The Cane Fu Defense

Some senior citizens in Florida are taking classes to help them learn how to use their canes as defensive weapons should the need arise. This leads us to Paul's discussion of the defensive tools we have at our disposal to battle hostile spiritual forces.

If you're heading out to visit an elderly friend or family member at the local retirement home or senior center, you probably expect to find a group of seniors hanging out in a common area playing bingo, sipping a cup of tea, reading a large-print book or engaging in a fierce game of checkers.

You might be surprised to find, however, that a couple of times a week the dayroom in a lot of these tranquil places actually transforms into a dojo where a robed sensei pits grandmas and grandpas against one another in simulated mortal combat scenarios. To the outsider, it looks like "Fight Club: Senior Edition."

But to those seniors out on the mat it's an important bit of training for navigating the dangers of the real world. Instead of learning karate chops, wielding kendo sticks or throwing pointed metal stars, these folks are learning how to use their canes as weapons for defending themselves against potential attackers who might see them as easy marks for theft or assault. While grandma...