A friend of mine was teaching in Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. For those that don't know about Katrina, in the history of the United States, it was one of the five deadliest hurricanes to hit America as well as being the costliest with respect to damages incurred.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
I didn't know that Katrina wiped out his business. Living through the rampant crime must have been very difficult. He emailed me recently to let me know of his new site as well as his new ebook. He gave me a copy of the ebook for review. I will be reading soon. The review is forthcoming after I get through the backlog of books on my to-read list as well as writing the reviews.
I will be catching up with him via emails as well as reading the articles on his site and blog posts
http://www.hertao.com/
If you want to check out his ebook:
http://www.hertao.com/selfdefense/self-defense-ebook
Can you imagine living in an environment that was a natural disaster and having to deal with crime and safety daily? This is what he went through after Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps he will share some of his experiences and insights.
Thanks for the mention SG...sorry I'm a bit late in noticing the post!
ReplyDeleteFirst I'd like to make sure to say that New Orleans is a great place to visit now. The areas that tourists frequent are likely as safe as in any other big city, and the crime situation has improved greatly since the first couple of years after the storm.
My neighborhood was rough around the edges before Katrina. For the first 6 months after it was very safe (since it was pretty much empty), but for the next 1.5 years it seemed like the crime that used to take place throughout the city was condensed to the remaining 20% that hadn't been wiped out. So we had plenty of bad experiences from drug dealing to drive by shootings on our block.
With most of the city in ruins, the part of the "sliver on the river" where I lived was not only dangerous, but also depressing. There was no real work to speak of, etc., etc. I honestly don't think I have anything insightful to add though! In such situations you just take it day by day and do the best you can. Fortunately as I said, New Orleans is really back to life and moving forward. The people are no longer depressed, better solutions (to the poverty, low quality of education, crime, etc.) are being implemented, and there is a feeling of optimism in the city.
If I had to say something related to martial arts about the aftermath of Katrina it would mostly focus on awareness and avoidance. The best defense is not to be there.
Just checked it out - David has some really great stuff on the site. I'll be checking out his ebook soon - his video on practical trapping (http://www.youtube.com/user/HertaoNOLA) had some nice insights. Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteHello Hertao and Mr. Massie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments. Wanted to comment sooner but so wrapped up in revamping my site.
True that on the awareness and avoidance. One of the basic principles of self-defense.
Thank you once again.
~sg