Self-Defense Pt. III

On June 28, I ran my first ever Basic Self Defense class in Canada. This class was a trial run for an idea I had for a corporate fundraising event for my local YMCA. Earlier in June, I submitted a formal proposal to my company and to the YMCA to hold introductory an hour-long Basic Self-Defense Clinic, the proceeds of which would go to the YMCA's Partner's for Youth campaign. This charity helps generate financial support for children and families who might otherwise be unable to participate in the YMCA.

The trial run class was run by myself, and I was assisted by my wife, Teresa, who has a lot of familiarity with female self-defense. The participants were a mixed bag of YMCA employees and associates. It was a small class, 5 students total, but it was a heck of a lot of fun! Unfortunately we neglected to take a camera, so I don't have any pics to publish, but the trial run was so much of a success that we are anticipating more events in the future.

Running an hour-long clinic is not as easy as it sounds. I put in many hours of research, and Teresa and I put in a few days of physical practice time for that one-hour. There are a few important reasons why we spent all that time in preparation. One, I wanted to make a good impression on the YMCA crew, because I foresee a long and fruitful relationship between True North Martial Arts and the YMCA. Two, if you're gonna teach a subject, it helps to look like you know what you're doing. Most importantly though, self-defense is a very controversial subject, and you need to do your research to get things right.

The controversy generally lies in the ethics of the situation. There are many who would instruct without the required experience and knowledge. It's often the case that a supposed instructor can do more harm to his/her students because of their unfamiliarity and lack of knowledge. Frankly, the martial arts world is full of folks who lack maturity and experience and know just enough to do some major damage. Lord knows I don't want to add to that kind of harm.

Luckily I've had some pretty good instructors. For those of you who live in Pennsylvania area, and are interested in self-defense, but are not interested in navigating through a whole lot of posers and wanna be's, I advise you to check out folks like Master Charles Vaughn of Vaughn's Dojang and Master Kevin Robinson of Robinson's Martial Arts Institute. The rest of you should check out the World Tang Soo Do website to see if there is a studio near you. WTSDA is lucky to have many great self-defense instructors. Up here in Region 15, (i.e., Canada), our Regional Head, Master Larry Wick, has developed his own self-defense system that he teaches to law enforcement officers all around North America.

Those of you in the Kitchener/Waterloo area would do well to keep in contact with the local YMCA. Based on the positive response to the trial run, we will be running our fundraising clinics very soon. Until then...

Tang Soo!