshop will not turn you into Jason Bourne, but it will give you the baseline skills, which if practiced and applied can and will keep you and those you care about safe from harm. I won’t try to baffle you with bullshit. I will teach you high quality, time proven and field tested information. This is not a martial arts course, it is pure self defence, like martial arts used to be before competitions were created.
Till then, enjoy your weekend.
Regards
Dave www.wg-fit.com
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