Conference quark::human_relations-v1

However, [and I don't know if all courses are the same] the one time I was a
volunteer "mugger" I was not allowed to use my skills - except for one session
with the instructor.

She wanted to show that she could defeat me even when I tried hard.

She was wrong - it didn't help the morale of the students [it was a very short
fight].

/. Ian .\

    Re:  .-1


>However, [and I don't know if all courses are the same] the one time I was a
>volunteer "mugger" I was not allowed to use my skills - except for one session
>with the instructor.


    	I saw a special a couple weeks ago on Model Mugging, and wondered
    about it -- it didn't seem that the "mugger" was trying hardly at all,
    even though they said they were trying to reproduce actual mugging
    scenarios.  It may very well be that the course I saw (held here in
    Boston) may be conducted much like the one you participated in.


    	My thought while watching is that they let the students win the
    fights as a confidence booster -- certainly a very necessary thing for
    a lot of people who have never been mugged/raped and are afraid of the
    possibility.  If you don't have confidence that you can defend yourself
    then knowing the skills won't help -- the attacker will sense it and
    get the best of you anyway.


    	However, it seems to me that the teachers of this course have a
    responsibility to point out that the "muggers" in the class aren't
    trying as hard as they could (if in fact this is still the case).  At
    the opposite end of the spectrum is over-confidence:  if you come out
    of the course believing you can take on anyone at any time and win, you
    may be courting disaster.  It would be irresponsible on the part of the
    folks who give this course to let someone believe this.  While I'm sure
    something like this is *very* effective in those cases where the
    attacker isn't perhaps determined (or psychopathic), or perhaps just
    wants an "easy mark" (as opposed to someone who could give them some
    trouble), when faced with someone who is truly dangerous or has a
    weapon these skills probably wouldn't be enough and might only enrage
    the attacker.


    	I'm not trying to demean the course, but simply to point out its
    limitations.


    	Of course, the best idea is to not put yourself (if you can help
    it) in a situation where you need these skills!  It's a shame that
    courses like this have to even exist.


    Brian

I figure the worst case scenario is that the students end up thinking they can 
come on like Bruce Lee, or one of the super female martial artists in Run Run 
Shaw movies.*

It is valid and proper to gain confidence but 

"the best self defence is a sub 10 second 100 metres"

"any real fight [between experts] usually ends within the first three blows"

seriously though: there is evidence to show that muggers pick out victims who
"nominate themselves" - they 'walk scared' or in some other body language way
show themselves to be easy meat.

Those who've graduated a model mugger course will probably 'walk tall' and so
be less likely to be picked as a victim.

The other gain of course is that many people are [subconsciously] afraid to hit
their attacker - the model mugger course overcomes that.

/. Ian .\

* I once attended a demonstration of martial arts given by a club I was thinking
of joining. The instructor was a true jerk who delighted in picking on the 
candidates and knocking them down to show how much better he was. A Korean 
friend of mine was with me, and like all the guests was wearing a novices white 
obi ('belt') though in reality he was a 5th dan black belt at Tae Kwan Do. He
volunteered to fight the instructor and when the big guy threw a round house
kick at the 'little oriental' my frined leaned back so the kick missed and 
struck him in the trigger point in the middle of the sole of his foot with 
the stiffened middle finger of his right hand.

The big guy went down screaming (literally) in pain and hugging his leg. He
didn't fight anybody else that night - he had to be carried out of the dojo!

I didn't join that club...

    Knowing one man who was a recent graduate of the first men's Model
    Mugging class, and a close woman friend who just graduated this past
    weekend, I can offer some impressions they shared with me.
    
    One, the attacks are very realistic.  The intensity of them and the
    language used are not filmed for general promotional distribution. 
    The classes are basically designed to allow people to size up a mugging
    situation, should they encounter one, make choices on what to do, then
    enact those choices.
    
    Of the 100's of people who have graduated thus far, the recent
    statistics reported by the graduates were that approximately 50 of them
    were confronted with a mugging, and of those 48 successfully defended
    themselves against it;  if my memory serves me correctly, of the 48, 
    about 25 escaped from the situation, and another 23 fought off their 
    attacker and of those about half that number wound up sending their
    attachers to the hospital with injuries.  
    
    The two that did not successfully escape or fight off the attack, 
    choose to submit to the demands of the mugger, after sizing up the 
    situation.  But the key here is that they consciously choose their 
    course of action *consciously*, not from an automatic default of fear
    and the immobilization which often occurs.
    
    And it's the aspect of enabling people to make a conscious choice in
    the face of such situations which have proven to have the greatest
    effect in easing the trauma associated with such attacks.
    
    The class also provides an in-depth look into the roots of violence and
    the cycle of violence and victimization it creates and how to begin to 
    interrupt it through the principles of the Model Mugging class.
    
    I've been thinking of taking it myself.
    
    Karen

Karen,

Thanks for entering that. Good info well stated.

A few DECies I know took the class in 1989 and several of us
went to the graduation -- a demo of the techniques the 
students had learned. It was terrific and I learned some
new techniques that never would have occurred to me.

A few notes back, I suggested Model Mugging as a wedding present.
Four years ago, that would have sounded grotesque, but in the last four
years, in womannotes, human-relations, and the media, I've heard
so many horror stories of familiy violence and heartbreak, that it
seems wise to ensure our daughters enter marriange prepared to defend
themselves.  

I've heard of a number of marriages where the violence started and
stopped quickly -- where the he took a swing at the she and she 
responded physically or having the dimwit arrested immediately.
Way to go!  

Philpott said a few back, the best defense is to do the 100-yard
dash in under 10 seconds. A terrific idea, and Model Mugging covers
it. They also give you the movements to break a grasp so your can
make the dash. If one starts here in the Boston suburbs, I'd definitely 
sign up.

So far, four different people have tried to "mug" me -- I say that 
in quotes because, on reflection, it seems to me I was simply seen
in an solitary place by a dimwit who CASUALLY and reflexively reacted
"woman, alone, night" and tried to grab me. Happily, the first one
was smaller than me and the incident made me so paranoid, I always
carry a sharp pencil or pen to give me a quick start on my 100-yard 
dash. So far it has worked, but the monster with a knife hasn't
crossed my path yet.