Georgia Seminars

I was at Keith Mathews Karate in Canton, near Atlanta, this past weekend. Keith has been with me for years through Robert Ray-Wallace, (who is now back in Spartanburg, SC).
The turnout was good, we had people from Georgia, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina there. I met some new people who are teaching in Georgia that I hadn't known about such as Robert Ray, Damon Excell and Joel Ellis. Shane Thomas came down from SC, he's in the Sepulveda lineage and teaches there.
After lunch at Sal's on the square in Cumming (love the food there), Friday night we kicked off the weekend with a class for youth and covered some escaping principles based off grab and hug attacks.
   The Saturday seminars were on Defending the Third Person, a concept I like to teach and am working to expand. The idea is based on what if you have to step in to protect another person who can't or won't defend themselves. I address the decision chain, the eight angles and third person perspectives, physical tactics that come right off the technique lists and use of the "soft" weapons, such as voice.
   The second seminar was on the four standard gun defenses. I illustrate how they can be used for two-handed grip approaches as well as the "thug" grip. I finished off the day with a small black belt class where they asked about a variety of techniques. I know these kinds of small sessions were valuable to me as I was coming up and I'm glad to do them.
  My thanks go out to Mr. Mathews, his wife Kim, and the helpers who made this happen. Kim and the ladies set up a lunch for everyone, which makes it really convenient and lets us talk a bit between sessions. Talking with Miss Meredith, the psychologist, was interesting along with some airplane stories from one of the guys. Meeting up with Damon Excell was cool, as he had trained in California and attended some of the Friday night classes at Pasadena. We must have crossed paths there years ago. Shane Thomas from AKTS always supports and is a fine representative of the Sepulveda lineage. I got some time with my guy, Tim Walker, out of FL and got caught up with him.
  My luck held as I went to the Atlanta airport and there were NO lines for check in or security. Imagine that. An upgrade to first class on Delta capped off a nice weekend.
  Thanks for the Southern hospitality!