We want to congratulate and bestow some special recognition on Edie for receiving the 2009 Excellence in Advocacy award from the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA). She received the award for "demonstrating outstanding advocacy on behalf of survivors or for changes in policies affecting survivors".

In case you were wondering what else Edie does outside of being a long-time Krav Maga instructor . . .

Edith Davis is a Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Program Specialist for Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) and Brooks City Base in San Antonio, Texas. She is responsible for developing and providing education and training to over 45,000 military and civilian personnel. She manages the only unit Sexual Assault Prevention and Outreach Representative (SAPO) program in the Air Force with 270 volunteers. This program was established to help educate and support all Lackland AFB and Brooks City Base military and civilian personnel and their families on issues related to sexual assault. The unit SAPO Representative works to heighten sexual assault awareness within the military community and to enhance victim support. The representatives also assist in the delivery of services and information provided by the SAPO program and represent the SAPO office to their respective commanders. Additionally, they deliver training requirements and get involved in awareness activities. Ms. Davis trained over 75 new unit representatives and held 29 train-the-trainer bystander intervention training sessions. Under her leadership, over 13,000 military and civilian personnel were trained on bystander intervention and sexual assault prevention techniques.

It's a honor to have her as part of the team. Here's a snappy *salute* @ Edie!

We have a special seminar planned. It's a women-only seminar on how to defend yourself when you are outdoors and alone.

Like in a parking lot. Storing groceries in your car's trunk. Or out jogging in the park. Circumstances where no one gives a second thought to strangers being present. Circumstances where it's easy for an attacker to hide, ambush, and subdue when you have your guard down.

We will have a special guest instructor, too. Kelly Campbell, the woman featured on National Geographic Channel's Fight Science program (see below), will be visiting us from Los Angeles to help teach. She's the highest ranking female Krav Maga practitioner in the United States--a 3rd-degree black belt.

This seminar will take place at the Krav Maga Regional Training Center, which is right beside Crossroads Shopping Mall at 100 Crossroads Blvd. It will be April 10 (Saturday), from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The fee for the seminar will be a $20 donation to Voices Against Sexual Assault.

We're expecting a large turnout, so register now to reserve your place.

Click here for info on how to register.

Jennifer Alvarez, Edie Davis, And Bridget DeLaRosa traveled to Austin to complete the R.A.D. Basic Physical Defense for Women Instructor Certification. In 1989, Lawrence N. Nadeau a former United States Marine and law enforcement officer founded Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) Systems. Today R.A.D. is a nationally recognized alliance of self-defense educators dedicated to enhancing defensive options for women and children, while developing their abilities to manage aggressive and violent behavior.

R.A.D. is the largest organization of its kind and it is the only such organization or program ever endorsed by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). RAD has reached over 275, 000 women empowering them and helping them realize their inner strength.

There are different certifications an instructor can attain:

• R.A.D. Basic Physical Defense
• R.A.D. Advanced Self Defense
• Aerosol Defense Options
• Keychain Defense Options
• R.A.D. for Men
• radKIDS

The STW women attended the RAD Basic. This is the foundation of R.A.D. Systems and focuses on education and awareness. The course included lectures, discussions, and self defense techniques, suitable for women of all ages and abilities. The course was three days with classes ranging from nine to twelve hours in length. The physical defense sessions included lessons in basic stance, strikes, blocks and defense against bear hugs and chokes. Each technique was created for women to be able to take advantage of lower body strength.

During the final session, there is a simulation exercise in which the women get to implement what they learned. During this exercise they defend themselves from an “attacker”. This exercise is an empowering moment…the women realize that they are not helpless and are able to employ the Defensive Mindset that says, “I will survive!”

R.A.D. training helps women to become aware of their surroundings and helps them understand that they do not need to be powerless in an event of an attack. The goal or objective is to provide women viable options to an attack.

The R.A.D. instructors and the students were all true professionals. All that were present showed their solidarity and commitment to fighting violence against women.

