Active Self Protection Extra

All things "ASP" that aren't daily narrated defensive encounters are found on this channel!


Active Self Protection Extra

Join us tonight! React Ripple AKA "John Reads Mean Tweets" is live at 8PM eastern/5 Pacific, and it's free for everyone tonight. So join us, would you?

watch.activeselfprotection.com/events/react-ripple…

1 month ago | [YT] | 57

Active Self Protection Extra

Join us LIVE tonight! We're going to chat a little about some recent events with the main channel and respond to some comments! This one is open to the public as we'll have it available to the ASP Lite registered folks.
activeselfprotection.vhx.tv/videos/react-ripple-wh…

If you're not signed up for the ASP Unlimited app, this is why we developed it. Ugh. But at LEAST sign up for the totally free Lite tier and join us for the livestream.

1 year ago | [YT] | 32

Active Self Protection Extra

For everyone who is a subscriber to the main ‪@ActiveSelfProtection‬ channel, the YouTube bots took down a short from the other day and issued the channel a strike. It prevents me posting videos on the channel for as long as a week. I have appealed, hopefully they will reinstate it, but in the interim we can't post over there so the daily lessons will not post.

They have posted and are posting in the ASP Unlimited app. This is one of the main reasons we started the app a year ago. watch.activeselfprotection.com/ or download it on iOS or Android and sign up.

1 year ago | [YT] | 157

Active Self Protection Extra

This holiday season, I wanted to share something special with all of you!! If you didn't get in on the launch promo, this will be the only chance you'll get to get ASP Unlimited at a huge discount.

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- Exclusive behind the scenes content
- Exclusive access to in-depth, full length classes
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- Ad free, Early Access to daily lessons

Limited-Time Offer: 50% OFF an annual membership-
Use code: HOLIDAY50 at checkout and enjoy an exclusive 50% discount on your ASP Unlimited annual subscription. This offer is our little holiday gift to you and is valid until 12/31/2023!

**How to Redeem:**
1. Click here: [ASP Holiday Promo - 50% OFF](get-asp.com/aspu50e)
2. Use code: HOLIDAY50 at checkout.
**Offer Ends: 12/31/2023**

1 year ago | [YT] | 64

Active Self Protection Extra

YO! Phoenix and Arizona friends! Come to this on December 2nd. SO MUCH FUN! Legal and moral self-defense seminar PLUS Lessons Learned From Analyzing Thousands of Defensive Gun Uses seminar PLUS lunch PLUS dry fire clinic and coaching from me and Neil Weidner, all for $20 with proceeds going to Glendale Christian Church to fund their food pantry!

‪@FirearmsLegal‬ is sponsoring this seminar and giving those proceeds to the church. Kudos to them for making that happen!

I make nothing from this seminar, just a great chance to train and encourage. :)

Please put it in your calendar and hit the link to register.

defenseseminar.com/arizona-seminar

1 year ago | [YT] | 28

Active Self Protection Extra

BLUF: I especially warn women not to train with John Murphy of ‪@Citizen-Defender‬ because of the significant, ongoing risk his behavior poses to women in class. I extend that warning to men as well, but doubly and especially want women to beware of the risks he presents at this time.

Now for the context. I hate this, I really do. But I must live my values, and that means doing what I can to protect the vulnerable from abuse by those in places of power. This is especially so when I have previously endorsed the one who has power and put them forward in my space, since many people trust my recommendations. When that happens it is my responsibility to protect people, and it has become abundantly clear that people need to be informed of the facts so that they can take appropriate steps to protect themselves.

Also, I have told Murphy (I will refer to him by his last name from here so that there’s no ambiguity about whether I am referring to him or myself) directly and personally that I was going to communicate this to a general audience, and he has had adequate time to digest that and dialogue with me if he chose to. I know that he has received that communication.

To the issues at hand.

