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ARTICLES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following article is written by Senshido instructor Tarek Kazak What is a victim? Is it a person who has been attacked and hasn't survived? Is it also a person who has been attacked or abused several times? Is it a person who hangs their head low while walking down the street in a fear stricken and submissive state in anticipation of violence and abuse? Is it a person who looks a certain way, lives a certain way, talks a certain way? Is it a certain personality type, psychological or social profile, or is it a mindset, a perception of oneself? It's hard to say really, if you ask most people a victim is everybody else but themselves. Why am I on about this? Well, most of the time when I approach a person about taking personal protection classes, or more specifically a woman friend about one of our rape prevention seminars I always get the: "I don't need cause it'll never happen to me." array of speeches. Whether they are referring to their lifestyle, hairstyle or who they know it seems that most women are impervious to the depravity of others. Lucky aren't they? I also get, when speaking to more learned or spiritual people, the: "I don't act like a victim, have that mindset or project that image.", speech. Incredible the number of self-actualized people on the face of this earth. Please do not take my cynicism the wrong way. If I'm being sharp with my words it's because I care, and because I understand the importance of safety for ourselves and our loved-ones. So what is a victim? I believe it's is a person, for one reason or another takes no responsibility for their actions or the actions of others that directly affect them. In essence it is the person that blames everyone else and has willingly given up their personal power and made themselves helpless to the world around them. Sound familiar yet? How about the person that says it's not my fault, it's because she said this and he said that. Or the person who believes that can't do anything to change anything in their day or life because he or she controls this or that and therefore makes it impossible for me to do anything. It is that person that we hear whining incessantly about what this or that person has done to them, and how it's not fair, life isn't fair and if only things were different. Wait a minute, isn't this all of us? Maybe not all the time but at some point or another in maybe our day, week, month, year or life we have each sounded like this. So are we in danger? You tell me. The only time we can be sure of what we feel, what we know and what we project is in the here and now. There is no way for any manner of person to know what their state of mind will be every minute of every day for the rest of their lives, and even more so where they happen to be at those minutes. What if you are walking down a deserted street, late at night, with your worst nightmare waiting around the corner when it so happens that you're carrying yourself like a victim. Can you tell me beyond all certainty that this will never happen. Because if you know with certainty the things will and will not happen to you from this moment until you pass on, by all means please call me and tell when and if I'm winning the lottery, cause I could really use a new boat. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that when people get attacked for any reason that they have done anything wrong, or made some mistake. On the contrary, they were being what we all are and can never escape, human. So all those that are not human at this time may stop reading this piece and please refer to my extensive works of extra-terrestrial assaults and what not. Moving right along, when anyone decides to violate you in any way, never should you say you had it coming, or you deserved it, for it is their mistake, and just think what a mistake it will be if you have a plan of action. But what of the attacker? Why attack you, what propels any human being to want to defile another, destroy another in some measure. Surely, you think I'm referring to a sociopath or run of the mill nut job rapist. But I'm not; I'm still talking about the same people who are victims now and again. Haven't we all done or said hurtful things to others and especially loved ones. Haven't we all screamed, yelled and berated the odd stranger, friend or sibling. Haven't some of us raised our hands against these same people? I know I have, I've said things to people I love I wish I could have taken back seconds later or traded blows with a friend over something stupid, or picked on my little brother because he was just that, little. Am I a monster, were they all victims? Who knows? But not to stray too far from the point let's get back to why, I or any of you might behave this way. A very famous buzz word in the psychoanalysis and psychotherapy vernacular comes to mind, projection. By that I mean to take whatever feelings or perceptions we have about ourselves (good or bad) and projecting them onto another person, in effect holding them responsible for whatever our state of mind may be (funny where it seems this is going). There is also transference, where we superimpose certain dynamics of a relationship we may have with a certain person, onto another relationship because of similarities between each of these people. If light bulbs aren't going off yet, let me coax your higher reasoning with an example: think of a person you don't really know that well, that you hate, I mean that you can't stand, that really irritates you, that you would like to see take a nasty fall only to double over laughing at this sight. Whether it's your boss, a friend of a friend etc... Don't be shy, now why does this person annoy you? Do they talk too loud, are they arrogant, do they never give you a straight answer or are they too brutally honest? Anything will do, I'm sure you can all think of at least one person, or at least a person you do like or love that gets on your nerves in one way or another. Now tell me why it makes you nuts that they are one way or another? In the case of the person you don't know that well, how can you pass judgment on them, you know nothing about what makes them the way they are. What if you did? Would you be so hard on the person you may find arrogant if you knew that his parents had verbally abused him/her or their whole life, taking every opportunity to make them feel like nothing, convincing them they would amount to nothing. Now it's understandable isn't it, it's acceptable, they are human too and have a right to be how they are (you moral consciousness might be telling you). So why did they get under your skin in the first place, it wasn't personal, and they didn't act like this just to piss you off did they? Could it be that whatever made you angry is within you, that you either saw within them an unresolved issue with a closer relationship, or an aspect of yourself you're not comfortable with or in complete denial about? Maybe. Let's move away from my pontificating and use myself as an example. I have always disliked, or had trouble with emotional people. By that I mean people who can't help but communicate every single feeling they have in a one minute time span, and who seem to, in that one minute experience a ridiculous variety of emotions. Yes, I may be exaggerating but just to make my point and I will freely admit that I am getting annoyed just thinking about it. I mean these people; every little thing is an event: they cry, the laugh, they scream a million times per