Training delivered by a former British judo champion has offered Loughborough College students vital skills for their careers and for life.
Daniel Bellion, who captained the GB team and is now a lecturer in Public Services at the College, helped Performing Arts students develop a range of specialised control and restraint techniques designed to enhance their performance – with the added bonus of potentially keeping them safe day to day.
“Public Services often work with Performing Arts, with students playing roles in a range of our training scenarios. On this occasion I was able to pass on skills used effectively in most blue light services, such as police, paramedics, security and the prison service.
“I had a ten year career in judo during which I perfected these techniques to enable control and restraint without lethal force – but they also offer excellent training for performance of, for example, fight scenes or to help break a fall during other difficult choreography.
“We looked at things like pressure points, submissions, taking someone safely from a standing position to the floor or keeping yourself safe whilst detaining someone.
“And these skills are also incredibly useful from an everyday self-defence point of view. It’s not about being a Power Ranger, it’s about getting away from a situation quickly and safely.”