Monday, February 4, 2008

WYA Seminar/Workshop #1: Fear, Instincts and Self-Defense with HealthDefense.org’s Ken Gibson

One of the best things I love about WYA is that they can use absolutely everything I am interested in. I love learning things, especially if it’s something I can’t find in a regular school. One of my projects involves holding a seminar/workshop here in the WYA house, in which I get to apply a lot of things I’ve learned in the past two years, and where my long list of interesting acquaintances comes in handy.

The World Youth Alliance Seminar/Workshop Series (I will have to think of a catchier name for this) has the following goals:

1. To gather speakers who love what they do (i.e. live in dignity!) and let them pass on that joy to others
2. To go beyond the traditional lecture-style event and make have audience members participate by learning how to do something (no more Powerpoints, for the love of God.)
3. To gather members for a night of learning and fun

For the first workshop, held last December, one of my martial arts teachers, Ken Gibson, agreed to teach us self-defense. With two black belts – one in hapkido and one in farang mu sul, Ken has had a lot of training and experience in defending oneself. Incidentally, he was the person who inspired me to start eating healthy after attending one of this retreats. His book, “What to Feed Your Enemy,” should be out soon, and I can’t wait to get one.




As an aside, I also love how this project is allowing me to play around with graphic design again:



Learning how to defend oneself is one of the more important skills I’ve acquired since coming to NYC, where muggings are common and the detritus of humanity come out at night, preying on unsuspecting victims. I think it’s also a great thing to pass on to WYA interns who have come from all over the world.

When defending yourself or your loved ones, all inhibitions should be eliminated. All the four-letter words you know will aid you in making your attacker realize that you are not one to be messed with. The throat is one of the most sensitive areas of the body, as are the groin, and the eye (push your finger in, bend it, then yank it out). Biting, calling out for help – all the primal instincts we have are brought out once we experience fear.

It was interesting seeing WYA's fall interns, particularly the ones who are usually so poised, get out of their comfort zones.

I only hope they never have to use what they've learned.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i love your poster..so cute.

WYA!!! :P