A quick head’s up:

I just put a new page on-line here: the Resources Page.

The idea is very simple, but I think it might be useful to all of you. In short, it’s a page that lists all the products, services and tools I use both to run this blog but also for my own training and when I teach students or clients. I’ve mentioned those over the years here on my blog but that information is scattered all over the place. So to make it more practical for you, I bundled it all on one page.

I’ll keep on adding to this list as time goes by, so you might want to check it out every now and then. And if you have suggestions, let me know and I’ll see if I can add them.

If you like the page, feel free to share it with others who also might find a use for it. Thanks!

I’m working on a new book tentatively called “Surviving a Knife Attack” and I am smack in the middle of the research phase. Right now, I don’t want to give away too many details but you can guess from the title what it’s about… :-)  Here’s the thing:

One of the things I’m doing with this book is using stories of actual events. I have a lot of stories already, some from well known authors and experts, but I’d like to get some more to have a bigger sample to draw information from. For that purpose, I’d like to ask your help:

• If you’ve been attacked by somebody wielding a knife or other edged weapon and successfully defended yourself.
• If you were in a situation where the knife was out but you got away, managed to de-escalate or anything else that meant no violence was used.
• If you are willing to write about this event (anonymously if you prefer).
• If you know of somebody who went through such an event and would be willing to write it up.

Please get in touch with me via my contact page. I’ll give you some more details then and we’ll see if we can work something out.

If you can’t help out in that department, no worries, there’s still something you can do:  please share this post  with your friends who also practice martial arts or train in self-defense. They might know somebody, even if you don’t.

In the same vein, I’m looking for two more contacts for the book:

• An FBI agent who is willing (and allowed) to do an interview about the Uniform Crime Report, in particular the data on knife attacks.
• A trauma surgeon with experience caring for victims of knife attacks (stabbings, cuts, etc.)

I would like to interview them via email or over the phone to get information  about the realities of knife attacks from their perspectives and professional experience. If they prefer, they can use an alias or stay anonymous.

With all the information I have right now, the book looks very promising. But I’d like to make it as good as I possibly can so if you could direct some people who can help out towards me, that would be great. Thanks!

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Just a quick update:

I’m going to run a special, 24-hour promotion this Sunday. I think it’s pretty cool and I hope you’ll do so too.

I’ll announce it tomorrow night so you might want to check this space right here or my Facebook page around that time.

Stay tuned…

A while ago I asked for some feedback on my upcoming newsletter. I most certainly got it so thank you all for taking the time to vote in the poll.

The results clearly indicate you have a preference for three specific topics:

• Training tips: ideas to help you improve your training. (86%)
• Training course: An online, multi-part course on a given technique or concept. (55%)
• Web picks: Internet articles and websites you’ll find interesting. (54%)

As you asked, so you shall receive. :-) But I’m not done asking what cha what cha want just yet…

First we have to decide what kind of newsletter you are most interested in. Because there are many different ways I can write them. I could make each newsletter a collection of 1-2 paragraph training tips and so on. Or I could go more in depth on a particular topic and write a full article about it and then add some web picks at the end. Of course, there’s overlap and I can mix and match things a bit too. But I’d like to have some idea of which way to go with this. Read More→