How much time is your safety worth?

Concealed carry weapons class in Nevada takes about 10 hours. 

Hunter’s safety class is 6 to 8 hours. 

For Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, 17.5 hours

Law enforcement have to have 480 hours of training at the academy.

Safety, the practice and implementation of it, is an issue to be taken seriously. It takes time to cover, comprehend and understand the material, it is truly a myriad if vital information.

Yet, when it comes to personal defense people want to learn it all in just 2 hours. “Two hours to the ultimate self defense move!” 

There is no ultimate move. 

No “just” and no “always” solutions. 

As in ‘just’ knee them in the groin and they’ll ‘always’ double over in pain.

Critical elements of self defense cannot be covered in a 2 hour time frame. Just as other  ‘safety’ courses take a day or longer, so would a quality personal defense education course. 

The dimensions of personal safety is vast. A woman’s perspective is different than a man’s, and none of it has cookie-cutter solutions. What may have worked for one incident probably won’t work for the next. When it comes to violence, denial is not the best option, yet it is the one that most often applied. 

Anyone who teaches ‘self’ defense, needs to understand how important accurate and factual information. An instructor who is aware of the depth involved with defending, will illuminate students about all the profound aspects of defending. This cannot be done in two hours. 

So, when it comes to time frame, preparing to defend yourself involves much more than physical moves. Just like the requirements to carry a concealed weapon involves more than just putting bullets in the gun and pulling the trigger.

It is an important educational process, because of the choices made have deadly force possibilities. 

What is your goal? Is it to  practice a couple of times a week and, learn cool stuff and become confident and adroit in physical skills? Indeed, these are productive qualities to strive for, being physically fit is an advantage.

If you goal is to understand the emotional, ethical, and legal implications of having to use physical force in defense of your life, all while you are in pain, shock and terrified, then there is much more to your education than block, punch, and kick. 

How much time, is your safety worth?

Tragedy. The heart of grief.

I am not certain of how to start this post. The tragedy at West Wendover has ripped me up. It was tough to get out of bed today.

Not only because it has hit so close to home, but because it is a young life, who in one moment has her whole future, and is living carefree and hopeful.

Then violence strikes.

How do we prepare our youth for the future. We don't teach them skills that will keep them debt free by understanding the process of credit cards, percentages in applying it to every day consumerism.

We don't prepare them how to prepare a nutritious meal, or how to plan for a week's menu, nor how to shop, store or budget for it. How many households teach the kids living sharing it with a parent or adult, show their dependents any of this stuff. When those having kids are kids, without these skills how the hell do we expect the offspring to learn what the parent doesn't know?!

Neither does our rural youth know violence. Nor are they prepared. It is known more so than many realize, but when it is predatory is is a foreign concept.

How in the world can a good, young, uninformed person, or even one who has lived a life not affected by violence possibly comprehend predatory violence.

Predator: (n) an animal that naturally preys on others.

Predatory violence is exactly that, simply the hunt for prey. They want resources or they just like the process of the hunt. There is no rational rhyme or reason to those who cannot consider hunting for the kill, another human being.

It's like the spider you squashed, or the deer you got last season. Same indifference, except most people would not ever think of applying this indifference to other people.

There is no answer to "why". It isn't consoling to hear how awful the world and people can be. There is nothing that will give solace to this tragedy. NOTHING..

Except a drive forward to try to educate. Accurate, informative education so that other families don't have to go thru this.

Bullshit information will only set up illusions of safety with out having actual security.

This is not about physical abilities. It is about education and training of how to apply that education.

In a previous post, I mentioned feeling like Neo, who took Morphius' red pill, and realized he was far more into a rabbit hole than he knew he ever wanted to be. With no turning back.

Here I am.

That post was in relation to the violence dynamics training I recently attended.

One cannot unlearn.

Frustrations and Knowledge

For January I offered several personal defense courses. A couple thru Great Basin College and a 3-session course in Wells. I had one person for the Wells class. A few others who said they were interested, didn't follow thru. This is one of the frustration each of us a personal defense instructors experience.

As for the GBC workshops, I showed up Saturday the 22 for the morning. But after waiting there until 9am and having no one show up I left. There were only 2 people signed up, but I was looking forward to the class. It turns out, that the two people were traveling from a near by town and came upon an accident on their way to my class. They are first responders, so they took care of the scene. Needless to say, I have rescheduled the class for this coming Saturday. I am looking very forward to meeting these ladies! Some press releases have been sent to hopefully get a couple of more people to sign up.

The frustration of having so few ladies take such a beneficial class can get to me sometimes. Often times I wonder why I continue to train and pursue the information and education I do, at my expense, to become more knowledgeable about defense and violence. Becoming the best, most accurate teacher I can be is of what use if there are no students? I am about to go off to yet another training in which day two is titled, Concrete, Dirt, & Barstools. Environmental fighting simulations at a real biker bar, rented specifically for training. What I know I will get from this training is yet another level of understanding of defensive situations, and violence.

Why?

What for?

I am going to drive to an area I have never been before, stepping into a training situation that is rather intimidating to think about. I have full confidence and faith in the trainers ability to train. He is diligent, well trained, and knowledgeable. It will be fun and exciting, and I will be meeting some great people. I always do when I venture into training.

So as I asked Travis once, "What are you going to do with all this 'knowledge?"

I too, ask myself, "What do I do with all this knowledge?"