New lifesavers

I graduated my first class of CPR/AED trainees on Saturday. Dr. Rowe and I co-taught a three hour class on cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and use of the automatic external defibrillator, as well a choking. Doc has been an instructor for years and I am brand-new at it, so it was good to have him there. We got good reviews from the attendees and they did a great job themselves.
    We had them do rescue scenarios that had them in pairs and having to run to the office, find the AED and then work as a team to save a life. I'd never had anyone include stress reaction factors into the training I'd had in CPR like I did in flight training and martial arts, so we included that in the class, too.
    So, thanks to Dr. Marc and the American Heart Association, we have seven new members of the "medical militia".

LWKS Facebook page

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We mourn again

One of my first students here in Ft. Myers is Rick Stone. Rick just lost his wife of many years, Doreen, to cancer.
   Rick and Doreen had quickly become an integral part of our studio family here soon after he came in to start taking tai chi. He saw the kenpo and wanted to do that, too. He took his first lessons at the age of 68 and became a black belt at age 73. Along the way, Doreen took a women's self-defense course and then started formal kenpo training, eventually earning a blue belt. Husband-wife teams are not unusual in studios but training in their 60's is.
   Rick always addressed Doreen as "my love". It did not matter who was around to hear it. He meant it. The Stones had been married since about 1970, when Rick was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given six weesk to live. Doreen stood with him and was there when he went through a few more bouts of cancer in later years, had a kidney and part of his bladder removed. When she was diagnosed, Rick was there for her.
  Doreen had a form of bone cancer they treated with chemo and radiation. She succumbed on Friday, Feb 4th at Hope Hospice here in Ft. Myers.
   Rick is doing ok and thanks all of you who have made their condolences directly or through me. He's a tough guy who made it through World War 2, escaped from a prison camp and beat the cancer. Those of you in our family mean a great deal to him. Thank you.
  

Teaching in another arena

I taught my first CAP Corporate Learning Course modules over the weekend. I'd volunteered and been accepted to be a staff instructor for this mid-level professional development school for the US Air Force Auxiliary.
   When it came to the subject of planning and decision-making I used a volunteer (who immediately covered his groin) and a kenpo technique to illustrate the steps of making a decision. I'ev addressed this in articles on my website so I won't go into it here but it was well-received by the largely non-martial artist audience.
This coming weekend I move on to teaching another new subject, Basic Life Support. I earned my CPR instructor ticket a week or so ago with the encouragement and assistance of Marc Rowe, MD. He and I will co-teach it. Stay tuned.

More podcasts uploaded

I have uploaded four more podcasts on tai chi, chi and kenpo. Tom Baeli is my guest in the four episodes. They are free and you can hear them at
http://feed.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/3314/mp3.rss


or through i Tunes at

http://www.blogger.com/goog_48576203

When should you rotate your punch?

An excerpt from a new article on my site in the Member's section on when to twist your punch.

Back in the 70’s I was told that some systems teach the student to wait to the very end of the punch to finish the twist, as you met skin. The reason was to tear the skin as you hit, adding insult to injury. I really didn’t know what to make of that and clung to the lesson I had been taught, which was to twist half-way through.  You have to be pretty sensitive and accurate to pull this off. Later I found that boxers teach the same principle. I know that tearing of the skin results from many types of strike so I have no reason to doubt that twisting a punch at the last moment to tear the skin works.

Subscriptions for access are $29/year for almost 200 articles and historical info. http://www.leewedlake.com/

Lance Soares' new studio

Lance Soares has opened his Family Martial Arts center in New Bedford, MA at 527 Church Street. His contact info is 508-813-8351, http://www.lsfmac.com/ or director@lsfmac.com.
   We wish him good luck with the new school.