Contact: Ann Grogan (415) 587-3863, Ken King (415) 987 6241
(Steering Committee Members of the Glen Park Patrol Special Safety Program)
2912 Diamond St., Ste. 239, San Francisco, CA 94131
GPsafetyprogram@gmail.com, kenking@yahoo.com
http://www.romantasy.com/SF/index.html
Ken Craig (415) 992-5551
President, Triangle Martial Arts Association
P.O. Box 111, 1800 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
info@triangleMAA.org
http://www.trianglemaa.org (415) 992-5551
GLEN PARK PATROL SAFETY PROGRAM HOSTS SAFETY AWARENESS/SELF DEFENSE CLASS FOR RESIDENTS
To improve personal safety in Glen Park village, members of the Glen Park Patrol Safety Program (GPPSP) are sponsoring an awareness and basic self defense tips and techniques class open to everyone in the neighborhood. The basic level safety awareness/self defense class will be held Sunday, March 7, 2010 from 9 a.m. to noon at St. John’s Parish School, 925 Chenery Street, and is part of the neighborhood safety group’s community service commitment to enhance safety. The class is open to everyone irrespective of age and gender.
GPPSP partnered with the Triangle Martial Arts Association (TMAA), a Castro-based non-profit educational group founded in 1998. Ken Craig who will instruct the class, founded TMAA following the murder of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay Wyoming university student after whom the Hate Crimes Act of 2009 is named.
TMAA provides quality and affordable martial arts and self-defense training to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and the questioning community of San Francisco, and beyond. It also provides instructor certification.
Craig believes that the best form of self-defense is to get involved. He urges citizens to report suspicious activity in the neighborhood, join a neighborhood watch group or set one up, and be a good neighbor to seniors walking on the street or residing in the building.
“The key is to develop a caring and compassionate community that will respond effectively in a crisis – something that opportunistic criminals want to avoid,” said Craig, a teacher of regular martial arts and community self-defense classes for more than 20 years. He holds a 9th Degree black belt in HapMooseKi-Do and an 8th Degree black belt in TaeKwon-Do.
Craig is active in many community safety initiatives. He is founding member of the Castro Community on Patrol citizens safety patrol and continues as director of volunteer training for that organization. He sits on the Board of Team San Francisco, is a member of the South Beach Neighborhood Emergency Response Team coordination team, and a member of the SFPD Police Chief’s Police Community Advisory Group. Craig was recognized in 2008 by SF-SAFE for his contributions to safety as part of the Castro Community on Patrol.
“Self-defense techniques must be intuitive, easy to remember, easy to apply, and above all, effective,” said Craig, who believes that if “one approach or technique works for one group, it will most likely work for all of the other groups.”
St. John’s Parish School donated facilities for the class. Parents of school children there will be admitted free to the class.
The class is limited to 40 participants. The class costs $40 to cover basic expenses for publicity and support continuing non-profit work of TMAA. Eight scholarships are available reducing the class fee to $20 per person. The scholarships are a gift from Officer Wiley and from three members of the group.
RSVP and payment for the class is due in full by March 3. Payments can be delivered or mailed to 2012 Diamond Street, Ste. 239, San Francisco, CA 94131. For more information, contact (415) 587-3863 or GPsafetyprogram@gmail.com.
