VIOLENCE DYNAMICS

VIOLENCE DYNAMICS 2023

WHERE

SBM Fire Station 3
11920 Ulysses St NE, Blaine, MN 55434

WHAT IS VIOLENCE DYNAMICS?

You don’t have to be a lifelong martial artist, nor do you require military or law enforcement tactical training to protect yourself from violent crime.

Violence Dynamics is a principle based personal protection seminar centered around concepts featured in the book “Facing Violence—Preparing for the Unexpected” by Rory Miller

These are the concepts we will be working with:

1: Legal and Ethical (understanding the law, and knowing yourself)

2: Violence Dynamics (understanding the type of violence you are facing)

3: Avoidance (Conflict Strategy)

4: Counter Assault

5: The Freeze

6: The Fight

7: After

The seminar is designed to be beneficial to all regardless of age or physical ability.

The primary focus of the training is on awareness and avoidance, escape and evade, communication and de-escalation skills.

The mission of Violence Dynamics is to help people reclaim their inherent strength.

The focus of training is on restoring our intrinsic fortitude to be able to live confidently from a place of personal agency.

Our students are the product of 4 billion years of evolution and they are scion of the survivors.
Humans are genetically formidable. We do not need to give them strength, nor do we offer hollow empowering platitudes. Violence Dynamics focuses on removing the limitations social conditioning has artificially placed on us and waken students to the strength that they already have. As such, we are not forging “warriors”, we are simply unleashing potential.

Violence Dynamics is an emotionally safe and supportive space to try physically challenging things, and a physically safe space to explore emotionally challenging things.
The Violence Dynamics Core Curriculum Includes:
1. Introduction and Safety briefing
2. Intro to drills
3. Context of Violence
4. Structure and Leverage
5.Power Generation
6. Understanding Violence Violence Dynamics
7. Targeting and Effects
8. Conflict Communication (De-escalation) Avoidance (Conflict Strategy)
9. Counter Assault 1
10.Counter Assault 2 (Follow-up)
11. Threat Assessment
12. Logic of Takedowns
13. Ground Movement
14. Force Articulation Legal and Ethical
15. High-end Use of Force
16. Aftermath After
17. Environmental Fighting

The focus or “theme” of the seminar changes yearly rotating between the various potential goals / outcomes involved in violent interpersonal conflict:
Escape
Damage / Disable
Control
Endure
In addition to the core curriculum returning students (OG’s) are eligible to participate in Day 0 and OG track classes.

Day 0
Is an opt in day of training before the seminar starts. These classes are reserved for students that have successfully completed a Violence Dynamics Seminar (OG’s) and have proven they can safely train at a higher degree of intensity. The Day 0 courses are usually influenced by the seminar location and the unique facilities and Instructors that are available.
OG Tracks
Are classes that run parallel to the core curriculum providing returning clients exclusive training opportunities to delve deeper into the material. OG Tracks are usually centered around the theme of the year or feature guest Instructors who give their unique perspective on the core curriculum
The core curriculum is three days, four days with a day 0. On the occasion that five days is an option, World Work serves as a book end to Day 0. It is also an opt in day of training where students that have successfully completed a Violence Dynamics Seminar are given “missions” to accomplish that serve as a way to learn through play topics covered more academically through out the seminar

Kasey Keckeisen (ODIN Codename: Shogun)
Kasey is an experienced Police Officer with over 20 years of service. He has worked in Law Enforcement tactical operations as a SWAT Operator, SWAT training coordinator,
Sniper, SWAT team leader, and currently as an Executive Officer.
Recognized as a Shihan by the International Shinbudo Association, he also holds 6th degree black belts in Judo, Jujutsu, and Aikido, as well as a black belt in Taiho Jutsu, and is a Level 2 #500 Rising Women’s Self Defense Instructor. He is a catch wrestling and bare knuckle boxing enthusiast, and a terrific dancer.
Kasey is a proponent of physical culture as a means to develop your best self, and help to build stronger, more resilient people.
In pursuit of these goals he has served as Regional Director for several international Taiho Jutsu (Control Tactics) organizations, and now works with TJI (Transformative Justice Institute) promoting the improvement of training available to Law Enforcement.

Marc MacYoung (ODIN Codename: Animal)
Marc is one of the grand old men of the RBSD movement. He was one of the first, if not the first, to actually write in a book that martial arts and self-defense weren’t the same thing. He’s the author of multiple books and videos and teaches from his base in Colorado.

Rory Miller (ODIN Codename: Old School)
Rory has been a corrections officer and sergeant; tactical team member and leader; and a contractor in Iraq. A martial artist since 1981. He’s written a number of books and videos exploring the differences between martial arts and violence.

