International Personal Self-Defense Blog by Robb Hamic

Get The Newest Street Fighting DVD on the Market!

December 11, 2010- Albuquerque, NM-  Robb Hamic and Shane Knaub have released their first street fighting DVD of the year.  FIGHTING- Fast, Scary and Frustrating ™ 2010.  This DVD is packed with 2 hours of 38 fighting fundamentals and fast devastating techniques that work in real fights.  We are excited that two Professional MMA World Title Belt Champions have endorsed our DVD, at its release.  We have a website and it is available for immediate purchase on Pay Pal.  It ships out right away.  Check it out!

CLICK HERE for our website and be one of the first to get this material.  Shane has won the Grapplers Quest Advanced Division and NAGA Advanced and overall divisions multiple times.  He trains with with pro MMA fighters and he grew up fighting.  All of these techniques have held up in real street fights.  Shane trains in Albuquerque at FIT NHB with Tom Vaughn.  If you know me, you know that Shane is a good friend and we put together great material for you.  I train with Shane to update my skills in the United States.  This is a culmination of a lot of hard work.  In HDTV.  Excellent quality.  Ships internationally too.

Self-Defense and Holiday Travel

Dec 2, 2010, Albuquerque, NM.  Self-defense and awareness are just as critical during the holidays while many of us are traveling to visit relatives and on vacation. It is important to remain vigilant and be aware of your surroundings always prepared to defend yourself and your family. Many licensed concealed carry holders think that it is too difficult to travel with a firearm or other self-defense tool and therefore are not as prepared.  Remember that you are on vacation, the bad-guys aren’t. You might be in an un-familiar city while the local, potential thieves, muggers, and rapists may be hard at work looking for an easy target like a clueless tourist.

If you are licensed to carry a concealed firearm there is a great website to stay informed about current laws and reciprocity rules for each state. The site http://www.handgunlaw.us is constantly updated and will give you access to read the laws that apply to each state you are visiting. This site offers links to each state’s statutes as they apply to concealed carry. It is also useful for anyone who may possess a firearm while visiting other states for instance on a hunting trip or moving to a new state.

Flying commercially with firearms is not as difficult as many people think. We do a lot of flying as we travel for various training around the country, usually carrying multiple firearms. I often hear “wow, it sure must be a pain to get through security with all of that stuff”. Actually, it is pretty easy. You can download the rules from the TSA’s website http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1666.shtm. It involves filling out an extra form at the airline’s counter and packing right, not much to it. 

Ryan Fellows is a nationally accredited law enforcement trainer; NRA Firearm Instructor certified in multiple disciplines, NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, a CHL Instructor and is a federally licensed firearms dealer. He provides group and private training in firearms and close quarter combatives. He is certified by Glock as an armorer, and is an Israeli Combat Shooting Instructor. He is a professional action sports photographer, experienced outdoorsman and backcountry skier. He has spent his lifetime in the mountains and has experience with various types of weapon systems. He has been married for eighteen years with three daughters. Ryan is the owner of several businesses and resides in New Mexico.

 

Do Young Girls Need Self-Defense?

I conducted a self-defense training class for girls in grades 3-7 yesterday.  This was a fantastic opportunity for me as a teacher and a father.  I think that I had more fun than the girls.  I had to take a look into their little fears as I prepared for the class.  I train many adults but have done few seminars for kids.  My wife mentioned it to a friend of hers and before I knew it there at least twenty girls signed up.  I decided to keep it fun but had to speak about the harsh reality of self-defense and explain that I was not teaching them a martial art.  I gave them concepts, tools and let them prove their new abilities on me. 

I prepared for the class by talking to several little ones, including my girls.  I listened to the group of girls at the class yesterday and learned that most small girls fear abduction by strangers.  We live in a good area of the United States and it surprised me that these girls were all somewhat afraid about being abducted by a stranger either in a public place or from inside their home.  It seems likely to me that these girls know what is going on in the world and watch or at least hear the nightly news.  Of the girls I surveyed, they stated that they would all be too afraid to take any action once the abductor placed them inside of his/ her vehicle.  In general, girls of this age were not afraid of bullying, fights with other kids or other types of confrontation.

