Jan
31
Stalking Awareness Month
Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog, Safety & Self-Defense | 4 Comments
January is Stalking Awareness Month, and a great website with tools, quizzes and resources is now available if this is something you are dealing with. I especially love their guidelines on how to create a Safety Plan. Visit the website by clicking here – and help spread the word too! http://stalkingawarenessmonth.org
Stalking is downright scary, and I know this on a very personal level. It can make a person feel powerless, cause acute anxiety and feel totally out of control. Please understand that each situation is different, and you need specific management of your individual case before deciding on any one course of action. Reach out for help, and don’t deal with this on your own. Here are 5 ideas to get you started…
#1: Acknowledge the situation for what it is. Might sound easy, but many people who are being stalked refuse to accept that the word STALK is appropriate. According to Safe Horizon, New York law defines stalking as a pattern of intentional, repeated, and unwanted behavior causing a person to fear for his/her own safety. A stalker can be anyone – a stranger, a relative or anywhere in between.
#2: Know the law. To find out the exact definition of stalking and possible ways to respond, know the laws in your state. Visit the Stalking Resource Center at The National Center for Victims of Crime website by clicking here.
#3: Read a book called “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin de Becker. By far, this is the best book I’ve read about intuition, de-escalating potentially violent scenarios and understanding the motives of people who pursue others inappropriately. Click here to buy it.
#4: Call the Stalking Hotline. Someone from Safe Horizon is available to speak with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call toll free: 866.689.HELP (4357). Check out their website by clicking here.
#5: Take a self-defense class. Hopefully the steps above prevent you from having to physically save yourself. However, the skills you learn in a good self-defense class are much bigger than learning to do an eye jab. Great classes will also teach you to recognize the signs of a violent person, how to use your intuition, ways to de-escalate bad situations and how to fight back if necessary. I especially recommend classes by IMPACT and FAST Defense.
I hope this helps…stay safe!
Oct
1
FAST Defense
Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog, Safety & Self-Defense | Leave a Comment
Yesterday I caught a flight from St. Louis back to Denver, only to grab my car and drive to a 3.5 hour FAST Defense class near Boulder. This class was taught by FAST Defense founder and my self-defense teacher, Bill Kipp. While I’ve done quite a bit of private training with him, I hadn’t yet taken his formal class with other students so this was exciting. My staff, Ashley & Camella, also joined me…both of their first full-contact self-defense experiences. Also joining us was GFB volunteers, Chris Lacis and Lisa Poole. See a photo of my team, as well as a bunch of new friends at left.
In just a few short hours, Bill and his incredible team took a class full of timid but brave souls and turned them into fighters. Together we learned to set boundaries with both friends and strangers, use our voice as an effective self-defense tool and fight back if necessary. Class ended with two, full-contact fights with padded attackers in bullet man suits. I got extra special attention in my last fight, by getting surprised by three attackers. Game on for multiple assailants!
FAST Defense courses are taking place all over the world, and I’m working with Bill to make sure even more people know about his exceptional program. His class proves you don’t need to be a black belt to save your life. You don’t need to enroll in years of training to defend yourself. One night will give you the confidence and basic skills to survive a scrappy confrontation, and will leave you wanting more. Learn more at http://www.fastdefense.com (new website coming soon…)
Sep
16
Could you do me a huge favor? My self-defense mentor, Bill Kipp, is up for a very prestigious award for Best Self Defense Instructor of the Year by Black Belt Magazine. I feel he is very deserving of this title, and I’d be so appreciative if you took a minute to vote for him. He’s been in the business 20 years, and has started an international network of qualified instructors who teach his system called FAST Defense. You may recognize him as the poor soul in the video posted below, who was victim of my stick beatings this past weekend. The man deserves this!
To vote, please go here: http://www.blackbeltmag.com/surveys/48
Just fill in Bill Kipp in the last field for “Self-Defense Instructor of the Year.” Leave the rest blank. Thanks for supporting the great people teaching this life-saving information.
Sep
14
Stick Fighting
Filed Under Safety & Self-Defense, Video | Leave a Comment
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