Coby Persin Reprints The Death Card

Or: How a 21 year old Internet prankster achieved in a 6 minute You Tube video what the police, social services and schools haven't been able to do in decades.

Yesterday I saw this video.

In it a young man named Coby Persin, who up until that point I had never heard of, sets himself up as an Internet predator. He created a false Facebook account and pretended to be a 15 year old boy named Jason. He used false photos and contacted young girls and after a few days of text based conversations (and in one case a phone call) he arranged to meet them privately. The first girl in a park. The second at her house. The third in his car. Twist was however...that the girls' parents were with him when he met them. Each and every parent was furious and upset with their daughters. Initially scoffing at the idea that their kids would fall for Coby's false persona, their fear and fury at what could have happened is evident when the bemused little girls,(the youngest 12, the oldest 14) are on the receiving end of verbal lashings from mum and dad, who are in complete and utter disbelief at what they'd just witnessed, I.e. Their kids trusting 100% in a "boy" they'd never met to the point where they would go and meet him behind the backs of their protectors. To make matters worse, the video makes it crystal clear that each of the girls knew it was wrong. The first waits until her dad leaves the house. The second until she believes her father is sleeping and the third until her parents are supposedly out on a "date night".

I was born in 1970. Back then we had badass TV commercials about not going off with strangers. About not throwing fireworks. About not playing with matches. And about looking both ways before crossing the road. These ads were unsettling, unpleasant and tapped into a very primal childhood fear of death. Their fundamental message was "Do this horrible thing and you will die. Or if you don't die you'll never see your Mummy and Daddy again." The commercials pulled no punches and were the TV equivalent of my headmistress at Primary school. Pragmatic, focussed, direct and straight talking (and she was a nun).

Charlie the cat would meow his way through infomercials about not going off with men you didn't know (personally I never saw the attraction of puppies so that one wouldn't have worked anyway but I got the point).

Tufty and later the Green Cross Code Man (played by Darth Vader no less) would instruct us on how to cross the road. Simultaneously, other ads would show the unspeakable misery of losing a loved one to a car accident. Not to mention little kids running out from behind ice cream vans without looking where they were going.

The scariest one I ever saw kept me awake for 3 nights to the point where my exasperated mother shouted "THAT'S IT! YOU'RE NOT WATCHING ANY MORE TELLY AGAIN EVER!!!" every time I ran down the stairs after bed time in tears in my Noddy pyjamas, screaming with fear. It was called 'The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water' and in it a hooded and robed figure watches impassively as children stupidly playing near water too dangerous to swim in, fell in and drowned. The voice was done by legendary horror actor Donald Pleasance and as I lay belly down on the floor, my face two feet from the TV, I turned to my father and with wide eyes asked "Daddy, who's that man?" Ever the realist my father looked up from his newspaper and cheerfully replied, "Oh, that's the children drowner".

Thing is...I NEVER went near anything other than a swimming pool without adult supervision again until I was about 12 or 13.

TV for children was a riot in the 1970s. My favouritest telly show was the anarchic and wonderful Tiswas, every Saturday morning from 10 o'clock we would be entertained by a very young Chris Tarrant, Sally James and Lenny Henry (not forgetting Spit the Dog). The Phantom Flan Flinger would pie his way through the studio guests (sometimes with his wife Flandarella) and the whole thing was laughter and fun.

However...every time Guy Fawkes night rolled by on November 5th, Tiswas's presenters would temporarily switch from their tomfoolery and become stone faced, warning all us kids of the perils of throwing bangers, returning to a Catherine Wheel once lit and above all not picking up a sparkler by the wrong end.

Construction sites and farms were amusement parks for adventurous kids. If you ever had the misfortune to attend a school showing of Apaches, you NEVER horsed around on a farm again (as far as I know this is the only film to feature the on screen drowning of a small boy....in a vat of pig manure).

At school we would be read stories that focussed on the fun and magical elements of life. We would sit cross legged on the floor while the teacher read us a story before final prayers and Home Time. And every now and then we'd get one that scared us into not doing something. I still vividly recall the weeping kittens from The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches, who cried just a little too late to save Harriet from burning to death after she played with fire. I was 6 when Mrs Clayton read F2 that one.