I did some research and found these statistics relating to child abduction:

• 800,000 children are reported missing every year. Approximately two children every day.
• Of the children reported missing, 350,000 are family abductions.  Children are taken away by family members in violation of custody agreements.
• Non – family abductions amount to 204,000. These include kidnappers who are acquaintances or complete strangers to the victims.
• Only 115 of non-family abductions are stereotypical abductions, defined as those in which a child is detained overnight, transported at least 50 miles, held for ransom, intended to be kept permanently or killed.
• The rest of the 800,000 missing cases include runaways, throwaways, or lost children.

Family child abductions

• In 16% of family abductions, the child experiences severe mental harm.
• 8% of the children experience physical harm.
• 7% of the children are sexually abused.
• Mothers take the child away 46% of the time.
• Fathers take the child away 54% of the time.

Non-Family child abductions

• More than 65% of the children abducted by non-family members are girls.
• 46% of children are sexually abused.
• 31% of the children are physically abused.
• 32% of abductions take place in a street or a car and 25% take place in a park or a wooded area.
• The top 3 places an abductor imprisons the child are – a car, the abductor’s home and the abductor’s building.
• Most abductions are carried out within a quarter of a mile of the child’s home.
• 75% of the abductors are male.
• 67% of them are below 29 years of age.

 Stereotypical kidnappings

• 40% of children in stereotypical kidnappings are killed.
• 4% of children are never found.
• 79% kidnappings are carried out by strangers and 21% by acquaintances.

After reviewing these statistics, it seems like the little ones were justified in their fears.  In fact, they were not in denial.  According to one very large survey, over 75% of parents fear that their child will be abducted.  I have to admit that I share in this fear to an extent.  I guess these statistics support why the months of these girls called so quickly after hearing about my “real world” self defense class for girls.

I taught self-defense and Israeli Krav Maga to these girls as opposed to martial arts.  I see the general definition of martial arts not being self-defense related.  I have been a student of various forms of martial arts for half of my life and I see that many of the techniques are just that, techniques for class and not the real world.  The only rule in self-defense is survival.  Where it relates to these young girls, they would never be in a situation that could be confused.  Why would they ne taught martial arts as a means for self-defense and how would these girls understand the difference?  Young girls are easily influenced and they want to do as they are told.   I feel good being able to give them concepts and a number of highly effective tactics for dealing with their fears and statistical possibility for their safety.  In contrast, if I was teaching the girls a pure martial art, I may not feel as good about the relevancy of the material for their fears or vulnerabilities.

I make my training and seminars relevant by addressing a person’s fears first, then building upon the confidence that they gain from physically confronting the fear with concepts or physical fighting skills.  For this group of girls, it was obvious that I need to work on the scenario of a bad guy grabbing them by the wrist and attempting to take them away.  After solving this problem for them in minimal time girls worked the scenario with me as the “bad guy” using full contact against me.  I gave them hard resistance and I didn’t let go until I was in pain.  This is a valuable lesson that the girls learned.  They actually experienced success. 

Next, we moved on to some self-defense concepts and finished with one of the worst-case scenario for them.  Being placed in a bad guy’s car after a successful public abduction.  Each child did this individually with me as the “bad guy.”  I teach simple yet effective ways for them to solve their problems.  In this case, it was a violent solution to a very big concern.  Each girl worked it out in their own time and used her own tools to fight be off while I was in the driver’s seat of my truck.  It was empowering and it worked with each of the girls.

I love to teach self-defense to anyone.  Girls are fun to teach and really need the training.  It is my goal to train as many kids as possible within the next year.  My goal is to train 5000 individuals in 2011.

