University of Sunderland Self-Protection Group (USSPG)

USSPG is the self-defence/self-protection class I teach (in term time) at the University of Sunderland. The class meets 7-9PM on Thursday evenings in Wearmouth Sports Centre behind Wearmouth Hall, and 10Am-12 Noon on Saturday mornings.

The class is open to all staff, students and ex-students of the University. Ex-students of other universities who have moved into the area are also welcome, but will need to gain Associate membership of the University of Sunderland Students’ Union. Unfortunately we cannot accommodate non-students due to University insurance rules.

An Overview

The university class is very informal; there are no special titles, rituals, clothing requirements or any of the other trappings of the martial arts. Instructors are addressed by name or whatever epithet seems suitable (‘Knuckle-dragger’ is common). No, seriously, we’re just ordinary people teaching stuff we know about. Simple courtesy and an open mind are all that’s required.

We won’t be telling you how to live or asking for any sort of commitment. You turn up to the classes as and when you want to and we’ll teach you as best we can. If you train elsewhere that’s great, though obviously for insurance, safety and courtesy reasons we can’t have people teaching in our class or performing techniques from elsewhere unless we ask them to.

We usually explain why you’re doing whatever it is we’re asking you to do. If you don’t see the point (or have any other questions) then please ask. Chances are somebody else is wondering the same thing.

Clothing and Equipment

Yes, you’ll need clothing of some kind. It gets kinda chilly otherwise… Gym/jog pants and a t-shirt or sweatshirt are fine. We train on mats so bare feet (or socks if you have spectacularly disgusting feet or lousy circulation) are necessary. If you have a martial arts uniform (Gi, Dobok or any other) then by all means wear it, but unless you hold a grade in the SDF you’ll need a white belt to avoid confusion.

No other equipment is necessary, though if you have focus pads please bring them.

Note that live (i.e. sharp) blades as used in some forms of martial arts training are absolutely forbidden in the training hall.

What’s in it for you?

Many martial arts and self-defence classes promote themselves with various benefits - get fit, increase confidence, learn self-discipline and so forth. We don’t care about these things. Well, that’s not quite true but we’re primarily interested in one thing - increasing the chances of you dealing successfully with an assault - and decreasing the chances of you being attacked at all. Other things will happen as we train but the way we see it - if we need to ‘sell’ you the benefits of the course in terms of things like fitness etc then we’re doing something wrong. This is about getting you home safe and if that’s not good enough reason to come along then there probably isn’t any point!

So, what is in it for you?

1. You’re less likely to be attacked

2. You’re more likely to be able to deal with it

3. And some other good stuff might also happen…

Self-Defence vs. Self-Protection

What we teach is mainly self-protection rather than self-defence. The difference is this: self-defence (as we define it) is the physical act of repelling an assault (or escaping, running away, or whatever) while self-protection is the ‘whole package’ e.g. threat awareness, avoidance, conflict management, de-escalation, pre-emption and post-fight actions.

Something like 90% of violent situations don’t have to be that way. There is a point in any confrontation where violence becomes inevitable, and uncontrolled confrontations can only escalate. The goal of self-protection is to prevent a situation from reaching this ‘point of inevitability’. By recognising the signs of danger you can avoid many potentially violent situations altogether and control most others so that they do not reach the ‘point of inevitability’. Even if things do go wrong, understanding the situation also makes your physical self-defence measures more effective.

To put that another way: imagine you’re driving. Self-defence is the bit where someone pulls out in front of you and you brake or swerve to avoid a collision. Self-protection is everything else you might do to avoid or mitigate the problem, including:

1. Making sure you have good tyres and working brakes

2. Watching the road ahead for potential hazards

3. Slowing down early at potential danger spots

4. Not going out at all if conditions are bad and you don’t really need to drive

5. Having a pen to record insurance details or the other car’s registration

And so on. You can’t have a crash on an icy road if you’re at home, and even if you do have one, measures taken before the event (like driving slower in hazardous conditions) can reduce the severity of the incident.

