Kick butt the right way. Empower yourself with the knowledge of self-defense tactics.

Last month we received the tragic news that a woman was raped while on a run less than 2 miles from my house.  News like this really hits home.  I frequently run with my kids, and I have ran on the very same road the woman was attacked on.  News like this makes you want to stay home and close and lock all of the windows.  However, reactions like that, while understandable, aren’t reasonable nor the answer.  There is always a possibility, while remote, that someone can be out to harm you.  You can’t hide away forever, but you can arm yourself with basic techniques that will make you safer.

Many people avoid learning self defense for a few reasons.  The most common is, “That won’t happen to me”.  Obviously, this is a dangerous cop-out as often occurs without warning.  The woman recently attacked had ran in that area for 10 years.  It just so happened that on this particular run she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Another excuse is that the self-defense moves are too difficult or too physical.  This is absolutely untrue.  Most moves are designed for anyone ability.  You will be amazed at the power of a finger hold.  Learning where the naturally weak points on the body are and utilizing those against your attacker is key to successful self defense.

Finally, there’s the time factor complaint.  “I just don’t have time.”  While it’s true that training for your black belt in a martial arts field take years, learning basic self defense techniques can be done in in as little as an hour.

Remember, your main goal to in self defense is to incapacitate your attacker long enough for you to get away.

Don’t allow excuses to be the reason you don’t pursue a greater knowledge of self-defense.  Many places in town offer such classes, but I can speak personally of Champion Martial Arts in South Reno.  Working with Sensei Ryan (a 5th degree black belt in jujitsu) has definitely allowed me to feel more confident in my defense capabilities.  I already hold my black belt in karate, but it is important to continue refresher courses.  I have learned new techniques through the different discipline, such as escapes from different holds (wrist grabs, behind the back grabs, throat chokes, etc.) and new ways to incapacitate a pursuer long enough to allow me time to run away.  I can’t recommend his program enough.  Make sure to check out his next class time (they are often offered free of charge!) at www.cmareno.com.

You do not have to be a victim.  Give yourself the tools to fight back and learn self-defense!

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

“It’s a boy! It’s a girl! I am waiting to find out!” It’s a baby shower for military wives in the Reno/Sparks, Nevada area on March 9, 2013 and we need your help.

Windy Pinwheel is all about helping those seeking solidarity, community, fellowship, and friendship among parents, and things to do for parents, here in the northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada region. We, at Windy Pinwheel, were recently contacted by an individual named Farrah Brown seeking our help to spread the word about a baby shower that she is planning for 7 military wives in the Reno/Sparks, Nevada area on March 9, 2013. These military wives are far away from home and won’t receive a traditional baby shower because they are so far away from family and friends. It is not just the soldiers who are serving, but also the families of active military who make sacrifices for our country. We are always indebted to the men and women who serve this country and their families. What a fantastic way to give back for their sacrifice by spreading the word about this event. We want to help.

There is a baby registry located at Babies R Us under:
First Name: Reno
Last Name: Recruiting

The event itself will take place at the local Reno VFW on March 9 at 1 PM.

Here are some items that Farrah needs to make this happen that, at last update, she still needs to collect:

If you would like to mail an item, please send it to:

The mothers are expecting 3 girls, 1 boy, and 3 women do not know yet.

And there you have it. A photographer will be on-hand during the event to capture the moments as well as capture all the donations on digital film. Farrah has already reached out to local newspapers and magazines in hopes of spreading the word about the event.

We hope you can also spread the word by sharing this post on Facebook, twitter, StumbleUpon, Reddit, or any other location that you feel would benefit this event (hint: use the “Share” button in the top right of this page to share this post on your favorite social networks). We hope this event is turns out to be a raving success and that you can donate, at the very least, one item from this list above.

If you have any questions about this event, please visit the event Facebook page or visit Babies R Us and look up the baby registry, first name: Reno, last name: recruiting.

