Posted on 27th, January 2016

We have started our new Fitness and Conditioning class, conducted by Tim Loudermilk. Class is held on every Friday from 7:45pm to 8:45pm. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Posted on 19th, January 2016

Posted on 15th, December 2015

DFWJKD Academy will be closed Saturday, December 26th to allow students and instructors time with their families.  Except for this one day, all scheduled classes will remain as is for the remainder of December.  All classes January 2, 2016 will run as scheduled.  The instructors of DFWJKD Academy wish all students and their families a joyous holiday season.

Posted on 8th, November 2015

Please help us celebrate the completion of our first year in our new school.  We will have a picnic with fun and games for the entire family followed by a UFC watching party.  All students of DFWJKDA and their families are invited to attend.  To help plan for the event, please RSVP an accurate number that will be attending by November 10th so we can be prepared.

Posted on 4th, November 2015

Due to a change in Coach Bill's work schedule, the BJJ class has been officially moved to Tuesday's at 6:45 pm.  The class will continue in the exact same time frame as before, 6:45-8:15pm.  Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. November is bring a buddy month.  Any current student of DFWJKDA may bring a guest to any of our classes, any instructor, any time free of charge through the end of November.

Posted on 1st, November 2015

 The Thursday class for the DFW Kali Meetup Group has been cancelled.  Sifu Steven will be continuing the Sunday class at the normal time of 11:00am till Noon.  For the month of November, any current student of the meetup group will be allowed to bring a guest at no charge.

Posted on 28th, August 2015

I will be leaving Thursday, September 3rd for Sri Lanka , the pearl of Indian Ocean.  The purpose of my trip is to reunite with my friend and fellow Jeet Kune Do Athletic Association a.k.a  JKDAA member, Sifu Tithira Perera.  I will be conducting a seminar entitled "Introduction to Street JKD" on September 5th and 6th.  In addition, Tithira and I will be teaching a Damini Project Women's Self Defense Seminar based on our Escape to Gain Safety Program.  Lastly, we will be training Law Enforcement in our Rapid Assault Tactics (R.A.T.) curriculum.  I am excited to have this opportunity and look forward to my departure.  All scheduled classes at DFWJKDA will continue as normal with guest instructors filling in for Sifu Kirk in his abscence. I will return the evening of September 13th and will resume teaching on September 14th.

Posted on 22nd, August 2015

To all DFWJKDA Students and friends:

It is with heavy heart that I make you aware of the passing of Terry Doyle after a courageous battle with cancer. I first met Terry in 2010. He came to me with the hope of better preparing himself to protect his wife should the need arise. Over the course of the next four years, Terry never missed a Monday night JKD Group Class. I can honestly say there has never been a single person more supportive of our school than Terry. He gave freely of his time, his talents and his wisdom. He was a student, a friend, a mentor and a role model. His kind heart, his willingness to share, and his strong desire to help new students was evident to everyone that knew him. When we purchased our current building, Terry was at the new school every single day working endlessly to make the school better. Over the course of the last five years I have had the good fortune to become very close to Terry. He treated me like a son and I looked to him as a father. His guidance was always available and he consistently made me become a better person. Often, he would get me back "on track" when circumstances caused me to get derailed. The impact this man had on my life will leave a lasting impression. I feel so blessed to have had Terry Doyle in my life and I know many of you feel the same.

Posted on 15th, August 2015

Dealing with Danger

By Prageeth Thoradeniya - Coordinater and Senior Instructor Damini project- Sri Lanka, Organizer Sri Lanka School of Jeet Kune Do

We would all like to believe that the world around us is a safe and beautiful place, inhabited by sane, moral and logical individuals. Unfortunately the reality is that while there certainly is much good in this world, there also is evil which exists just as abundantly.

Much like the big cats of the wild who stalk their prey, predators roam around us in human form, often waiting for the opportune moment to pounce upon an unsuspecting victim, ready to perform physical acts of violence such as harassment, assault, robbery, rape, abduction, torture and even murder.

While steps should be and are been taken to change the paradigms that exist with society that contributes to the existence of predators, the focus of this article is to provide you with some insight as to what needs to be done to safeguard your life and that of your loved ones against this prevalent threat.

In this article, I hope to share with you some valuable insights on how to prevent a situation before it happens, how to respond to it if it happens, and how to recover from it after it has ended.

Prevention

The best way to survive a dangerous situation is to avoid it in the first place, and we cannot do this if we are not aware of our surroundings.

Awareness is your first line of defense. It is alarming how little awareness most people in the modern world have in day to day life. Our eyes are often glued to our smartphones, our ears to our headphones and our minds to our worries, memories and fantasies. We have seen and heard of numerous instances where people end up getting attacked, injured or even killed simply because they had no idea what was going on around them.

