Chris trying out the wall bag he designed and made for the club.
The talented Mr Holmes creates yet another piece of durable training equipment - this time as a replacement for a store-bought one that failed to cut the mustard.
26 January, 2014
Wall bag
Our new heavy-duty wall bag.
The talented Mr Holmes creates yet another piece of durable training equipment - this time as a replacement for a store-bought one that failed to cut the mustard.
The talented Mr Holmes creates yet another piece of durable training equipment - this time as a replacement for a store-bought one that failed to cut the mustard.
24 January, 2014
Saturday 25th
Further to what we discussed on Wednesday..............
Yes, we will be training tomorrow.
Yes, we will be training tomorrow.
23 January, 2014
Self-defence in the News - No. 55
'Courageous' supermarket staff praised
http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/289002/courageous-supermarket-staff-praised
By David Bruce on Thu, 23 Jan 2014
The Regions: North Otago
Oamaru New World in south Oamaru was open for business as
usual after four staff were confronted by an armed burglar
early yesterday. Photo by David Bruce.
Four staff of the Oamaru New World supermarket were ''very courageous'' when they tried to calm a burglar armed with a firearm, knife and hammer early yesterday while awaiting the arrival of police.
After about an hour and a-half of negotiations with two police officers, the man laid down his weapons and was arrested.
He was charged yesterday in the Dunedin District Court with aggravated burglary, presenting a firearm to avoid arrest, three separate charges of presenting a firearm and possession of an offensive weapon (the knife). He was remanded in custody until tomorrow.
The 62-year-old Oamaru man allegedly broke into the supermarket about 4am by smashing a front door with the hammer. He then confronted a baker and cleaner who were the only staff in the building at the time, Sergeant Blair Wilkinson, of Oamaru, said.
They were joined about 30 minutes later by another cleaner and baker - making a total of two men and two women.
The last two arrivals contacted police.
''They made the very courageous decision not to escape, staying with him [the alleged offender] to de-escalate the situation by talking to him calmly and also to avoid anybody arriving at work and not knowing what they were walking into.
''The staff were very levelheaded,'' Sgt Wilkinson said.
Asked if staff were being held hostage or could leave, he said that was still unclear and inquiries were continuing. There was no clear direction they could not leave.
However, the man did not face charges relating to detaining people against their will.
Eight Oamaru officers, all armed, were involved from 4.39am. A portion of State Highway 1 outside the supermarket was closed. The Dunedin Armed Offenders Squad was activated, but was stood down before arriving in Oamaru.
Two officers started negotiating with the offender and the four staff were able to leave.
Sgt Wilkinson said the man laid down his weapons at 6.05am. No-one was injured.
The supermarket opened at its usual time of 7am, although bread production was delayed because of the involvement of two of the bakers, New World owner-operator Justin Smith said in a statement. He praised the quick action of his staff who discovered the man and called the police.
Mr Smith and the staff involved declined to be interviewed.
- david.bruce@odt.co.nz
16 January, 2014
Self-defence in the News - No. 54
Cop's judo skills come in handy
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9614743/Cops-judo-skills-come-in-handy
MATT BOWEN
16/01/2014
DONNA WALSH/Fairfax NZ
BLACK BELT: Sean Choi has form as a judo champ. In 2011 he won a gold
medal at the Oceania Championships while fellow Metro Judo Club member
Shawnee Felton, right, won a couple of bronzes.
Witnesses said members of an unruly mob taunted him, calling him Jackie Chan. They didn't know who they were dealing with.
Constable Sean Choi was on the beat outside synthetic cannabis dealer U njoY during a tense and violent morning in Hamilton East on Tuesday.
Police said a member of the group approached Choi and tried to pick a fight. The antagonist gave up on the first attempt yet returned minutes later and tried again.
The man was arrested but another man allegedly joined the fray and jumped on the officer's back.
Choi has been a member of the Metro Judo Club since he arrived in New Zealand from South Korea as a teenager.
Head coach Terry Steenson said the alleged attacker was destined to take flight: "We move in close. Where most people would back away it is in our nature to move forward. We fight in their face. We fight inside their arms and legs and a lot of our stuff is throws. Most guys wouldn't know how to land from a throw or wouldn't know what's hit them when they started flying through the air . . . it wouldn't have been pleasant."
