Do you have to wait?...

"London: A third of teenage girls have been victims of sexual violence by a boyfriend, campaigners in the UK said on Sunday.

Experts fear that some do not even realise they are victims of a crime and others are too terrified or embarrassed to speak out."

These are the first lines of an article in the news that I saw... its horrible! Please read the full article here to get a full insight into what is happening: http://gulfnews.com/news/world/uk/uk-ad-urges-rape-victims-to-speak-out-1.990646

The issue they are trying to raise is that young girls are so ill-informed on what sexual violence is and that they don't understand when its happening, and if they do understand they have no idea how to stop it. They blame the problem on the sexualisation of teenagers as TV, films and the internet bombard them with provocative messages, causing them to define sexual consent too loosely. 

I believe that this is true... but I also believe that if they are taught  what sexual consent really is, and give them a method of preventing someone from crossing the boundaries that they set, then the problem can be dramatically reduced. 

This is why in Evade's Empowering Women program, we made sure that a section of this program was dedicated to teaching young girls about the importance of awareness, the importance of knowing how to say no and the truth about sexual violence and what consent is. 

Do you have to wait until your daughter or friend, or even yourself is a victim of an assault or violence before you take action? No. Preparation is key to eradicating this problem and its starts with simple call or email to 01457 860178 or Alex@evadeblackbeltschool.com. 

Prepare yourself by taking part in a FREE Empowering Women Seminar at Evade on 19th May 2012. Can you leave it to chance?  

Scary But VERY Informative... Empower Yourself.

This video is disturbing, but even though its scary there is some extremely valuable information that you can take away from this...

This video gives you a great insight into the mind of a serial rapist and the methods that they use to select and attack a target. 

Sexual Assualt is a primary fear for many women. And yet few ever learn to defend themselves. Why? We believe that this thought is so scary that even the smartest of women try to convince themselves, "this will never happen to me" or "if I don't think about this, it won't happen to me".

This underlying fear can be so mentally paralysing to the point where most women won't learn self defence because even just thinking about the possibility is scary enough. Many women think this way, and its simply because you have been misinformed about the realities of a sexual assualt and subconsciously let your doubts rule your decision making.


This is why at Evade, we have created the 'Empowering Women'  program, an incredible program that shows you some of the world’s most effective physical and verbal techniques; ranging from what do if someone grabs your wrist, attempts to hold you down, tries to strangle you or grab you, even if someone tries to get past your boundaries verbally... and the best part is they can be used by all women!


The method that the attacker uses on this video is very common throughout many sexual assaults, and through extensive research and through victims personal stories, we have discovered that nearly all sexual assaults are committed using this method. At each stage of this strategy we will show you the most effective physical techniques and important psychological strategies that could SAVE YOUR LIFE!

Here is a brief breakdown of the four stages used in a sexual assault:

Stage 1) Locate an innocent target

A stranger attack relies on the element of surprise, they will normally target those who are distracted, or those who look weak or fragile.

Stage 2) Control the Target

Once the attacker is within striking distance of the target, they will look to control them. Most often a stranger attacker will look to control their target with tremendous force and over whelm their victim before moving them to an isolated area.

Stage 3) Exhaustion

The attacker will try or “break” the victims will to resist against the attack, the attacker will expect the victim to panic and fight for their life as the attacker is pinning them to the ground or striking them.

Stage 4) Carry out the Attack

In this stage the crime is carried out, the attacker will rely on the victims fear and exhaustion to maintain control. 


FREE Seminar - Sat 19th May 2012 - 5pm - 6.30pm

Taught in a friendly, interactive seminar, you will learn how to defend yourself against the most common attacks on women. Such scenarios include different types of wrist grabs, chokeholds, hair grabbing and bear hugs. Not only that, we will teach you verbal assertiveness to establish and enforce personal boundaries, making this course ideal for not only adults but also teenagers. What makes this seminar different from other self-defence workshops is the identification of the Four Stages of Sexual Assault, and the unique defensive strategies applied at each stage of an attack.

Call 01457 860178 or email info@evadeblackbeltschool.com to book your free place.

The program will cover essential awareness principles, street smart reminders, and the critical psychology that will enable women to avoid panic and escape from an attacker who has pinned her to the ground. In this course will will also address defensive strategies in the event of a non-stranger sexual assault, or “undercover attacker”, where the attacker may be a colleague, friend, relative, or other acquaintance.

Not only that, but also the techniques are based on leverage and timing, eliminating their dependence on physical strength, coordination, age, or flexibility.  This program is truly designed for all women, and no martial arts experience is necessary. 

Call 01457 860178 or email info@evadeblackbeltschool.com to book your free place.