Take a look and listen around you right now. What do you see? Take note of the environment around you. Is it an open area or a closed one? How many entrances does it have? How many people are with you? Do you know them? What sort of people are they? What are they talking about? Are they paying attention to you or ignoring you?

Practicing this attitude of awareness in daily life helps you take preventive steps to identify and avoid potentially dangerous situations. For example, if you spot an unsavory looking individual approaching you from afar, you can then choose to move to a safer location such as across the street or into a crowded place such as a shop to try and avoid or minimize the danger involved.

Possessing Strong Body-Language also helps to deter the attacker. Predators of the wild stalk the weakest herbivores of the herd, usually the youngest or oldest or ones that appear to be sick or injured. This is because it is easier for them to take down an animal that is weak rather than an animal that is strong, for even a predator is afraid of being injured in the process and would like to avoid it at all costs. The predators we deal with in human form are no different. Studies have shown that they prefer to stalk and attack people who look weak and afraid.

Practice keeping your back straight and shoulders wide when you stand up or walk. Look about you and keep practicing that aforementioned sense of awareness of your surroundings. This naturally signals any potential attackers that you are not weak and that you are paying attention to what is around you, deterring them from viewing you as a clueless victim.

De-escalation is also a very valuable skill to learn in self-defense as well as conflict management in day to day and professional life. Some people are naturally calm and are able to de-escalate most conflicts by simply talking to their potential aggressor. Saying phrases like “Hey, let’s sort this out” or “Be cool” or “Chill” calmly may be enough to calm most aggressive people down. But this technique is more applicable to an aggressor who wants physical or verbal conflict rather than a predator. A predator would probably ignore any attempts at de-escalation and try to get what he/she wants. You do not see gazelles negotiating with lions in the wild!

Response

Sometimes, no matter how much we try to avoid the danger, we inevitably end up having to face it and to respond to it. Perhaps you saw your potential attacker or attackers and attempted to avoid them moving into a more secure location, yet they followed you there and cornered you. Perhaps you did not see them due to being distracted, and you suddenly find yourself face to face with them.

This is a very frightening experience for most of us, and when we are afraid, our bodies react by dumping loads of adrenaline into our bloodstream. Our heart beats faster as it pumps more blood into our muscles preparing us for “fight or flight”. In this situation, most people freeze and are not sure what to say or do beyond that.

Freezing is a natural reaction to being suddenly confronted by something we did not expect. When we “freeze” with fear, we stop whatever we are doing (including breathing), our eyes widen and our pupils expand too. The purpose of this reaction is to stop the body from “moving into” the danger, and opening the eyes and other senses more to better assess the situation as fast as possible.

When this happens to you, Breathe. Breathing naturally brings back your sense of awareness, centers yourself, and allows your body to begin moving; thereby allowing you to respond to the situation at hand.

Remember that your goal here is to Escape and Survive. We are not looking to engage in some sort of a cinematic battle where one person takes on three using flying kicks, karate chops and what not. This is not a movie, this is real life. In movies when the director yells “Cut!” the scene ends and the actors walk out of the set, shaking hands. In real life, when you get stabbed, you die. You are not looking for a prolonged confrontation; you are looking at getting to safety as soon as possible.

We are not going to cower, begging for mercy and become a victim either. Never beg for mercy or expect it from a predator. They do not have compassion, and most likely they do not even view you as a fellow human being. Therefore, do not waste what critical time and energy you have to escape the situation by appealing to their sense of compassion which does not exist.

Another natural reaction we as humans have when we encounter something that frightens us is screaming or yelling. This too has several useful purposes for survival; it can deter your potential attackers by causing them to panic at your reaction as well as attract attention of people around you to your situation. It can also be channeled into an even more positive effect, allowing you to become more assertive and aggressive to face the situation. When you find your attacker moving towards you in an aggressive manner, put your hands up, palms facing your attacker, breathes deep into your diaphragm and yell “STOP!! GET AWAY FROM ME!” as loudly as you can.

You must now focus on your escape. This is where the aforementioned awareness of your surroundings really comes into play. Where are the exits? How far away are they? Is your attacker blocking your escape? Or is there a clear route?

If the route is clear and your attacker isn’t blocking your path, RUN AWAY.

If your attacker is demanding your valuables such as your wallet, purse, watch or jewelry, throw it towards them, away from the path of exit. This will distract them enough to provide a clear path to your exit. Once the route is clear, make a run for it and RUN AWAY.

