Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection

Reality-Based Continues in New York City
Jim Wagner

Three corrections officers from a maximum security prison from the New Jersey Department of Corrections, two law enforcement officers, a District Attorney’s Office prosecutor, a United Nations counterterrorism specialist, martial arts instructors from a dozen systems, and several beginners learning self-defense for the first time. That was the type of people that were attracted to my recent seminar in New York City taught from December 4th to the 8th held in the Fighthouse, run by Peggy Chau, in Downtown Manhattan.

I sound like a t-shirt you see in the souvenir shops, but I love New York. It is a perfect location for East Coast people to attend, and surprisingly for foreigners as well. I had Pierre Andipatin fly in from Australia to take the courses and Simon Leila came in from Scotland to do the same. They both wanted to be certified Level 1 Reality-Based instructors. Of course, the big benefit to having the courses in The Big Apple is that once class is dismissed at the end of each day there are a thousand things to do in the city. I make it a habit in each major city that I visit to tour a museum or a historical site on my free time. On this trip I took a tour through the NBC television studios to get some filming pointers. After all, my company War Arts produces training DVDs. My most recent title is Knife Defense that was co-produced with Boker. I also went to Ellis Island in the Hudson River to do some research on my great grandfather who came over from Germany to work in the Kentucky coal mines as a young man. Ellis Island was the gateway to America for European immigrants from 1892 to 1926. The Island is next to the Statue of Liberty. I took some beautiful photos of the symbol of freedom because the weather was absolutely perfect that day.

I had the opportunity to watch Elizabeth Greenman, one of my Level 3 Reality-Based instructors, teach her own class in Uptown Manhattan on Thursday evening the 7th of December; Pearl Harbor Day. She is an excellent instructor, and makes her living off of instructing. Elizabeth has both men and women coming to here because of her step-by-step reality-based approach.

One of my newest certified instructors, Carlini Jaramillo, was a big help to me in my Crime Survival and Terrorism Survival courses. I am very limited in the amount of equipment I can bring with me to New York from Los Angeles. Although I ship things over to the facility by UPS it is not practical to send everything I need. Therefore, Carlini contacted me by phone before the event and asked me if I needed any air guns or other equipment. He offered to bring some of his handguns and his new M-16 paint gun with foam .68 caliber balls; the foam balls are much cleaner to use indoors and are reusable. Although I had a few air guns shipped over to meet up with me, I accepted Carlini’s offer. The students all loved, if you can use that word for conflict, the M-16 paint gun. Getting hit with that weapon is quite a sting, but it taught students how to take proper cover behind solid objects and how to move under fire in criminal and terrorist attacks. Of course students wore eye protection when being shot at. The rifle was also used in simulated airport and train station terrorist attacks, coupled with simulated hand grenades and flying body parts after an “explosion.” Elizabeth Greenman also supplied some equipment that would have been otherwise to bulky to hall from California. She made sure we had kicking shields and striking gloves for Defensive Tactics and Ground Survival.

I had the realistic HammerHead striking tool with me as well. I always demonstrate the superiority of this product over any focus or striking mitt. The problem with standard striking mitts is that they are flat and soft, and as such gives the user a very unrealistic feel. If you really want to know how a punch will work or feel on your hand the HammerHead is a must. This product is a realistic human head that has a solid handle the trainer holds. You find out quick that the only good way to hold your hand in a fight is to use a fist or an open hand strike with the palm. The karate chop, ridge hand, back hand, and other finger configurations are a sure way to injure your hand in a real fight. The HammerHead will prove it instantly. My Scottish student, Simon Leila, bought the HammerHead off of me on Wednesday for an even $100 U.S. dollars. The similar item would be double the price in the United Kingdom, not including expensive shipping rates.

I scheduled another five days with the Fighthouse for next December 2007. Each year my schedule fills up more and more, and it is looking like I may only get to New York City once next year. I’m shooting for two times, but that will be decided sometime by the beginning of the year. One of newest certified instructors, David Taylor, is inviting me to teach in Washington, D.C. which I may do. If not by the end of 2007, definitely by the beginning of 2008 – that’s how tight things have become with my schedule. In any case, I am definitely looking for my next trip to the “city that never sleeps,” New York City.

Man Stabbed to Death in NYC
Jim Wagner

On Wednesday, December 6th, as I was teaching my Reality-Based students how to survive knife attacks up in East Harlem of New York City a man was stabbed to death during a fight at 1 p.m.

Police arrested Bronx resident Eric Rambert, 54, for stabbing his unidentified victim once in the right side of his body. Eric and the victim were in a dispute and the victim was wielding around a hammer. The incident took place at the East River Housing Development on East 105th Street.

Spain arrests Chechen terrorist suspect
Jim Wagner

The Spanish police, in the coastal city of Mislata on the outskirts of Valencia, arrested Murat Ajmedovich Gasayev, 32, who was wanted by the Russian authorities for several crimes of terrorism. Gasayev is a suspected Chechen rebel. Chechnya is a mostly Muslim southern republic of Russia.

American School Killings Increase
Jim Wagner

21 people were killed at school during the 2004 – 05 year, up from 19 the year before. This statistic, published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, does not include the fatal shootings this fall in Wisconsin, Colorado or Pennsylvania.

When I teach my Crime and Terrorism Survival courses I tell my students that if they have children that many of the techniques that I am teaching them to survive, they should also teach to their children. For example, when I teach a terrorist airport attack or an office massacre, I tell my students that the same survival techniques apply to school shootings. Children also need to know some of the “tricks” for survival, just like adults.

School shootings are never going to go away, and as you can see, they are increasing. I personally believe that is for a number of reasons, as it relates to kids doing the crimes:

1. Exposure to violent movies and video games
2. Lack of parental control and broken families
3. Weak moral foundation
4. Disrespect for authority

Of course, no school is completely safe. Who would have thought that five Amish girls in Pennsylvania would be killed by a milk truck driver who had a family? The gunman stormed into the small school house with the intent to tie up and sexually molest the grade school girls. He had brought boards and nails to secure the windows and doors, and he had rope and anchors to strap his victims down. However, while barricaded in the classroom with his victims, and surrounded by the police, he decided to commit suicide.

It’s no longer just America experiencing these school shootings, but the sickness has spread to other countries as well. This is just another reason why Reality-Based Personal Protection is growing world wide.