ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU) – What would you do if you or your child was ever in the hair-raising scenario of a kidnap?

A chilling video has caught the attention of the public, after an attempted kidnap in Wal-Mart store in Georgia on Wednesday.

The surveillance clip shows a 7-year-old girl breaking free from a would-be kidnapper, after screaming and kicking for the man to let go.

Curtis Huff, owner and head instructor at Karate American says it takes les than 30 seconds for this type of incident to happen.

“He came up and grabbed her from the front. A lot of times in situations like that we might think it’s just a bad kid throwing a fit,” says Huff, while watching the shocking video surveillance clip. “She was wiggling; she was drawing a lot of attention to herself. The attacker doesn't want any sort of attention towards him otherwise, it’s like ‘I’m doing something bad and that’s what saved her.”

Curtis and his 4-year-old daughter Reegan watched the video clip together in Curtis’ office in Karate American.

Reegan says she agrees with her dad, you should yell for help if ever in a situation with a stranger.

“Who do we need to stay by?” asks Curtis.
“Mommy or daddy or grandpa and grandma or Amanda,” responds Reegan, remembering the ‘safe list’ her parents went over with her. “Because they make bad guys can't get you.”

Curtis says he wants to instill values of self-defense for his little girl, and it’s something he says other parents should take time to do as well.

“We want the best for our kids. Everyone wants our child to excel in everything they do in life so if we don’t give them the knowledge or information, it’s not going to happen,” says Curtis.

Curtis says parents often underestimate how much a child absorbs information at an early age.

“We just got to make it very basic. On cartoons, you got a good guy and a bad guy right there so if you illustrate it that way, they understand that,” he says.

Curtis says Reegan has been learning karate since age 3 because it’s never too early to teach her those values and take them with her when she’s older.

“One needs to be aware of their surrounding. If you're going out especially at night, you should go out in pairs or groups, family and friends should know where you're going, how long you're going to be and when you’re returning,” says Lt. Matt Rokus with Eau Claire Police Department.

Lt. Rokus says parents shold be prepared and take proper safety measures because a kidnapping situation could happen in any community.

“Marshal Arts isn’t just about learning a couple things and moving on, it’s more of a lifestyle, and I’ve instilled myself and I want to instill my child. Hopefully she never has to utilize any of this but someday if she does get put in a situation, instinctively she’ll know exactly what to do. Yell for help, run away. Throw a punch or kick if she has to,” says Curtis.

If you'd like to learn more about self-defense, Curtis says Karate American offers classes for everyone, as well as a free seminar in April.
For more information: www.karate-american.com