"A stranger is a person you don't know," said Jim True, during a Friday morning demonstration in the Plympton gymnasium. "We don't talk to strangers because they do try to get information from us."
The students that sat before him, all from kindergarten up through second grade, nodded with agreement, and repeated after True: "No! Stop! Back away! I don't know you! You're a stranger!"
True's demonstration of stranger safety Friday covered his own ABC's of Self-Defense, which included being aware of a stranger's body language and dress, and being able to bargain and talk one's way out of certain situations involving strangers.
He even had students act out scenarios with him that involved running into strangers, who he said may want to do nothing more than give gifts to children to earn their trust, and to get information.
True, who runs the Shorin-Ryu Karate Academy on Waverley Oaks Road, holds a black belt, the highest level one can achieve, in Shorin-ryu, a form of Okinawan martial arts. He is also the vice president and vice chairman of the board of the Shorin-ryu Karatedo and Kobudo Association of America.
And although he was dressed in his belt and karate gi, a waist-length white robe worn by martial artists, True assured that his self-defense driven advice is meant to help children focus on the situation at hand and to remain in control.
"I tend to take a little more physical skills and part them in the kids," he said. "One thing is to engage them and keep them focused."
He even used a three-phrase chant as an example of how to focus: "Focus your eyes, focus you mind, focus your body!" True said with the students again repeating after him.
Kerri Falzone, whose first-grade son James sat in the crowd Friday, sat along the gym walls with other Plympton parents to watch the demonstration Friday, and said she enjoyed True's unique style in showing the kids what to do and how to react when being confronted by strangers.
"I think he has a wonderful way of teaching the children," she said. "He has a different approach."
James said he learned a lot about dealing with strangers through the demonstration, during which his favorite part was "when he told us to back away."
Lauri Cormier, with her first-grade son Brandon next to her, said True's performance was very beneficial, and said her son, who declined to comment, learned much from it.
"I thought it was very effective and I think it was something the school needed," she said.
For more information on Jim True and the Shorin-Ryu Karate Academy, visit www.shorinryuwaltham.com.
Matt Perkins can be reached at 781-398-8009 or at mperkins@cnc.com.