About the Author:

Robb Hamic is the managing principal of Summit Security & Investigation® and  Summit Self Defense™.  These companies provide services for self-defense, survival Israeli Krav Maga and education.   In fact, Robb Hamic is one of the only people who combine his skill sets to provide women with holistic solutions to their safety in anti-abduction situations.  Mr. Hamic is written a book about keeping safe and is available for sale on Amazon.com: “Karma’s Helpers”

 

Are You Being Stalked? A Women’s Survival Guide- Part 1

I first noticed the use of the term stalking when I was a police officer in the 1990’s.  Stalking is an anomaly that seems to be derived from a person’s will to control another.  It has become a serious safety concern for people, especially women and seems to becoming a more serious threat that people recognize.  I have been approached by many stalking victims for help, both in the way of self-defense skill development, recognition/ awareness, vulnerability assessments, investigative services, counter/ anti- stalking activities or plain old protection from the people who would stalk my clients.

Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted, obsessive attention by individuals (and sometimes groups of people) to others. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation. The word "stalking" is used, with some differing meanings, in psychology and psychiatry and also in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense. It may also be used to refer to criminal offences or civil wrongs that include conduct which some people consider to be stalking, such as those described in law as "harassment" or similar terms.

In the United States last year, approximately 3.4 million victims reported being stalked.  These are some quick statistics on stalking:

• 3.4 million people over the age of 18 are stalked each year in the United States.
• 3 in 4 stalking victims are stalked by someone they know.
• 30% of stalking victims are stalked by a current or former intimate partner.
• 10% of stalking victims are stalked by a stranger.
• Persons aged 18-24 years experience the highest rate of stalking.
• 11% of stalking victims have been stalked for 5 years or more.
• 46% of stalking victims experience at least one unwanted contact per week.
• 1 in 4 victims report being stalked through the use of some form of technology (such as e-mail or instant messaging).
• 10% of victims report being monitored with global positioning systems (GPS), and 8% report being monitored through video or digital cameras, or listening devices.

Many victims of stalking have many negative ramifications of being stalked including loss of their employment.  Last year, 130,000 victims of stalking reported that they lost their jobs or were asked to leave their employment because of being stalked.  Of course, there are many other negative impacts of stalking for victims. 

I have noticed a rise in women who file for divorce being stalked.  This can present many problems for the victims on an ongoing basis.  Children are involved in many of the circumstances and women often resist their reactions to protect themselves in hopes of keeping a “normal” existence for their children.  The man often perpetrates certain actions and the woman acts like nothing is happening around her kids and when the man is present for custody exchange.  These situations present unique problems and require different solutions.

Generally, I recommend certain tactics to deal with stalking and turning the tables on the stalker to stop the criminal’s actions.  Safety of the victim is the first order of business.  The victim might know of actions that are being taken against her while in many cases she won’t know what is being done, based on the man’s attempts to hide the behavior and or using devices to track a victim’s patterns, actions or even recording them in their own home.

Recognition is the first step.   Man women write off their natural survival instincts as “being over cautious or being crazy.”  I like to say that a women’s intuition is perfect and they should always react when they feel something physically as opposed to think it.  If they have a physical reaction to a situation this is not normally a cognitive function that can be explained.  In the end, survival is a primal function and a women’s body is always sensing its environment to survive.  Certain situations or vulnerabilities will cause different responses or thoughts that I recommend that women turn into actual responses.

This is the first of a series of writings on stalking, recognition, prevention, countermeasures, safety, self-defense, survival and re-building of one’s life after the crime of stalking.

About the Author:

Robb Hamic is the managing principal of Summit Security & Investigation® and  Summit Self Defense™.  These companies provide services for anti-stalking, prevention, awareness, self-defense, survival and education.   In fact, Robb Hamic is one of the only people who combine his skill sets to provide women with holistic solutions to their safety in stalking situations.  Mr. Hamic is written a book about this topic and it is available for sale on Amazon.com: “Karma’s Helpers.  Hamic’s guide for getting even.” 

 

Another Bank Robbery in Albuquerque... What Would You Do?

November 10, 2010 Albuquerque, NM. Lately I feel like we are back in the old west. There seems to be another bank robbery every week in the Albuquerque area. According to KOB news, there was another incident today forcing the lockdown of several schools in the area. 