If your attacker is in your way however, or has grabbed or is holding you in some way, you will have to fight them off to clear your route of escape. This is probably the most daunting aspect of the whole scenario. Not many people are trained in martial arts or possess the physical conditioning required to engage in a fight, and most predators choose victims who appear to be weaker and smaller than them.

The key here is to be aggressive. Be as aggressive as you can. Remember that you are protecting your life here. You may get punched, kicked, grabbed or even cut, but no matter what happens, you have to keep fighting and NEVER GIVE UP.

Use your body or anything around you as a weapon, and attack their weakest points. The weakest points on a human body are the eyes, throat and the groin. Throwing a hand out at the eyes of your attacker with your fingers outstretched can poke their eyes, causing pain. Punching them the throat to temporarily disrupt their breathing. Kick them in the groin (especially males) can cause immense pain and temporary immobilization. Attacking all these targets allows you to cause a substantial amount of pain on your attacker, clearing your route of exit. So hit them hard and fast, and RUN AWAY.

You can also attack other weak points of the body, such as the face (which you can punch or claw, causing pain and disorientation), the ears (which you can slap, causing pain and disorientation), the solar plexus (for which a good punch or elbow would cause difficulty in breathing), and the shins (which you can kick or stomp with your shoes, causing immense pain). Again, strike these areas hard and fast, and RUN AWAY.

If an attacker has grabbed you or is holding you close to their body, bite them. Bite down hard. Your teeth are capable of tearing apart flesh and causing immense pain and damage to a potential attacker. Bite them hard until they release you, strike them in a weak point of their body and RUN AWAY.

Be aware of everyday objects you carry that can be used as improvised weapons. Got an umbrella? Use it as a club and whack your attacker hard on the face or groin with it. Got a pen? Stab your attacker. Got high heeled shoes? Take them off and hit your attacker in the face. Got a heavy handbag? Swing it at your attacker. Got hairspray? Spray it in your attackers eyes. Act fast, use your weapon, and RUN AWAY.

Recovery

Surviving the attack itself ensures that you are able to live another day, yet if the resulting physical and psychological trauma is not dealt with appropriately, it could cause many undesirable long-term effects that would impede you on enjoying your life.

If you engaged your attacker physically and you are injured, seek medical attention immediately. Ensure that first aid is performed on you either by yourself or by someone else. This is absolutely essential especially in cases where an attacker may have used a knife to cut or stab you, as bleeding out is not a pleasant experience. Be sure to wrap up any cuts using bandage, cloth or any materials available to stop bleeding. Contact medical professionals in the area immediately by either calling emergency hotlines local to the area or by asking the locals for help if possible.

Simultaneously or immediately after receiving medical attention, inform the authorities of the area. It is vital that you report the incident to the local police force so that they can take appropriate action against your attacker, and to safeguard you legally. It will also help deter any “revenge” attacks by your attacker or their associates.

Inform your loved ones about your experience. Your close family and friends are a part your life. If you are able to communicate to them about what happened, they will not hesitate to provide you with their love and support, which in the case of surviving physical assault, can be invaluable in deal with post-traumatic stress.

Finally, if the attack was severe and you feel depressed, afraid or anxious all the time, get professional psychological help. Many people do not see the critical importance of psychological recovery in the aftermath of a traumatic event as our cultures often encourage us to “brush it off” or “just ignore it”. Contact reputed local professionals and ask their help to make you feel safe again amongst people.

I sincerely hope that none of you would ever have to go through the horror that is physical assault. But in the event that you do, I want you to recall what I have written here so that it may save your life or those of your loved ones.

If you are further interested in learning situational awareness and self-defense or are interested in getting members of your workplace, institute, organization or school trained in basic personal safety and escape techniques in Sri Lanka or Dallas/Fort Worth area, please visit http://thedaminiproject.com.lk/ , http://daminiprojectdfw.com to book a free workshop conducted by our team of professional self-defense and unarmed combat instructors.

Posted on 25th, July 2015

Beginning Monday, July 27th, Coach Bill will be introducing training in the Gi.  Previously, our BJJ class has focused strictly on No-Gi instruction.  Based on interest expressed by our students, as well as the practical nature of Gi training for a street confrontation, we will focus on Gi BJJ through the end of August.  Beginning in September, we will devote one class per month to No-Gi and the remainder will be taught Gi.  Please come prepared with your Gi and belt and be ready to roll.

In addition, we have decided to restrict the use of shoes of any kind while on the red BJJ mats.  The mats are continually being marred by black soled shoes and it has been difficult, if not impossible, to maintain them.  This will also help to keep those who have white Gi's in better condition as well.  Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Osss!!

Sifu Kirk and Coach Bill