Safety is good business for studio

Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Photo by Theodore McGinley Tom Fischer, an instructor at Stephen Oliver's Mile High Karate in Dunkirk, shows Zachery Wolfe, 8, left, son of Diana Wolfe of Dunkirk, and Michael Metler, 8, son of Karen Metler of Dunkirk, the “superman grip.“ The grip is stronger than a normal clasping of hands and is used to help prevent them from being snatched by a predator. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

To that end he offered a class to teach children how to thwart would-be abductors on Aug. 24 in time for the new school year.

The anti-abduction class is an effort to teach kids safety from strangers and how to protect themselves from being abducted. Mooney said he began offering the course approximately three years ago and offers it for two to three weeks every few months. Mooney said he decided to offer a course in anti-abduction because of all the AMBER Alerts and the big case in Florida when a 14-year-old girl was abducted on camera. Mooney feels it might help prevent the number of abductions, ‘‘if kids had some tools to offer resistance.” FBI figures show there are nearly 200 abductions of children by strangers each year.

Mooney said he wants kids to have an idea of how to survive an abduction attempt and he stressed that the children not try and beat the attacker, a point which was reiterated throughout the night by instructor Tom Fischel, a seventh degree black belt certified in areas such as training elite military forces.

Fischel said ‘‘you’re not there to fight, [you’re] there to get home and survive.”

This class has been offered in affiliate schools with much success. When a 14-year-old girl who was also a brown belt at the Mile High Karate School in Colorado was nearly abducted while walking home from the grocery store, using methods learned in the self-defense course she was able to break free from her attacker’s grip and get away.

Fischel offered numerous tips to parents and kids on how to survive and prevent abduction. The first was for children to use their minds and practice safe habits to protect themselves. For the parents, he offered many suggestions for when adults are out with their children and one disappears. He instructed that parents have a place for kids to meet if they are lost. Fischel also advised that parents should not write their children’s names on anything they take to school, such as backpacks.

Fischel taught the group of children and parents how to get to safety if someone grabs them. One of the methods he suggested for the children was to interlock hands or arms with a buddy or a pole to make it more difficult for an abductor to pull the child away. A child can do this by placing the thumb of one finger between the pointer and middle fingers on the other hand and wrap the rest of the fingers of each hand around the opposite hand. Fischel also told the children to draw attention to themselves by yelling ‘‘Stop! Don’t touch me there!” or for a parent to yell ‘‘Stop! Don’t touch my child there!” because, he said, it will make everyone in a public place look to see what’s going on.

Some parents said the course was a valuable tool for them.

Vicki Turner of Owings attended the class with her family and said, ‘‘Taking a course like this, I feel kind of empowered whereas before I would freeze.”

‘‘I feel educated ... that little bit twisting your arm, enough to get away,” said parent Kristin Mullikin of North Beach about her experience in the class.

The next anti-abduction class by Mile High Karate School will be held on Friday Sept. 1 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the school located at 3140 W. Ward Road in Dunkirk. All classes are free of charge. Those unable to attend the anti-abduction course can call Doug Mooney at the Mile High Karate School in Dunkirk at 410-286-3311 where he will offer one-on-one lessons to those interested.

E-mail Heather Dykstra at hdykstra@somdnews.com.