In 2018 Murphy was publicly accused of very inappropriate behavior toward a female student which included lewd come ons in class, direct asking for a date in class, and similar behavior that was offensive to the student and fostered a hostile learning environment that constituted sexual harassment. That student made these issues public, and Murphy was called to give account for that behavior. He admitted that the student was right and he had acted in inappropriate ways. He seemed to own his behavioral problems and promised to get help and do better and deal with the underlying issues. I prayed with Murphy during that time for recovery and better interaction and encouraged him to do what he could to make it right with that student and to better himself. He took a couple months off from teaching classes and then was back on the circuit.

Late last year, though, reports came through credible channels that Murphy had not only repeated the same behaviors towards other students, but witnessed and verified instances in his classes that were worse came to light. These continued actions constituted significant and egregious breach of the responsibilities of a professional instructor of defensive skills and personal protection toward students. AFAIK nothing rose to the level of criminal behavior, and I will leave the details of what all was witnessed and claimed to the students involved directly. I know in large part Murphy has admitted to the truth of the claims.

Word got out to some of the training instructor community of what had happened and multiple class hosts canceled classes with him that were upcoming, and he was disinvited from major conferences and had formal ties cut with national organizations. He once again went off the circuit but again only for a couple of months before beginning again to book classes, often with new hosts who apparently did not know of his ongoing repeated behavior. He claimed to have started going to church again, had a religious conversion and was apparently baptized, said he would go to counseling, and then went back to teaching students as a traveling trainer. If someone was “in the know” in those national organizations, on the inside as it were, you were protected but if you were not on the inside, you were left on your own to book classes with Murphy without knowing the risks.

When we see patterns like this of abusive behavior, the first time it happens if the breach of responsibility and ethical behavior is serious but not criminal we might find a path through it for the person who failed to live up to their ideals in a matter of months, possibly, but with trepidation. With some counseling support, owning their shortcomings, etc that might serve to right the ship potentially. We would prefer to see them spend significant time, a year or more, learning and growing and repenting and changing. When we see a second instance, worse than the first, and in the same vein of behavior pattern, we would need to see *years* of changed behavior and significant soul work to change the deep-seated abusive patterns of thinking and feeling and behaving before we would ever trust them to be in a position of trust that would risk offending again. The cost to the victims is too high to do otherwise.

Secondly, talk of a religious conversion is all too commonly used by abusers to hide from accountability from their actions and weaponize theology against the victims. A religious conversion might be genuine and heartfelt, but it doesn’t excuse behavior or change the underlying abusive thinking, feeling, and behaving. Years of difficult soul work might, but a religious conversion to me too often is a red flag of avoidance and it doesn’t change the underlying issues a bit. In the community of followers of Jesus when someone expresses repentance and sorrow for sin we call them to even deeper repentance and full acceptance of the consequences of their actions. We never consider consequences of our behavior to be persecution but accept those as boundaries for us to protect everyone. When we seek a new start with Jesus that means a new direction, a new heart to do the right things, and a break with the past that issues forth in changed behavior evidenced over long periods.

I had hoped that some others in more direct positions of influence in the community would make the issues clear to a general audience over the last 6 months or so, but that has not materialized. When a friend invited women to come train with Murphy at their facility I had to message that friend, who didn’t know about the extent of the issues and subsequently removed their invitation and endorsement. Very recently I had another friend not know the issues at stake with Murphy while in a discussion on ethical behavior in the community of instructors, and when informed lamented not being warned previously. Those interactions prompt my post, as I am liable before God to do what I can to enable the vulnerable to protect themselves from the abusive.

Given the repeated and admitted behaviors by Murphy and the failure to truly step back from the places and means that enabled abusive behavior toward students, I cannot recommend FPF Training or John Murphy as an instructor. Instead I warn everyone to be very wary of training with him because of the risk involved. This is doubly so for women. The risk is real, and abusers are experts in manipulating people into places to be used. The prudent way to not be manipulated or abused is not to give an abuser the opportunity to abuse.