A shop owner, who asked to remain anonymous, saw Choi in action.
She said the policeman "dropped" a "huge, big guy".
"He picked him up, pepper-sprayed him and dropped him," she said.
"I looked at it and went, ‘holy s . . . '.
Choi does that kind of thing for fun. In fact, he gets his kicks from lifting up and throwing men much bigger than he is, some up 130kg, to the ground.
He's a third dan black belt, a former New Zealand champion, an Oceania Champion and he was close to qualifying for the Olympics when he dislocated an elbow a few years ago.
Mr Steenson said police work takes up a lot of Choi's time now, but he still trains and helps children at the club improve their technique.
He's a good role model, Mr Steenson said.
"He's very humble - an awesome bloke. He's reserved, but when it comes to his passions, judo and family, he's very passionate."
- © Fairfax NZ News
15 January, 2014
Self-defence in the News - No. 53
Karate black belt rescues police officer
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11186784
Black belt saves police officer in trouble
By Cullen Smith
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
Grant Torrance didn't hesitate when he saw a police officer in trouble.
The holder of a 3rd degree black belt in karate, the 54-year-old senior manager for Hawkins Construction spotted a police officer backing away during a violent confrontation with a young man on Main North Rd in Papanui last week.
"Out of the corner of my eye I saw the policeman back-pedalling with this guy all over him," Mr Torrance said.
He stopped, leapt out and asked the officer if he needed a hand.
Constable Grant Stewart gave the okay and Mr Torrance used his karate skills to help subdue the aggressive offender.
"There was a bit of a scuffle," he said. "I locked him up and basically pinned him to the ground so he couldn't do much. He was pretty well contained."
Police said Constable Stewart had used pepper spray in an unsuccessful attempt to subdue the man, but had been unable to use his radio to call for back-up because the handset had been dislodged during the tussle.
"He was a big guy about 6ft and solidly built and he was
cranking ... really wound up," Mr Torrance said. "You could see the
pepper spraycan on the ground. I didn't think about what I was going to
do, I just wanted the guy to stop."
Mr Torrance said he'd done something similar about 15 years ago when he stepped in between two people fighting, but was modest about his latest success.
"I was just Johnny on the spot. I stopped and gave a hand without thinking too much. It was the right thing to do.
"It's not the sort of thing you expect on the street at 7.15 in the morning."
He was uninjured in the fracas, but admitted "feeling pretty sore" the following day.
Mr Torrance said he was "delighted" to receive a letter from police a few days later thanking him for his efforts.
"It was great, but they didn't need to do that."
Inspector Derek Erasmus said police were "very appreciative" of Mr Torrance's help.
A 21-year-old was charged with disorderly behaviour, resisting arrest. Assaulting a police officer and possessing a knife.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11186784
Black belt saves police officer in trouble
By Cullen Smith
Wednesday Jan 15, 2014
Photo / Thinkstock
Grant Torrance didn't hesitate when he saw a police officer in trouble.
The holder of a 3rd degree black belt in karate, the 54-year-old senior manager for Hawkins Construction spotted a police officer backing away during a violent confrontation with a young man on Main North Rd in Papanui last week.
"Out of the corner of my eye I saw the policeman back-pedalling with this guy all over him," Mr Torrance said.
He stopped, leapt out and asked the officer if he needed a hand.
Constable Grant Stewart gave the okay and Mr Torrance used his karate skills to help subdue the aggressive offender.
"There was a bit of a scuffle," he said. "I locked him up and basically pinned him to the ground so he couldn't do much. He was pretty well contained."
Police said Constable Stewart had used pepper spray in an unsuccessful attempt to subdue the man, but had been unable to use his radio to call for back-up because the handset had been dislodged during the tussle.
Mr Torrance said he'd done something similar about 15 years ago when he stepped in between two people fighting, but was modest about his latest success.
"I was just Johnny on the spot. I stopped and gave a hand without thinking too much. It was the right thing to do.
"It's not the sort of thing you expect on the street at 7.15 in the morning."
