Hank’s House of Horrors: The Zombie Scenario Room

This year, at our annual Hank’s House of Horrors, I had an idea.

Could I create a scenario where kids could practice their self-defense skills in a situation that would teach them the difference between self-defense and martial arts?

Thus was born the Zombie Scenario Room.

In our Zombie Scenario Room, you have to find an ID badge while being chased around by zombies. These aren’t World War Z zombies. They’re Resident Evil zombies. Slow-moving, relentless, and coming straight for your neck.

Before entering the room, participants learn three SPEAR System drills that demonstrate the proof of principles behind keeping your fingers splayed and your arms outside 90 degrees. They then have to use those principles to protect themselves while being attacked by zombies.

We had kids and adults punch us, kick us, and try everything they could to stop us. But we just kept charging forward, like the undead, so they could practice what to do when their strikes don’t work.

The scenario wasn’t about beating the zombies. The scenario was about surviving long enough to find the ID badge and get out.

Fear Changes Everything

We had over 75 people come to try the scenario room.

Only 25 were brave enough to actually go inside.

As soon as they watched the safety video, which you can see below, and realized the zombies could actually touch them, they didn’t want to do it anymore.

Everyone is okay with being scared in a haunted house. But most people don’t want to be touched.

Why?

Because they’re afraid of what they’re going to do, or not do, when that happens.

Isn’t that just like self-defense?

You’re afraid of what you’re actually going to do when you get punched in the face.

You’re afraid of what you’re going to do when your boyfriend is taking advantage of you, and you know he’s crossed the line.

At Blur Martial Arts, our SPEAR System is taught alongside our martial arts program so that you can learn all the awesome things, like a jumping, spinning back kick, but you can also learn what to do when you really need to survive.

When it counts.

And even though being attacked by zombies isn’t likely, the idea of throwing strikes at an opponent, having nothing faze them, and needing to figure out what to do to choose safety in that moment is a very realistic situation.

The Two Things That Actually Hurt Me

I’ll tell you the two things that hurt me the most during the scenario.

It wasn’t an adult hitting me in the trachea. I was ready for that.

It wasn’t a parent shoving me into a wall. I was ready for that, too.

The first was when my other zombie stepped on my foot with his steel-toed boots.

I wasn’t expecting it.

I thought he had broken one of my metatarsals. That pain slowed me down more than anything else because it surprised me.

I was in a scenario, pretending and role-playing, until suddenly I felt real pain that I wasn’t expecting.

The second was when my best friend’s daughter kicked me in the thumb.

Again, I wasn’t expecting that pain.

Even though it was just jammed a little bit, my whole body flinched toward the pain.

And that’s part of what makes this so interesting. You can think you’re ready for something, but when pain or fear shows up in a way you weren’t expecting, your body reacts.

That’s exactly why we train the way we do.

What About the Parents?

Overall, the scenario room was a huge success, and I can’t wait to promote it more next year.

But there’s something I really want to focus on next time.

I want more adults to do this.

Adults came into the room with their kids, and they had no trouble keeping me, a 150-pound adult man, from bear-hugging them when they used the SPEAR principles of keeping their fingers splayed and their arms outside 90 degrees.

They were even able to protect their kids from me.

But when both zombies started coming after them, they couldn’t stop us from getting to them or their children.

And that’s sad.

Because they actually could have done a lot more if they understood the SPEAR System.

They could have used those principles to give their kids time to get through the room and find the ID badge.

So next year, I think I’m going to add a Zombie Survival Course for Parents who want to go through the scenario with their kids, even if their kids are too scared to do it themselves.

The kids can focus on finding the ID badge, and the adults can focus on protecting their kids.

Because isn’t that what you’re supposed to be doing anyway?

Self-Defense Isn’t That Complicated

I’m not saying you’re going to be attacked by zombies.

What I am saying is that you need to learn the self-defense skills to keep your kids safe.

And they’re not that hard to learn.

They might be difficult to master in the most extreme scenarios, but believe it or not, dealing with a huge, slow-moving target that doesn’t require much accuracy is a perfect situation to learn how effective gross motor movements can be.

You don’t need fancy techniques. You don’t need years of martial arts training to start learning how to protect yourself or your kids.

You need to understand what your body already knows how to do, how to use it under fear and stress, and how to make decisions that give you and your family the best chance of getting to safety.

That’s what we teach through Tony Blauer’s SPEAR System at Blur Martial Arts.

And that’s what self-defense is all about.

See What BMA Can Do For Your Child

First class is free. No pressure, no contracts — just come see for yourself.

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