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Old 01-28-2006, 07:16 PM   #41
L. Camejo
 
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Dojo: Ontario Martial Arts
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,423
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Re: Aikido and Target Focus Training

Just to add something to the mix I have attached a snippet of the last TFT newsletter I received which interestingly enough has a story regarding an incident of asocial violence that occurred in the UK.

Personally, these newsletters have helped me in how I think about self defence (or self protection) with my own training and teaching etc. and helped to define the boundary between social and asocial violence and how one approaches each. Many speak of self defence as a generic thing, but I've learnt that it contains many levels and areas of understanding, some of which are not dealt with in the typical dojo.

Anyway read the attached and discuss if you like.
LC

Quote:
Combat Training Principles -- Secrets For Staying Alive When
'Rules' Don't Apply

HE GAVE MUGGERS ALL HIS POSSESSIONS BUT THEY WANTED MORE... HIS
LIFE
*****************************************************************
When the situation is obscure, attack!
-General Heinz Guderian
*****************************************************************
One of my Expatriate UK clients forwarded this story of a murder
that recently rocked both the residents and media of London.
What made this murder so shocking?
Just this: the victim did everything you all THINK you should do
in this type of situation.
WARNING: The article below will make you very uncomfortable if
you think your social skills will get you by in an asocial
violent event.
With that caveat, please read on:

* * * * *

HE GAVE MUGGERS ALL HIS POSSESSIONS BUT THEY WANTED MORE... HIS
LIFE
By Jeff Edwards, Tom Parry And Robert Stansfield, Times-Mirror
Staff
A successful young lawyer was stabbed to death by muggers just
yards from his home despite handing over all his possessions.
Tom Rhys Pryce was heard pleading with the callous thieves, "What
more do you want from me? You've got everything of value."
Seconds later the two men knifed him in the head, body and limbs
in a frenzied, ferocious and senseless attack before they fled.
The 31-year-old, who was due to marry fiancée Adele Eastman in
September, was stabbed at least a dozen times as he put up a
fierce fight for his life with his bare hands.
Investigation chief Detective Superintendent Julian Worker said:
"This is a shocking murder. It looks like a completely gratuitous
killing.
"It is clear it was a robbery. We know that he had already handed
over everything of value that was on him. We know he was telling
them he had nothing else of value. He was pleading with them and
they just produced knives and started stabbing him.
"Tom was killed just 50 yards from his front door. Adele, 31, was
in the house waiting for him to return from a work social event.
"She went outside after hearing the commotion just before
midnight on Thursday but did not see her dying fiancé who was
lying in a pool of blood.
The family was too upset to talk last night. A neighbor said:
"Tom and Adele were the picture of happiness.
"He had his whole life ahead of him but it has been so cruelly
taken from him. Everyone's devastated."
Another, Gerry Dobson, 63, added: "It's such a bloody, crying
shame. We know from firsthand experience as parents the
dedication and support that has gone into getting that young man
where he got in his profession.

"To have some idiot take that away from you, not just you, but a
whole family, friends and community, well it's dreadful.
"He was someone who had put in all that effort when you have so
many bums who go around scratching a living and don't contribute
anything to society."
Tom was attacked as he walked to his home at Bathurst Gardens in
Willesden, North West London, from nearby Kensal Green Tube
station.
He was smartly dressed in a blue shirt and tie, a grey suit and
black business shoes.
Det Supt Worker said: "This is a quiet, up and coming area of
London, and not the type of place where we would expect a murder
like this to happen." A neighbour of the couple added: "This is a
very normal and usually quiet residential street. It's
unbelievable someone should be killed in such a horrible way so
close to his home."
Police believe the murderers may have been lying in wait near
Kensal Green station looking for a victim to rob.
* * * * *
My condolences go out to the families of this man and his fiancé.
If you've been reading my past newsletters closely you'll
recognize all the clues in this article that clearly show the
general public, our media, and even the law enforcement community
have an incredibly difficult time coping with asocial acts of
violence, much less how to survive one.
You CANNOT let yourself become just 'one of the herd,' waiting
for the next predators to arrive.
If after reading this article from the UK Mirror you still can't
see what this poor guy did wrong you are not ready for asocial
violence.
Sadly most people read this and say that the victim did everything
he could and that "he fought for his life" but the 2 guys with
the knives were just too much for him.
Yet there's a huge difference between "fighting for your life"
and "trying not to get stabbed". Make sure you know the
difference.
The time to install such information is well before you have to
face such an ordeal. If not now, then when? This isn't something
you "figure out" while staring at a knife blade or down the
barrel of a gun.
Living in his nice North London neighborhood, I'm sure the last
thing Mr. Pryce ever expected was that he'd experience asocial
violence during his walk home... and lose his life.
Until next time,

Tim Larkin
Master Close-Combat Instructor,
Creator of Target-Focus(TM) Training

--Mushin Mugamae - No Mind No Posture. He who is possessed by nothing possesses everything.--
http://www.tntaikido.org
http://www.mushinkan.ca
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