Reality-Based in Canada going strong
Jim Wagner
Dallas Johnson, the new Reality-Based Personal Protection director of Canada, pulled off his first Level 1 seminar May 28 to June 2 in the city of Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver. Attending the seminar were 18 students from all over British Columbia, Ken Willis from Calgary, Samuel Graves from Washington, Larry Vellucci and his 16 year old daughter Samantha Vellucci from Oregon. Larry is the first certified Reality-Based instructor from Oregon. He is a full-time martial arts instructor, and the owner of the Kobukan Karate and Kung Fu Dojo martial arts school with over 200 active students in Redmond, Oregon USA www.cranekarate.com.
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Larry Vellucci has over 25 years experience in the martial arts. He spent 8 years training in the Far East and currently holds the following ranks: 6th Degree Black Belt (Renshi) in Shorin-Ryu Karate, 6th degree Black Belt in Okinawan White Crane Karate, 4th Degree Black Belt in Okinawan Kobudo, 1st Degree Black Belt in Chinese Kenpo and certified instructor in Splashing Hands Kung Fu. He also holds a Masters Degree in Education. Larry is a former Marine Officer and has 3 years experience in law enforcement. When Larry returned back to Oregon after the Reality-Based seminar he signed up 18 new students into his school, and his first student for Reality-Based Personal Protection who didn’t want “any traditional martial arts training,” because he is going to go down to South America in a few months and wanted “something that would work” if he got in trouble.
Samantha Vellucci, although not the youngest student I have trained, that distinction goes to a 12-year old Israeli girl, she was the youngest student to go through the Level 1 program (student training). She has been studying the martial arts under her father since she was five years old. When she got back home she started practicing for her driving test to get her driver’s license.
James Tong, a transit authority officer, went through the instructor program because he faces violent situations on a regular basis in his job. Recently there have been some machete attacks on buses and he wanted to learn how to deal with such incidents as well as other likely violent encounters.
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Dayton Gin is Dallas Johnson’s right hand man when it comes to Reality-Based Personal Protection Canada. On Thursday, June 1, Dayton took me and Dallas out to dinner at the White Spot restaurant where we discussed plans for future seminars - the next most likely being in Toronto in October.
Reality-Based instructor Garth Hoffman, and Defensive Tactics instructor for the Delta Police Department, popped in a couple of times throughout the week and answered students’ questions about Canadian law as it relates to self-defense. Garth also assisted me all day for the Terrorism Survival course. My history with Garth goes back many years when I trained his former agency, the British Columbia Sheriff’s Department, along with the Justice Institute of British Columbia in Surrey. He was also instrumental in the development of the Reality-Based curriculum, and to this day we still bounce techniques and training ideas off of each other.
I also had another opportunity to try out the new product that our online store is now carrying – the HammerHead. Of course, my Canadian students loved its realism. Just a few weeks ago I first tested the HammerHead (a striking apparatus shaped like a human head and is hand held by a partner) in Malmo, Sweden with Peter Falk’s group. I decided to bring the product up with me so I would have the opportunity to introduce it into another country. It was such a hit, excuse the pun, that Dallas purchased it and then Larry Vellucci ordered one when he returned to Oregon. The HammerHead retails for $99.95, but instructors get a 10% discount, and directors get it at wholesale. The company that makes HammerHead will be putting an advertisement in Black Belt magazine this Fall that will have me endorsing their product – which I proudly do.
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While I was in Burnaby the weather was pleasant, but Murphy’s Law did rear its ugly head. During Crime Survival when we were ready to do our surveillance training amongst the public it started raining. Rain tends to send everyone indoors so I did not have the opportunity to point out “soft targets” and “hard targets” like I normally do. However, we were able to manage to do some surveillance drills in the facility’s huge large parking lot before it started to pour.
As the founder of the Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection system I am very proud of Dallas Johnson’s first Level 1 instructor seminar and bringing me up to beautiful British Columbia to teach. After the success of this last seminar, the enthusiasm of the students for the system, and the plans that Dallas has for Reality-Based, I have no doubt that Dallas is going to turn the martial arts community upside down in Canada. Canada is starving for realistic, relevant training, and the market is wide open for him and those instructors coming aboard. Of course, Black Belt magazine is one of those reasons why the seminar was a huge success. Not only do my articles in High Risk every month draw martial artists to the system, but our full page ad that we placed in the magazine announcing the Canadian seminar brought us some quality people.
One of the items that Dallas I put on the table was to one day have a director for Quebec, since that part of the country is French culture and French speaking. So, perhaps in the not so far future we will have a new director aboard. As the system expands eastward it is only a matter of time before the right instructor comes along to fill that slot – J’espere que oui.
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Terrorism in Canada
Jim Wagner
My Canadian students must think I am a “prophet.” On Friday June 2nd I was teaching my Terrorism Survival course in Burnaby (Vancouver), Canada. This course covers terrorist attacks and how to survive them, knowing about the terrorist mentality, surviving a sniper, bomb searches, Weapons of Mass Destruction survival, and much more.