If I had a penny for every time I heard "I'm too old"...

Yes, You Can Exercise at ANY Age

There's an overwhelming amount of evidence confirming that physical exercise is a key player in disease reduction, optimal mental, emotional and physical health, and longevity. After reviewing 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010, researchers found that exercise reduces the risk of about two dozen health conditions, ranging from cancer and heart disease to type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia and depression. Exercise also slows down the rate of aging itself, providing perhaps the closest example of a real life fountain of youth as we will ever find.

Ideally, you will have made exercise a regular part of your life long before you reach your "golden" years … but if you haven't, there's no better time to start than the present.  Research has shown that regular exercise, even initiated late in life, offers profound health benefits. For instance:

·                Even a small amount of exercise may protect the elderly from long-term memory loss and even help reverse some of the effects of aging.

·                Women between the ages of 75 and 85, all of whom had reduced bone mass or full-blown osteoporosis, were able to lower their fall risk with strength training and agility activities.

·                Moderate exercise among those aged 55-75 may cut the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, which increases heart disease and diabetes risk.

·                Among those who started exercising at age 50 and continued for 10 years, the rate of premature death declined dramatically, similar to giving up smoking and mirroring the level as seen among people who had been working out their entire lives.

·                Exercise significantly improved muscle endurance and physical capacity among heart failure patients with an average age of 76.

Further, the older you get, the faster your muscles atrophy if you're not regularly engaging in appropriate exercise, so the key to avoiding sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) is to challenge your muscles with appropriately intense exercise. Age-related muscle loss affects about 10 percent of those over 60, with higher rates as age advances, but you can prevent this from occurring if you exercise.

For the Elderly Exercise Can, Quite Literally, Save Your Life

Exercise is a key to remaining steady on your feet as you get older, which is of incredible importance because not only are falls responsible for most fractures and traumatic brain injuries among the elderly, but those who fall can also develop an intense fear of falling again, which leads them to limit their activities and in turn increases their risk of falling even more.

So while it may seem like exercises to improve balance and strength are optional as you get older, they should really be viewed as a necessity -- like eating and sleeping -- as they can quite literally save your life. As you get older your muscle and bone mass decrease and the senses that guide your balance -- vision, touch, proprioception -- may all start to deteriorate, and this can make you unsteady on your feet.

By taking the time to do balance, strength and other exercises on a regular basis you can keep your sense of balance strong, and even restore what's already been lost.

In a study published last year, eight weeks of balance training reduced slips and improved the likelihood of recovery from slips among the elderly. Separate research, which noted that "altered balance is the greatest collaborator towards falls in the elderly," found balance training is effective in improving functional and static balance, mobility and falling frequency in elderly women with osteoporosis.

The ability to balance on one leg is also an important predictor of injury-causing falls, so if you know that you'd be shaky if you tried to stand on one foot, you're at an increased risk of being hurt in a fall and should start appropriate exercises immediately.

10 Surprising Times To Exercise

We have long extolled the benefits of a regular exercise program, as it offers improves virtually every aspect of health, from boosting brain function to helping prevent cancer and slowing the rate of ageing.

There are many misconceptions about when exercise is appropriate, however, with some mistakenly believing that if you have a cold or arthritis, for instance, you shouldn't work out.

The truth is, there are many surprising scenarios when, while you might be tempted to lounge on the couch, exercise is actually just what the doctor ordered.

1. Recovering from Surgery

Hitting the gym after you've had minor surgery can be highly beneficial, helping to both decrease side effects and get you back into the swing of your daily life faster.

This includes cancer patients, who often receive surgery as part of conventional treatment.

A report by Macmillan Cancer Support notes that cancer patients and cancer survivors should exercise at least 2.5 hours a week,ⁱ and cites an excerpt from the American College of Sports Medicine consensus statement on exercise guidelines for cancer survivors, which states:

"Exercise is safe both during and after most types of cancer treatment... Patients are advised to avoid inactivity and return to normal daily activities as soon as possible after surgery, and during adjuvant cancer treatments."

You will, of course, need to be mindful of the level of intensity and avoid exercises that may stress a surgical incision or repair, but generally speaking the sooner you can get moving after surgery, the better.

2. You Have a Cold

Two long-forgotten studies from the late 1990s indicate that not only is it safe to exercise when you have an upper respiratory tract infection, it could actually make you feel better -- even if it doesn't speed up your recovery.

In a nutshell, the studies found that a cold virus had no impact on participants' lung function or ability to exercise, and did not alter how long it took to recover. That said, those who exercised were more likely to report that their workouts helped relieve their symptoms.