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s1832829.shtml?cat=504  

My question is this.  If you were standing in line at your local bank and an armed individual entered the bank yelling commands at the tellers and at the patrons, what would you do?

More and more often these days, citizens are buying firearms and seeking out Concealed Carry Training and legally carrying a concealed firearm. It is only a matter of time until one of our armed readers comes across this situation.

I can only speak for myself here. If I am standing in line and a bank robbery begins to happen while I am there, the specifics of the situation will dictate my need for action. I am not a law enforcement officer, It is not my responsibility to try to apprehend the perpetrator. By reacting unnecessarily, I could add to the escalation of the violence. If someone is threatening, but there are not shots being fired and no one is being hurt, I would try to be the best witness I can be. I would make mental notes of everything about the offender from size, hight, weight, clothing, shoes...etc.

If, on the other hand, innocent people are being harmed, I do feel that it is my moral responsibility to do something. I do not know what the outcome would be. I only know that I would find myself reacting and relying on my training to eliminate the threat. I would not be able to let innocent people be harmed if I had any ability to stop it from happening. It is much more desirable to let the criminal do what they came to do without violence, if possible. Most bank robberies in Albuquerque are eventually solved. 

Summit Self Defense www.summitselfdefense.com specializes in training citizens, military and law enforcement in the responsible, and effective use of all firearm platforms. If you find yourself in this situation and lack the necessary tools and training, you don't have a decision at all. Try praying!

Ryan Fellows is a nationally accredited law enforcement trainer; NRA instructor certified in multiple disciplines, NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, a CHL Instructor and is a federally licensed firearms dealer. He provides group and private training in CHL, CCW and concealed carry. He has attended various firearms schools. He is certified by Glock as an armorer, and is an Israeli Combat Shooting Instructor. He is a professional action sports photographer, experienced outdoorsman and backcountry skier. He has spent his lifetime in the mountains and has experience with various types of weapon systems. He has been married for eighteen years with three daughters. Ryan is the owner of several businesses and resides in New Mexico.

Are you kidding me?

Oct 27, 2010 Albuquerque, NM. Another DWI case in NM, what a shock!! LOL This police officer from Mora, NM was found passed out in his cruiser on the side of the road while on duty. According to KOB news http://www.KOB.com/article/stories/S1809233.shtml?cat=500 this cop was found to be drunk, in fact more than four times the legal limit. Is there actually  a legal limit while on duty? I think the legal limit should be 0.0 while at work. What do you think? Anyway, I am sure not too many people are actually shocked about this. This state is so jacked. What a joke, there are so many DWIs, DUIs, and just plain idiots in this state. This jerk is just the latest police officer to get caught doing something illegal. We have had cops caught smuggling illegal aliens from Mexico, convicted for raping women while in custody, beating their spouses and now drunk while on duty. It is time to clean house. These miscreants are giving our peace officers a bad name.

 

Home Invasion Don't Let It Happen To You

October 18, 2010 Albuquerque, NM. We have seen several home invasions in the Albuquerque area in the last few weeks. As the economy continues to struggle, the police are reporting an increase in robberies, burglaries, property crimes and now, home invasions seem to be on that list.
 

There are several fairly common ways that these crimes are being perpetrated. One of the ways that is probably the easiest for the public to remedy is leaving your garage door open. This is just asking for trouble. The thugs don't even have to work at this one, they simply help themselves through the open door into your home. Another avenue is by breaking into your car in the driveway and using the garage door opener which is often sitting in plain view on your visor.

It is time to become more proactive in your self-defense. Do not make it easy for these lunatics to do what they do. Criminals are by nature opportunists, and ague-ably lazy too. If they weren't lazy, they would have a job like you and I, and not resort to crime. If your car is in the closed garage, they may continue down the street looking for an easier target.

