The Tampa Jane-Jitsu Instructor Certification was a big success. Instructors were certified from Florida, Iowa, Chicago, West Virgina, and Tennessee. The new instructors will return to their respective communities and introduce the Jane-Jitsu program to their communities, businesses, schools, colleges, businesses and martial arts schools and academies.
Although Steve Kardian started the Martial Arts in 1977 and earned his Black Belt in Kyokushin Karate in 1984 it wasn't until the early 90's that he discovered Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and went on to become an early American Gracie-Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under Phil Migliarese, Relson Gracie's top American Black Belt instructor. Steve spent 6 years as an assistant instructor at the Gracie Jiu-Jits Academy in Torrance, California. Steve Kardian is pictured below on his first day of training in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu with Rickson Gracie, the most talented of the Gracie Brothers.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Safety and Self Defense Seminar conducted by Steve Kardian at the UFC gym in White Plains, NY. Those in attendance walked away with knowledge and empowering information that will keep them safe! Thanks to all in attendance!
Steve Kardian on the NBC Today show with Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee Gifford. Steve Kardian gave the Today show viewers 5 things every woman should know to keep their world safer.
Master level Women's Empowerment instructor Steve Kardian demonstrates the most effective way to escape when a predator has you pinned to the ground. Steve Kardian was hosted by a group of 30 women eager to learn these life saving techniques. The seminar was conducted in New Hyde Park, NY. The ladies were empowered with the most effective self defense techniques being taught to date.
WASHINGTON (AP) The number of sex offenses reported at American colleges and universities went up in the last decade even as overall campus crime decreased, according to an Education Department survey that also suggests high schools are safer than they used to be.
The report released Tuesday said 3,330 forcible sex offenses were reported on campuses in 2011, the latest data available for colleges and universities that researchers have analyzed. That was a 51 percent increase from the 2,200 reported a decade earlier. But the number of campus crimes in every other category, such as burglary and car theft, declined during the same period.
Steve Kardian reports that the DOJ estimates that less then 5% of those victimized during their college years will come forward and report the crime.
You’re out and enjoying life with your friends or a certain young lady. But some knucklehead is determined to end your fun by trying to punch your lights out. What can you do?
There are some simple self-defense tactics that even someone who’s not in great shape or has any special training can employ:
First of all, wake up!
Who’s watching you?
Look around, is someone giving you a hard look? Or alternately, does someone quickly avoid your gaze?
Watch people’s hands as you are walking, don’t look away when you pass.
Cross the street if you have to avoid a group of punks.
Don’t get too drunk.
Are you doing something stupid like hitting on someone’s girlfriend at the bar?
Are you in the habit of boasting about your fancy watch, car, apartment?
Point out the troublemaker to the bartender or doorman.
If the negative vibes get too intense, leave.
Remember, it’s always easier to STAY out of trouble than to GET out of trouble.
Second of all, keep from getting hit in a vital area!
Get your hands up in front of your face to protect your head.
Keep your mouth closed with your teeth clenched. When your mouth is open you are ripe to get your jaw broken (which means you should forget about ‘talking trash’).
Circle away from his power side (circle to the right if he has his right hand cocked back, circle to the left if he has his left hand cocked back).
You need to be either two arms lengths away from him (outside of his kicking range) or all the way in tight against him (holding him in a boxing clinch). Anything in between puts you in range for his punches and kicks.
Third, use your strongest weapons against his weakest targets.
Use the proverbial knee to the groin when you are clinching.
Smash him with your elbows in the face, throat and neck.
Kick him in the knee, groin or lower abdomen. Kick straight ahead using the bottom of your foot like you would kick in a door. Or kick straight back like a mule using your heel. If you are untrained, resist the urge to kick with the top of your foot like you are punting a football, you will probably use too much of your toes instead of your shin (ouch!).
If you try to trade punches with him, you’re probably playing right into his game.
Finally:
Get a barrier between you and him (even if you have to run around a car).
Yell for help. You can’t count on people coming to your aid, but he might think someone will render assistance.
Use a weapon. Hose him down with your pepper spray. Use a chair like a lion tamer. Throw ashtrays at him.
Make your escape. Lose your ego and your attitude. Retreat and escape. Live to go out and party again next weekend.
Better yet, start training tomorrow in a self-defense art or program.
www.stevekardian.com
www.nydefendu.com
www.defenduniversity.com
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Phone companies know where their customers' cellphones are, often within a radius of less than 100 feet. That tracking technology has rescued lost drivers, helped authorities find kidnap victims and let parents keep tabs on their kids.
But the technology isn't always used the way the phone company intends.
