It is sadly alarming to say the least to see post after post of child abductions and missing children. My mission since 1982, has been to empower the lives of my members and our community through sharing the martial arts and safety tips. I pray and hope for a more safe, more healthy, and more positive community, and also that we all live in harmony helping one another.
ANTI-ABDUCTION SAFETY TIP
This was a video (posted below) I ran across on the internet. I like it as a technique, as an alternative option for children that are threatened by being grabbed and abducted by an adult. It is a very easy and simple technique for anyone to teach their child that may have no martial arts and jiu jitsu training. In that sense I like this video and wanted to share it however, I wanted to share a safety tip to accompany this technique. The techniques we learn are not near as important as to what we teach on the why and the what of a technique.
In this case, we want to teach our children two parts of this technique with both an “audio” support to the “physical” technique by doing a technique we refer to as “sounding out.”
A child most likely would be facing this threat in a public area. So when in a place where others can see and hear them we teach our kids how to use “sounding out” to draw attention and assistance from nearby adults that can help them stay safe. “Sounding out” is done once the technique is applied and held physically by loudly shouting and repeating “help me get my Mom and Dad, help me get my Mom and Dad. – repeat – repeat -repeat! This is to alarm those that may be near by that did not see this initially that this adult person is not the child’s parent and has no right to being touching, grabbing or trying to pick this child up.
By sharing lessons like this with our children we can help encourage talk, thought and a plan. Any plan is better than no plan and improves the safety of our children.
I hope you find value with this Safety Tip.
About the Author: John Geyston is a 9th Degree Black Belt in Nippon Ketsugo Ryu Kenpo Jutsu and a Brown Belt certified instructor of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and the RG 360 Self Defense system directly under tutelage of Royce Gracie as his Midwest Representative. He has 43 years experience in the martial arts in which 38 of those years are teaching and instructing. He is a 5 Time Hall of Fame Inductee and holds Black Belts in 4 different styles as well as instructor certifications in both Muay Thai and Krav Maga.