The self-defence component of what we teach is ‘Reality-Based Self Defence’ (see below) rather than an ancient martial art. There are some differences between the two.

The Self-Defence Federation

Our parent organisation is the Self-Defence Federation, headed by Dave Turton (who holds an 8th Dan black belt, but more importantly is a real master of self-defence with a wealth of real-world experience). The SDF is quite a loose organisation in which instructors are free to teach as they think best within certain limits regarding safety and validity of what is taught. Thus the material taught (and the manner in which it is taught) at the university class may differ from what is taught at our classes in Peterlee and elsewhere. What is always the same in all SDF classes is this:

1. What is taught will work for ordinary people

2. Teaching will be tailored to the students present

3. Training is realistic but safe

4. The door is open to anyone who wants to train unless they are obviously unsuitable (e.g. thugs, bullies etc)

5. Nobody who genuinely wants to train will be turned away unless there is a medical reason

6. You can train as hard as you want to

7. Sexism, racism and ego have no place in our classes

What is RBSD (Reality-Based Self Defence)?

What we teach isn’t ‘fighting’; it’s self-defence. Your goal is not to battle an opponent into submission (though if you have to, you’ll have the skills you need) but to end the situation on your own terms. That may mean making an opportunity to escape from a threatening or violent confrontation, fending someone off, or rendering an assailant incapable of further action in a variety of ways. Most of what is taught is very simple and tends not to impress highly trained martial artists. We don’t have a problem with that - we’re not training for a cage fight or freestyle competition, we’re learning to deal with real-life situations that explode suddenly in our faces.
Meaning no disrespect to martial arts or martial artists, things that work well when you’re properly warmed up, wearing a loose-fitting training uniform, in a warm and well-lit Dojo (training area), and not in fear of your life may (may!) not come up to scratch in a domestic confrontation when you’ve just been woken up at 3AM, or outside a nightclub on a rainy Friday night when you’re too terrified to think, let alone remember complex techniques. What we are teaching is designed for these situations. It may not be aesthetically pleasing but it really does work.

What do we actually teach?

We teach the full Self-Protection spectrum from conflict management and awareness tomethods of dealing with all kinds of real-life assaults and attacks including:

There are various means of dealing with any given threat, depending in a range of factors. Thus we teach a range of responses including:

1. Use of ‘The Fence’

2. Psychological gambits

3. Pre-emptive striking

4. Grappling/takedowns/throws and how to avoid them/escape from them

5. Getting off the ground/dealing with an assailant on the ground

6. Strikes

7. Evasion

8. ‘Dirty tricks’

9. Getting out of the situation after you have gained control

Are there grades and suchlike?

Actually, yes. The Self-Defence Federation offers gradings in self defence and awards coloured belts to students to show their grade. Hardly anybody wears them though. Self-defence is about what you can DO, not what gradings you have passed. If you really want to grade, talk to us about it and we’ll arrange something, but we don’t plan to make syllabus work and gradings a part of the university class unless there is an overwhelming demand.

On the same subject: we don’t do katas or enter competitions. Our ground-fighting is geared to dealing with a street assault, not winning a cage fight. We don’t perform moves intended to deal with a spear or sword attack, or a mounted samurai either. We DO train to deal with an aggressive drunk, a rapist, racist thugs or drugged-up charvas. This is the threat we face now, today, and this is what we train to deal with. If Britain starts to suffera lot of street assaults by mounted samurai we’ll bring back the flying kicks. Promise…

Finally

What we teach is intended to be used for self-protection only, in good conscience and in accordance with the law. We are not here to teach people ‘to fight’ or to encourage anyone to engage in violence - quite the opposite! Our goal is to reduce the chances of a violent encounter and, if the worst happens, to teach our students to deal with violence in a controlled and reasoned manner.

The law permits use of ‘reasonable and necessary’ force, and it is our goal to train people to use sufficient force to end a situation, but no more than is necessary.