How to Teach Your Kids to Be Assured

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The first thing is to teach the child to be assertive, he says. "assertiveness comes more naturally for some people and not so naturally to others" If a child's running into bullying, the first thing they need to do is stand their ground,. You talk and it begins withtalking and assertive, comfortable. The beautiful thing about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the kids that train with me can take a bigger, stronger kid. Put them on the ground, control them without hurting them.

Shermer and Thornton discuss: aggression: passive, proactive, reactive, relational • moralistic punishment and the game theory analysis of the logic of violence • gun violence (homicide, suicide, accidents) • violence against women/children • male-on-male violence • alcohol, drugs, infidelity • race • self-control • training soldiers • male role models • Rodney King, Michael Brown, George Floyd • police violence • bullying • fatherless homes • rape and sexual violence • self-defense.

Matt Thornton has been teaching functional martial arts for more than thirty years and holds a 5th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His organization, Straight Blast Gym, has more than seventy locations worldwide and has produced champion MMA fighters as well as world-class self-defense and law enforcement instructors. He lives with his wife Salome and their five children in Portland, Oregon. His new book is The Gift of Violence: Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World.