It was pouring last night and I didn’t expect many people to show up. It was to my pleasant surprise that as I was bringing in the mats for the class that Madalyn was already in St. Marks. As I brought in the last of the mats and got everything situated, the group started coming in despite the rain. I want to thank everyone who came and especially our two new attendees Madalyn and Lori. Last night we worked on some basic conditioning, strength training and flexibilty. For many of us who lead sendentary or low physical activity lives, I’m sure the exercises came as a shock. Don’t worry you will get used to it over time. We went over our wristgrab from last week (“answer the phone”) and this week we acquired exiting from a headlock (” up and away”). I want to thank Nitin for being my designated victim. We also went over some of the aspects of situational awareness.

Here are some tips:

• When walking home at night and its late – turn off the ipod or any other mp3 player that could dampen your ability to hear. Your sense of sound is an asset in your defense.
• As soon as you are heading home, keep your cell phone handy, in this case handy means literally in your hand ready to dial 911 if need be.
• Avoid dark streets if at all possible.
• Be aware of your surroundings and listen to your intution, if something feels off or suspicious heed the warning and alter you actions accordingly.

These are just a few of the tips that what we covered in class and I invite those who attended the class to participate in the blog and post what stood out for them. Situational awareness is an important part of self defense. Like I have mentioned in class, you have to educate yourself, prevent and lastly if you have no other recourse implement the techniques that you have learned. In many cases there are cues that lead to a violent confrontation, what we need to do is become attuned to the cues and take the appropriate steps that can defuse and prevent a confrontation from occuring in the first place.