FAST Self Defence

Imagine a life where you could face any situation with greater confidence, assertiveness, and control?

What if you could...

• Stop over 90% of all attacks before they ever got physically violent?
• Use the power of Adrenaline to defeat even the most determined attacker?
• Learn how to apply these same techniques to radically increase your confidence in any situation?
• and... Learn all this in a single afternoon!

What is FAST?

FAST courses are accessible to people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Adrenal stress occurs in every confrontation, however big or small. From the arguments you might have at work to a mugging or attack on the street, the body is flooded with adrenaline.

The biggest factor in having a successful outcome or surviving an attack, is being able to channel the adrenaline and therefore avoid freezing up. The objective of all FAST courses is that the student should learn to experience and control difficult situations whilst under the effects of adrenal stress.

FAST courses are built upon teaching the student to achieve these successes in controlled but ever increasing adrenal stress situations. Although the instructors control the scenarios, the students have a 'real' experience and effectively programme themselves for success in future encounters.

You will learn how real world situations occur and how to avoid the common mistakes that escalate them. You will learn to use dialogue and verbal dissuasion. You will learn to avoid looking like a victim.

In self-protection terms, FAST is simple, highly effective and empowering. The student learns to understand their adrenal response and therefore to operate effectively.

However, there is more to the course than self-protection. Worldwide, these courses have had massive impact on peoples lives. Attendees report feeling empowered and more able to deal with the other stressful areas of their lives.

What happens on a FAST course?

A typical FAST course involves building the students skills whilst under the effects of an adrenal stress response through an increasing range of more difficult scenarios.

• Scenarios are undertaken under the control of the course instructor/coach and the padded, bullet man assailant.
• The instructor/coach's role is to ensure that the student understands what to do at each stage of the course. The instructor/coach also provides the student with constant support during the scenarios to avoid any adrenal freeze. Many ex-FAST students have reported that in situations they've had many years later, the voice of their coach whispering in their ear came flooding back.
• The bullet man's role is that of the assailant. He is there to provide the student with the adrenal rush. The bullet man's suit is padded to allow the student to attack with real force, especially to the head and groin. The suit itself is the result of 30 years of continuous development and allows the student to respond with full power strikes, something that most courses lack.
• The bullet man adrenalines' the student with the 'woof'. A woof is an aggressive challenge or threat. Every bullet man woofs differently, and each student responds differently. The skill and training of the bullet men is paramount to ensure that each student's different adrenal responses are exploited to give them the best possible experience.
• Both the bullet men and the instructor/coach are highly trained to ensure that the student is taken out of their comfort zone, but given a rewarding experience. This is a very advanced skill and requires significant training and experience. All of our instructors are highly skilled.
• Courses include awareness skills, boundary (distance) skills, verbal de-escalation skills, eye contact and body posturing, using your voice and the adrenal rush to your advantage and the use of gross motor skills in defence. Training in gross motor skills is very important. Experience has shown that even highly trained martial artists with many years of experience can often flail ineffectually when under adrenal stress conditions.
• Every course takes the student through a series of ever more challenging scenarios. A typical level 1 course would start with a light woof that ends without a physical intervention (i.e. you talk your way out), moves through heavier woofs, into conflicts and ends in surprise attacks.

Courses are first come first served so contact your instructor to reserve your place.

Your local FAST Instructor is Jon Sharrock.

For more information visit the FAST Self Defence page at New Century Tae Kwon-Do.

There will be a FAST course run in the New Century area in 2011, ask your instructor for more details.