There are also a couple of other patterns of gaining entry to your home. You need to be hyper-aware of unknown people knocking on your door.  We have all been visited by door to door sales people at one time or other. Once you have opened the door to speak to them, they can rush you and there may be accomplices hiding out of view. Another 'modus operandi' of these criminals is to bang on the door yelling "POLICE". While this is very alarming to experience, it is important to keep a cool head. Look out a window, verify that there is a police car out front. Insist on seeing ID before opening the door. If you cannot see the person, call 911 and ask if there should be an officer at your home. 

There are really only two ways the police are going to visit your home. The first is for; information about an accident or a loved ones status, a welfare check, something mostly benign. In this case, they knock politely and wait for you to come to the door. The second way the police visit is with a warrant and they kick in the door whether you are there or not. As Tony Blauer says, "Don't be fooled by the sophistication of the ruse".

Ryan Fellows is a nationally accredited law enforcement trainer; NRA Firearm Instructor certified in multiple disciplines, NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor, a CHL Instructor and is a federally licensed firearms dealer. He provides group and private training in firearms and close quarter combatives. He has attended various firearms schools. He is certified by Glock as an armorer, and is an Israeli Combat Shooting Instructor. 

ryan@summitseldefense. com

Contact Summit Self Defense™ for your self defense, Concealed Carry or other needs.  

Austin Concealed handgun Licensing (CHL) and Albuquerque Concealed Carry (CCW) classes offered.

October 14, 2010- Austin, TX- Summit Self Defense™ is offering large group classes for Concealed handgun Licensing (CHL) in Austin and Concealed Carry (CCW) in Albuquerque.  These classes will provide training for students to apply for a 34 state CHL. CCW permit.  The cost can be kept very low due to the large class size but the instructions is superb.  Class dates are October 22, 29 and November 5.  Summit plans to host the same number of large classes per month in these locations.  Summit will be adding Taos New Mexico as a training location starting in December.

The course is a 34 state Concealed Handgun License (CHL) and Introduction to Combat Focus® Shooting.  This course is for individuals who want to obtain their CHL/ CCW Permit training but don’t want to sit in a classroom for many hours listening to an instructor.  Students will receive all instruction on the range and this is a fun and fast paced course.  Each student will receive a Florida CHL License certificate, which is good in 34 states (including Texas and New Mexico).  The processing time for new licenses is only 3 weeks (Texas or New Mexico may take as long as 6 months) and the permit is good for 7 years.  In addition students will have an introduction to Combat Focus® Shooting and its efficiency in dynamic critical incidents.

Robb Hamic, CLET, CPOI-  http://www.robbhamic.com is the Chief Instructor for Summit Self Defense™ and is to teach CHL/ CCW in many US states.  He is a Certified Combat Focus Shooting Instructor and teaches law enforcement, military and people at an international level.

 
Ryan Fellows- http://www.summitselfdefense.com/aboutselfdefense.htm is a partner in Summit Self Defense™ and based in Albuquerque.  He is a CHL/ CCW instructor and he teaches to law enforcement and people at a national level.Combat Focus® Shooting is an intuitive shooting program designed to help the student become a more efficient shooter in the context of a Dynamic Critical Incident. This is not a marksmanship course, nor is it designed to accentuate skills that only work well on a square range in front of paper targets.

For decades, combat shooters have known (and progressive trainers have acknowledged) that the human body and mind have predictable, instinctive responses to surprise and lethal threats. While the basics of weapons handling and marksmanship are important skills for all shooters, they are not the basis for success during most lethal encounters involving the defensive use of a handgun. You are much more likely to be caught off-guard by an aggressive attacker in close quarters and low-light.  

Many CHL/ CCW classes stress only the theory of a violent encounter and give students the opportunity to shoot 25 rounds under no stress at the range.  Summit's course provides for students to shoot continuously and will entail a minimum 400 round count for the course.  This class is really designed for anyone who wants to learn how to use a gun for defensive shooting purposes.

