Friday, September 12, 2008

Oak Lawn employees get self-defense training in response to hate crime

By John Wright of Dallas Voice

There was plenty of swinging, swaying, swiveling and stomping at the Round-Up Saloon on Monday, Sept. 8, but this was no country line dance or a Texas two-step.

About 75 employees from the Round-Up, Caven Enterprises and other local businesses gathered for a hands-on workshop taught by openly gay personal defense trainer Jeff McKissack. McKissack said he decided to offer the free training after hearing about an anti-gay hate crime near the Cedar Springs strip in July, which he called “the final straw.”

In addition to giving the employees tips for avoiding common traps laid by criminals, McKissack taught them the basics of the Keysi Fighting Method, a martial arts technique made popular by two recent Batman films.

“I’m getting tired of reading the same story over and over,” McKissack said after the workshop. “People have seemingly settled into complacency or acceptance of being the prey. … This is my gift to the community.”

Shortly after the July gay-bashing, which left the victim hospitalized for 10 days, McKissack said he e-mailed the owners of Round-Up and representatives from Caven, which operates three gay bars on the opposite side of Cedar Springs.

The Round-Up and Caven responded by making the workshop mandatory for their employees. And Monday’s session will be followed by one that’s open to the general public on Sept. 27 at Station 4 .

“It’s about your personal awareness and your personal responsibility for your safety,” McKissack told the bar and club employees on Monday. “They could have 10 times more cops in the DPD [Dallas Police Department]. It’ll never be enough to be your own personal bodyguard.”

McKissack said he has more than 20 years of experience in the field and has trained upward of 300,000 people. He began by discussing some of the “lures” used by criminals, and he told the employees that a gun or knife is used initially in only 2 percent of violent crimes.

“98 percent of the time when someone approaches you, they’re going to do so with a story or a con game,” he said.

Such sales pitches frequently include unsolicited promises — such as “I’ll give you my word. Nothing is going to happen. Scout’s honor” — as well as a refusal to heed the word “no.”

“I think we give that whole Southern hospitality thing too much credit down here,” McKissack said.

But what if you have a “blond moment”? Mckissack asked.

The Keysi Fighting Method is designed to transform prey into predator and to deal with more than one attacker simultaneously.

“It’s a very no-nonsense, street system,” McKissack said.

The employees broke off into groups and took turns swiveling their bodies to maintain 360-degree peripheral vision.

Then they added a guard position with elbows raised and palms on the tops of their heads.

McKissac said KFM can be used to counterattack with elbows and foot stomps, as well as with common objects such as keys, cell phones and ink pens as weapons.

Several employees said afterward they felt the training was beneficial.

While bar and club employees typically use the buddy system when they get off in the wee hours, McKissack said there’s no safety in numbers if those in the group don’t know how to defend themselves.

“For us who leave late at night, it’s very valuable,” said Mark Kirby, a barback at the Round-Up.

“It just might keep you alive until somebody gets help,” Kirby said.

Jason Vinklarek, a floor person at the Round-Up, said he suffered a black eye and multiple bruises when he was attacked randomly on the strip a few years ago.

Vinklarek said he’s trained in wrestling and boxing, but like many sports and martial arts, those skills aren’t designed to deal with multiple attackers.

“It’s not actual fight-scenario training, so I got my ass kicked,” Vinklarek said.

“I probably would have been able to cover up a little better.”

McKissack stressed that violence is not limited to the LGBT community. But Round Up co-owner Alan Pierce, who participated in the training, noted that it sometimes seems that way.

“Because it’s a gay community, they think we’re easy prey, and hopefully we’ll show them otherwise,” Pierce said.

See more stories in:

• Self defense
• Gay / Lesbian
• Martial Arts

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