I took karate for a good 12 years before having to give it up to make time for college then a full time job. My last class was probably just over 6 years ago.
Got a frantic call yesterday from my uncles out in Scarbrough/Markham area saying that my 11 year old cousin Meagan went missing. Turned out she was ok, just down the street with a friend near a ravine but no one knew and with the whole thing up in Woodstock
(Missing 8 year old Tori Safford murdered), couldn't blame everyone for freaking out when we couldn't find her for a couple hours.
Now this may sound a little stupid but I was thinking of teacher her and maybe some of her friends who are within the same age group some basic self defense. In my old karate days, upper belt holders would sometimes help with the lower belt classes so I use to sometimes help not just lower grade students but 90% of the times, younger ones. I'm not proposing a large scale operation, just something on weekends, maybe at a local community centre if there is 1 in their area (if not, there is a large backyard I could use), basic defense from unarmed and armed assailants, nothing fancy like Jet Li. In fact, I've already formulated a couple sessions emphasizing on maintaining or gaining control with minimal movement against an unarmed attacker and knife defense.
Got a taste of teaching my cousin earlier as her and her 13 year old brother use to take some martial arts classes but haven't been in about 2 years. She pulled out her old hand gear and started throwing punches so I gave her a few pointers before I realized what I was doing was almost exactly how I was taught which formed into this idea. I think this may be necessary given the times, there are a lot of freaks out there that wouldn't hesitate. Main problem I'm facing right now is equipment. I'm thinking I'll need floor pads with some mock knives. I was also considering full padded armor and allow the kids to let lose so they can get a true feel of how hard they may have to hit to fend off an attacker. Would also need padded hand, foot, and head gear for students, maybe a mouth guard. An assistant would be a must, a trained assistant preferable. I don't know if this is doable or not.