ON THE CUTTING EDGE: Everybody Was Cane-Fu Fighting
Mark Shuey, 62, has developed a self-defense program for senior citizens - Cane-Fu – that can transform the frailest-looking elder into a “Kwai Chang Cane,” reports The Associated Press:
Cane fighting classes have popped up all over the country, in part due to the influence of Cane Masters, the company Shuey founded that sells wood canes made of harder, thicker wood, to sustain wear and wider crooks to fit around an attacker's neck. Now, it's being offered at dojos and increasingly in senior centers and retirement communities.
"You don't have to be powerful, you don't have to be fast," said Gary Hernandez, who runs [a] dojo … northeast of Tampa where … he teaches cane fighting classes himself. "It's a piece of hard wood. It hurts." …
"When you put this little crook around someone's neck, their whole attitude changes real fast," [Shuey] said. …
In the two-hour session, participants are taught a sampling of moves to use in different situations. The cane can simply be swung in circles, used to grab a foot or neck, and fashioned into a bat or poker. Advanced techniques even show a senior how to use a cane to ward off someone with a gun or knife.
It takes years to master cane fighting like Hernandez or Shuey, but they say they can teach a senior several crucial moves in an hour. Perhaps more importantly, though, it gives them confidence that can help them escape a dangerous situation.
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