He was uninjured in the fracas, but admitted "feeling pretty sore" the following day.
Mr Torrance said he was "delighted" to receive a letter from police a few days later thanking him for his efforts.
"It was great, but they didn't need to do that."
Inspector Derek Erasmus said police were "very appreciative" of Mr Torrance's help.
A 21-year-old was charged with disorderly behaviour, resisting arrest. Assaulting a police officer and possessing a knife.
- CHRISTCHURCH STAR
13 January, 2014
Self-defence in the News - No. 52
Elderly lady plays dead
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11183913
By Morgan Tait
Friday Jan 10, 2014
77-year-old woman plays dead to scare off knife-wielding attacker
Her arms bound and with a bedsheet tied over her head, a 77-year-old woman played dead to scare off a masked man who attacked and robbed her at knifepoint in a brazen daylight home invasion.
Police are hunting the man who barged through the backdoor of the woman's Papatoetoe home as she went outside to get her laundry at 1pm on Wednesday.
The elderly woman, who moved to New Zealand from Fiji 20 years ago, was bruised and in shock after the ordeal and her family yesterday appealed to the public to help identify the "sick" assailant.
"I want that guy to be caught. If he's done it to her he'll do it to someone else," her son said last night.
Her son, who the Herald has chosen not to name to protect the victim, described his mother's terror and bravery as she fought against the burly intruder.
"She hardly opens the front door. It was at the back and as she opened the door he grabbed her, he had a knife in his hand."
He said the large man, dressed in black and wearing a balaclava, gripped his mother by her arms and pushed her into the nearest room, her bedroom, and used an Indian silk scarf to bind her hands behind her back. He also covered her face.
"The cover sheet from the bed, he put it on her head. There are bruises on her face. The knots were so tight on her neck.
"She's really tough, she fought everything. He tried to do everything and she was yelling at him, 'no, no, no'. After that he tried to pull her from the bed and [he] dropped her on the ground and pulled her down the corridor.
"She stopped her breath so he thought she was dead. That's when he left."
The woman lives with her son and his wife, who regularly make telephone checks on her when they are not home. On Wednesday, her son phoned about 3pm and became worried when she did not answer.
"The first call she didn't pick up, so I rang again in 10 to 15 minutes and she'd pulled her hand from the scarf knot and was crying on the phone."
He dialled 111 and sped home from his Manukau workplace, arriving at the same time as police. "I helped the police untie her."
His mother was taken to Middlemore Hospital where she stayed overnight for full body x-rays and a CT scan. She returned home yesterday morning with extensive bruising to her arms, neck and face, her son said.
The intruder stole cash, ripped the woman's valuable gold necklace from her neck and pulled thick gold bangles off her wrists.
But laptop computers and other valuables were left untouched.
The family are worried about their mother's welfare and want to move to another neighbourhood.
"We were talking about the fear ... and I am just thinking, 'How is she bearing this'?"
Police were dismayed by the attack, the latest in a spate of crimes targeting the elderly.
Detective Sergeant Simon Beal of Counties Manukau CIB said: "We are appalled at the violent nature of this crime during broad daylight."
He appealed for anyone who saw suspicious behaviour in the area of Huia Rd, Stonex Rd, Bernard St and Kimpton Rd to contact police.
In November, a man faced charges after another 77-year-old Papatoetoe woman was sexually assaulted in her home. The attack came only days after a brutal home invasion in Pukekohe where an elderly couple were assaulted and tied up and the sexual assault of an 87-year-old Hastings grandmother who was dragged into her lounge while checking her mail.
• Contact: Call Detective Sergeant Simon Beal of the Counties Manukau CIB on 09 261 1321 or speak anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11183913
By Morgan Tait
Friday Jan 10, 2014
77-year-old woman plays dead to scare off knife-wielding attacker
Police were yesterday patrolling nearby streets to the Papatoetoe woman's home.
Photo / Greg Bowker
Her arms bound and with a bedsheet tied over her head, a 77-year-old woman played dead to scare off a masked man who attacked and robbed her at knifepoint in a brazen daylight home invasion.
