UFC fighter Alistair Overeem Talks Anti-Bullying
Published September 24, 2012 at 4:04 am
[From left to right: Jef Catapang (host), Alistair Overeem, David Edwards]
David Edwards hosted Bully Be Gone, an anti-bullying seminar this weekend at Kombat Arts Training Academy in Mississauga and featured UFC fighter Alistair Overeem as his special guest.
David Edwards, founder of Bully Be Gone grew up in Meadowvale and went to Loyola High School. Having been exposed to bullying himself as a young adult, he has made it his life’s mission to spread bully awareness through Bully Be Gone seminars.
We had a talk with David and this is what he had to say about Bully Be Gone.
Tell me a little bit about your anti-bullying campaign – Bully Be Gone.
Basically Bully Be Gone…is simply this – bullying awareness for the many different variations of what happens in our everyday lives whether it’s youth bullying, woman bullying, work place bullying, business bullying and adult bullying. There’s a system of bullying affecting our society and we have to do something about that.
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How are you affiliated to Kombat Arts Training Academy?
Bully Be Gone’s launching pad was at Kombat Arts.
How did the Bully Be Gone seminar go today?
It was a great, great experience for a lot of people. A lot of people showed up and Alistair Overeem was here to give his viewpoints on bullying. And now the Bully Be Gone mission is taking off to find new areas and new places to spread the word and the awareness…bring together a system to get people to understand what’s going on in our communities.
How did you get “The Reem” to come to Mississauga?
Basically Alistair Overeem was coming to Kombat Arts for a meet and greet and the Martial Arts industry as well as the Martial Arts Foundation is a very tight circle. And regardless if it’s a professional competitor or it’s an amateur participant, we all basically know everyone. Alistair Overeem is a world champion, he may not know everyone, but what he does is commit to society and the community and we are very happy and very thankful that he came here.
What advice would you give a young adult who is being bullied at school or at work?
Find help and communicate it. Absolutely do not keep it in, and please don’t take the fight back to the bully. There are other ways to address the issue and tactically get away from being bullied. The last thing you want to do is start the fight, because when you start the fight you start the violence, which is the next step for bullying to go to. The first rule is communicate, let your voice be heard, yell if you got to, but let your voice be heard, that’s why you have one.
How can people find more information about you and your mission?
Check out David Edwards on Facebook, Bully Be Gone is part of my page. www.bullybegone.ca is going to be going up and going active very shortly. Bully Be Gone is on a mission, and Kombat Arts, Alistair Overeem were the launching pads.