Ive become an amateur self-defense instructor - advice?

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DontBurnMyFlag

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Hey everyone

Over the years Ive become known as "Kev...that guy with the guns, knives, an arsenal etc." But over the years I have taught many people to shoot, utilize weapons, use pepper-spray, some basic hand to hand techniques and various other self-defense practices.

It sort of came out of nowhere when friends of mine, and friends of friends start calling me for advice or for trips to the gun range.

So let me clear the air by stating that I am NOT a certified instructor in any of the above fields. I just happen to have years of training and experience. And now adding my LEO experience in as well, I feel I can offer something to the public. I let my "students" know that Im not certified to train them before we start.

So now that thats out of the way, I have a few questions.

The girls I teach want to carry/use pepper spray but are afraid they will not be able to get to it in time or use it correctly. They sell training sprays, but other than that, is there another way to cure them of their fear and help with their training?

I try to stay away from knife combatives unless they have had previous experience in a martial art or something along those lines. I do this simply because a knife can be dangerous to the user as well, especially when not trained. If some of my "students" are scared to use pepper spray, I do not want to see them with a knife. So who here recommends kubotan training?

If anyone else can think of something I should add into the mix or something else I should do or shouldnt do, please let me know.
 
Maybe start with some training in how to stay at least in Condition Yellow when they are out and about. I think the fear the pepper spray won't be readily available is your students know they spend a lot of time with their head "up and locked", such as chatting on the cell phone when they should be paying attention to their surroundings.

Pilgrim
 
good thoughts. the one girl I talked to said she walks home "fast with her eyes on the ground avoiding eye contact." I told her thats not a very good idea, because she should be aware of her surroundings.

good advice.
 
Just remember this as a "instructor" never say this is the way it is done, say it is one of the ways it can be done. Do it the way you are most comfortable and accurate with, as it is different for many who shoot

JMO
 
good thoughts. the one girl I talked to said she walks home "fast with her eyes on the ground avoiding eye contact." I told her thats not a very good idea, because she should be aware of her surroundings.
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Excellent point. I think it was outside a carwash in Florida where a kidnapper grabbed a girl, took her out in the woods, and killed her. If you can find the film clip, have your students pay attention to the young girl's actions. She was walking down the alley, looking at her feet. She was completely surprised by the kidnapper who just walked up to her from the front and grabbed her arm.

Pilgrim
 
Good ideas guys.

I do hate it when instructors say "this is the way its done" or they give some excuse why it cannot be done some other way. Thats always the way it was in the martial arts world. Too much macho pride I guess :rolleyes:

But, I keep an open mind and let the people I teach give me some pointers too.
 
Best advice ever given to instructors:

"The man whose profession is arms should calm his mind and look into the depths of others. Doing so is likely the best of the martial arts."

- Shiba Yoshimasa

Develop you own skills, train, train, train. You'll find out that there really is no 'best' way to do things, just 'ways that work for you'. Keep this in mind when teaching others and you'll be fine.
 
Free advice, worth every penny you pay for it:

* Stop referring to the women you train as "girls." They are not girls -- they are adult human beings who have chosen to take responsibility for their own safety. This isn't a PC thing so much as it is a mindset thing. You want to do everything within your power to nurture the "I'm an adult and I will cope with whatever life throws at me" attitude in your students.

* Re pepper spray, a little information goes a long way toward dispelling the myths. The class I took had video clips of former students getting sprayed, and some snippets of various police officers getting sprayed, going back for a decade or so. The instructor talked about how different people respond differently to the spray and then showed us the same thing on film. He talked about how your mindset going into the spray really determined how well you were able to fight off or fight through the spray effects, and had videos of students from various schools reacting very differently to the same spray, based upon what they were told about the spray and its effects beforehand.

That class also talked about ease of access -- the best advice, IMO, is to walk with the spray in your hand if you think you may need it. Being afraid that you can't get it out in a hurry is a realistic fear. When attacked, you probably will not have time to dig it out of your purse. That's where mindset comes in, paying attention to the world, etc etc. (And it's a nice segue to "you know, a gun on your belt is quicker to access than any defensive device in your puse...")

* Check out Marc MacYoung's www.nononsenseselfdefense.com, which is just full of really good, common sense information about self-defense. Marc was among the first of the "ex-thug turns good guy" types to start writing about his experiences, and still has a unique perspective on crime and the criminal mindset.

* Be honest with yourself about what you are and are not qualified to teach. If someone wants to know about stuff you're shaky on, don't try to fake it. Either find an instructor to teach you, or get some experience in that area, or send your students elsewhere for that part of their training. There is no shame in admitting that you cannot be all things to all people.

pax
 
Get some multi-million dollar liability insurance. If any of your students ever use any type of self defense methods you taught then you would most likely be brought into any resulting civil action.
 
I teach CCW classes in Arkansas.

Get really good insurance. I'm not sure about pepper spray classes, but for handgun instructors, the NRA offers really good insurance, but you have to hold one of their instructor certifications.

Get the card of an attorney you trust and keep it with you.

Make up a "Legal Waiver" with the help of that attorney and have all students sign and date that waiver before they take class.

hillbilly
 
So let me clear the air by stating that I am NOT a certified instructor in any of the above fields. I just happen to have years of training and experience. And now adding my LEO experience in as well, I feel I can offer something to the public. I let my "students" know that Im not certified to train them before we start.
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The above statement by you could cost you everything you have....plus some! That is a public 'confession' saying that you aren't really qualified.