One morning last summer, Glenn Helwig threw his then-wife to the floor of their bedroom in Corpus Christi, Texas, she alleged in police reports. She packed her 1995 Hyundai and drove to a friend's home, she recalled recently. She didn't expect him to find her.
The day after she arrived, she says, her husband "all of a sudden showed up." According to police reports, he barged in and knocked her to the floor, then took off with her car.
The police say in a report that Mr. Helwig found his wife using a service offered by his cellular carrier, which enabled him to follow her movements through the global-positioning-system chip contained in her cellphone.
Mr. Helwig, in an interview, acknowledged using the service to track his wife on some occasions. He says he signed up for the tracking service last year. "AT&T had this little deal where you could find your family member through her cellphone," he says. But he didn't use it to find his wife that day, he says. Mr. Helwig, who is awaiting trial on related assault charges, declined to comment further about the matter. He has pleaded not guilty.
The allegations are a stark reminder of a largely hidden cost from the proliferation of sophisticated tracking technology in everyday life—a loss of privacy.
Global-positioning systems, called GPS, and other technologies used by phone companies have unexpectedly made it easier for abusers to track their victims. A U.S. Justice Department report last year estimated that more than 25,000 adults in the U.S. are victims of GPS stalking annually, including by cellphone.
In the online world, consumers who surf the Internet unintentionally surrender all kinds of personal information to marketing firms that use invisible tracking technology to monitor online activity. A Wall Street Journal investigation of the 50 most-popular U.S. websites found that most are placing intrusive tracking technologies on the computers of visitors—in some cases, more than 100 tracking tools at a time.
The cellphone industry says location-tracking programs are meant to provide a useful service to families, and that most providers take steps to prevent abuse. Mike Altschul, chief counsel for wireless-telecommunications trade group CTIA, says recommended "best practices" for providers of such services include providing notification to the person being tracked.
Mr. Helwig's wife had received such a notification, by text message, from AT&T. A spokesman for AT&T Inc. says it notifies all phone users when tracking functions are activated. But users don't have the right to refuse to be tracked by the account holder. Turning off the phone stops the tracking.
According to the Washington Examiner, it’s a 50% increase for serious sexual assaults which includes 1st degree and 2nd degree assaults (1st degree is defined as when the attacker forces sex through direct violence and 2nd degree is when the attacker uses the threat of violence).
However the city’s Police department says the increase is only 11% this year. The city’s numbers include everything from the misdemeanor of “innappropriate touching” to forced sex.
The overall crime rate for D.C. differs with who you talk to as well. The FBI says violent crime in the city increased 7% this year. The D.C. police department says violent crimedecreased by 7%.
Mark Twain said it best, “There’s lies, there’s damned lies, and then there’s statistics.”
I’ve seen statistical information vary wildly from different institutions. Some of it can be chalked up to different methodologies in gathering and interpreting information. But I also suspect that a good portion of it comes from either driving — or protecting — a political agenda. That means organizations which would be hurt by the numbers are most likely to downplay the real threat.
For example, I know that many universities report their crime statistics strictly by the actual school boundaries and not the general campus area. This means that crime statistics can look quite low — as measured within the sidewalks that contain the school’s buildings. But the real crime rate is usually a lot higher around the campus in the living areas, restaurants, bars, stores and parking lots that students invariably use every day.
Sexual crimes and violence against women has historically been, and continues to be, a huge problem. The fact is, if you are female, you are at risk no matter where you are — dispite what the city, the university, or others might tell you.
In 2004 I did this piece with the investigative unit of Inside Edition. This has never been done before in the United States. The results amazed all of us!
1. Rely on the gift of intuition, trust your instincts. If you feel that the guy is a creep, he likely is. If you feel that you are in danger, you likely are.
2. Go to people, be with people. Avoid being isolated or alone with strangers.
3. When you arrive on campus familiarize or reacquaint yourself with the campus, housing and your surroundings.
4. Have a plan. Explore the “what ifs?” What do I do if someone tries to break into my dorm, someone is following me, someone is stalking me... Making decisions while under stress or duress is the worst time to make any type of decision.
5. Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are all wonderful social networking sources but they remain a stalkers dream. The college campus is a closed community and social networking sites are a tool the stalker uses to accomplish his/her desire.
6. The buddy system. Go out as a group, go home as a group. If you see something is out of place address it or bring it to the attention of someone in authority.
7. Don’t accept a drink from someone you don't trust your life with. Watch the drink being poured or served and remember that the bartender and predator sometimes act in concert.
8. If you see something, say something. If you observe a friend doing something odd or acting out of character don't be afraid to intervene.
9. Create and share a secret signal with your friends for when they should intervene if you’re in an uncomfortable situation.