When you exercise while you're fighting off a cold, the "dose" of exercise is very important. Over-exercising can actually place more stress on your body, which can suppress your immune system, so it appears you should keep the intensity of your workouts on the moderate level if you're sick. As noted in Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews: 

"Prolonged intense exercise causes immunosuppression, whereas moderate-intensity exercise improves immune function and potentially reduces risk and severity of respiratory viral infections."

So you might just go for a brisk walk if you are coming down with a cold, or simply tone down your regular workout. As far asprevention goes, there is evidence that regular, moderate exercise can reduce your risk for respiratory illness by boosting your immune system. In fact, one study found that people who exercised regularly (five or more days a week) cut their risk of having a cold by close to 50 percent.^v And in the event that they did catch a cold, their symptoms were much less severe than among those who did not exercise.

3. Headaches

Inactivity is actually a risk factor for headaches, as physical activity works to alleviate headaches in a number of ways, such as:

• Releasing pain-killing endorphins
• Reducing stress and improving cardiovascular fitness
• Improving blood flow to your brain
• Reducing muscle tension and fatigue

4. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

If you have the lung disease COPD, exercise can help to improve your circulation, helping your body to use oxygen more efficiently. It may also help to strengthen your heart, improve your symptoms, and boost your energy levels so you can perform more daily activities without fatigue or becoming out of breath.

5. Pregnancy

If you are healthy and your pregnancy is normal, regular exercise can improve your and your baby's health, offering such benefits as:

• Eases back and other musculoskeletal pain
• Lowers maternal blood pressure
• Reduces swelling
• A lower risk of gestational diabetes
• Improves postpartum mood, including sadness

Research also shows exercise during pregnancy has a beneficial impact on your baby's heart by reducing fetal heart rate and increasing heart rate variability, and may also help you maintain a healthy weight, and have an easier labor and faster recovery from birth. One way to look at exercise during pregnancy is that you are conditioning your body for labor and childbirth. As with most physically demanding things in life, if your body is in shape, you and your baby will have a much easier time of it.

6. Osteoarthritis or Joint Pain

If you have joint pain, exercise is a must; it helps prevent and relieve joint pain through a number of mechanisms, including strengthening key supportive muscles, restoring flexibility, improving bone density and joint function, and facilitating weight loss.

The notion that exercise is detrimental to your joints is a misconception, as there is no evidence to support this belief. Quite the contrary, actually, as inactivity promotes muscle weakness, joint contractures, and loss of range of motion, which can lead to more pain and loss of function, and even less activity. To break this potentially devastating cycle, regular exercise is essential.

If you have osteoarthritis or joint pain and you find that you're in pain for longer than one hour after your exercise session, you should slow down or choose another form of exercise. Assistive devices are also helpful to decrease the pressure on affected joints during your workout. You may also want to work with a physical therapist or qualified personal trainer who can develop a safe range of activities for you. If the exercise causes pain that persists longer than several hours it most likely was too much.

7. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Dietary strategies are key for healing irritable bowel syndrome at the foundational level, however exercise can help improve IBS symptoms, as well. In one study, exercise led to improvements in problems like cramps, bloating, constipation and diarrhea, with, 43 percent of exercisers showing a significant improvement in their symptoms.

8. Menopause

Just three hours of exercise a week has been shown to significantly improve both mental and physical health in menopausal women, including relieving symptoms of menopause and improving quality of life. While ideally you should simply continue your exercise program through menopause and beyond, it's virtually never too late to start an exercise program. So if you're nearing menopause and you're not yet a regular exerciser, now's the perfect time to start.

9. Chronic Pain

Exercise can help with long-term pain relief for a variety of conditions, including osteoarthritis, back and musculoskeletal pain. Furthermore, because exercise often leads to improved posture, range of motion and functionality of your body, it can help treat the underlying source of your pain as well as help prevent chronic back pain. Exercises that can be particularly helpful for chronic pain include stretching, resistance training, and swimming.

10. Quitting Smoking

Exercise is a potent ally in your decision to quit smoking, as withdrawal symptoms and cigarette cravings decrease during and after exercise. In one study, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 25 male and female smokers, who had smoked for an average of 19 years, received a brief smoking cessation counseling session. They were also given nicotine patches. They were then randomly assigned either to an exercise resistance-training group or a "contact control" group. Remarkably, the exercise group was TWICE as successful in abstaining from smoking compared to the control group.

A Growing Problem

Internet bullying is a serious problem in today's world, children now have access to so many devices that have internet capabilities and it can, in some cases cause serious damage to them, especially when they start registering for social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.