Remember that we get not only the words of the instructor but also their way and their why. (for philosophy nerds, not just the logos but the ethos and the pathos as well) Our ethics and our underlying values are inextricably interwoven in our teaching, and so even though in my experience the curriculum and class given by FPF training and John Murphy is good information, I cannot trust the underlying value system or the safety of students. Remember that as a student you get not just the curriculum but the values of the person teaching that curriculum, and also get the reputation of that instructor to some extent on us too.

I stand before God that I have no malice in my heart toward Murphy and continue to pray for him to change. I desire deeply for him to heal his heart from these abusive patterns of behavior. In my experience as a pastor and a leader in the defensive training community, I strongly believe his healing will be hampered by him being in continued positions of exposure to temptation to abuse, and I have urged him to stop teaching classes and anything else that puts him in a position to hurt another person. In the interim and until that happens I urge every person considering training with him, hosting him, or endorsing him to stand up TO Murphy, FOR Murphy, and stay away from any classes involving FPF Training.

I know that a post like this exposes me to some liability in this community, and some might feel like I am out of line. The truth is an absolute defense against a charge of slander, and more importantly I face huge liability before the Lord Jesus Christ if I stand by idly while people are abused for not knowing the risks when I could have helped them avoid it. And to sit silently while vulnerable people are abused by those in places of trust is to side with the abuser, and I cannot do that. I have seen too much of it in the firearms instruction community as well as the church and the martial arts community too, and I believe it breaks the heart of God. We must do better, and that starts and ends with us protecting the vulnerable from abuse. As Martin Luther famously said, “Here I stand, I can do no other.”

With deep sorrow,

John Correia
Founder and President
Active Self Protection

1 year ago | [YT] | 375

Active Self Protection Extra

If you're an ‪@ActiveSelfProtection‬ Unlimited subscriber, please go watch this First Watch. This badge cam (really surveillance cam) kicked my giggle box RIGHT over.

We do some kind of app exclusive video like this at least weekly. If you're not an app subscriber I get it, life is expensive in 2023, but we put SO much exclusive and useful content in the app that it is crazy valuable. And you can absolutely do a 7-day trial and slurp it all up and then cancel.

watch.activeselfprotection.com/videos/first-watch-…

2 years ago | [YT] | 61

Active Self Protection Extra

Super grateful for everyone watching and engaging with the content here on ASP Extra!

2 years ago | [YT] | 178

Active Self Protection Extra

Hey friends, if you have the ASP Unlimited App, my recent testimony in court (as well as the prosecution's expert), our reports, and all are uploaded and ready for you to be the jury! The defendant was charged in Michigan with illegal possession of a short barreled rifle in 2020 because he used a .300BLK AR-pattern firearm with a SB Tactical PDW stabilizing brace attached.

I set this up so that you get to hear from each expert, then get to hear the actual jury instructions that jurors in Michigan hear on this issue, then get to read each expert's reports, and then you get to tell me whether you would vote guilty or innocent on the charge of illegal possession of a short barreled rifle under Michigan law.

If you don't have the app, then start the free trial. There is a ton of great, exclusive content in there that makes it very worthwhile I believe. If you disagree, cancel at the end of your trial easy peasy and no hard feelings.

watch.activeselfprotection.com/you-be-the-jury

2 years ago | [YT] | 96

Active Self Protection Extra

It’s finally here! The ASP Unlimited App! Help me launch it and get a great discount at the link with code ASP50.

Tired of YouTube not giving you notifications and age-gating videos?

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All the daily surveillance video analysis is in the app with no ads. All the badge cam analysis. All the content from Active Self Protection Extra you know and love. All ad free!

PLUS we’ve added compilation videos with more adding all the time.

PLUS we’ve added full-length courses from some of the top instructors in the country in self-defense, with more adding all the time.

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PLUS we’ve added a forum so we can discuss these incidents without the trolls and bots.
PLUS more coming…it’s gonna be even bigger.

Sign up at the link for the monthly plan with code ASP50 to get 50% off for the first 3 months…all this for less than a burger combo!

watch.activeselfprotection.com/?code=asp50

2 years ago | [YT] | 98