If enough interest is generated, class could be held in Houlton
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
A women’s self-defense class was held at Solid Rock Fitness Center, with instructors Steve Blanchette and Josh Holcombe, owner of Solid Rock Fitness Center.
Blanchette, a 1998 graduate of Hodgdon High School, is a first-degree black belt in the Kemm Aiki Bujutsu study of martial arts. He and Holcombe conducted the hour-and-a-half class. Blanchette is the son of Amy Blanchette of Hodgdon and Mark Blanchette of Houlton.
After an introductory to the mixed martial art study, Blanchette spoke on being attacked and demonstrated ways to protect oneself. Women began practicing counter techniques when grabbed from the front or behind and then moved into attack strikes against an opponent, followed by combating weapons.
Throughout the class, Blanchette reminded the women that they weren’t going to see the attack coming.
“Expect to get hit, expect to get hurt and then expect to win,” Blanchette said. “By using this system, you can overcome someone else’s strength and size.”
He said, strike first, strike hard and strike repeatedly.
“Fight for all you are worth,” he said. “The only wrong movement in Kemm Aiki Bujutsu, is no movement. Keep moving, wiggling, grabbing and kicking. Whatever part of the person you grab, it’s coming home with you. Make sure the attacker isn’t a threat anymore or get away and run.”
Kemm-aiki-bujutsu is a study designed by Grandmaster R. Anthony Kemmerlin, Sr., who is a nationally certified forensic medical investigator with the Delaware Department of State, Division of Professional Regulation, a Certified Law Enforcement Trainer (CLET) with ASLET.
He has been using Kemm Aiki Bujutsu martial arts for 44 years, and Kemmerlin is also the founder and chief special operations weaponless defense master instructor with Delaware Protective Services Academy, a trade school certified by the Delaware Department of Education.
Kemmerlin has been published or cited in numerous magazines and newspapers including the Masters Martial Arts Magazine and ASLET Trainers magazine. Grandmaster Kemmerlin is a charter member of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA).
According to Kemmerlin, a predator conceals his presence and/or intent waiting for the right time to mount a sudden, surprising attack.
Anyone who will attack someone else has little or no regard for gender, age, size, weight, physical conditioning or health, said Kemmerlin.
If attacked, Kemmerlin’s Kemm Aiki Bujutsu teaches to survive through defensive mechanisms and win through offensive mechanisms.
Kemmerlin said, an attacker usually will occupy a superior position: he will be the one to decide the when, where and how of the attack. He will also be the one to decide what weapon(s), if any, are to be deployed during the actual attack. The fact is even if a person is cognizant of and aware of his/her immediate environment, it will afford little refuge once a deadly attack begins.
Kemm Aiki Bujutsu is primarily Aikido-based, using hand-to-hand combat, close up fighting, vertical and horizontal.
“It is using your own power against another,” said Blanchette. “It harnesses vital energy. Created by Grandmaster Kemmerlin, it is designed with the single purpose of causing blunt and penetrating trauma to the physiological and anatomical vital parts of the body of the attacker.”
Kemmerlin’s Kemm Aiki Bujutsu is a reality-based training system that is both progressive and interactive by design and employs a graduated transition through three phases of training, namely, the learning (conditioning) phase, the rehearsal (desensitization) phase, and the implementation (actualization) phase.
Through the session, Blanchette and Holcombe pointed out by learning Kemm Aiki Bujutsu, an incredible amount of destructive force can be delivered to an attacker no matter the size, weight or physical condition of the attacker.
Blanchette went over the range, risk and response to the attack. Kemmerlin’s rules say: Responding appropriately to a potentially deadly attack requires a proper understanding of the nature of the response in relations to fighting ranges and their accompanying levels of risks.
The sacredness of life is to be valued above all else and Kemm Aiki Bujutsu teaches every deflective (defensive) action must be immediately followed up with a combination of distancing movements (increase or decrease) and traumatic reflective (offensive) actions in an attack.
Blanchette has been studying Kemm Aiki Bujutsu for five years and it has been taught in Presque Isle for nearly a decade.
“We hold classes at Gentile Hall or in the field, wherever we can,” he said.
Blanchette is looking to hold a class for men and women in Houlton at Solid Rock Fitness Center. Anyone interested in beginning this style of martial arts can contact Holcombe at 521-1277.