At Evade, not only do we teach kids how to defend themselves physically and verbally, we also teach them internet safety. We teach 5 rules about using the internet, including when to use it and to ask permission before going on certain sites and pages. 


However, sometimes they may not be aware of the dangers they are letting themselves in for, and as a parent it is your job to make sure they are safe. Below is some information on how to make sure your child is safe when using social networking sites:


Registering and choosing safe settings

If your child's about to join a networking site, there are things you can do to improve their security before they even start using it.

Privacy settings

Get your child to select the strongest privacy setting available when they create their account. This will ensure that their personal information is only seen by people they want to share it with. However, be aware that some sites are totally open to the public.

Safety tools

Learn about and make sure your child knows about the safety tools available to them on the service they're using. This might include a block function to stop unwanted contact or the option of pre-approving comments posted onto their profile before they are made public.

Staying safe while using social networking sites

The following guidelines will help make sure your child is safe while they are members of social networking sites:

• make sure that they don’t publish personal information like their location, email address, phone number or date of birth
• make sure your child is very careful about what images and messages they post, even among trusted friends – once they are online they can be shared widely and are extremely difficult to get removed
• encourage them to talk to you if they come across anything they find offensive or upsetting
• keep a record of anything abusive or offensive they’ve received and report any trouble to the site management (most sites have a simple reporting procedure, normally activated by clicking on a link on the page)
• make sure they're aware that publishing or sharing anything which would mean breaking a copyright agreement is illegal
• if your child makes an online friend and wants to meet up with them in real life, you should go along with them to check the person is who they say they are
• tell them to be aware of online scams – offers which seem too good to be true usually are
• encourage them not to get into any online discussions about sex as these tend to attract potentially dangerous users

EVADE Blackbelt School - More than just a martial arts school.

"petrified and too scared to travel on buses".. but what if?

Posted below is an article from the Milton Keynes Citizen, a tragic story about two young girls who have now said that they are  "petrified and too scared to travel on buses for fear a similar incident happens again" 

"TWO teenage girls have been left sickened and traumatised after a man exposed himself to them at a bus stop.

Gemma Titchmarsh, 18 and her 17-year-old sister Georgina, were sitting at a bus stop close to the Agora Shopping Centre in Wolverton at around 7pm last Monday when the man approached them, exposed himself and then started touching himself inappropriately.

Gemma said: “We were sat chatting and the guy must have walked past a few times in the half an hour or so we were there. You don’t really pay attention when you’re chatting as you’re in your own little world.

“All of a sudden I heard him next to me breathing heavily and as I turned to my right it was right in my eyeline. I instantly felt sick and I got an awful feeling in my stomach. It was horrible. I genuinely thought I was going to be sick.”

Gemma said she looked up at the man and made eye contact but was too scared to move for fear he would attack her or her sister."

Please read the rest of the artical here: http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/local/sisters_rape_fear_after_bus_stop_flasher_shock_1_3567428

Even though the girls were not physically attacked, the fear of being in a situation where an attack was possible, has traumatised both of them, and has made such an impact that it could affect the rest of their lives!

It makes you think... what if? What if, the girls knew how to defend themselves in an attack situation, no matter of their opponents size or strength? I believe that it isn't just the man that has terrified them, but the sudden realisation that if he did attack they have no idea what to do!

At Evade, we teach incredible self-defence techniques that are designed to work against a larger and much stronger opponent. Not to mention a new program coming soon (Empowering Women), which through years of studies, takes women through the methods that an attacker would follow and adapted the techniques to suit those situations. 

What if those girls had the confidence to know that if an attack occurred, they would be ok? Maybe they wouldn't be scared to walk down the street alone.

http://www.evadeblackbeltschool.com/join-evade/ <-- 30 Days Free

Which path is your child on?

Just seen an article in the newspaper this morning about parts of British cities (Manchester included), and how they are becoming 'no-go areas' controlled by drug-dealing gangs, being compared to cities in the US and Mexico.


Please read the full report here: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/891673-cities-in-uk-are-becoming-no-go-drug-ghettoes


Which leads you to thinking... why is this happening? 


Well, according to the article, 'mobsters' are are using drugs to enslave vulnerable youngsters and lead them into gangs and crime. And in my opinion, these youngsters just simply don't know any better. I feel so thankful that I joined Evade at such a young age and have followed the lifestyle of a martial artist, while most of the people of a similar age to me were drinking on the streets; potentially leading to gangs and violence, I was on the mat training and having fun; learning how to stand up and say no!


At Evade, we teach kids about drug defence and how to say no to peer pressure, we give them a voice! I will be forever grateful for this and every child should have the chance that I had to get on the right path of life. 


Alex Morton