Self-defence in the News - No. 18

Karate student floors attackers


Karate woman floors thugs


Karate student floors attackers

STACEY WOOD

05:00 30/05/2011

A young waitress used her karate skills to fight off two attackers as she walked home from a night shift in central Wellington, earning praise from police.

The woman, 18, has studied martial arts for seven years. She elbowed one man in the chest, then punched his accomplice in the stomach.

"We are well and truly impressed. Often we don't encourage people to fight back, because it can make things worse, but she acted with a great degree of bravery and she's done a great job," Detective Sergeant Shane Dye said.

"And she's not a big girl, either."

The woman was walking home past the old Amalgamated Video store in Taranaki St about 6.15 on Saturday morning, when she noticed a man leaning against a car, smoking a cigarette and watching her. Mr Dye said the woman told police the man grabbed her from behind as she passed.

"She's been doing karate for about seven years, so she elbowed him in the chest and stomped on his foot.

"She was then attacked by a second male who she hadn't seen, and he began to pull at her handbag – then she punched him in the stomach."

The woman fell to the ground as she fought off her assailants, and the first man came at her again while she was down.

"She kicked out at him and then managed to get to her feet and run away."

The first attacker was about 1.7 to 1.75 metres tall, about 30 years old, with light skin and "on the tubby side rather than muscular". He was wearing a smoky-green hoodie with a cream-coloured logo, baggy dark-blue jeans, and had close-cropped, slightly balding black hair, with stubble on his face.

The car he was leaning on was an older-style maroon four-door sedan.

The second man was tall and skinny with olive skin, about 35 years old, with long, dark, oily hair down to his shoulders, and a moustache and beard.

He was wearing a black zip-up jacket and jeans, and woollen gloves.

Senior karate instructor Sensei Rajesh Ravji was pleased to hear that the woman had used her skills to escape the attackers.

"When someone is bigger than you, it is always a difficult thing to combat, but that's the beauty of martial arts, you learn how. Those attackers would have been surprised to have someone come back at them like that."

- The Dominion Post



Karate woman floors thugs

7:23 AM Monday May 30, 2011

Two thugs got more than they bargained for when they attacked a young Wellington woman as she walked home from a nightshift at the weekend.

The 18-year-old was walking along Taranaki St, near the Salvation Army store and the old Amalgamated Video building, about 6.15am on Saturday when she noticed a man watching her. When she passed him, he attempted to grab her and pull her towards his vehicle, a maroon four-door car.

They found they were no match for the waitress who floored the pair by using her martial arts skills.

Police said they were impressed with the young woman's bravery.

"Luckily the victim has several years of karate experience and was able to fight the offender off, however, a second man attempted to grab her handbag over her shoulder. She managed to punch him before she fell to the ground," Detective Sergeant Shane Dye said.

Detective Sergeant Dye said the victim luckily managed to fend off her attackers and make her escape.

"This was a very scary attack and has left the victim extremely shaken, leaving her with a knee injury."


Police want to speak to a witness who walked past the victim as she was approaching the Taranaki Street/Vivian Street intersection.

"We believe this man may have walked towards the offenders and may hold helpful information. The victim would have been visibly upset at this time and was running south on Taranaki Street. I appeal to that person to come forward and contact police," Mr Dye said.

The first offender is described as fair-skinned of solid build, around 173cm, and about 30 years old. He was wearing a green hooded sweatshirt and dark blue baggy jeans.

The second offender was very tall and thinner than the first offender with darker coloured skin, aged around 35 years with a thick black moustache and beard, with shoulder-length straight black hair. He was wearing dark-coloured woollen gloves.

Anyone with any information should phone Wellington CIB on 04 381 2000 or phone Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

- Herald Online, NZPA

Self-defence in the News - No. 17

Hero schoolkids thwart girl's abduction

Hero schoolkids thwart girl's abduction

BERNARD CARPINTER

27/05/2011


EVA BRADLEY/ The Dominion Post

YOUNG HEROES: Liam Mataira, left, and Ben Hayllar were on their way, with friend Tama McKenzie, to Hastings Boys' High School on Wednesday when the three stepped in to prevent the attempted abduction of a 12-year-old girl. "They did real well,'' said Sergeant Eden Sewell. "It took a bit of courage.''

Three Hastings schoolboys rescued a 12-year-old girl by threatening to attack two men who were trying to drag her away.

"The other boys told them that if they didn't go away right now they would get a hiding," Hastings Boys' High School pupil Liam Mataira, 15, said yesterday, describing the rescue he had made with friends Ben Hayllar and Tama McKenzie.

"We just jumped in front and pulled her away. The men were over six feet tall. I was taller than them, but they were quite stocky.

"They just started swearing. They looked like they had been taking drugs – they were all twitchy and stuff.

