The first course I attended today was presented by Lee Weems, the chief deputy of a Georgia sheriff’s office. I was very impressed with officer Weems’s legal knowledge as well as his wit.
Next I attended “Managing the Clench” by Cecil Burch. This was a practical course which emphasized base, posture, and position to keep you in the fight long enough to win. I think the exact phrase was “avoiding losing long enough to win” or something very close. My partner was a foot taller and literally double my weight. I had fun with him since Cecil said the most important rule was to keep your belt line lower than your opponent’s. For once my size gave me the advantage…at least in this limited scenario.
Pre-class discussions
After that it was back to the classroom for a talk by William Aprill on violent acts and violent actors. William’s experience with criminals and in the mental health field was eye-opening. Some people see the world so differently than we do. In this context we were talking about murders and rapists but it is also a reminder that the same situation can appear very different to different people with different life experiences. Timely in this election season?
The final class of the day was supposed to be on church security. Unfortunately Steve Moses had a death in the family so he could not present. Instead I went to Tom Givens’s course on flashlights and low light equipment. It was a good refresher on the history and methods which have previously been employed and how we got to where we are today.
Tom demonstrating various flashlight techniques