Lectures from our parents would focus on the dire, dire consequences of going off with people we didn't know, or alternatively of simply ignoring what they told us to do. My mother's favourite story to get my to finish my Cornflakes was of a little boy who didn't eat his breakfast, went out in the snow....and died.

Over the years and decades, we have lost this mentality. Showing children the Death Card is now deemed to be excessive, traumatising and even bullying.

Which brings me back to Coby Persin.

In an era where we are meant to "reason with and educate" our children into following rules that will keep them alive, no one believes that, with the right amount of patient understanding and reasoning, their little Jonathan or Julia will ever do something stupid (unless of course they are led astray by someone else's brats). In an age of mass communication and instant access to knowledge, people want to think that everything is just hunky dory.

I'm an assistant instructor at a junior Krav Maga class for little children. They are aged between 5 and 11 and we teach them how to defend themselves against being picked up, grabbed or pulled by an adult. One game involves them in teams, trying to run past us, while we stand there in helmets, groin guards and shin pads trying to stop them. Above all we let these children know that if an adult does or tries to do something to them that they don't like then they are to create as much noise as they can and get the hell out of there. They are taught also that struggling, yelling and inflicting pain on a grown up will give them an edge and an advantage. A 6 year old will NEVER win a fight with an adult...but they can make themselves enough of a nuisance that the adult will put them down and leave them alone.

Coby's video is badass on so many levels, not least of all for the maturity he shows in making it when he only graduated High school 3 or 4 years ago. Criticisms I've read levelled at this film (some from friends of mine from the link I shared on Facebook, in the comments section) are that this is sensationalist and the parents plus Coby are merely humiliating these girls for money and publicity. They argue that shaming them in this way is counter productive as it means the girls will be traumatised.

I disagree.

Experiencing what they did and having their parents there to tell them at the time just how fucking stupid they were is EXACTLY what they needed. Something I've not seen anyone flag up yet, is that the parents would never have revealed themselves if their daughters hadn't gone as far as they did. If Mikaela had walked away in the park when Coby stood up and introduced himself, her father wouldn't have burst out from behind a rock shouting at her. If Julie hadn't opened the front door, then her dad wouldn't have been hugging her as she cried while he reminded her that her mother was dead and he couldn't lose Julie too. And if Jenna hadn't got into the van with Coby late at night (read that to yourself again slowly) then her folks wouldn't have burst forward wearing balaclavas pretending to be kidnappers while Coby grabbed her arm.

This video showed a very scary and sobering story of just how gullible some people can be, particularly kids. Especially kids who think they are in control of their worlds because they are so adept at using social media. A world that is blind and deaf to those who wish to make it so.

Coby , I salute you.

Review of Adrenaline Level 2

Krav Maga Global & FAST Defence UK

Harlow Leisurezone, Essex, UK

Saturday 6th June 2015

By Lance Manley

"Let Us Prey!"

Fast Defence UK has been around for about 30 years. Considered by many to be the "missing link" between self defence and martial arts training, FAST stands for "Fear, Adrenaline and Stress Training."

Their website states "FAST training empowers people by teaching how to manage the adrenaline release – no matter what the perceived threat and no matter what the context – and use it to create the most appropriate win." Most importantly it also says that training teaches people to "avoid, defuse and, if absolutely necessary, stop violence directed at them."

I had a taste of what this involves in June 2014 at the Krav Maga Global World Tour with Eyal Yanilov (KMG Chief Instructor). Me and 9 others got chosen by Master Eyal to fight what are known as the "predators". These are aggressive, violent and ferocious attackers who come out with verbal as well as physical assaults. The basis of the scenarios we entered can be boiled down to this:

"One or more guys are in your face. What are you going to do?"

Predator armour is unique in design in that it allows full freedom of movement for the person inside the "suit" but also allows their opponent/ victim to strike to the face, chest and groin as hard as they can.

Adrenaline level 1 is based on one attacker and encourages the use of "tunnel vision" to retain focus on what is directly in front of you.