"It happened fast. They could have retaliated and attacked us, but we had to do something to get that girl away before something happened."

The rescue took place in busy Karamu Rd on Wednesday morning, as the boys were on their way to school.

The girl was going to Hastings Intermediate and the boys escorted her there afterward, before continuing on to their own school.

"She was pretty shaken up; she was crying," Liam said.

Ben, also 15, said the men had used language indicating that they were affiliated to the Mongrel Mob, but he had not felt scared.

"They towered over me but I just felt an adrenaline thing. It all happened at once. I told them to go away and leave her alone."

It was strange that the incident had happened in such a public place, on the footpath of Karamu Rd, Ben said.

Yesterday, Hastings Intermediate put on a morning tea with pizza for the heroes, attended by the girl they had saved.

"She was all smiley and jumping up and down," Liam said.

Boys' High principal Robert Sturch said he would make a fuss of the boys at morning assembly today.

Sergeant Eden Sewell, of Hastings, said the boys had done the right thing.

"They did real well," he said. "It took a bit of courage on their part and prevented something a lot more serious from happening."

The police would make sure the boys received recognition for their bravery.

Two men were arrested after a similar incident in central Hastings yesterday involving a 17-year-old female.

A Hastings man, 28, appeared in Hastings District Court yesterday afternoon charged with indecent assault and another local man, 54, was being interviewed, Mr Sewell said.

- The Dominion Post

Daniel

Wing chun man Daniel and his new friend.

Self-defence in the News - No. 16

Fears for girls' safety as course cut

Fears for girls' safety as course cut


JESSICA SUTTON

14/05/2011

ROBERT KITCHIN/The Manawatu Standard

TAKING BACK POWER: This could be the last time these Feilding Intermediate School students practise their self-defence moves, after the Government cut funding to the national self-defence programme.

Self-defence teacher Julie Goldingham fears young girls' safety is being undermined after the Government announced it would cut funding next month to the self-defence programme she teaches.

For the past 16 years, the Girls' Self Defence project has taught more than 77,000 young women in schools throughout New Zealand, but from June 30 it will no longer be on offer.

The self-defence classes teach 12-year-old girls how to keep themselves safe from violence and sexual abuse.

It costs the Ministry of Social Development just under $400,000 to fund the programme each year, but this funding is being cut as the ministry reprioritises its spending.

Mrs Goldingham has been teaching self-defence at Feilding, Monrad, and Ross intermediate schools for 15 years and will be out of a job next month.

"We are deeply concerned that the loss of this project will undermine the safety and wellbeing of girls throughout New Zealand," she said.

"It's not just all about kicks and punches either.

"It's an intensive programme that is designed to make girls more confident in fighting back, should they find themselves in a situation."

She teaches about 1000 girls from around the central North Island every year, and is worried those she has not been able to teach will be without the skills they need.

"So many of the girls I've taught have said they have not known what to do in an abuse or violent situation before the course.

"It's scary to think the kids won't have the training to look after themselves."

Several girls have come to her and confessed they had been abused.

"About 25 per cent of girls are likely to be sexually abused before they reach the age of 16 and if they are from a small, Maori community, 30 per cent of girls have been," Mrs Goldingham said.

"It's shocking really, and those girls need to know how to fend for themselves."

Mrs Goldingham and the project's other teachers are calling for parents and the community to get onboard and fight to get the funding reinstated.

"We will be lobbying. We want everyone to write letters to the Government, to the ministry and to anyone who will listen. The more the politicians can hear our concerns, the more we have a chance of getting it back."

For more information go to wsdn.org.nz.

- Manawatu Standard

A visiting gentleman

It was great to catch up with Beau Bouzaid, with many of those attending his workshop meeting him for the first time.

During the three hour hands-on workshop he took the class through the Sil Lum Tao form, and demonstrated how we might develop and refine the true essence of wing chun.
The time seemed to pass quickly, and by the end of the night most of us had spent about five hours in the training hall with Beau.

Beau’s skill has left an impression, but something else that strikes you about Beau is how approachable and gracious he is. After the workshop he got right in amongst everyone, training and chatting.

There were 14 attendees:

Ben (Invercargill), Kezz (Dunedin), Mike (Dunedin), Warren (Wanaka), Ange (Dunedin), Simon (Dunedin), Daniel (Dunedin), Daryl (Dunedin), Chris (Dunedin), Adrian (Invercargill), Steve (Dunedin), Manami (Wanaka), Jes (Wanaka), and Anthony (Dunedin).

A couple of pictures...

Standing, from left to right: Ben, Kezz, Mike, Warren, Ange, Beau, Simon, Daniel, Daryl, Chris, Adrian, and Steve. Front: Manami (left) and Jes.
Click here for full-size version.

Anthony (left) and Beau.
Click here for full-size version.