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ZOMBIES!!! Class Notes June 17th 2014

Attendance: Brian, Ryan, Rob, Dan, Chan, Guro Joe C. instructing. We covered mass attack basics via the Zombie drill today.  We started with a few test runs and analyzed those outcomes to develop strategies.  We then changed scenarios by adding exits, first one then two, then changing starting positions.  We then added projectiles and finally blades with zombie “kill” rules to provide effect for projectiles.  We finished with following scenario: The one must make it to one of two exits.  As many blades as he cares to load in concealment.  One must start behind the railing(about 10 feet long open on one end) and zombies start about 20 ft out(behind a given line on the floor) Cuts or projectiles must be to vital targets.  Two hits to immobilize the zombie for three seconds.  Zombies have no speed limit but are limited to grabbing with outstretched hands.  Once grabbed by more then one zombie the one loses.  No time limit.

Some of the conclusions.  Don’t cut the middle.  Its a lot easier with the blades. They only work if they are in your hand at the right time.

Among others…

 

 

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4th of July Inner Harbor Stabbing

My family and I went down to the Inner Harbor to watch the fireworks on the 4th. As the crowd shuffled off of Pier 6 after the show, we walked past a man lying on the ground bleeding from his neck just outside of McCormick & Schmick’s. (I was carrying my youngest child, with the other two beside me.) First responders were trying to apply pressure to the man’s wound, but it took a while before paramedics and an ambulance could work their way through the crowd. They had started chest compressions as they loaded the man into the ambulance.

26-year-old Joseph Calo had been visiting Baltimore from Alabama when he and his brother became involved in a shoving match with a group of other men, including 32-year-old Marcus Harris. The fight was broken up at first, but Calo and Marcus apparently “re-engaged” each other later on. Calo was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle and died after being taken to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

It was a disturbing end to my family’s 4th of July celebration, less than 24 hours after I returned from Sama Sama, but it served as a reminder that violence can erupt anywhere and anytime. All the more reason for an “all blade, all the time” mentality, paired with training in mass attack and improvised weapons concepts …

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Class Notes – April 12, 2011

Instructors: David Davis and Lem Tasin

Attendance: Frank Raspa, Tyus Durant, Bryant Nelson, Jarod B, Brian Keller, Asim,

Introduction/definitions

Everyone should have a general concept of the following terms such as shielding, checking, tapping, and situation awareness, as well as how these terms translate into movement that informs your decision-making. What is the difference between shielding, checking, and tapping?

  • Shielding describes the use of the back of the forearms to protect your body. (demo)
  • Checking describes the use and positioning of the live hand or guardian hand to monitor the feeder’s free limb while your main hand is tapping the attack. (demo)
  • Tapping means to deflect the force of the attack away from the body (with in the shoulder distance of your structure). In principle, you should tap with enough force so that you know that the attack is within your peripheral view.
  • Situation awareness describes the mental process that, we train our minds to perform when placed in stressful situations. Situation awareness is the single most important formula in self-awareness because it teaches you how to process patterns such as opportunity, place, and attack strategy. For instance, it is important when in situations to understand when facing confrontational individuals, their intent. For instance if there are individual wearing a particular type of clothing in an odd environment is it because, they are homeless or are they trying to conceal the patterns of a weapon?

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Class Notes – December 14, 2010


In attendance: Joe, David, Tyus, Devlin, Mosi, Brian, Asim, Andrew, Ryan, Will, Bob, Tavon, Julie, Kashif, Nancy, Jon, and Guro Joe Maraña. visiting from the west coast!

We warmed up with transition drills, then decided to do something different in honor of Guro Joe. We split into two groups (sharks vs minnows) and ran a series of mass attack drills. Eventually we worked our way until we had a group of 12 protecting a “principal” against 3 attackers — trying a variety of different strategies. Fun stuff!

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Class Notes – September 7, 2010

In attendance: Roderick, Joe, David, Brian, Asim, Ryan, Bryant, Frank, Bob, Tavon and prospective students Will and Brian (Tavon’s friend).

We spent the night on some tactical scenario training. Roderick, David and Ryan took turns walking down “the street” dealing with various encounters:

  • Roderick avoided the clumsy drunk (Frank) and the talkers (Tavon, his friend Brian, and Will), but forgot to defend himself when assaulted by the muggers (Joe and Bryant).
  • David did a pretty good job taking care of the muggers (Joe and Bryant), but also slashed the clumsy drunk (Frank) and the clueless tourist (Brian).
  • Ryan, accompanied by his wife Roderick, managed to avoid the jugglers (Asim and Tavon) and the drunk (Frank). Ryan shot the muggers (Joe and Bryant). Immediately afterward, Roderick stabbed the clueless tourist (Brian)!

The post-scenario assessments were interesting. The second round (David and Tavon’s friend Brian) went better as both sides learned from the initial go-round.