
With workers on edge, SF tech companies offer self-defense classes - spking
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/With-workers-on-edge-SF-tech-companies-are-13563235.php
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CapricornNoble
First lemme start with this: [https://youtu.be/i54grFI-
JhA](https://youtu.be/i54grFI-JhA)

Now compare that to the "training" the organization in the linked article,
Impact Bay Area, provides:
[https://youtu.be/qRgdwH_V07c](https://youtu.be/qRgdwH_V07c)
[https://youtu.be/w0xeg0E3_5E](https://youtu.be/w0xeg0E3_5E)

Look how compliant the attackers are. Do they actually expect assailants to
just roll over like that? And read the caption on the second video: "I've been
backpacking solo around the world since October 2015, and want to empower
other women to travel anywhere by themselves and know that they deserve to
walk on every single inch of this earth."

^Yeah, that's the sort of attitude I bet those two Scandinavian women had.
They ended up getting their heads cut off. I went to the website of Impact Bay
Area and there is no indication of the martial arts backgrounds of the
instructors (if any). They offer "instructor positions" on their site, which
includes 100 hours of training by their existing IMPACT Staff, with no mention
of minimum requirements or skillsets for applicants.

But IMO martial arts isn't even the best way to actually achieve improved
safety for your workforce in dangerous neighborhoods. A good anti-
terrorism/physical security course, combined with "combat hunter" instruction
and practical application, would give people the mindset to develop and
maintain a keen situational awareness and a sense for potential threats. Then
have them do some interval sprints and other cardio training, because the best
thing they can do if they ARE physically threatened is RUN.

The sort of "self defense" theater @Impact Bay Area is just going to give
people a dangerously false sense of confidence. And they are charging $750 for
these "classes"??! Are people really so clueless as to spend money on this
sort of training? I feel like I could grab a couple of ex-military friends,
charge slightly less, and still deliver a higher-quality curriculum than this.
-_- Except I don't live in the States and really have no desire to spend any
significant amount of time in SF....

Edit: Here's a video on the combat hunter program: [https://youtu.be/7t-BXqPf-
jM?t=85](https://youtu.be/7t-BXqPf-jM?t=85) basically it helps you develop
"spidey senses". You are more cognizant of your surroundings and perceptive of
oddly-behaving people or objects (in my experience).

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mc32
They could have expanded offices in SJ --lots of space, low-crime, but instead
they choose locales known for high relative density of mental disorders (given
services for them are in the general area) --but instead they indulge on
"cool" factor and not business (as well as employee safety).

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ralusek
ya but they could also teach us karate

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taobility
it's so ironic. I can't believe this is the global center of tech.

