THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503020174
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Danny Collier worries a lot about the safety of other people.
As a full-time self-defense instructor with Parks and Recreation, Collier, 28, spends his time teaching folks how to defend themselves.
Still, he worries that his friends and family members wouldn't know how to defend themselves against an attack.
And, because most people are too pressed for time to take a self-defense class, Collier said, he has come up with a way to reach hundreds of people with his tips on self-defense and crime prevention on a 30-minute videotape, ``Critical Defense: Crime Prevention and Self-Defense Tape.''
``I've made my whole family watch it several times,'' said Collier, a 1984 graduate of Cox High School and a 1990 graduate of Radford University. ``Now, at least they'll know what to do.''
Collier spent about six months working on the videotape with a local television production company he hired to produce the tape for him.
For $19.95, the tape features Collier and several other people going through the motions of self-defense and even offering general safety tips like never going shopping alone or carrying a spare wallet with a couple of dollars to hand over to robbers.
In the video, Collier, a black belt in tae kwan do, takes the viewer through several scenarios. For instance, he covers how to defend yourself from attacks from behind, on the ground, or from the front. There are maneuvers shown for defending oneself against a knife or gun.
He discusses and shows the six basic defense techniques that include the finger strike, palm strike, elbow strike, head-butt strike, knee strike and the knee kick.
Collier said his tips should be used only when ``life or physical well-being is in immediate danger.''
The tape has a disclaimer saying that Collier is not responsible for ``injury or damage resulting from the execution of a technique'' and there is a warning for parental discretion.
``The self-defense I teach is a simplified version,'' said Collier. ``I want them to be able to learn when they watch it and not be something that they have to practice every day.''
Five percent of the proceeds from Collier's video will go to Justice for Victims of Crime.
Collier, a Virginia Beach native, has been working at the Bayside Recreation Center for the past six months. Previously, he owned his own landscaping business, completed real estate school and was certified as a personal trainer.
``Of all the things in my life that I have chosen, this, for me, is the most important,'' Collier said. ``I feel fulfilled teaching people how to protect themselves. A life is pretty important and if they just learn one thing, it might save their life one day.'' MEMO: To order the videotape, call 431-3900 or write: Critical Defense, 4007
Arrowhead Point Court, Virginia Beach, Va. 23455.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLES MEADS
Self-defense instructor Danny Collier is a black belt in tae kwan
do. ``I feel fulfilled teaching people how to protect themselves,''
he says.
by CNB