Let Me Tell You About When I Got Mugged...

I worked in a large Midwestern city.  Every day after work, I'd walk to the YMCA to hit the weights for a few hours.  I would then walk home.  My focus then was on strength, not size.  So I could bench press almost 300 pounds at a body weight of 150.  Plus, I had studied karate for a few years, and I had done club boxing in college, so I really didn't fear anyone.  I had taken several "defend yourself" courses.  I didn't look for trouble.  But I didn't fear it.

So one day, I walked home through a bad neighborhood.  I walked past a Youth Center.  There on the steps were about 6 or 8 teenagers.   No big deal.  But I figured if I crossed the street to avoid them, I would be telegraphing fear, not peaceful intentions.  So on I walked.  As I got close to the steps, 3 kids jumped up and started walking ahead of me, in the same direction.  But slower.  So I would catch to them.  And have to walk through them.. And be surrounded.   And ambushed.  Uh-oh.

So as I got close to this little group, I stepped to my left and went around behind the guy at my forward-left.  So that he was actually between me and everyone else. And I boldly walked on, hoping that I had adequately protected my personal safety.

When he saw this, he quickly turned around and threw a jab at my head.  My boxing kicked in and I ducked.  But the right that followed it up connected a glancing blow.  Since I had kept walking, the one that landed didn't hurt.  Plus, I looked at him and said "What the f---!!" and kept walking down the street.

They 3 guys, and their buddies, yelled and called me names, but didn't follow it up.

I was lucky.  Maybe my boldness and the fact that I didn't fall down saved me.
But I also could easily have been attacked, from the rear, by 6 or 8 enraged teenagers who obviously had no qualms about attacking someone in daylight on a street.  What could have happened?  Beating?  Getting raped?  Murdered?

If I had studied and understood Target Focus Training, not only would I have avoided a violent situation, I would have been better prepared to defend myself.

Looking back, I am grateful for the fact that I survived.  But I wouldn't advise it.
Get real personal training safety.

Viaualize Peace? Or Pieces? Personal Safety Is NOT Up To You

I can be the most peaceful guy in the world.  I can practice peace.  I can talk about peace.  I can live in peace with all things.   But when that guy next to me turns and says, "Whadju say 'bout my mother?" - well, all my peaceful intentions went out the door.  Or, more accurately, on the floor in little pieces, along pieces of me as I get beat and cut up.  By a guy with no peaceful intentions at all.

When that moment occurs...
When the violent person approaches you, intending to do violence on you...
When your personal safety is no longer under your control...
If you don't know what to do - he does.

Criminals and predators select people who are defenseless.  Who have their guard down.  Who feel safe.

1. Be aware of your surroundings.  Don't walk past a guy or guys standing in an alley.  Be on the other side of the room from the beligerent drunk.  Turn around and look behind you when on the street.
2. Stay with your group.  Criminals don't want to have to try to control more than 1 person.
3. Don't be drunk.  Being drunk and on the streets is incredibly stupid.  Your reaction times are slower, your awareness is impaired, and your judgement is likely to get you into confrontations, not out of them.
4. Tell your girlfriend to shut up.  Unfortunately, too many girlfriends like to challenge other guys, and too many guys feel the need to back it up.  If your girlfriend is talking smack, tell her to shut up - apologize - and get the hell out of there.
5. Don't talk to strangers.  It doesn't matter what your personal beliefs are, it is practically guaranteed that the guy who approaches you at night on the street is feeling you out.  Ignore him.  You can be rude to strangers.

The best personal safety defence is knowing what to do in a violent situation.  Because the criminal knows exactly what to do.   And martial arts schools rarely train you in realistic violence.
The school I trained at was run by a former sheriff, so we would do 2-on-1 and 3-on-1 drills.  But we did them "bum rush" style.  And more often than not, the "victim" did not use classic karate or judo training to defend himself.  It looked like a street brawl.

Learn the best practical methods to defend yourself.  Tim Larkin has studied violent criminals, dissected their mtethods of attack, and developed Target Focus Training specifically to defend against criminals.
Get it.
Because getting knocked unconcious is not the way to defend your wife or girlfriend from getting raped.
"Oh baby I'd die for you" is stupid and doesn't protect her.

Would You Learn To Cook From A Chef Or A Food Critic?

Think about it. If you wanted to cook really really well, wouldn't you have a chef - a person who actually cooks day in and day out - to teach you? A food critic, someone who has studied food, eaten food, commented on food, might be able to teach you good food from bad food. But the critic can't teach you to cook. So when it comes to self defense, shouldn't you learn from people who experience violence?

Well, that's the approach Tim Larkin has taken in developing his Target Focused Training. I have studied martial arts (karate, muay thai, judo, wrestling, boxing, jujitsu) for over 25 years. But it wasn't until I got Tim's 17 CD "How To Survive The Most Critical 5 Seconds Of Your Life" that I really knew I could defend myself or my family.

Tim has studied the most violent criminals to see how they attack. And then he has developed his self-defense program around this. If you've ever been mugged (I was), you know that your attacker doesn't take a proper stance, touch gloves, and then follow rules. The attack is never telegraphed. It happens when you are most vulnerable. And it is swift, brutal, and merciless.

Everything that martial arts (as taught in a belt-factory) isn't.

So click on personal safety for the Target Focused Training site, and check out their products. I own the 17 CD set above, but you might want a smaller set to start with. Or a more specialized program, like "weapons" or "throws." I am going to sign up for the "online training" shortly.

Because if my wife or kids are attacked, I don't want to impress the attacker with a jump-spinning roundhouse. I want to render him incapable of action.
Here it is.

Rick Carter
STRESS JUDO
Turning stress into OPPORTUNITIES