Poway Samu

As a US Marine Corps veteran of the Persian Gulf War, Mr. Whetstine has "real-world" experience that allows him to see the martial arts in a more complete perspective than just theoretical or competitive views.

Mr. Whetstine has 30 years of martial arts experience and teaches the Takamatsuden samurai and ninja arts and holds dan level rankings in both the Jinenkan and the Bujinkan federations.

This gives Mr. Whetstine an in-depth knowledge of both the historical and practical points of view.  He used this experience to develop the Tools for Personal Safety™ Women course, which for ten years has helped provide women with simple effective principles and tools for avoiding and escaping dangerous situations.

Learn more about Mr. Whetstine and Poway Samurai Martial Arts at: www.powaymartialartsschool.com

On August 7, 2010 at 6:30 a.m., a 30-year-old woman was attacked from behind by a man while jogging not far from Balboa Park. The young woman screamed at full volume as the man jumped on to her in the middle of street.  Thankfully, good Samaritans heard her screams and chased off the attacker before doing much more harm.  The woman later told police that she had previously seen this same man on another recent jog.  

Given that sexual assault takes place every 4 seconds in the U.S. (Dr. Van Zandt, 2009), ask yourself, what is the most significant piece of information in the above story?  The woman had previously seen her attacker.  Knowing that she had previously seen him, it begs the question, at first sight was there a moment she knew instinctively that something was wrong?  Did the woman maybe think to herself, "he's looking at me; I feel weird, stay further away from him?" As women, if we can learn to trust our instincts and take action based off of our innate reactions, we can prevent harmful situations from occurring in our environment.

The next Women Evolution event will provide tools to better observe and assess people in our environments to protect ourselves and our children.