10. Do your best not to go out alone at night. If you do walk with a roommate or someone you trust. Avoid the ATM and jogging during darkness. Don’t put music headphones in both ears so that you can be more aware of your surroundings.
Is Craigslist doing enough to keep its users safe? We know about the Craigslist murder but what about all of the other scams occurring on the popular site. Below is the most recent event. Joseph Brooks the Oscar-winning composer and director behind "You Light Up My Life" raped 11 women he lured to his apartment with the promise of a starring role in a movie, prosecutors said at his arraignment Tuesday.
The women read an online ad placed by the director, Joseph Brooks, applied for the audition, "and thought this was their chance to become a big star," Manhattan prosecutor Lisa Friel said. Instead, once the women were in Brooks' Manhattan apartment, he plied them with wine and forcibly raped them or used threats and coercive behavior to make them have sex with him, prosecutors said.
District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Brooks used his Hollywood credentials on the Craigslist classified ads Web site to attract the victims, aged 18 to 30. He said Brooks' ad specified attractive young women for a starring role in a movie. Morgenthau said nine of the 11 women were from the Portland, Ore., and Seattle areas and the others were from California and Florida. He said Brooks paid to fly 10 of the women, who didn't know each other, to New York.
Craigslist, unfortunately, is about much more than just buying and selling things. There have also been issues with prostitution, child exploitation, stolen property, ID theft, and a number of other crimes. Law enforcement across the country have arrested many people in recent years for Craigslist-related crimes.
However, substantially reducing Craigslist-related crimes may not be possible. however. Federal courts have so far ruled that Web site operators are not liable for what people post on them, and local law enforcement officials say they do not have the resources to constantly monitor Craigslist.
Founded in San Francisco in 1995, Craigslist claims to operate more than 300 sites in 50 states and more than 50 countries. According to organization statistics, Craigslist is now the seventh-most popular English-language Web site in the world, hosting more than 12 million ads viewed by more than 15 million people a month.
Attached is one of the segments I did on CNN regarding Craigslist.
Note: The first paragraph is an abbreviated version of the Rihanna assault but it’s also a “very graphic” account of Chris Browns assault on Rihanna.
The real deal: When this vicious assault was first reported I appeared on CNN's "The Nancy Grace" show and had the opportunity to review the search warrant affidavit filed by the Los Angeles Police Department. It was lengthy and rather descriptive. Chris Brown punched, bit, viciously choked Rihanna and threatened to kill her. His punches caused Rihanna’s mouth to fill with blood and splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle. Rihanna attempted to text her personal assistant. Brown threw Rihanna’s cell phone out of the vehicle. Brown pulled Rihanna close and he bit her on her left ear. Rihanna saw that Brown’s cell phone was on his lap. She picked it up and she was placed in a headlock by Brown with his bicep and forearm applying pressure to Rihanna’s left and right carotid arteries causing her to be unable to breathe and she began to lose consciousness. She reached up her left hand and attempted to gouge his eyes in an attempt to free herself. Brown bit her left ring and middle fingers and he released her. Brown continued to punch her and she put her back against the door, brought her knees to her chest and began to kick him (a technique taught in my "Fight Like A Girl" program). Brown continued to punch Rihanna about the feet and legs. Rihanna began screaming and Brown exited the vehicle.
The case disposition: Chris Brown pled guilty to one count of felony assault against Rihanna today. As part of his plea bargain, he was given five years probation and 180 days of community labor in Virginia. According to court records, he must obey a protective order and a stay-away order, which requires him to stay at least 50 yards away from Rihanna, who did not testify but did appear in court. Brown's attorney Mark Geragos addressed the media afterwards stating: "This is a kid who has never been in trouble before. He embraces this as a chance to get the message out that domestic violence will not be tolerated. He wants to get his life back on track."
Conclusion: When we look at the dynamic of the assault we see that the “choke’ is a rage move. In a domestic or social situation anytime someone places his hands around your neck he/she is intent on causing you serious physical injury and or death. You don’t plan to choke someone but rather it’s an emotional response brought about by an extremely emotional interaction with another person. The sad fact of this case is that Chris Brown's probation and community service sentence is a typical disposition for a first time batterer, despite the violence involved in this case. Will he publically apologize for punching Rihanna in the face, choking her, and biting her, or will it all be forgotten in time and will he as his attorney suggested “get the message out that domestic violence will not be tolerated. Only time will tell. Battered Women’s Syndrome: I will write more on this subject later but history tells us that it is unlikely that this is the first time Chris Brown acted out in this manner and just as unlikely that this was the first time that Rihanna experienced similar behavior from Brown.