Lise Steenerson (ODIN Codename: Granny Goodness)
Lise is one of Kasey’s students, and the epitome of the saying, “Powerful things come in small packages.” She was the logistical goddess of the first several VioDys and will always be remembered as a crucial founder.
The VioDy Instructor Cadre include Kasey Keckeisen and Rory Miller (Biographies above) and:

Randy King (ODIN Codename: Grifter)
Randy is the owner and head instructor at KPC Self-Defense in Edmonton, Alberta. He’s an experienced bouncer, a clear thinker, and a hell of a nice guy. He’s also the only one on this list with a modicum of business sense and has written a book, Selling Out to Your Level of Comfort, that every martial arts or self-defense school owner needs to read.

Dr. Tammy Yard-McCracken (ODIN Codename: Kahleesi Cupcracken)
Tammy is owner & Global Solutions Director of Personal Defense Industries (PDI). As PDI’s owner, she serves as program director for Kore Self-Defense & Krav Maga, the company’s Northern Virginia training center. She is a certified Conflict Communication Instructor and is one of four directors with Rory Miller’s Chiron Training.

While training with Krav Maga Global, Dr. McCracken earned an Expert Rank in Israel and her original instructor certification was granted by Eyal Yanilov, Alan Predolin & Ilya Dunsky. She was the third woman to earn an expert rank with KMG in North America and the first fully certified female instructor on the east coast within the same organization.

Dr. McCracken has provided training and instruction for private companies, international safety and security organizations, and non-profit groups serving populations at high risk for violence. She also serves as a violence dynamics subject matter expert for a Washington DC area tactical training organization coauthoring and instructing a range of courses including Active Shooter Response Scenario Training.

Terry Trahan (ODIN Codename: Red Hood)
Terry is a long time martial artist, a former bouncer and he wasn’t always, shall we say, on the traditional side of the law-and-order divide. A widely experienced deep thinker. Terry’s perspective is invaluable in keeping the team from being too law-enforcement-centric.

VioDy frequently uses guest instructors. We all learn more when we learn from different perspectives.

Learning through play
If you successfully complete a Violence Dynamics seminar you may be recruited by O.D.I.N.
ODIN is an acronym for:

Operational
Disciplines
Instruction
Network

The Operational Disciplines Instruction Network, as the name implies, is an organization that provides training in the aforementioned operational disciplines.
Or maybe, just maybe, all of that is just a cover for international travel and recruitment…
At Violence Dynamics the concept of learning through play is highly valued. People are wired to learn through play. As we get older we get “too cool” to play anymore and learning becomes a chore. Exercise stops being fun and becomes work.
One aspect of ODIN is to give adults an opportunity to play again. Giving themselves permission to be special agents. Because, of course, ODIN is also the code name for the world's daring, highly trained special mission force. An independent international intelligence service.
ODIN’s purpose: to develop human potential. Recruiting and training operatives to use their inherent abilities to defend human freedom.
ODIN is a fun way to develop yourself, and help others. It is in no way an actual independent international intelligence service hiding as a training program or a game. Because that would be ridiculous. Nothing to see here, NSA. Move along.
FENRIR
Just as the hero Bellerophon needs the threat of the monster Chimera, ODIN needs FENRIR.

FENRIR
Fraternity for the
Embodiment of
Nightmares
Revenge and
Inhumane
Rampage

FENRIR serves as a Red Cell to ODIN, used to test potential recruits. Like the Top Gun program all successful Violence Dynamics graduates (OGs) are invited back to play as FENRIR agents. Some you may recognize…Many you will not.
FENRIR also provides a vehicle to explore the logic of violence. Developing an understanding of how and why criminals operate. Along with those facets FENRIR presents an opportunity to examine the limits we place on ourselves and find ways to overcome those limits.
So, maybe FENRIR means:

Freedom
Earned through
Natural
Recognition of
Inherent
Resources

Be careful. It’s quite possible none of our acronyms mean what they appear to mean.
It is said the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he didn’t exist.
It is also said that the greatest trick Kasey ever pulled was to convince grown adults to play G.I.Joe with him 🙂
In January, 2018, Tammy Yard-McCracken wrote a blog post that triggered the #500 movement. http://dangerousrealities.blogspot.com/2018/01/dear-oprah-give-me-500.html She wrote: “Give me 500 women. In a year, each of the 500 will reach (and by reach - I mean train/teach) 100 women and in short order there will be 50,000 women with basic self-defense skills. That is the beginning of a tipping point. Add 500 more instructors in Europe and another 50,000 women. And let's keep going. Let's go to places where violence against women is far more endemic.
The potential for this to be exponential is in the math. Not in the inspiration. Change is in the work. Work we can do now - not in 50 years, not when legislation and sentencing laws change, not in safe spaces.
Maybe instead of coming forward in a band of violated sisterhood we can stand in strength. #500”
ALVITR is VioDy’s arm of the #500 movement. Kick ass women teaching other women to be equally kick ass is a good thing. Strength spreading is a good thing.