If you are going to instruct self defense for money....follow all the rules or you'll learn the word 'litigation' all too soon. Even 'advice' leaves you open to a scoundrel.

hillbilly's post is right on.

If anyone else can think of something I should add into the mix or something else I should do or shouldnt do, please let me know.
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After you have your insurance in order and your certificates in order and your cya paperwork in order....learn to cover your own butt by saying all the pc things. If you don't know the standard terminology, go to any class and bring a tape recorder; redundancy reigns.

Claim your income, pay your taxes and don't fool around with the 'girls'.
.
 
+1 cyanide
+1 pax


These are, in my opinion, the priorities when it comes to self defense.


1. Mindset - The refusal to be a victim. The acceptance that bad things can happen to good people. That it can happen to you. The determination to fight back with everything you've got. Are you willing to do anything and everything necessary to survive? Are you willing to fight? Hurt another human being? Kill another human being? If the answer to any of those questions isn't "yes," you might want to re-consider this self defense thing.

2. Awareness - The Cooper color codes. Awareness of one's surroundings. Being able to see a situation developing. To see potential cover and exit routes. The best to avoid a bad situation is to leave before it happens. If escape isn't an option, at least you can prepare yourself to do what you have to do, take cover, ready a weapon, improvise a weapon, etc.

3. Tactics and Training - Knowing what to do when, what not to do when, and knowing what your options are. Practicing those options. Practicing with your chosen defensive tools until they become as close to second nature as you can make them.

4. Tools - Gun, knife, pepper spray, kuboton, etc. Realize that just having one no more equips you to defend yourself than owning a violin prepares you to play with an orchestra. You mind is the weapon, the tools are just objects.



I would highly recommend reinforcing the first 2 before teaching skills (#3) or recommending purchases (#4). Or at the very least recommend some readings and/or having discussions with them in conjunction with training, to help get them in the right mindset.

If the women ;) you're teaching are "afraid they will not be able to get to it in time or use it correctly," it sounds like they may be relying on the pepper spray too much. Get them to rely on themselves instead. Awareness will help with deploying it in time. Mindset will keep them in the fight even if they can't deploy the pepper spray. They're not helpless without it. Anything you teach them, be it pepper spray, kubotan, or gun, is just another option in addition to the ones they already have (kicking, scratching, biting, running away, etc)


(edited to add that the wink after "women" was a nod to pax, not a nudge nudge wink wink sort of suggestion. SkyGuy is right - no foolong around!)
 
You might consider some adult education or instructor development classes (even beyond getting certified to instruct).

Frankly, there is more to being a good, effective instructor than having a body of training and experience to draw from. Good instructors are good teachers; among other things, they convey knowledge effectively and diagnose problems intuitively.

There are plenty of folks out there who are supurb shooters or tacticians or whatever - but who lack the skills to teach others to be supurb shooters or tacticans. I really requires two skillsets: mastery of the subject matter and the ability to effectively teach.

The instructors I keep going back to have both.
 
insurance is a good idea. However, Im only giving them advice. Im not telling them what to do. Besides, they are my close friends. I tell them what I would do, what the police trained me to do, and what I would do if I were them. I also, in no way have any intention on charging them or opening a school or course. Maybe in the future, but not now.

And I refer to some of my friends as girls, only because thats what they are. Two of them are 19 and the other is 17. I tried calling them "young women" a few times, and I got weird looks. haha.

And on the safe side I always tell them not to use any of this unless they are comfortable with it, or unless they want to continue training. then I always refer them to some websites, reading material or a martial arts/shooting school.
 
Teach

The NRA 'Refuse to be a Victim' class--but first get certified as an instructor.:)

Next, get an OC Instructor certificate.:)

Now you can teach programs with a program behind you.
 
Kev....I'd have sworn that you said: "Ive become an amateur self-defense instructor - advice?

...and then you said: "Im only giving them advice. Im not telling them what to do."

Giving "advice" is a lot different than becoming an "amateur self-defense instructor".
.
 
good call skyguy. instructor seems like the wrong word. Im not sure what word to replace it with that wont make it seem so exact or final. Im merely giving advice like I said before. Instructor does have that professional ring to it. Thats not what I want at all. I think Ill thumb through the thesaurus looking for replacement words.
 
Instructors are "Certified" by someone or something. Typically paid for their services.

An "Amateur (from the heart, not a paid professional) Advisor and Student of Common Sense Self Defense" might not be certified, but a wise one would take some of the free advice offered herein by taking a good class or two, getting some form of insurance, knowing a good attorney and probably offer the same advice to his "Fellow Students of Common Sense Self Defense".

There is some sage advice from the above posters we should all heed.
 
Forget Marc. There are much better out there without his strangenesses. First, you might want to take a look at AWSDA - http://www.awsda.org - the American Women's Self Defense Association. They do a bang-up training seminar every year - this one will be in Phoenix in November - and are cop and gun friendly.

Feel free to reference the material we used for our classes over the last 15 years - http://www.selfdefense.info

Pepper spray? More dependence-based self defense. My advice is teach them some effective unarmed stuff first. Get them to rely on themselves rather than hoping someone or some inanimate object will keep them safe. Then offer them the option of tools. "It's just a tool. You are the weapon."
 
Sorry, FireCop, but there's nothing wrong with doing something for love instead of money. Any number of somethings...
 
amateur: one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science

professional: characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession


I strive to be a professional at everything I do.
 
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