Weblog of Chad Von Dette

Holiday Safety Tips

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It’s that wonderful time of year again. Family, friends, egg nog, the smell of cinnamon on pine cones in the grocery store and the proverbial stress that comes along with it. The streets are more crowded with vehicles; everyone is going shopping at the same time, at the same stores, extra long lines…

This is the time to “treat your neighbor, like yourself” as my 10-year-old daughter explained it to me. It’s amazing how children simply view the world. She told me this after we pulled over to help a man who crashed his truck into a ditch. He went over the medium into our side of the freeway. We ran over to help anyone who may have been injured and to make sure they shut off the engine. So here is the theme for this blog entry. Treat the people around you the way you would want to be treated. Sure it sounds simple, but do you really do it? Are you sitting on a plane or bus hoping nobody gets the seat next to you? Do you hold the newspaper up covering your face, so you don’t have to make eye contact? Guess what? Everyone on that bus or plane has the same goal in mind as you do… They just want to sit down.

You might ask, “How does this fit into self-defense”? I’m glad you asked, let me explain. Self-Defense starts with a mental mindset, not techniques. Stand up tall when you walk. Look people in the eye as they cross your path. Smile at them when you make eye contact. You might go as far as to say, “Hi, how is your day?”. Awareness of your surroundings and confidence will throw most predators off, they want an easier target.

These are just some simple suggestions to make yourself less presentable as a target and you can embrace the holiday season at the same time by “treating your neighbor, like yourself”.

Train the Trainer (San Diego)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

What an exciting time for spreading the fire. We have a group coming in from Mississippi, Maine and Northern California. I'm so proud to be apart of a movement towards change. And I especially want to thank each person who has come out, participated and became certified in the Just Yell Fire program. If we want to change a generation, it will start with the educators and people who just want to world to be a better place.

Halloween Safety Tips

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It's that time of year again. Sugar overload, fun costumes, trick or treating with friends. That's what it's all about as a kid. Here's just a few tips for the kids on that scariest of nights (boo). They should go in pairs or in a group. Each person should have their own flashlight. Let your kids know they can use it as a weapon to smash an attackers face. Tell them to yell Fire as loud as they can to hopefully bring some attention to what is happening.

The best technique is simply to go for specific targets on the body. They eyes, ears and groin are the most vulnerable. And if you can't get to any of these targets. Then bite the attacker.

Have a safe Halloween!

Just Yell Fire comes to South Dakota

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Since 2006 Just Yell Fire has empowered more than a million girls in 44 countries. When we made this film, the sole purpose was to save a girls life. If all it saves is just one, then our efforts were all worth it.

Well, it's saved more than one and will continue to save more. I'm proud to announce that I will be in Aberdeen, South Dakota bringing the Just Yell Fire program to a wonderful group of martial artists who want to help spread the Fire...

Jason Ehresmann of SD Total Combat has been working with women shelters in his community. He has a huge heart and wants to make the world a better place in any way he can. I've been invited to teach the Just Yell Fire program at his gym over the next week.

This is great news for the community of Aberdeen. You will now have an expert martial artist teaching you, simple, effective, time tested techniques. But more importantly you will learn from a man that is passionate about what he does.

I'd like to thank Jason for stepping up to the plate and making a difference. We need more people like you...

Vancouver School District teaches Just Yell Fire Program

Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Vancouver, Washington is the first school district I know of, that now teaches a self defense class to keep kids safe. And the class is none other than The Just Yell Fire Program. Ear slaps and chokehold escapes are just a few moves among the street fighting techniques that 25 Vancouver School District teachers now have in their personal self defense arsenal . The new program was inspired by the high profile murder of middle school student Alicia Nipp, allegedly at the hands of a homeless sex offender.

With school budget cutbacks it was the help of a concerned community member that footed the bill to make this training possible.

