News
Reality-Based Grows in Sweden
Jim Wagner

Very few traditional-based martial arts organizations ever host Reality-Based Personal Protection courses, but on May 17 and 18 was one of those rare exceptions. The largest martial arts organization in Sweden, Svenska Budo & Kampsportsförbundet (the Swedish Budo Association) invited me and Peter Falk (Reality-Based Personal Protection Director of the Nordic countries) to train 40 jujutsu students in the city of Jönköping (pronounced Yon-shop-ing). More specifically, it was vice-president Niclas Sjöberg who extended the invitation. Also teaching at this two-day event was Marcelo 'Yogui' Santiago of Brazil and Joachim Thumfart of Germany.

The organization put us up in the very posh Eite Stora Hotel located on the southern tip of Lake Vättern built in 1860 and took us instructors out to a fine Swedish steak dinner.

After two days of teaching a cross section of Reality-Based Personal Protection courses Peter and I taught the Level 1 courses in Malmö, Sweden. Malmö is a costal city across the sea from Copenhagen, Denmark. Each morning I woke up to a beautiful sea view at the Strand Hotel and had a traditional Swedish breakfast in the Frucost Rum: a glass of orange juice, a cup of coffee, toast, cold cut meats and cheese. I didn’t eat the granola and thick yogurt-like milk like many of my students who were staying in the same hotel.

The training went exceptionally well, and the students bonded from day one, which was the Defensive Tactics course. The group included a counselor of troubled youths, a police officer, a prison guard, and a few martial arts instructors coming from Krav Maga and jujutsu, and one from Jeet Kune Do. Those who earned their Level 1 instructor certificates were: Johan Karlsson, Mattias Hedman, Jenny Andersson (the second female in all of Sweden to become an instructor), Jimmy Andersson, Per-Olof Andersson, Christoffer Jonsson, and Pontus Rotter. Veteran Level 1 instructors assisting me and Peter were Jan Larsson, Matts Logenius, and Nicklas Jorgensen

After the last course of the week, Terrorism Survival, Peter and I kept a promise that we had made a year and a half ago and that was to go see the new Viking display at the Nationalmuseet in Copenhagen. In the past we had tried to see the display but it had been closed for renovations. They told us back then, “Come back in Spring of 2008.” So, on May 17th the display was reopened and on May 24th, after the Level 1 seminar, we went to go see it. The display was in the Danish Prehistory (13,000 B.C. – 1,050 A.D.) section.

The display was quite remarkable and gave me a good sense of the Viking history. Of course, I studied carefully the weapons. They had hundreds of them: knives, swords, spears and shields.

Prior to my teaching trip to Scandinavia Peter had given me a book called The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson published by Harper Collins Publisher This 478 page fictional book was superbly written and translated, and it took my mind into the Viking past when I read it. Of course, there were many graphic descriptions of battles using swords and axes. It gave a great insight to the Viking warrior mentality. This book, coupled with my museum experience, gave me a greater understanding of the Viking history and their influence on Western culture. After all, it was the Vikings who settled all over northern Europe and were the first Europeans to land on the shores of North America in today’s Canada.

When I was at the Nationalmuseet museum I came across the Viking laws that have a few good suggestions for today’s martial artists:

BE BRAVE & AGGRESSIVE
Be direct
Grab all opportunities
Use varying methods of attack
Be versatile and agile
Attack one target at a time
Don’t plan everything in detail
Use top quality weapons

BE PREPARED
Keep weapons in good condition
Keep in shape
Find good battle comrades
Agree on important points
Choose one chief

BE A GOOD MERCHANT
Find out what the market needs
Don’t promise what you can’t keep
Don’t demand overpayment
Arrange things so that you can return

KEEP THE CAMP IN ORDER
Keep things tidy and organized
Arrange enjoyable activities which strengthen the group
Make sure everybody does useful work
Consult all members of the group for advice

On May 24th Peter and I then walked all around the Christiansborg Palace which houses the Danish Parliament to see if they had beefed up security since the last time we were there in 2006. To our surprise, they had not. It was still possible for Al Qaeda, or any terrorist group, to drive a truck bomb right under the famous Parliament tower and bring it down along with damaging the rest of the building. Just the day before in my Terrorism Survival course I warned my students, “Denmark is a terrorist target, and it will be hit. It may not be today or tomorrow, but I guarantee that it will be hit. Islamic extremists have already sworn that it would be.”
Your may remember that on September 30, 2005 the Dutch newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed controversy cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Danish Muslim organizations objected to the depictions and responded by holding public protests. The controversy deepened when further examples of the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries. This led to more protests across the Muslim world, some of which escalated into violence with police firing on the crowds resulting in more than 100 deaths. Fires were set to the Danish Embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. A number of Muslim leaders called for protesters to remain peaceful, other Muslim leaders across the globe, including Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas, issued death threats. Even recently an attempt to murder one of the artists was made, but the culprits were arrested before it was carried out. Many Muslims around the world blame the Danish government for the cartoons despite the fact that Denmark enjoys free speech and free press as a democracy. Therefore, according to the radicals, the government of Denmark is a “legitimate target.” Unfortunately, the Danish government does not want to appear intimidated or worried, thus it appears that safeguards already in place by other western countries (barricades, more visible police presence, vehicle checks, etc.) are absent. Perhaps they have indeed stepped up security measures, but I didn’t see any.
Some of my fellow Americans may be asking themselves, “Why does Wagner care about a European capital?” My answer is simple, Copenhagen is a part of Western culture, and Western culture is my culture. I personally think it was rather insensitive to draw disrespectful cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, because there is no reason to insult someone’s religious beliefs. However, I also believe in free speech and a free press at the same time. I can’t tell you how many times I have been offended at some of the content in newspapers around the world, especially anti-Christian or anti-American garbage, but I never once thought that the author or artist should be murdered for it. That stated, I would be deeply troubled if there was a terrorist attack in Copenhagen or anywhere else in Denmark.
Whether we like it or not terrorism is going to continue for a while, and all Western governments must be diligent in preventing it. In fact, we all have to be diligent, and that is why the Reality-Based Personal Protection system includes Terrorism Survival in Level 1.