Practical Self Defense

Curricula for High Schools, Colleges and Universities

Program and Curriculum designed by
Samuel R. Staley

Physical threats and assaults are an unfortunate fact of life on college and university campuses but remarkably few students are prepared to identify, neutralize or counter act that threat. The recent controversy over the rape of an Amherst College student is a tragic reminder that sometimes the most damaging attacks come from those that both familiar and known. Indeed, more broadly, most victims of sexual assaults are attacked by people they know.

But the threats facing students in our colleges and universities are not just sexual in nature. Excessive drinking often creates potentially volatile environments that can quickly degenerate into physical attacks and even brawls. Among the type of threats students might face:


•Physical fights
•Bullying
•Peer intimidation
•Sexual harassment & assault, including rape
•Robbery


The obvious but all too facile approach by many high school and college administrators, parents, and adult mentors is to advise students to avoid situations that might lead to bullying, assault, or worse. The unfortunate reality is that most students unexpectedly find themselves faced with these threats. Sometimes, the assault comes from a former boyfriend or girlfriend. Sometimes a fight emerges after a party is crashed by an uninvited guest. Sometimes violence emerges because someone else at the party makes a bad choice. Sometimes, students are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.


The curricula provided here--whether a 3 hour workshop, a 6 week crash course, or a semester long program-- gives students a broad set of tools that will help them cope with threats that emerge unexpectedly. This curriculum provides tools to students so they can defend themselves against physical assaults, regardless of how they ended up in the situation to begin with.  These tools have been selected because they provide practical options to get them out of a bad situation. The do not require the student to be physically strong or large. In fact, smaller students using these techniques often find it easier to gain advantage over larger and stronger students.


My programs present curricula that are both practical and accessible. [1]  Their format and structure is based on real threats and events culled from real-life student experiences and campus crime reports. Thus, the skills and techniques are not developed to defend against hypothetical threats or attacks, and

•Are practical;
•Are accessible to a wide range of students, regardless of size, gender or body type;
•Are presented to counter actual threats and experiences
•Assume the student unexpectedly finds herself in a physical confrontation or is facing a potential physical assault;
•Assume the student is unarmed;


The techniques taught in this curriculum are grounded in the taijutsu martial art of To-Shin Do, a self-defense system developed from the principles and applications forming the basis of traditional Ninjutsu, and can be found in:


Stephen K. Hayes, The Ninja Defense: A Modern Master’s Approach to Universal Dangers (Tutle Publishing, 2012, ISBN 978-4-8053-1211-7