Showing posts with label karate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label karate. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

PRACTICAL SELF DEFENSE CLINIC FOR BEGINNERS


Professor Hausel (right) with Hanshi Finley (7th dan) at Self-Defense clinic at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

Soke Hausel enjoys interacting with his instructors & students to provide popular & pragmatic self-defense clinics for both martial artists & the general public. Soke Hausel, Hall of Fame inductee, enjoys putting on a good show by combining useful techniques with wit that brings clinic attendees back again & again.

Why do these clinics have such a great attraction and following? It's because we focus on a group of very simple self-defense applications that are easy to use and we apply these a variety of attacks such as grabs, bear hugs, headlocks, chokes, hair grabs and more. People are entertained at our clinics, because we include pragmatic self-defense with some entertaining restraints. Awarded the AAPG's President's Certificate for Public Speaking, the North American Black Belt Hall of Fame's International Instructor of the Year, Laramie Lyceum Distinguished Speaker and the University of Wyoming Distinguished Lecturer. Wit, pragmatic techniques and great stories are the right combination for a great evening of entertainment that could one day save your life. 

In the past, we've taught clinics to women's clubs, EMT groups, Air Force ROTC, sororities, church groups, law enforcement students, airline travelers, business groups, political groups and others.

In 2010, we taught a group of public self-defense clinics where attendees were taught simple, but pragmatic self-defenses against several attacks. In other clinics, we trained traditional martial artists, in advanced self-defense, katas (forms), advanced forms, combinations, kobudo (weapons), knife, rifle and hand-gun defenses. His recent clinics were taught at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and at the Arizona School of Traditional Karate in Mesa.

Just imagine - how would you defend against someone pushing you against the wall and then choking you. Attendees learned to reverse this attack and run the aggressor's head into the same wall they were pushed into. According to Tracy P, "One of the more exciting techniques was against a grab or a punch, and we quickly put their arm under their crotch & grabbed their collar and just walked them around the room looking bewildered and not so bright. Then we ran them into the wall. You just have to see it to believe it. We laughed so hard, I thought I was going to split my sides".

In clinics for the lay-person, attendees start learning simple defenses against wrist grabs, lapel grabs, chokes, bear hugs, etc, and the same defense is slightly modified and used for each of these attacks as this is the most pragmatic way for beginners to learn to defend one's self. Clinic attendees learned to use their elbows, knees and body weight against an attacker. Then they learned similar defenses using their palm-hands. And straight from the Karate Kid, they are taught about 'wax on, wax off' and more. With the addition of physics and why these work, it was also very educational. 

The clinics teach one to defend against a choke. In other defenses, attendees learn to smash the attacker's head against knees, a wall, or just follow up a choke with a more sophisticated choke. And of course, groin strikes are not eliminated - so bring a friend.

Other clinics taught include advanced knife and gun defenses and Shorin-Ryu white crane forms and applications for black belts. These advanced techniques require considerable training and expertise. In other clinics, attendees are taught forms and self-defense applications for martial artists of all ranks. People travel to train under Soke's guidance at the Mesa, Arizona Dojo and Soke travels to schools around the country.

The University of Wyoming Campus Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo Club sponsored self-defense clinics for public, staff and faculty of the university and communities of Laramie, Cheyenne, Casper and Fort Collins. The clinic held on October 22nd 2010 proved to be very successful as did previous self-defense clinics in September and March which filled the Education Building and Corbett Gyms. It was a time for staff, faculty & students of the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming community to get together and learn how to defend & use pragmatic weapons at hand (such as car keys). 

The clinics were also sponsored by grants provided to the UW Campus Shorin-Ryu Karate Club by the UW Residence Halls & Dining Services & ASUW.

In Arizona, we offer similar clinics to residents in the East Valley of Phoenix. Flight Attendant Associations, College groups, Women's Groups, Church Groups should consider learning some self-defense. STOP! Think what would you do if someone right now grabbed your purse - how would you defend? Now, what would you do if someone followed you to your car and then tried to mug you? Or steal your car?

What would you do if your daughter went off to college without self-defense training? We all think of college as a safe haven - but it is one of the more dangerous environments for a female in particular. Statistics show that at least 25% of all females attending college in the US will at one time be sexually assaulted. Can you live with that? Why send your children to college without a complete education.

If you want more training to become an expert in martial arts, one can continue training at the Seiyo Shorin-Ryu Hombu in Gilbert, Arizona.

Some classical techniques taught at clinics for the lay-person include defense against a wrist grab. Here the attacker grabs a wrist to restrain the defender. The defender simply grabs her own fist and brings the opposite elbow up into the chin as she steps into the attacker. This results in either  a visit to the dentist, or laughter.




 In another technique (left), the attacker grabs the victim by the throat. This is immediately followed by a thrust of nukite (knife hand) into the juggler notch of the attacker while stepping behind with one foot to drop the attacker over the defender's leg (left).









Following Soke's demonstration on how to defend an attack that restricts the defender against the wall (right) with a forearm to the throat (left), the table is turned on the attacker who is pivoted into the wall followed by a knee to the stomach (below left) or chest. Depending on how hard of a knee strike, the attacker either collapses to the ground in pain or in laughter (left below).




It is very important to learn to defend yourself, while having fun doing so at our lay-person clinics (right).


Knife defense training (above) in some of the advanced clinics, and a popular self-defense technique taught to karate practitioners is the 'Cowboy Pole Dancing', where the attacker is placed on his own arm while directed into a nearby wall or pole (left).


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