PULSE Magazine | November/December 2018 Issue

About a year ago, Clinical Specialist Will Adams began an off duty program here called First Responder Jiu Jitsu. He wrote a proposal to the department and was able to persuade them to purchase mats for Medic 17's station where he now holds training regularly. For those of you who don't know him, Will is a high level Purple belt at Paragon Jiu Jitsu here in Austin and has trained for years in BJJ and striking. He saw a need for this kind of training and is teaching our people on a regular basis. Going to a Jiu Jitsu school can be a bit intimidat- ing, especially if you've never trained before. His program allows folks to come and learn in a friend- ly, non-threatening environment with friends and colleagues they know. And it's free. Dr. JR Pickett, ATCEMS Deputy Medical Director, has come on board and is also a Judo Black Belt. He also offers Judo classes to any employees who want to learn! It's quite rare that an EMS system has that kind of talent much less offering free training to the employees. Building on Will's program, Andre Thompson and myself, both Jiu Jitsu practitioners as well, wanted to offer something a little different. We were look- ing for a program that incorporated not only the physical tactics but more importantly fear psychology, pre-fight contact cues, and ways to de-escalate potentially violent encounters. We put in a proposal to our union, Austin Travis Co. EMS Employees Assoc. to fund a train the trainer class for self defense. We saw an amazing opportunity to attend a course that offered all that we were looking for, was easily taught, easily learned, and was in line with what the body already does in the “jack in the box” moment of sudden violence, the startle flinch response. The association agreed and we were able to attend The Spear Certification Course.

oped by Tony Blauer, a long time martial artist and self defense coach. He's been coaching people on how to be safer for over 30 years. What makes Spear so unique is it is based in human psycholo- gy, physiology, and the startle flinch response all humans possess. Spear, is an acronym for Sponta- neous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response. In Coach Blauer's own words, “The Spear System utilizes the speed and reliability of the startle flinch mechanism to convert the sudden attack into a tactical counter. It's a bridge between the reactive brain and the cognitive brain. This improves reaction time during confrontations. The Spear System combines the old brain's most important function, to survive, with the new brain's intelligence, to think and decide, this awakened a nonperishable personal defense system that can make every human safer!” What it means for us as First Responders is that it allows us to gain and maintain positional dominance in a violent encounter, especially the “ambush” or surprise attack. Arguably the most dangerous of attacks because it's the attack you aren't prepared for or expecting. Spear methodology utilizes a thought process regarding violence called the Three Ds: Detect, Defuse, Defend. The best self defense move is to avoid the need for self defense. So the first D, Detect , refers to understanding those moments before violence occurs, not only the pre fight contact cues but that weird “something is wrong' feeling that most people describe getting before a situation turns violent but often dismiss. The second D, Defuse refers to tactics to defuse a possibly violent person, whether that's verbal judo, walking away, or however you can defuse and de-escalate the situation. And finally Defend , the physical aspect of the Spear System. Spear takes what the body does naturally using the startle flinch response with the hands coming up to protect the head and face and

WHAT IS SPEAR?

Spear is a very unique self defense program devel-

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