Police are hunting the man who barged through the backdoor of the woman's Papatoetoe home as she went outside to get her laundry at 1pm on Wednesday.
The elderly woman, who moved to New Zealand from Fiji 20 years ago, was bruised and in shock after the ordeal and her family yesterday appealed to the public to help identify the "sick" assailant.
"I want that guy to be caught. If he's done it to her he'll do it to someone else," her son said last night.
Her son, who the Herald has chosen not to name to protect the victim, described his mother's terror and bravery as she fought against the burly intruder.
He said the large man, dressed in black and wearing a balaclava, gripped his mother by her arms and pushed her into the nearest room, her bedroom, and used an Indian silk scarf to bind her hands behind her back. He also covered her face.
"The cover sheet from the bed, he put it on her head. There are bruises on her face. The knots were so tight on her neck.
"She's really tough, she fought everything. He tried to do everything and she was yelling at him, 'no, no, no'. After that he tried to pull her from the bed and [he] dropped her on the ground and pulled her down the corridor.
"She stopped her breath so he thought she was dead. That's when he left."
The woman lives with her son and his wife, who regularly make telephone checks on her when they are not home. On Wednesday, her son phoned about 3pm and became worried when she did not answer.
"The first call she didn't pick up, so I rang again in 10 to 15 minutes and she'd pulled her hand from the scarf knot and was crying on the phone."
He dialled 111 and sped home from his Manukau workplace, arriving at the same time as police. "I helped the police untie her."
His mother was taken to Middlemore Hospital where she stayed overnight for full body x-rays and a CT scan. She returned home yesterday morning with extensive bruising to her arms, neck and face, her son said.
The intruder stole cash, ripped the woman's valuable gold necklace from her neck and pulled thick gold bangles off her wrists.
But laptop computers and other valuables were left untouched.
The family are worried about their mother's welfare and want to move to another neighbourhood.
"We were talking about the fear ... and I am just thinking, 'How is she bearing this'?"
Police were dismayed by the attack, the latest in a spate of crimes targeting the elderly.
Detective Sergeant Simon Beal of Counties Manukau CIB said: "We are appalled at the violent nature of this crime during broad daylight."
He appealed for anyone who saw suspicious behaviour in the area of Huia Rd, Stonex Rd, Bernard St and Kimpton Rd to contact police.
In November, a man faced charges after another 77-year-old Papatoetoe woman was sexually assaulted in her home. The attack came only days after a brutal home invasion in Pukekohe where an elderly couple were assaulted and tied up and the sexual assault of an 87-year-old Hastings grandmother who was dragged into her lounge while checking her mail.
• Contact: Call Detective Sergeant Simon Beal of the Counties Manukau CIB on 09 261 1321 or speak anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
11 January, 2014
07 January, 2014
Self-defence in the News - No. 51
MMA fighter kills home invader
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9581170/MMA-fighter-kills-home-invader
SIOBHAN DOWNES
06/01/2014
Joe Torrez killed one of the four men who broke into
his house, and put another in the hospital.
A trained mixed marital artist repelled four armed men who attempted to invade his New Mexico home, killing one of them, US authorities say.
The attackers had a knife and shank with them, but Joe Torrez, a 70kg lightwweight fighter with a 1-5 record, managed to gain the upper hand.
"He was fighting for his life," his lawyer, CJ McElhinney, told the Las Cruces Sun-News.
It's not clear what sparked the New Year's Day attack at Torrez' mobile home in Las Cruces, which left another man hospitalised and two more running away in fear.
Before the 2am attack another of the men, Leonard Calvillo, allegedly called ahead to threaten Torrez, telling him, "I'm big Eastside. I'll kill you and your family ... I will go to your house."
Torrez's fiancee and toddler were home at the time, authorities said. The men tossed furniture and attacked Torrez, according to an arrest affidavit, KFOX-TV reported.
A man identified as Sal Garces was found dead at the scene from beating and stab wounds and another received severe facial injuries.
Torrez only endured minor injuries, according to his lawyer.
The remaining two men, who fled the scene, have been arrested on charges of conspiracy, property damage, and aggravated battery.
Torrez could also face charges in the death of the attacker.
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