On Adrenaline 2, the game is changed in that you have multiple predators and have to deal with varying scenarios with between 2 and 5 attackers.

I'd been looking forward to this for several months and arrived early at Harlow Leisurezone. I met Andras Millward, Director of Instructor Development for FAST in the canteen. I asked him about FAST's recent surge in popularity and he said:

"There's been a big change, big upheaval in the FAST defence world. WE knew it worked but we weren't very good at telling the world it worked. A LOT of new people have come on board now. It's a lot stronger. Our relationship with Krav Maga Global is really helping our profile as well. We're like one of the best kept secrets in the world. Today we've got 50 to 55 students booked in. On Adrenaline 1 we had people coming here from abroad, countries like Switzerland, France and Norway. Our purpose today is to give you all more information about the adrenal release and response and then put you back in it again."

We kicked off just after 10.30am and Andras plus the head of Krav Maga Global UK, Jon Bullock spoke to us about what the day had in store. Then we had a lecture from Dr Kirsty Hunter, about the scientific aspects of the body's response to threat. We were told about the importance of correct breathing (inhale to belly, then chest through the nose, exhale through the mouth) and the different reactions to fear. She also told us about FAST's "A,B,C's" which stands for Awareness, Boundaries and Conflict Resolution (or Combatives).

Awareness means the ability to observe and accurately interpret stimuli within our environment and then identify and manage our own internal state. Boundaries means knowing how and when to establish recognisable physical and/or emotional boundaries, and is considered essential to what FAST teaches. Combatives covers situations that require physical self-defence and provides simple and effective techniques that can be learnt and applied successfully by all, irrespective of age or sex.

After Dr Hunter had spoken to us we then moved into the preliminary phase of the training, the "woofing."

Woofing refers to where people are threatening or verbally aggressive in order to test boundaries. Like a dog barking, the expression describes how people can behave when trying to intimidate or even attack others. We were told that body language is VERY important for us in these scenarios. You are taught to stand with your feet steady but NOT to assume a "fighting stance" (which comes so easily to those who train in martial arts). You start with your hands held loosely together below your waist and only raise them if you feel your boundaries are threatened. Even then you are told categorically not to point or look like you are pointing, so you keep your hands with the palms facing forwards. Language is crucial and swearing a BIG no-no. The question "What do you want?" is designed to make an aggressor actually think of a response involving what is known as higher brain function as they have to consider their response. We were encouraged to utilise the phrases "You need to leave!" and "Back away!" or Back off!" when dealing with threatening or intimidating behaviour.

There were two groups with a coach and several "woofers" on designated areas of the sports hall. One at a time we went out onto the mats and had to deal with them. The guys we were facing wore sunglasses so you couldn't see their eyes, further upping the adrenaline factor and their behaviour towards us ranged from mildly obnoxious to criminally aggressive. In order to enhance the realism of the role plays, the actors would pick up on personal traits or clothing choices. I wear bandanas to keep my hair out of my face in training and that day was wearing a camouflage patterned one. Sure enough, the opening line as they pounded towards me was "You in the army or something?!!" When I replied "Sorry mate, I can't hear you" the guy snarled and went "What you deaf as well?!! And I'm not your f***ing mate!!!" Heart hammering in my chest I stuck to the game plan, while coach Caroline Braxton stood behind me observing what was going on. I shouted "BACK AWAY!!! JUST GO!!! LEAVE!!!" and various combinations while the actors continued to make fun of me but did back off. Anatoli Krassavine from my club Krav Maga Midlands was there and it was good to have a team mate on board.

As the others went up it was clear that the actors wouldn't back away unless we ticked certain boxes with regard to etiquette on our own behalf. Anyone pointing (a gesture infuriatingly easy to make when your hands are outstretched) would have the actors yelling indignantly at them and coming back. Anyone who walked towards them (again, an easy mistake to make) would be perceived as "wanting some". Finally we all went through the drills and during a short lunch break I spoke to FAST UK Director Wayne Hubball and Caroline Braxton.

Wayne said, "It's gone very well. Everyone seems to have picked up all the learning points. It's great to see how people have advanced from Adrenaline 1."

