Channel 5 News Story

Paraplegics not an easy target for attack
January 18th, 2008 @ 9:10pm
Ed Yeates reporting

Think a paraplegic is an easy target for an attack? Think again! People confined to wheelchairs watched an eye-opening demonstration tonight in South Jordan.

Erik Kondo is a paraplegic. Despite his disability, he has an ability which is very much a threat to a would-be attacker, even in the throws of a full attack.

At the nonprofit Neuroworx rehab center, Erik showed those in wheelchairs they're not as vulnerable as they appear. Even without the use of lower limbs, they can unnerve an attacker with surprising strength.

"We're not talking about fighting situations where people get in an equal fight or a bar fight. We're talking about a predator who is looking specifically at someone because of their limited physical ability," he said.

The attacker, Bob Taylor, is part of his team out of Boston. Grabbing wrists or hands, grabbing the legs, bringing them down. Biting. Full strength strangle holds. Even a stick, or hard hits from that stick.

But not everything is physical. Psychology plays an even greater role.

"Because you are at a physical disadvantage, you have to make up for that by much greater awareness, much greater use of intuition, much greater use of verbal boundary settings, much greater use of strategy than someone who is able-bodied," Erik said.

Try verbally diffusing the situation first, even when it's "in your face."

"I made a mistake. That was totally my fault."

"Don't apologize. My mistake, my mistake. Back off, back off."

Though these folks may never need to use these techniques, at least they're in hand. Erik's message to the attacker? You've picked the wrong person. "Not Me" on the shirt means he will not be a victim.

Though Erik is paralyzed from the waist down, he holds a second-degree black belt in martial arts.

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http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=2512547