Stick Fighting Helps Stroke Patient

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

As I progress through life and the martial arts as well, I’m finding there is so much more than what many see on the surface. By surface I mean, self-defense, fighting, punching, kicking, etc. Unfortunately with all of the fighting competitions these days, many westerners have missed the opportunity to see beyond the fist and embrace the spiritual aspects of the martial arts that was originally conveyed to us when taught by our eastern counterparts.

When you have a will to improve, the path will reveal itself. I have a friend who was born with cerebral palsy. He lives in Florida and has been in a wheelchair his entire life. One day, he decided he wanted to learn the art of self-defense. He wanted to learn the Filipino Martial Arts to be more precise. He loved the way practitioners could flail their sticks around with utter ease and knew that if you were to be struck the blow could be crippling. But how was he going to be like them, he could barely hold the stick in his hand, let alone whip it around?

Belief and perseverance is all he needed. My friend Erick believed he could do it, and in time he possessed the skills he was seeking. It wasn’t easy at first. But after trying over and over again, doing stick drills after stick drills. He gained the strength to grip the sticks and whip them around like the rest of us. He improved his fine motor skills so much by doing these drills, he can now pick up objects around the house, he never would have been able to hold.

My father had a stroke on Valentine’s Day this year. He can barely move his left arm and leg and is in the process of learning how to walk all over again. Therapy isn’t easy, but it’s the progressive realization of a worthy ideal that makes it worth it. He’s going to walk again and even learn how to whip those sticks around just like Erick and improve his fine motor skills in his left arm.

Train the Trainer Arizona

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Just Yell Fire Train the Trainer program was a complete success. I’d like to thank all of the participants for their passion to make a difference, their energy and enthusiasm towards the program and for doing an all around great job during the training.

We now have more certified instructors to teach this powerful program to our nations youth. Check out the www.justyellfire.com website for a list of instructors in your area.

What do you think about this guy's program?

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This is a common question I seem to get. Sure, there are plenty of self-professed experts out there, demonstrating questionable martial art skill and teaching techniques that will probably get you injured in a real life situation. But humor me for a moment and let’s look at the bigger picture.

Some of these educators are truly out there doing their best to empower individuals and make a difference in the way they know how. While others are out there to make a quick buck selling you crap. I realize it can be hard for someone new to self-defense to determine what’s good and what’s not. Unfortunately my opinion is insignificant in the scope of what my professional peers are trying to accomplish.

Ask yourself these questions. Is his/her program easy to learn? Is the instruction concise and well structured? How did you feel after participating in the program? Do you feel more confident? Do you feel a new sense of personal safety?

Most people do not want to spend the time/years it takes to become a martial artist. If your goal is to improve your personal safety and confidence, then search for a program that has broad appeal and can be learned in a few short hours. The more complicated a technique is to learn, the more likely it will screw up in a real life situation.

There are many great instructors out there to learn from and each is unique and helpful in their own way. The best advice I can give you comes from an axiom said by the late Bruce Lee “Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own”.

Just Yell Fire � the Controversy of what to yell.

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hopefully this post will clear up some of the discussion around this topic. I recently did an interview with Susan Bartelstone of Crime Prevention 101 in which we discussed this issue and where the concept came from.

Here are a couple of the key points from our discussion. One yelling fire can improve your chances of someone coming to the scene. Second, it is meant to be your internal call, your survival call, your chi, your kiai, your get away instinct, your inner fire, what ever label you’d like to give it. It is you making that call for the strength to preserve your life. Yelling fire is not a replacement for any self-defense technique, it is used to create attention and to break you out of freezing up and turning on your strength to survive.

We find that yelling fire can be helpful, but do what feels right to you. Most importantly, get attention and attack the attacker.

VIPER Academy, Inc.

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Von Dette’s Intensive Preservation & Evasive Response Academy is an organization dedicated to teaching realistic street-defense and promoting the expansion of the Filipino Martial Arts and Jeet Kune Do concepts by providing the highest quality training possible.