Sunday, February 10, a group of activists and I gathered on the steps of the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to raise awareness of families still being held by Immigration and Customs at a facility in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The weather took its toll on many of the activists and the gathering adjourned.
One of the activists was hungry, so we decided to look for a place to eat. The first place we went to was serving drinks, but the kitchen was closed. The next establishment we decided on had a special on wings and beer. Soon three large plates of wings and at least three pitchers of beer were being consumed by the activists.
In the course of conversation, my notions of wanting to get back onto the mats to train in a martial art came up. One of the activists said he had training and it got me to thinking of how this could be useful not only to me, but other members of the activist community.
What I could see is having a small, well-trained, group of activists that could act as security for rallies, etc. Five to eight activists, skilled in hand-to-hand combat could send a powerful message to the alt-right and other reactionaries. These activists could also reach out to other communities that may be under threat, the sort of "Each one--teach one" mentality I have spoke of.
The techniques would be focused on what may be faced in the streets; dealing with multiple attackers and weapons of opportunity such as baseball bats, pipes, etc. This whole idea may be a matter of reaching back out to the activists and seeing if there would be interest from others.