Half way through the course I told my students, “Terrorism will hit Canada. It may not be tomorrow, it may not be a month from now, or even a year from now, but it will hit. I guarantee it.” I predicted this because I knew that Canadian troops were in Afghanistan and the Taliban didn’t like it. One-legged Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah conducted an interview with Qatar-based network Al-Jazeera a week before my trip to Canada and stated, “Get out or we’ll pick you off one by one.” He went on to say, “American wants to avoid the heat of battle, so it pushes other countries towards it.” Canada has 2,300 troops in Afghanistan.
After the Terrorism Survival course I had to rush to Vancouver airport to catch a flight home to Los Angeles. While in the terminal I picked up a USA Today newspaper and a Canadian newspaper but found nothing but routine stories.
Then the next day, Saturday, the big news came out, “Terrorists planned to storm the Canadian Parliament and behead the Prime Minister.” Dallas Johnson, the Reality-Based Director of Canada, contacted me and asked, “Did you hear about what is happening up here?” I told him that I was just getting word on it, and he said, “You were right Jim.”
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Canadian authorities arrested 17 terrorist suspects who were caught with three tons of ammonium nitrate – a fertilizer product. Fertilizer is readily available in farming supply stores and anyone can purchase it. By mixing the substance with a hydrocarbon, such as diesel fuel or kerosene, the ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) mixture can become a powerful explosive compound. In 1995, American terrorist Timothy McVeigh, believed by many to have been connected to Al-Qaeda, used a Ryder truck packed with the chemical to destroy a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 -- one-third of the amount Canadian authorities seized Friday; the day I was teaching my Terrorism Survival course in Vancouver.
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Information that was obtained on Tuesday, June 6th, suggested that one of the members in the terror cell plotted to head Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Steven Vikash Chand allegedly plotted to attack Canada’s parliament, and planned on taking political hostages.
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With the ammonium nitrate was also found cell phones and detonators. The terrorists were planning a terror campaign across Canada to secure the release of Muslim prisoners from Canadian and Afghan prisons and demand the pull out of Canadian troops from Afghanistan. As part of Task Force Afghanistan (TFA), approximately 2,300 Canadian Forces personnel are deployed in Afghanistan on the first rotation (ROTO 1) of Canada’s renewed commitment to the international campaign against terrorism, Operation ARCHER. Canadian Brigadier-General David Fraser, Commander of 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (Edmonton, Alta.) is now the Commander of the Canadian-led Multi National Brigade for Regional Command South (MNB RC (South)) in Afghanistan. The majority of personnel at the Multi-National Brigade Headquarters located at Kandahar airfield (KAF) are Canadian, and are deployed for a nine-month period. At the same time, Canada is also fielding at KAF a battle group for two successive six-month rotations, as well as a new rotation for the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at Camp Nathan Smith, in Kandahar. Canada has committed to maintain the PRT until February 2007.
Police expect to make more arrests and intelligence officers believe there is a tie between the Canadian suspects and Islamic terror cells in six nations: the United States, Britain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark and Sweden. The operation that netted these latest terrorists was the largest counterterrorist operation in Canada since the nation’s Anti-Terrorism Act was adopted after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Luc Portelance, Assistant Director of Operations with Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canada’s spy agency said, “For various reasons, they appeared to have become adherents of a violent ideology inspired by al-Qaida.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement in relation to the recent arrests made in Toronto, announced on June 3rd from Ottawa:
“This morning, Canadians awoke to the news that our law enforcement and national security agencies have arrested 17 individuals for terrorism related offences.
“These individuals were allegedly intent on committing acts of terrorism against their own country and their own people.
“As we have said on many occasions, Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism. Through the work and cooperation of the RCMP, CSIS, local law enforcement and Toronto’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), acts of violence by extremist groups may have been prevented.
“Today, Canada’s security and intelligence measures worked. Canada’s new Government will pursue its efforts to ensure the national security of all Canadians.”
This time Canada was fortunate in capturing terrorists before they had a chance to carry out their deadly attacks. Next time, and there will be a next time, terrorists may succeed in killing many people or taking down a Canadian icon. The future tragedy could be Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver.
So why do the terrorists want to bring harm to Canada? Is it only in response to Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan? What is Canada doing in Afghanistan that would warrant blowing up innocent people, chopping the head off of a world leader, and storming a parliament building?
