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About Us

THE "FORCE" BE WITH YOU is about being prepared.

Hello, my name is Lew.

I am a Black Belt in Wado Ryu Karate and a Certified NRA Firearms Instructor. I am a Vietnam veteran and an active member of many gun clubs in the area and I participate in many different shooting activities on a regular basis. I started "The Force Be With You, LLC" because I enjoy teaching these skills to others, for sport, recreation and self defense. I am the only instructor and all of the classes I offer will be taught by me. I believe strongly that the best defense and the best chance that you have to survive a violent encounter is to have a plan so that you will know how you will react. You have heard it many times: Action is faster than reaction.

Please understand the difference between fighting vs. ending a violent attack.

I will not teach you how to fight. Self defense is about ending a violent attack. It is not about toe to toe slugging it out or exchanging blows.

Make no mistake:

The best self defense is avoiding these situations in the

first place.

The second-best self defense technique is to run.

These two things will be covered in all of my classes, but if neither of these two options is available, The third best self defense technique is to do whatever it takes to end the attack.

The NRA courses that I teach are very thorough, they cover basics and fundamentals for safe gun handling, and the advanced courses teach very effective self defense tactics.

The unarmed self defense classes are "combat fighting techniques" As stated above they will allow you to stop the attack. They do not require hours and hours of training or conditioning to become good at.

They only require that you have the attitude that you want to survive.

Please call me if you want to talk or ask questions.

I have tried to keep my training up to date and current. Below is a list of my training and teaching experience.

Training Experience:

1967 US Army Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training

1968 Black Belt Wado Style Karate (Taiwan China)

1972 B.S. in Physical Education, SUNY College at Brockport

1983 Journeyman Tool and Die Maker

1985 Engineering Tech Degree RIT

2006 B.S.B.M.

2009 NRA Certified Instructor for Personal Protection Outside Home

2009 NRA Certified Instructor for Personal Protection Inside Home

2009 NRA Certified Instructor for Basic Pistol

2009 NRA Certified Instructor for Home Firearm Safety

2009 NRA Certified Instructor for Basic Rifle

2010 Red Cross First responder (CPR, AED, Basic First Aid)

2010 NRA Certified Range Safety Officer

2010 NRA Certified Instructor for Refuse To Be A Victim

2012 Defensive Shotgun Skills 101 Rochester Personal Defense, LLC · 

2013 Combat Focus Shooting from Rob Pincus of ICE Training

2013 Defensive Pistol Skills 101 Rochester Personal Defense, LLC

2013 Rochester Personal Defense, LLC Instructor Training and development program

2013 Defensive Pistol Skills 201 from Rochester Personal Defense, LLC

2013 Defensive Pistol Skills 301 Rochester Personal Defense, LLC

2014 NRA Certified Instructor for Shotgun

2014 Completed Ret. Lt Col Dave Grossman's "On Combat" Online certification

2014 Custom Rifle from Academi

2014 Custom Defensive Pistol from Academi

2014 Rochester Personal Defense, LLC Instructor Training Refresher  

2015 Custom Rifle course from Academi

2015 Custom Defensive Vehicle Operation course from Academi.

2015 Custom Defensive Handgun course from Academi

2015 Range Safety Officer rating for The Second Amendment Foundation’s Training            Division (SAFTD)

2015 Defensive Handgun 1 Instructor for The Second Amendment Foundation’s                Training Division (SAFTD)

2015 Defensive Handgun 1 from The Second Amendment Foundation’s Training                Division (SAFTD)

2015 Defensive Folding Knife 1 from InSights Training Center

2015 Defensive Folding Knife 2 from InSights Training Center

2015 Advanced handgun and carbine course- Academi

2015 Home Defense Course- Academi

2016 FAST Handgun Instructor for The Second Amendment Foundation’s Training              Division (SAFTD)

2016 Custom Pistol Instructor Development Training from Academi

2016 Custom Shotgun Instructor Development Training from Academi

2017 Personal Protection Course - Academi

2018 Krav Maga Basic Course

2019 USCCA Instructor Certification

2019 Combative Handgun Course, Rochester Personal Defense, LLC

2019 Glock Operator course

2019 Steve Gilchrist handgun course

2021 Vehicle Defensive Tactics - Executive Options LLC.

2023 Mission Red Dot: Sig Sauer Academy, New Smyrna Beach, FL

2023 Dave Spaulding's GREAT Fu*king Shooting Course!         


Teaching Experience:

· Physical Education

· Traditional Karate

· Practical Karate

· NRA Basic Pistol

· NRA Basic Rifle

· NRA Home Firearms Safety

· NRA Personal Protection Inside the Home

· NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home

· NRA Refuse to Be a Victim Seminars

· Rochester Personal Defense, LLC defensive pistol, shotgun and 

  combative courses.

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