The Art of Self-Defense: Control Your Center of Gravity

This weekend, a man was robbed at knife point at the Motel 6 on Broadway Avenue, in Idaho Falls.

We looked at the Idaho crimes stats for 2015, recorded by the Idaho State Police.

We have included rapes with the aggravated assaults reports. Here is what was found in the most populated counties in southeastern Idaho.

Bannock County; 207, Bingham County; 84, Bonneville County; 232, and Madison County 20 aggravated assaults or rapes, in 2015.

As the weather continues to get warmer, crimes like this can happen more often.

What can you do to defend yourself from being abducted?

“There are certain signals that people put off when they are threatening; body language, how they stand, where they stand.”

Rick Davis is an instructor at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which is an affiliate of the Academy of Martial Arts.

He has been training in martial arts for a decade. Space is one of the key things to know when someone may be trying to take you away, he said.

Davis teaches techniques that can protect you from 90 percent or more of the population. This means it works on people that are bigger, stronger, faster and maybe even more aggressive than you are.

The abduction technique makes it so no one can get complete control of your body frame.

“Usually, when somebody comes up to abduct you, they’re going to try to grab a portion of you, like your arm, or shoulder. They usually need to advance that grip into being able to hold you around the waist or larger part of you so that they can completely control you. Maybe it’s to pick you up, put you in a van or on a floor,” Davis said.

If you are at a close proximity, Davis said he would be more concerned about a knife.

“Most of the time a gun, is dangerous at one hole [gun barrel] in the front and so if I can make sure that I don’t end up in front of that hole, I feel I’m fairly safe,” Davis said. “What I am concerned about knives is their ability to cut and stab in many directions, even if I say have hold of the knife or a person holding the knife, they’re still going to have the opportunity to stab me with the knife.”

One way to avoid all of this is to run if you can. Of course, this is not always the case but Davis’ techniques are just one way to try and defend yourself.

Davis said the Academy of Martial Arts is teaching a knife defense class Tuesday, at 6 p.m.

Monthly classes are $89 for adults and $79 for kids. There is an Idaho Falls and a Rigby location. The first session is free for first-timers.