Articles | YMAA

Intel Briefing
January 1, 2024
If you found information relevant to the group’s safety during your intelligence gathering, share it during the intel briefing. Reading Time 3 minutes.
A Mind-Body Prescription for Fatigue
October 2, 2023
To relieve, deal with and eliminate fatigue, YMAA Author Ramel Rones has created a Mind-Body routine based on the Eastern health and martial arts philosophies, Chi Kung, Tai Chi, and Meditation.
Civil Unrest Precautions While Traveling
May 1, 2023
Always keep your eyes open and your situational awareness level high when you’re in large crowds or near densely populated tourist attractions.
Contingency Planning for Vacationers
April 10, 2023
If you have a response to emergencies planned out in advance, your reaction and resolution will be much quicker, giving you more time to relax and enjoy yourself once everything is dealt with. Besides, that’s why we take vacations in the first place, isn’t it—to relax?
“Pack” Situational Awareness into your Vacation Suitcase
March 27, 2023
When you’re preparing for a trip away, the first step in identifying potential problems begins in the planning phase. Proper planning requires more than just picking a vacation spot and packing a bag. It requires some in-depth research and preparation.
Teaching Teens Safety Skills - August 15, 2022
Before we can have useful discussions about situational awareness and personal safety, both teens and parents must be willing and able to recognize their flaws.
Communicating With Your Teen - June 6, 2022
If you see a change in your teen’s daily ability to function, ask about it and be supportive (without being judgmental). They may need your help, and it could be a sign that they need to talk to a mental health professional.
Awareness Basics For Spotting Teen Danger - April 11, 2022
So, what should you be looking for? In the beginning, the more important question is, what are criminals looking for? To fully understand the process of situational awareness, we need to take a step back and evaluate ourselves, our movements, and how others perceive us. To do this, we need to understand what predators look for in their victims and why they choose the people they do.
Spotting Danger Before It Spots Your Teens (An Introduction) - March 28, 2022
If you’ve read the first two books in my “Heads Up” situational awareness series, you may have already known that Emily is my youngest daughter. Her plan to escape the man in the truck wasn’t perfect, but it was efficient. The fact that she could fight off the effects of an adrenaline dump, devise a plan, and return home safely was good enough for me…This is a book about situational awareness, what it is, and how to teach it to your teens. That’s the goal here.
Meet The Author: Ramel Rones Talks with Gene Ching About Bringing Tai Chi into the Medical Community (video) - February 2, 2022
YMAA author Ramel Rones talks with Gene Ching about his pioneering work bringing tai chi and qigong into the medical community for decades.
Fighting Range Strategies - November 15, 2021
If you cannot overwhelm the attacker and end up temporarily disengaged facing him, you should keep moving to prevent becoming a static target and to camouflage any additional tax you must unleash as you launch into retzev. (Retzev is a Hebrew word that means continuous motion.) In short movement from movement is more difficult to discern then movement from a stationary position.”
Give your Children Options - October 25, 2021
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go...” —Dr. Seuss
Anatomical Targeting Strategy: Works for Both the Attacker and Defender - October 11, 2021
Keep in mind that you don’t want any type of fighting chess game; instead, the goal is to eliminate any and all of his future counter-movement and counterattack capabilities. In other words, achieve checkmate with your first or second optimized combative as soon as possible.
Situational Awareness for Kids - August 9, 2021
Natural disasters and medical emergencies occur without warning and can cause a significant amount of fear and confusion in a young child. We adults must take the time to explain what constitutes an actual emergency and work with our children to create step-by-step plans for how to react in those situations.
Understanding Physiological Reaction to Threats and Violent Conflict - July 12, 2021
The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) mobilizes your body’s nervous system fight-or-flight response. Immediate SNS activation occurs when you recognize and face imminent violence. Once activated by the perception of possible impending bodily harm, the SNS in turn activates immediate physiological changes by flooding your body with stress hormones. Your freeze, fight, or flight response hits full throttle
Push Defense: Police Hold Number Eight - June 28, 2021
As with all self-defense combatives there is a legal side, should you apply a joint lock on someone. Not only do you risk civil and criminal charges of battery, you might also face the risk of being convicted of false imprisonment.
