Making Sense of Crime in the News

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 30th Nov 2020

In this week’s article, I want to look at a spate of assaults, which are currently happening in Waltham, Massachusetts. Over the past two weeks there have been a number of assaults – somewhere around ten/eleven, based on media reports - where an assailant(s) has seemingly assaulted random men without warning, sometimes using a weapon, and sometimes not. In several of these cases, the attacks have come from behind, and when they have occurred from the front or side, there was no preceding verbal exchange. In this article I want to look at how we can make some sense of...Click To Read More

Training Outside Your Comfort Zone

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 23rd Nov 2020

We all have areas of our fight/self-defense game that are better than others e.g. some people are better strikers than grapplers etc. However, it is all too easy to take comfort in our strengths and fail to address our weaknesses. This doesn’t mean that you have to give up your striking game to become a grappler, however it does mean that you have to take a step out of your comfort zone, and practice developing skills which will be unfamiliar to you. The importance of this was brought home to me many years ago when I’d been practicing BJJ for...Click To Read More

Respect As A Limited Commodity

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 16th Nov 2020

The role that “respect” plays in violence is often underestimated, whether that is in premeditated acts, where an individual plans to use violence – or the threat of violence – or in spontaneous acts, where an individual is reacting to something that has happened (or they believe has happened) to them. Certain acts, such as muggings, may appear to be purely transactional, where a predatory individual simply wants to acquire resources such as a purse or wallet, however the truth is that there are several underlying motives which are at play during the committal of a street robbery etc., that...Click To Read More

Hook Punches

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 9th Nov 2020

When I work the heavy bag, I like to go in with a plan; a combination of punches, strikes and kicks that I want to train – and this combination must be a realistic one e.g. something that I could use when sparring etc. I try to have my combination tell a “story”, such as: I throw a Jab, move out offline, at an angle (to avoid a counter jab), move back in with a jab/cross, which doesn’t get through my opponent’s guard, so I then follow up with a hook punch to get round the guard etc. This approach...Click To Read More

Person, Vehicle & Object

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 2nd Nov 2020

How you are seen by others, and the role(s), you play in their life can influence and affect your survival. Hopefully, most people who we interact with us see us as individuals – as persons – however there are those who may view us as vehicles to achieve self-satisfying goals, or expendable objects, that can be used to satisfy certain urges. This idea of victims, as persons, vehicles or objects was first put forward by Canter and Ioannou (1994) in their study of stalking victims, however the model was later extended to include serial rape and murder. However, it can...Click To Read More