End of the Game 7:7 (10/23/2002) in Keeping Safe

Monday morning I awoke in a hotel over in Berkeley. I had been composing a letter to my old school, where the assault had occurred twenty-eight years ago. I sat down at the desk in my room, and wrote out the following letter, addressed to a different former classmate of mine who now works there as a teacher:

“10/21/2002”

“Xxxxx,

“Figured I would pass on the enclosed fliers issued by B.A.M.M. - Bay Area Model Mugging.

“As you may know, or maybe you don’t, towards the end of 6th grade I was assaulted by a classmate and his younger sidekick. The assault took place on the second-floor walkway between “B” + “C” buildings, at the entry to “C” building. Mr Xxx was probably in class at the time, as his office window was located next to the walkway, and would have been open on that warm spring morning.

“This past weekend I attended the men’s basic course retreat offered by BAMM. It started slowly on Friday evening, demonstrating basic moves at slow speed with no contact. Throughout the seminar, there was never any student-on-student sparring. As the course progressed, the male instructors donned protective gear, and the speed and force of the fighting increased.

“-2-”

“On Sunday afternoon, the students were fighting at full speed and full power, and the muggers were giving absolutely no quarter whatsoever. Each student was offered a custom fight, where he could script the fight as desired, e.g. a hypothetical conflict, a boundary issue, or a past incident. In my case, I chose to re-enact the assault at (school) in 6th grade. They came at me from behind, and I whirled to find them near me and closing fast. The classmate engaged, and this time I took him down. Then the sidekick, seeing his fallen leader on ground, [in a departure from the original incident] engaged me as well - and I took him down too.

“Xxxxx, may I recommend that, if (school) really upholds that motto, it offer access for both its male and female students (in gender-separate courses) to ‘Impact Model Mugging’ instruction. I understand that (city) may have an affiliated chapter.

“Sincerely, s/

The World Pilot, formerly of the class of 1980”

I stuffed the envelope with the fliers and my letter, and mailed it from a local copy shop. I doubt I will receive a reply as he doesn’t have my postal address, although he might still have my email.

This past weekend was intense and traumatic. It was also wonderfully affirmative. I highly recommend Impact Model Mugging to anyone wishing to know how to really defend themselves, without resorting to a weapon of some kind.

An interesting note: I mentioned to the director of Alaska Impact Model Mugging that I was going to take this course, and she responded that she hoped I would then continue on and train to be a male instructor.

We’ll see. I’m not yet sure exactly how I feel, and I am still within the ten-day to two-week period after a particularly emotional event when I shouldn’t make any big decisions, so I may feel differently by then than I do now. Again, we’ll see.

 “Well, you saw it here, folks. That last batter started with two outs and loaded bases, and by golly if he didn’t put a grand-slam homer over the fence. Final score tonight is 4-3, Home. On behalf of the Home Team and our sponsors, thank you for tuning in. Good night.”

Last updated January 18, 2015