Teaching the Basics of Situational Awareness to Kids - June 14, 2021
Although much less stressful, teaching your child a new skill such as situational awareness is no different. You need to start with the basics, and then work your way slowly into the more complex aspects of situational awareness.
Handling Aggressive People - May 31, 2021
Obviously, you cannot simply wish away a possible violent episode to avoid it. Silent hoping has little chance of removing the threat. This form of denial lands people in deep trouble when they are attacked and freeze, thereby absorbing the assault. Recognize there are violent people who will attempt to harm you. Sometimes, fortunately, you can change this dynamic by providing a non-violent solution.
Working Together - May 24, 2021
The only way to be certain that your child is getting the most out of these lessons is to let them know that you’re working as a team. There’s no obstacle that they (kids) can’t overcome when they know they have you in their corner.”
How To Know If You're Being Followed - April 26, 2021
We've all experienced that "I think this guy’s following me" feeling. It's a weird sensation, and it's based mainly on intuition, but knowing if you are being followed and being able to verify that fact is an essential skill when it comes to personal safety. During basic training in the Federal Air Marshal Service, we spent a lot of time on what we called “domain awareness training,” which culminated in a practical exercise at the local shopping mall. During the exercise, several civilian role players would be given photographs and physical descriptions of us trainees.
Krav Maga: Lower Back Combatives - March 29, 2021
You can perform krav maga kicks at low, torso and head-level heights. To deliver head kicks, you'll need flexibility, balance, and enough strength to lift your leg. The Israel Defense Force, (IDF), in developing its krav maga program, set up tested candidates, many of who were talented martial artists, to run extensive distances with full combat loads. After an exhausting run in combat gear, the candidates were told to defend against an attack using whatever techniques they felt most comfortable. Few test candidates favoring high kicks could perform them. Their physical exhaustion prior to the fighting tests made high kicking extremely difficult.
Avoid Teaching Fear to Your Children - March 15, 2021
Although some fears may be irrational, they are all very real and can have devastating effects on our mental state. The fear of interpersonal human aggression can be very frightening and cause us to avoid interacting with others. The fear of financial loss, the death of a loved one, or sickness are all genuine and relevant fears. As adults, we deal with these fears as best we can, and we try not to let the effects of this fear spread to our children.
The Role of Intuition - October 19, 2020
There's science behind your body's natural reactions to fear even if you haven't consciously registered the fact that you are afraid. Fear stimulates your brain and triggers a release of adrenaline and other stress hormones throughout your body. This rush of adrenaline is what causes your heart to race and your palms to sweat. It's also responsible for goose bumps, which are what make your hair stand on end.
Defining the Threat—Perception vs. Reality - July 20, 2020
Let’s perform a little mental exercise. I want you to close your eyes and come up with a mental picture of what you think a terrorist looks like. Be honest with yourself; don’t think about what’s culturally or socially acceptable, just form the image in your head based on what you know about terrorism. What do you see? Where is this person from? What do they look like? Are they poor and underprivileged? Are they well off and nicely dressed? Come up with as much detail as you can. No matter what image you came up with in your head, I can guarantee the reality is much more diverse.
The Basics of Predatory Behavior - June 22, 2020
To better understand predatory behaviors, let’s start by breaking down and categorizing the different types of predators and their basic motivations. In his book, Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected, Sgt. Rory Miller breaks down predators into two groups: resource predators and process predators. A resource predator is looking for tangible items, be it cash, jewelry, or even your shoes. They’ve decided they need something and they’re going to take it from you. Predators in this category include your basic mugger, pickpocket, or burglar.