Caroline is also a specialist in Neuro Linguistic Programming and incorporating FAST into corporate business. She said, "I think it's going really, really well. The training's embedded in them and while you all might not remember what you did in Adrenaline 1, it's all coming back. It's a nice recap."

After lunch Jon Bullock then took us for what could euphemistically be called a "warm up". We worked on trying to get our partners to the floor; punching to the body; groups of 3 with two vs one and several variations. Jon told us on several occasions not to "pretend" about what we were doing and to deal with our movements realistically. This went on for about 40 minutes and was about as gruelling as my last Krav Maga grading. Afterwards Jon stated that while we might hate him at that moment he had done us a favour by "inoculating" us to what we were about to do and also getting us used to being in close quarters brawling. He also pointed out that the biggest fear we really had was not of getting hurt but of failing, or looking foolish in front of our friends and peers.

Then it came time to meet the predators again. The last time I faced these guys I was beyond nervous. This time I was enthusiastic but there was no way of denying that the nerves were jangling once more. We split into two groups of roughly 25 people, with a coach and several predators per group. The students lined up facing each other either side of the squares, and each line took turns. The worst part about this is the initial phase, where you stand, usually with your back to the predators and close your eyes. You inform the coach of any niggling injuries (in my case a dodgy left knee) and she will signal to them which bit of your body they should try to avoid hurting. Then the game's on.

The first time I was up, I got violently shoved forwards and whirled to find a guy stood behind me, shouting incoherent threats and trying to slap and push me. His mates were also marching up and then I was retaliating. You have no chance to try and remember what techniques you may have learned in Krav or any other discipline, you are operating solely on instinct and muscle memory. The whole thing was a blur that retrospectively seemed to last about 2 seconds. I remember using an elbow strike to knock one opponent on his back and that was about it. Before I knew it the whistle was blowing and it was all over, people clapping, and me trying to get my breath back.

It was interesting to see how different people handled the situations. Some of the better fighters really made their punches and kicks count while the most aggressive fighters in these situations appeared to be the women. After a short break for the predators to breathe, we went up once more. The second time I had a rougher deal with one guy pinning my arms. I was screaming a lot of abuse and dropping clusters of C-bombs while Caroline encouraged me to yell at them. One or two of the other guys who went up had opportunities to use verbal "persuasion" rather than just punching, proving the point that if you are trained to handle adrenaline you can react appropriately. Another thing that happened four or five times was guys losing their T-shirts while grappling. The predators would take advantage of this and try and keep it over the practitioner's face unless they managed to wriggle free.

Our side of the room finished before the other and we joined the remaining group to give them some encouragement. Amusingly, the predators from our side then joined in, meaning some guys had to fight up to five at a time.

Finally we stopped and Andras Millward gave a closing talk followed by Jon Bullock who asked us how we felt the day had gone and got us to give a round of applause to the "crazy guys" who donned the Predator armour. We then got our attendance certificates and shook Andras's hand before changing into fresh T-shirts and anticipating a good meal and a shower.

Afterwards I spoke to Krav practitioner Barry Macinnes.

"Thoroughly enjoyed it, very good. Even better than the first one and it's spurred me into becoming a FAST instructor."

I also spoke to Andras Millward who said, "I love doing these events with KMG. You guys come in with full commitment and honesty and it makes our job a lot easier. You really bring your heart and soul into every fight. In the grey areas of verbal assertion you guys are really good. A lot of you handled some very, very complex scenarios."

Jon Bullock was also very pleased with how things had gone.

"The idea was obviously to give them the adrenaline experience again. What we did this time was change the dynamic. So there's pressure but there's more things to think about such as movement, positioning, dealing with more than one person. It is likely that in general a self defence situation would involve more than one person."

I asked him to sum up the day in three words and he replied, "Experience, learning, and review."

A great day for everyone involved. The predators, coaches, instructors and students all had a great time and I cannot speak highly enough of this event. Adrenaline is just what I needed. I am now, like Barry Macinness, looking forward to getting more involved in this world and the future is bright.