Cost:

$300 + Ammunition + $16 range fee + sales tax (prepayment required)

Contact/ RSVP:

Robb Hamic- robb@summitselfdefense.com or 512-284-0087Ryan Fellows- ryan@summitselfdefense.com or 505-463-7820

City Councils across NM oppose Air Force low-level Osprey, C-130 flights

Albuquerque, NM- October 14. Many City Councils across NM are opposed to Air Force plans to conduct low-level Osprey, C-130 training flights over areas of the state. 

"Mountainous terrain best supports development of special operations mobility skills," said the Air Force news release. The statement says the proposed flight area — in New Mexico, stretching from the Farmington area southwest to Clovis and taking in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque area as well as Taos, Rio Arriba, San Miguel and more rural counties — was selected due to the varied topography and weather, proximity to Cannon AFB, and lack of large civilian populations."

The mentality of most of my fellow New Mexicans is very frustrating to comprehend. It is not important to them to allow our military to fly and train in areas that will benefit our own national security. That is not even taking into account the countless lives that may be saved by training our military in a region that is has very similar terrain to that found in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The people that are opposed to these training flights don't understand what it takes to keep our country safe. It does not matter whether it is guarding the borders, policing our streets, or fighting terrorists abroad, there is always something to complain about. The police are too rough, we shouldn't use torture, why are they profiling muslims, the planes are too loud, they scare my sheep....etc

According to KRQE News, "Santa Fe County Commission Chairman Harry Montoya says he's introducing a resolution opposing the proposal at Tuesday's meeting". If Santa Fe Co. passes this resolution, they will join the city of Las Vegas and Taos county in opposing the flights. I live and work in Taos Ski Valley and in Albuquerque and personally feel proud when I see a fly over from a military aircraft. I often see Osprey flying near Albuquerque and used to see F-16s and refueling operations over Taos Ski Valley before the Tacos from KAFB mission ended earlier this year. 

I personally don't care if the low-level flights are too loud for some dirty hippie living in a grass hut in Santa Fe. The liberal attitudes in this state need to change. These people need to wake up and recognize that the world is a rough place. If we don't allow our warriors to be the best trained and equipped in the fight, they won't prevail. New Mexicans cannot continue to oppose these training flights. The missions of the military bases in the state will keep dwindling. The effect on the state's economy would be significant, including loss of civilian jobs and all of the other benefits from the thousands of military personnel that live on those bases and spend their money in our cities. 

Ryan Fellows is the co-president of Summit Self Defense specializing in providing the most up to date training for todays warriors. Ryan has earned credentials as an NRA Firearm Instructor, NRA Law Enforcement Firearm Instructor, Range Safety Officer, Israeli Combat Shooting™ Instructor, Glock Certified Armorer, and Close Quarters Combatives Instructor.

ryan@summitselfdefense.com

505-463-7820

Summit Self Defense™

 

 

Armed robberies on the rise.

Albuquerque, New Mexico October 4, 2010. 

Albuquerque Police Department is reporting three armed robberies this past weekend. The first was a purse snatching at gun-point in the northeast area of the city. The second incident was reported to be a armed robbery at a popular fast food establishment in the central part of the city. The third incident, and most bizarre, was reported as an armed robbery of a armed security guard at an apartment complex on the west side of the city. Citizens need to be aware of the wide-spread, apparently random escalation of crime in the area. There have been no arrests in these reported crimes and police warn of more to come. The state fair recently ended, the Balloon Fiesta is in town and many visitors remain in the Albuquerque area. Unfortunately, this makes for easy pickings for the would-be criminals. 

Learn how to protect yourself and be aware of your surroundings. Don't be an easy target. Criminals are opportunists, they want the easy way out otherwise they would have a real job. Don't give them the chance. Pay attention to others around you. Make eye contact, stay alert, and be a good witness if you in contact or see a crime. We must all be proactive in our own self-defense.

Summit Self Defense specializes in training people to defend themselves in a violent lethal confrontation, We train men, women, military and law enforcement in the areas of hand-to-hand tactics, firearms, CHL/CCW, OC spray, and Tasers. Contacts us for details.

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http://www.summitselfdefense.com