Lawrence Kane
Lawrence Kane is the author of 'Surviving Armed Assaults' (Fall 2006) and 'Martial Arts Instruction' as well as the co-author of 'The Way of Kata' (all from YMAA Publication Center). He has also published numerous articles about teaching, martial arts, self-defense, and related topics, and is a forum moderator at www.iainabernethy.com, a web site devoted to traditional martial arts and self-protection.
Over the last 30 or so years he has participated in a broad range of martial arts, trying everything from traditional Asian sports such as judo, arnis, kobudo, and karate to recreating medieval European combat with real armor and rattan (a type of wood) weapons. He has also completed seminars in modern gun safety, marksmanship, handgun retention and knife combat techniques, and has participated in slow-fire pistol and pin shooting competitions. He believes that these experiences give him a somewhat more diverse viewpoint than the average practitioner of such arts.
As a martial arts instructor, he has taught medieval weapons forms since 1994 and has been teaching Goju Ryu karate classes since 2002.
Since 1985 he has supervised employees who provide security and oversee fan safety during football games. This part-time job has given him a unique opportunity to appreciate violence in a myriad of forms. Along with his crew, he has witnessed, interceded in, and stopped or prevented hundreds of fights, experiencing all manner of aggressive behaviors as well as the escalation process that invariably precedes them. He also works closely with law enforcement officers assigned to the stadium and has had ample opportunities to examine their crowd control tactics and procedures. He likes to think of it as getting paid to watch football... at least until somebody pulls a knife or starts a riot anyway.
To pay the bills he works for a large aerospace company as a Financial Analyst. In that capacity he is currently responsible for strategic sourcing and benchmarking activities in Information Technology. In other words, he gets to play with billions of dollars of other people's money and make really important decisions.
