doormannery

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[gasman]

hiya all

I have a weekend job at my local, tending the door. Being diplomatic by nature I have so far never had any situations to deal with, although it has in some cases helped my psyche to have a certain amount of knowledge of various self defence systems. In other words, the few people that I know could case me any real trouble are usually trained martial artists themselves, and therefore do not cause any trouble. :) (Allah forbid the day I get a drunk crazed martial artist on my hands)

Aikido is to me the perfect art for such a job, and I find myself using principles of ki when moving through the crowds, etc. I also make body contact with potential loose cannons, usually by placing a firm SENSING hand on their backs or shoulders whilst making friendly conversation with them. Also I know that kickboxing is probably the most popular martial practice (note that I refuse to call that art) for the other doormen here in Oslo, but I could not for the life of me see how that could be useful, since all you learn is maiming techniques. I would like to be able to resolve all conflicts peacefully if possible and if not possible I would like to have the option to disarm/disable without causing injury if possible.

When I was a rookie in the job, sometimes people could spark off or give me some trouble in the door, usually young boys (20ish) that were refused entry. Now I hardly get any shit at all, and if I do get shit it is usually from drunk girls (they feel they can get away with a lot using the gender thing for justification).

My sensei has been gratiouos enough to give me a little special education on certain techniques he felt would be useful for the job, for example using yonkyo when escorting some troublesome individual to the door. Any other techinques that could be practical? Sadly, knife attacks are becoming more frequent in bars here, my backup for weapons is my belt, which I can remove and have ready in less than 1 second (hope noone can see me practicing that at home, it looks silly :) )

I was wondering if there were other aikidoka here who had similar jobs and if there was some experiences to share? Single events, or general experience would be much appreciated. Need not only be doormen though, there must be many other occupations where such knowledge is vital, like psychiatric nurses, guards or police officers and many others.

Y'all seem like a nice bunch so any reply would be greatly appreciated.

[Genex]

Hey wanna see a pic of you wippin off yer belt there just to see how silly it is. Your pants dont fall down aswel do they? i mean in a knife attack he may stop to look, thus giving you the vital edge :D

Anyhoo, look at anything aikido/police related as they mainly look at arm locks and pins so things like Ikkyo, nikkyo etc.. are perfect. throws like Koshi nage and Tenshi nage are great for wouldbe attackers and look at things like Gokyo and rokyo for knife attacks, the important thing about a knife attack is keep it pointing away from your body as much as possible basicaly.

i'm sure there are many people who have some excellent stuff for you, but i'd advise looking at the police stuff as thats really useful

pete

[gasman]

i can do better than a picture mate!

Quicktime (4MB) (http://gasman.the-flipside.co.uk/zip/dscn2997.mov)

:D

Nuff about that belt, guys.

[Kevin Wilbanks]

You might want to look at the book AIKIDO IN AMERICA, edited by John Stone. It is made up of interviews with American Aikido teachers. In it, there is a great extended interview with Terry Dobson that covers some wild bouncer stories.

[gasman]

You mean this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1883319277/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-5004368-6890812) one?

Cheers, Kevin, will look into that in time.

Yesterday went well, although there are 2 semi celebrities that are doing their best to annoy me (one childrens tv presenter and one bandy player). Refusing to leave the pooltable after closing time, I snapped and grabbed their pool queues, but they are regulars so after a little discussion we came to an agreement. I think they needed a "hit" to be honest. (next time that tv presenter acts up I'll remind him that I do have a chidhood friend working as a reporter for a nationwide tabloid newspaper, wonder what he would say to a headline on the sunday special hehe)

So...

[Kevin Wilbanks]

That's it. All of the interviews are interesting, but the Terry Dobson one is the best.