Jay (2009)
During Physical Training (PT) they were teaching up how to dodge a person and get away. They were teaching that you take one step back then one step to the side in the hopes of giving you more room to react and counter.  But with Karate training I found it a lot easier to just wait for the guy to get in close and move off to the side using side step and as he passes push him away.  Most of the time he'll just keep going but every once in a while he would fall to the ground if you got the timing correct.

[Note: Jay is employed by the Federal Government in the security field and is required to be proficient in hand-to-hand fighting. - Sensei Pete]

 Jay (2009) 
I was in Physical Training (PT) learning how to use a steel baton. However for practice purposes we use foam sticks. I was hitting a practice partner who was dressed in protective gear when the foam baton came out of my hand and flew across the room. Out of training I backed away while facing my opponent and looked around for the baton. After locating it I ran over to pick it up, heard the guy behind me, and glancing over my shoulder saw him close by and rolled away.  I came up facing him ready to continue fighting. 

I got great remarks from my classmates for the roll. No one else had even thought to do that with a duty belt on. The duty belt has a radio and rubber gun on it so you get the feel of real weight.

[Note: Jay is employed by the Federal Government in the security field and is required to be proficient in hand-to-hand fighting. - Sensei Pete]

Linda, Kate, and Matthew (2009)
I wanted to share with you our first week experiences with the four rules.  Katherine and I have been practicing as you suggested.  Katy has enjoyed it.  While she has always been compliant, it is good to learn these command/actions as consistent rules.  Katy practiced the commands with her  2 1/2 year old brother, Matthew.  They had fun doing it but I really didn't think it was going to catch too soon.  While at a crowded Santa event, I lost track of Matthew.  I panicked briefly because I couldn't see him through the crowd.  I remembered the rules and started yelling, "Matthew, run and touch, run and touch".  Suddenly I felt him grabbing my legs.  He had run and touched!  Also this week, Matthew and I were leaving the gym.  He can now open the front door.  He got ahead of me, opened the door and began to run to the parking lot.  I immediately yelled, "run and touch" and he turned around and came back to me.  We are all learning to use these commands/actions and already it has become instinct on both my part and that of the kids. 

[Note: Run and Touch is part of Sensei Pete's 4 Rules for Parents and Children, taught to young children and parents as a strategy to help keep children safe. In addition to this, these rules are responsible for saving my eldest daughter's life many years ago when she was a child. She is now a CPA and engaged to be married. - Sensei Pete]

DJ's Soccer Saves (2003)
Karate paid off for me when I was playing soccer. I was the goalee and someone kicked the ball hard right in fromt of me. It was coming at my face. I quickly pulled up my arms and blocked my face and saved the goal. Another time when I was playing indoor soccer and one of the other team players tripped me I fell against the wall but because of my karate my head never hit the ground. I kept my head up and arms back. That's how karate paid off for me.

Claire's Ice skating & the School Play (2003)
There is a common tie between every athlete; they all share the surreal pain of falling while performing. However, there is a determining factor that separates the smart athlete from the foolish one: wise athletes learn to accept and negate the impact of falling. One of the many lessons taught in Shorinjiryu Karatedo---- is the correct and safe way to fall.  Personally, as a competitive Figure Skater falling is much more precarious than is the case in other sports, there is not only the peril of falling the wrong way and breaking or twisting something but, there also danger in the direction, speed, and position of your body, including the presence of sharp blades with jagged tips that are tied securely to your feet.

Practicing falling for Shorinjiryu Karatedo over the past several months has seriously benefited my skating as I now suffer half the usual bruises.  In class we are instructed to repeat the motions of falling correctly until the movements come without thinking. Recently, I auditioned for Century High School’s first musical and for my monologue I did a segment that required the actor to pretend to be thrown off her feet.  Using the now instinctive ability of falling unharmed, I fell without a scratch and landed the supporting female role. This class cannot stop you from falling however it can teach you to fall with safety so you have the chance to dust yourself off and continue working at your task with as much effort as you can muster until you get it right.

Marina Falling from a Car (1999)
Marina, a PeeWee student, had been a student for under a year and had been through a number of safe falling practices. She was sitting in her parents SUV (remember how high they are for a 6 year old) when she fell out the door. Her mother rushed around the other side of the car (luckily it was stopped at the time) and asked if she was OK. Marina replied, not understanding the panic in Mom's voice, that she'd done what Sensei Pete taught her and was fine.

Sensei Pete Escapes a Wrist Grab. (1997)
One afternoon in the office, where tensions over the management and implementation of a project were running a bit high, Sensei Pete was trying to exit a heated exchange and was grabbed by the wrist by a very large coworker. While the grab itself constituted an attack, no real harm was meant (everyone was under stress and bit upset).  Sensei Pete, using his training, reversed the grip and the positions of his attacker and himself, moved the attacker against a wall, and calmly escaped in the other direction. The attacker never knew what happened.