How do you deal with bullies? If you listen to school administrators and psychologists, you might get the impression that if you turn the other cheek, the bully will just go away. But really, how do you handle a bully? Well there is no real good answer, if you buy into the school philosophy. Nowadays many schools state they have a zero tolerance policy. What is that? Well if someone is attacked by a bully and decides to fight back (you know your right to self-defense), both the bully and the defender will be punished!
Whats up with that? Do you mean to tell me that if a kid gets attacked by another, he or she should just take it to avoid punishment? I am so happy I grew up in another time. When I was a kid, it was expected that if one kid smacked another – the other kid was expected to mount a defense of some type. In my day, the teachers and Vice-Principal would try to find out what happened and then punish the kid that started it (assuming the defender did not go overboard). In this post I will try and examine bullies, schools treatment of attacks, and how a parent can console their kids to deal with bullies today. Here is an example of how kids and parents are consoled about bullies today I found on youtube.
I must be behind the times to be examining this topic. Today one can turn on any TV and see UFC, WEC, IFL and even Exite XC MMA fights! Modern MMA is way beyond the no-holds-barred matches of the 90’s where Jui-Jitsu came into its own. Today’s MMA can incorporate whatever mix of the fighting arts (yes I avoided calling it martial arts) that a fighter likes. This can include, boxing, jui-jitsu, karate, wrestling, judo, street-fighting and anything else that one can think of but generally a fighter has striking and ground work at a minimum.
The reason I am thinking about this now is the association I belong to has adopted grappling as part of its overall goals for future students. As I announced last week, the American Kenpo Karate Association that was derived from Tracy’s Karate, as taught by Richard “Dick” Willett, is having a seminar for beginning Jui-jitsu moves here. In this post I will explore karate vs ground fighting, area’s of compatibility, as well the future direction of fighting arts. Here is a beginning video I found of some MMA grappling moves.
I previously reviewed Michelle “the karate hottie” Waterson in my post entitled, “Supermodels can fight! Not just another pretty face” and was happy to hear that she was fighting the other day for Strikeforce! Michelle was fighting Tyra Parker in a video here.
Waterson won by a rear naked choke in 1 minute 20 seconds of the first round. Michelle seems to be a composed fighter as evidenced by her first tactic of striking. She was doing fine against Parker with her punches but rapidly transitioned to grappling. Parker’s bombs (wide hooking rights) might have done some damage so Michelle got in close and worked a few knees to soften Tyra up. Michelle was able to switch easily to the choke!
A female prison officer was able to thwart an attack from a gypsy man in Rome in this story. This Italian lady was also a karate champion. The guy asked for cigarette and then grabbed her neck. Lara Liotta struck the gypsy with jabs, knocking him down. she ran for help and the guy was detained by police. Miss Liotta stated that no one in the plaza came to assist and luckily she was able to fight off the attack with her karate skills.
Anyway my bias is apparent now if it was not before. I think women cops will have a much better chance at any altercations if they become great fighters of whatever martial art of their choice. I also think if women hang their hat on equal employment and do not do the extra work to excel at hand to hand combat, they may have an issue if Murphy’s Law comes into play. My choice would be the extra training above and beyond what the police academy requires.
As far as I can tell Miss Liotta did everything right, she was in a crowded plaza, approached by a man. She did not have a cigarette and was accosted without warning. She was able to mount a counter attack from her karate training and got away. She found the police who arrested the guy. I think had Lara not had the karate background – she would have been hard pressed to end the attack so quickly. It is sad that people are not willing to assist a lady being attacked in broad daylight. I salute this Italian woman – karate champion for her great application of self-defense! I will speak about karate and women police in this post. Here is a picture of Lara Liotta competing in karate.
I read with interest this story about a lady karate instructor training her students to take kicks. Apparently she challenged her students to see who could take the most kicks. A kid wound up with blood in his urine and she (the karate instructor) was charged and acquitted of child abuse. In this post I will review this story and point out the pros and cons of some types of conditioning. I will also examine what I think of this case (based on the limited information in the article) as well as what I believe optimal training for children should be.
I remember when I was first starting karate, learning how to punch into pads and toughening my hands in buckets of sand. I had to practice inward blocks with partners so I could block harder. I was taught that the body could be toughened up so one could fight better. I do remember taking some kicks and punches as part of that process. As I moved to non-traditional styles (Kenpo Karate), I noted the focus went from deadening my senses (ostensibly to take pain) to learning how to connect with kicks and punches. I did not have to break boards but rather score points on my opponents! Here is one video I found of an apparent Muy Tai boy learning how to take kicks and punches.
I remember watching the Miss America pageants when I was a kid and heard some of the contestants wishing for world peace. I would hear snickers and cynicism about that idea. On the face of it, world peace should be achievable if the worlds peoples were of a like mind. Then I remembered all of the movies I had seen about the good guys and the bad guys and when Reagan was elected – I heard about the evil empire. I soon figured out that this is an us and them kind of world. Maybe I should suspect that kind of reasoning but it makes sense that I am or my country is right and everyone else is wrong – Right?
Ok without expending the scope of this article to world peace, I would like to point out why I don’t really think bad guys will ever all come to the light and become good guys. People just think differently! Some people rationalize bad behavior like I do when I eat meat (by the way I like meat and will probably never stop eating it – but when I can afford free range chickens – I will probably start buying that). It is kind of a law of the jungle – eat or be eaten. Then there those of us that believe civilization has a chance and that some day people will care about their neighbors even if they do not agree with them or their lifestyle. Maybe I am a dreamer.
Most kids have grown up reading the Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the Three Pigs but do you remember Little Red Riding Hood? I was trying to remember how it ended and was surprised to learn there are different versions of the tale. The one I remember has a wood cutter saving the grandma and Little Red Riding Hood by chopping the wolf’s head off. In any event, whatever versions of the story you remember, don’t you wonder how this story might have changed if Little Red Riding Hood knew karate? We here at My Self-Defense Blog have scoured the ends of the earth to find an answer to just that question in this youtube video.
I would say that girl is assertive! I kind of like the violence of the attacks on the wolf because he has it coming! Bravo I say.
One a more serious note I would like to talk about some brave girls that decided not to be victims. Today’s girls many times are sent mixed messages such as listen to adults, teachers, and police but I would argue that in today’s enviornment one cannot simply tell their children to trust anyone. I applaud parents and groups that talk about boundaries and behaviours as the deciding factor for children to decide how to react.
In this post I will give examples of girls fighting back as well as commentary to echo what I believe was good and bad in each case. I found a good video of Noel Gyro giving girls some self-defense tips and I will inject a more modern-day Little Red Riding Hood video of how a martial arts girl might respond to an attack! As you read this post, please think of ways your family can increase their skills and awareness to improve their chances of a good outcome in the event of an attack!
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