My name is David Ray, and I work for Marion County Ambulance District in Northeast Missouri. I am also a police officer and own a small business teaching CCW, defensive weapon training, as well as unarmed self defense techniques.
I have been to countless training seminars, as well as train the trainer courses. In December I attended the E.V.E trainer course as well as Advanced Trainer. I had assumed this would be just another training course I needed to jump through a few hoops for to get my cert so I could come home and train my people. I sure was wrong.
The mental approach to this material was so refreshing and invigorating to me that I found myself excited and motivated for the first time in years.
This is the first training I have ever been to that I consider to be truly defensive. All other classes I had attened, and even taught myself, all focused on defensive tactics and techniques “until”. What I mean by “until” is..you do a few moves until you see an opening, and then attempt to injure your attacker with a few more moves attempting to dole out “payback”.
E.V.E. truly focuses on defending yourself and removing yourself from the situation as soon as possible, which obviously is a win. There is no need to stick around and try to do anything at all. Simply remove yourself from the incident sooner, rather than stick around to inflict punitive damage, or perhaps risk further injury to yourself. Simply put, its all part of the needed culture change.
We are not here to assault people, and at the same time we are not here to be assaulted. Very simple priciples and tactics can actually give US the upper hand while working the street, even when coming in contacg with someone that may have less than honorable intentions in store for us. It also keeps us sharp and alert for one of the six D’s that may not set out with the intention of harming us, rather allowing us to not be in position(s) for that to happen.
The things I learned have made me rethink my entire approach to self defense, and I am fortunate to have been one of few that will now be waiving the flag for culture change by training healthcare providers to do the same.
“Big Dave” Ray