Canada is in Afghanistan to rout out the Taliban and restore peace and security by invitation of the Afghanistan government according to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. Canadian taxpayers to date have paid $2.3-billion to help rebuild this war-torn country. That comprises $1.8-billion in defense spending and another $500-million in additional expenditures, including humanitarian assistance and democratic renewal. Canada has promised to provide troops and security through to 2009. That will cost an additional $1.25-billion. The Canadian International Development Agency will spend another $310-million between now and 2011. So, a lot of money is being spent to give Afghanistan a brighter future. However, most Muslims don’t see it that way. Most see it in a very simplistic view, “The infidels are in Muslim lands, and they must go.” Anyone who helps the infidels are an enemy of Islam and thus subject to death according to the Koran:
“ And Allah is the East and the West, so wherever you turn there is Allah’s purpose.” Al-Baqarah 115
“ The only punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is that they should be murdered, or crucified, or their hands and their feet be cut off on opposite sides, or they should be imprisoned.” Al-Maidah 33
“ O you who believe, take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends of each other. And whoever among you takes them for a friend he is indeed one of them. Surely Allah guides not the unjust people.” Al-Maidah 51
“ O you who believe, when you meet those who disbelieve marching for war, do not turn your backs on them. Whoever turns his back to them on that day, unless manoeuvring for battle or turning to join a company, he indeed incurs Allah’s wrath and his refuge is hell. And, an evil destination it is.” Al-Anfal 15 - 16
For those arrested over the weekend, June 3rd and 4th, and those individuals who are soon to be arrested, in their eyes they are good Muslims, and the Koran seems to support their views. They don’t see themselves as “extremists,” no more so than Christians who are against abortion or homosexuality and are labeled “fundamentalists.” They are merely following their scriptures, which is there in black and white. The Koran commands their followers to conquer the world for Allah and enslave, kill, or imprison the Jewish and Christian infidels. That does not make them “extremists” for wanting to do so. It makes them loyal believers. Therefore, even if the Canadians were to pull troops out tomorrow from Afghanastan the troubles will not cease. Oh sure, perhaps temporarily, but there are plenty of Muslim leaders giving sermons at Canadian mosques targeting the Canadian government. To many Muslims it is very simple. Canada is a “Christian nation,” thus the enemy. The East and West are colliding just as they did a thousand years ago, only this time the global economy and mass immigration complicates the simmering conflict.
The War on Terrorism is not going to go away anytime soon. Terrorist attacks will continue, and terrorists will kill others for various reasons. The Reality-Based Personal Protection system does not focus on way such attacks occur, but how to survive terrorist attacks if you get caught in the middle of one. Our system is the only self-defense system teaching the general public what to look out for when it comes to events leading up to a terrorist attack and easy to learn step-by-step survival techniques. My anti and counterterrorism background is the main reason why we are in the forefront. Now that Reality-Based Personal Protection is spreading throughout Canada other instructors are teaching people how to protect themselves.
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Crime in Canada
Jim Wagner
One of the advantages of traveling all over the free world teaching my Reality-Based Personal Protection system is learning about crime trends in other countries. From May 28 to June 2 my travels took me to Vancouver, Canada. Not only did I watch the nightly news and read a couple of newspaper articles, but I had a chance to talk with my police buddies who work for various law enforcement agencies in British Columbia.
Many Americans, and many Canadians for that matter, think that Canada is a “safe” country. Yet, like anything, it is all relative. Granted, the crime rate in Canada is lower overall that that of its big neighbor to the south, but talk to any police constable and you’ll soon discover just how much crime is in Canada, and it is on the rise. Obviously, I am referring to large cities and their suburbs which are growing at an astonishing rate, largely due to immigration. According to the police there is a direct correlation. It seems that no matter where I have been in 2006, whether it was in Germany, Holland, Ireland, the UK or Canada - crime is on the increase everywhere in the Western World.
One of the stories that came out of Quebec, Canada while I was in country was about an appeals court that ruled that a pedophile’s sentence was too harsh. It seems that a Montreal girl was repeatedly raped by her father, 32, from when she was two years old to four years old. The father, who photographed these sick crimes, shared the images with his pedophile friends around the world.
The Quebec Court of Appeal reduced the father’s 15-year prison term meted out last year (March 2005) because they thought it was “too harsh,” and reduced it to nine years instead because the little girl was not gagged, hit or threatened with harm. “The sexual assault committed is not among the most serious sexual assaults if we take into account that the acts did not occur in the context of violence,” Justice Lise Cote wrote for the majority in the ruling that split the three-judge panel 2 to 1. “We don’t see here acts of violence like gagging, threatening or hitting the child.”
Needless to say, children’s advocates and victim rights groups are outraged at the court’s decision. The judge that dissented his colleague’s stance stated, “Even if the assaults in question were not accompanied by physical violence, which is not always apparent with the rape of a child between the ages of two and four, the surrounding circumstances give the incidents a particularly odious character and require serious reprobation.”
According to evidence presented in the case the father began sleeping with his daughter and “treated her as his wife,” even calling her bedroom the “room of love.” He was also a collector of child pornography as well as bestiality. The crimes had been discovered December 9, 2002 by European authorities when cracking down on international pornography.
For you Reality-Based Personal Protection practitioners who have a cautious eye towards others, you should always treat someone who is viewing pornography as suspect. Pornography is definitely a warning sign that should not be ignored. As the old proverb goes, “garbage in, garbage out.” If someone feeds their mind with degrading images, especially if those images center on children and torture, they should not be trusted. As a police officer I have seen the link between pornography and sexual crimes many times, as have any law enforcement officer who has investigated such incidents. Obviously, not all voyeurs act out their fantasies or engage in sexual crimes, but if you know anyone who is into this filth then you ought to take steps to protect yourself or keep people you know who are at risk away from such a person. In other words, “be a hard target.”
It’s just a shame this father did not get life in prison. If you think that is too harsh, then just look at any two year old girl and imagine the severity of the crime. These types of crimes do not just terrorize the victim for the duration of the crime, but destroys a person for life.
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