The mission of R.A.D. Systems is to establish an accessible, constantly improving and nationally respected alliance of dedicated instructors.

The instructors in turn will provide educational opportunities for women, children, men, and seniors to create a safer future for themselves.

In doing this, we challenge society to evolve into an existence where violence is not an accepted part of daily life.

—R.A.D. Systems Alliance 2004

For more info about R.A.D.: RAD (Rape Aggression Defense Systems)

Congratulations to Brad Stewart for attaining Krav Maga Worldwide's rank of Level 5 (brown belt) instructor!  Brad started studying Krav Maga as a student in 2004, and entered the instructor pipeline in early 2006.  Brad spent the month before his brown belt test training intensively after bouncing back from a neck injury that made it difficult to train prior to that.  Even though he wasn't at his peak he did everything he could to make sure he was one of the six that went home with a brown belt (six out of eight passed the test).  His advice for others who want to pass the brown belt test? Know how to fall and fight because there will be some hard take-downs and long rounds of sparring. And take lots of ibuprofen with you, too.

A new episode of National Geographic Fight Science will feature Krav Maga Worldwide Instructors Amir Perets,  Kelly Campbell, Sam Sade and other Krav Maga Worldwide Force Training Instructors. It is scheduled to air on the National Geographic Channel on Thursday, 2/18, at 8p (CST). The episode will also be rebroadcast that same night at 11p (CST), as well as on the following Thursday, 2/25, at 4p.

National Geographic Channel's description of the show:

The National Center for the Victims of Crime reports that 5 out of 6 people in the United States will fall victim to a violent crime at least once in their lives. Everyday, while they go about their business, innocent people are assaulted, robbed, raped or even murdered by hostile criminals in public places. Is there anything the average person can do to defend him or herself? On this episode of Fight Science, a team of top self-defense experts, scientists and biomechanical engineers will test out some of the recommended ways of fighting back against aggressive criminal assaults. We’ll see what it takes to spot potential assailants, and point out their anatomical weaknesses. We’ll look at improvised weapons of defense, such as car keys and a rolled up magazine. We’ll examine techniques to disarm an assailant with various weapons, and how to react in a blind attack.

KENS-TV promoted our upcoming women-only seminar on their Great Day SA show this morning! Bridget, Henry, and Pete demonstrated how to escape from two attack scenarios, and host Kellie Patterson seemed excited to learn that size doesn't matter.

Arnold, Bridget, Donna, and Pete appeared on KABB-TV's Focus on South Texas to promote the upcoming seminar, too. They were on for a full, uninterrupted ten minutes, which gave them time to share three variations of the life-saving choke defense technique.

Are you unable to attend classes at our facility? 

Does your business want some (or maybe all) of its staff to receive effective self-defense and security training?

STW/Krav Maga is excited to announce that we now offer on-site training to both private individuals and businesses. Whether your primary goal is fitness or safety, we can custom-tailor a training program to fit your specific needs.

Call Brad Stewart at (210) 348-6127 to explore your personalized training options.

STW Krav Maga is proud to once again put on a women-only self defense seminar in support of VDAY - a global movement to end violence against women and girls.

The seminar will be from 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 6. The participation fee will be $20 (proceeds will be donated to The Rape Crisis Center).

Please download the attached flyer for more info.

Call us at (210) 348-6127 to reserve your spot, or click here to register online.

flyer-VDAY_seminar-2010.pdf

STW/Krav Maga in San Antonio will be hosting a special training event for Krav Maga Worldwide licensees and instructors during February 5-7. If you're a KMWW licensee or instructor, please download the attached PDF file for more details.

stw-f2f-instructor-training-event.pdf

Our recent knife defense seminar was a huge success! Thanks to those of you who attended and contributed, we were able to raise over $2,000 in donations for Fort Sam Houston's Warrior and Family Support Center.

We are so proud that you really came through for this worthy cause. Thank you for the great turnout and for all of your generous support.