Mark has taken a number of our self defence courses, he recently attended a course with his daughter. Below is an email we recently received from Mark regarding a situation his daughter found herself in

. A key lesson we teach is to scan. your environment,  identify suspicious behaviour and always take action on your instance which is exactly what happened here.

“I have been a student of Patrick Cumiskey at Krav Maga Ireland for a few years and my daughter completed the core training course this year. The training, in addition to providing outstanding physical skills required for self-protection in the real, unpredictable world we live in, focuses on the much wider concept and scope of protecting yourself and those you care about.  Key concepts such as Situational Awareness and the Psychology of the predator/attacker and potential victim are built into the training.  It is this advanced holistic approach, taught so well, that I will be eternally grateful for.

My 23 year old, 5’ 11” daughter and her boyfriend were on holiday in Croatia a few months ago, travelling around the country to see its cities and landscapes. They were staying in a hotel in one of the cities and preparing to head off on their day’s adventures.  They needed a few supplies and my daughter headed out of the hotel to go to a shop across a wide road. As she exited the hotel, she automatically scanned the environment as Patrick at Krav Maga Ireland repeatedly instructs as part of the Awareness principle. She spotted a group of 4 or 5 men standing about 30 yards away and that registered as a potential risk. She continued across the road to the shop, looking back to check on the group of men, who were following her at this point, and to let them know she had seen them, and went into the shop. The men followed her to the shop and stood outside staring in.  She did not buy anything but looked for her best exit, again as taught in the training. She moved towards the door as if browsing and the shot out the door at speed, across the road and into the hotel lobby where her boyfriend as waiting. The men followed after her and into the hotel lobby where they saw my daughter with her boyfriend, thankfully a guy who looks like he shouldn’t be messed with.  The group of men stopped and finally backed off and left.

Any parent, particularly any father of a daughter, will understand what went through my mind when she told me this, and it still sends a cold shiver down my spine when I think about it.  This is an absolutely true story and my daughter and I are more than happy to provide confirmation.

I am forever grateful to Patrick and his other instructors, particularly Maria and John, for their expertise in all aspects of self-protection, and for embedding it in my daughter’s mind. This saved her from a future that doesn’t bear thinking about.”