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.

Kids don’t need a national tragedy, like the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, to know that taking time to help others is fun and that when we help others, we are helping ourselves.

Our entire nation has been gripped with pain, shock, and most of all sadness since the horrific events at Newtown, Connecticut last week. I know I have been walking around in a teary daze for the past week. Things that meant so much last Thursday, like the fact that my cat won’t stay out of the Christmas tree or my car needs an oil change, now seem pitifully insignificant. My amazing family shines with the same brilliant light they always have. But I, like most of us, take for granted the sheer fact we have become accustomed to it. I cannot stop thinking of the families spending this holiday season with their loved ones so cruelly ripped away from them. Therefore, we decided to do our small part to help.

Now, my son is three and does not know about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He is too young to comprehend such evil. Christine’s children, miss A and little N, are also of the tender age of four and two respectfully. Trying to explain the deaths of 26 innocent people inside a school makes no sense so Christine and I, so we decided not to brooch the topic with them. However, though they are young, they are not too young to understand empathy. I want my son to know that when someone is hurting, regardless of whether you know the person, you can do something to help and make a difference. With this is mind, we decided to make holiday cards for the grieving citizens of Newtown.

My son and little N immediately jumped at the chance to do an art project with little thought as to the reason, but miss A (I should mention she is four going on fourteen!) wanted to know why we were making cards for people we don’t know. This is what Christine said, “There are people in this world who are not as fortunate as we are to have their mommy and daddy and siblings with them for the holidays. We want to make sure they know we are thinking of them so we will make them special cards so they know they are not alone.” It was simple, poignant, and effective. Miss A understood and immediately asked for a pink card, since she was making a special picture for a little girl who loved Christmas as much as she does.

That is what amazes me so much about kids. They don’t need a reason to do good. They don’t waste time weighing the pros and cons. They don’t need a national tragedy that literally brings them to their knees to know that taking time to help others is fun and that when we help others, we are helping ourselves. We can all learn so much from the innocence children that shines out daily.

We lost 20 of these precious and innocent lights on December 14th. Let’s make sure we all take the time to do whatever we can to bring just an ounce of that light back into our world. Here is what you can do to help:

Address for Letters of Condolences to the citizens of Newtown

Addresses for First Responders

26 Acts of Kindness

Make your community and country a better place! Look here for more information on the 26 Acts of Kindness Campaign. People around the country are committing random acts of kindness in honor of the victims. Here’s a sheet to fill out and share with others for you, not only for when you follow through on an act of kindness, but to share with others so that they too can pursue their own 26 acts of kindness. Please be sure to use the #26Acts and #26ActsofKindness hashtags with @AnnCurry when you tweet on Twitter about this campaign or go to Facebook.com/26Acts.

Are you doing something to help Newtown and the nation? Lets us know!

Sponsor this article for $1.00

Enter sponsor title and e-mail.

Enter website URL. Sponsor title will be hyperlinked with this URL.

By sponsoring this article, your sponsorship will display for a period of 180 days (6 months). If, for any reason, and it is up to the discretion of the authors of Windy Pinwheel, we feel content linked to or the name provided does not coincide with the objectives of this site for our audience we will issue a refund and pull the sponsorship of the article. This action does not limit you from sponsoring an article on our site again. However, by sponsoring again, we will issue the same review criteria as the prior sponsorship and if it fails, we will follow the same process as before and issue a refund and pull down the sponsorship. We truly appreciate the support of our audience and hope you can help offset our costs of operating this site by sponsoring our site articles.

For all reviews, please exercise discretion. If the sponsor of the article is in conflict of the topic of the article, we will pull down the sponsorship to remove any conflict of interest with the article at-hand. For instance, there is an article about a hamburger restaurant and a competing hamburger restaurant sponsors the article; we will pull the sponsorship and issue a refund.

By clicking the button below, I agree with the Terms & Conditions.