This was attended by school owners from Vienna, Dieburg, Reiskirchen, Ostheim, Gründau, Rostock, Wuppertal, Hamburg, Lübeck, Kiel, Bad Segeberg and many more. Sifu Roy Schirdewahn familiarised the 22 participants with his programme, with which he has established himself as a popular speaker in numerous schools during the last few years.
The main emphasis of the seminar, and a basic principle of the EWTO, was to show how violence can be prevented before it starts. This was made very clear during the seminar. Self-assertion is better than self-defence, for somebody who obviously self-confident is no longer a potential victim and is of no interest to a potential bully. He/she is no longer hassled or attacked, and is even able to give assistance to weaker individuals. Only those who are able to look after their own safety have the courage to intervene on behalf of others.
Sifu Roy emphasised that it is important to make schoolchildren understand that bullies are not “cool”. This is so that the class as a whole ensures that ”uncool“ bullies no longer have a chance to bother others, and that no further members of the class join the ”uncool” ones.
In the first part of the seminar, Sifu Roy discussed basic aspects of the general topic and gave the participants written documentation so that each individual could concentrate fully on the course content itself. The contents of the first part were:

- Why should this programme be offered?
- What are the benefits of preventing violence?
- How the programme was created
- The 3 pillars for a successful programme
- How do I reach potential customers?
- Customer addresses
- Structure of the information file
- Possible sources of financial support
- Fun holiday campaigns
- etc.

The second part with the first practical aspects began after lunch.
Sifu Roy and his assistant Anka Segendorf conducted a basic course with all the participants. They were all to pretend to be twelve years old, briefly introduce themselves and get to know each other. They were also asked about their earlier hobbies, the number of brothers and sisters and any previous knowledge. Sifu Roy made it clear that he already obtained a great deal of information while the children were introducing themselves, and constantly returned to this during the rest of the course. After the introductions, organisational aspects were explained so that everything was prepared for a smooth course procedure.
In order to express himself in the language of schools, children and parents, and to ensure that all the participants understood clearly, Sifu Roy used a safety scoring system based on the (German) school marking system:

If a student has not prepared for a test or examination, he/she can expect to receive a mark of 5 (poor) or even 6 (inadequate). The same applies in a threatening situation. Anybody who has not prepared for this is in the position of a typical victim, and is more or less helpless when confronted with an attacker. To avoid this, the students learn to protect themselves and refuse to accept the role of a victim.

The aim of achieving a mark of 4 (adequate) is to end an attack that is actually happening. The students learn to escape from threatening attacks (head lock, choking, grabbing etc.). The important thing is to use only techniques with which anybody can defend themselves against stronger attackers, irrespective of strength, size and speed.

It is better if the grabbing, choking or punching attack prevented in the first place, and a mark of 3 (satisfactory) is awarded in this case.

It is even better if the potential attacker does not even attempt to start an attack. A mark of 2 (good) rewards a changeover from self-defence to self-assertion. The aggression of the bully is broken by meaningful self-assertion. There is no longer any physical contact, and neither the bully nor the defender are injured.

The highest aim is a mark of 1 (very good). Passing through the individual marks constantly improves the level of self-confidence. This newly acquired self-confidence and the aura it creates cause the student to leave the role of victim behind. He/she is no longer hassled or attacked, and is even able to give assistance to weaker individuals. Only those who are able to look after their own safety have the courage to intervene on behalf of others.

Finally Sifu Roy Schirdewahn explained how a basic and compact course are structured, and what additional learning aims they contain. There was also a great deal of information concerning questions asked by parents and teachers when introducing the programme, invoicing and course follow-up activities.

Anja Wolf 1st TG WingTsun