day. JEEEEEEEESUS!!!! So why does it piss me off, because growing up, I wasn't allowed to express what I felt, I was stifled, and as I grew I was told that as a man I had to be stoic and bottle everything I felt, never sharing or finding relief. If not, I would have failed those who had painted this image for me and this was most unbearable. As a result I thought that those that lived a 24hour drama were weak, selfish and I looked down on them. But as I grew older, and read enough books, spoke to enough people, I came to understand all this psychobabble I'm going on about, on different levels. But still, they piss me off. Because now, though I understood why they may be the way they are and me the way I am, I began to envy what they had that I couldn't seem to achieve, the simple expressing of one's emotions. So in reality, I was never angry with them, but with myself, I did only hurt them with my words or actions but myself as well. I watched Fahrenheit 9/11 the other day and a U.S. soldier, years younger than I, had understood this and said something I found remarkable; that every time we take life we kill a part of ourselves. Well isn't it the same when we lash out at others? So back to my initial point as to why a person may attack us, provoke us etc... Barring certain exceptions (only because I believe that all rules or statement of fact especially when opinionated has at least one exception). It could be that this person looks at you and on some level sees what they hate in themselves, and so they chose you, they project onto you: Maybe it's because your tall, or you look like you have money, or simply your of a certain gender or race, and your attacker is going to take all the dissatisfaction they feel in their life at that moment and make you pay for it convinced you deserve it somehow. Sounds like a victim trying to make victims doesn't it. When you think of a person antagonizing you, trying to escalate a situation like this they can become violent, on some level its like they want you to feel what they feel, like this they can take a good look at themselves in you eyes and then tear what they see apart. Richard once said in one of his articles that you have to take everything into consideration when approached in a hostile manner: where is this person coming from? Does that imply compassion on some level for all manner of aggressor's? Maybe. But remember that compassion for others can never come before self-love and by that I mean the appreciation for your existence and the subsequent will to preserve your life there from. Should we feel some measure of compassion for even the sickest, nastiest of criminals? I think so, especially after we hear how they got that way. Does that mean that it is up to us to save them and therefore allow our compassion not override the necessity to commit violence in order to protect ourselves? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Do you think that by allowing any kind of attacker or abuser, get the better of you on any level, does them any favors, or encourages them to change their ways now that you have so freely given them your power, now that they have seen the wrong they've done? If that were the case, criminals worldwide would be handing themselves in to the police or seeking therapy en masse. Besides if most of us can hardly figure out what's best for ourselves how can we possibly be qualified to know what's best for others. It seems to me, in any event, that you show more compassion to them and yourself, defending yourself (whether by diffusing or if you have no choice, fighting) than by giving in to them; because you send that message to them and to yourself that it's not okay for anyone to strip away your humanity so they don't have to face themselves. Anything less, is self-hating at best. I just want to conclude by saying that though I didn't directly quote anyone other than one thing Rich said, I can't take sole credit for the structuring of my opinions, many of the things I've said (if not all) have been said before. So let me say that this was inspired by the writings of people like Dostoyevsky, Carl Jung, Dan Millman, Thich Nhat Hanh and a host of others. But my true inspiration comes from the people in my everyday life who in many cases are wise and learned. So I thank my family, the people at Senshido, and my close personal friends (you know who you are). ________________ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DELIVERY SYSTEMS There’s much talk about delivery systems. A proper delivery system is critical and in order to develop a proper one, it is integral to train with resistance and energy. This we all know. However, there are 2 distinct delivery systems. One is physical while the other and most often neglected and misunderstood, is behavioral. In a sporting type situation like a MMA fight and sparring, the predominant delivery system is physical. One absolutely needs a striking arsenal, a clinching arsenal as well as a grappling arsenal, no 2 ways about that. The sporting event also has 3 elements a real violent confrontation doesn’t: Awareness, consent and preparation. These 3 elements eliminate several things such as fear (for ones life that is and not a fear of losing or looking bad), emotional inertia, the fight or flight response, the triggering of adrenal stress (although a NHB fight will trigger adrenaline, the context in which the mind perceives the threat is very different) and the rage in which the attack is delivered. In a sporting event, your opponent although trying to knock you out or submit you, isn’t trying to maim, cripple or kill you; this alone creates a completely different state of mind than a complete stranger hell bent on finishing you off. The very fact that you can tap out whenever you feel you’ve had too much or that the ref can stop the fight or your corner can throw in the towel also creates a different state of mind not congruous to that of a real violent confrontation. The real threats are the rapists, the muggers, gang bangers, the random bullies and ego jocks, the road rage incidents, the potential murderers, spousal & parental abuse etc. There is a certain certainty that comes with sports training that doesn’t exist outside of that avenue and that is the unknown. It’s been said ad-nauseam, but weapons, multiples, environment, people accompanying you etc. ads the stress of the unknown. It changes things and dictates different strategic implementations, tactical responses, etc. The arena is different therefore the tools need to differ and so does the delivery system. What is reality? Go to your nearest 'hard reputed' club, pub or bar on a Friday or Saturday night and simply observe the behavior, the initiation, the escalation and the treacherous development of a few fights. See if any of the participants "spar", stand at 4 or 5 feet away from each other first and square off. Check it out and compare it to the training that you do. With that in mind, a real attack on your person primarily deals with an attack on the mind which triggers a very different physiological response. Let’s examine this very hypothetical scenario for a moment: A top NHB fighter goes bad and decides to rape a woman. How will he approach her? Will he be gloved up, wearing a mouthpiece after warming up for the last 20 minutes or will he most probably be dressed in his every day clothes and approach her with dialogue as a set up? Is he in any way, shape or form expecting her to fight back, and if so, how easily does he believe he can submit her and keep her under control and have his way with her? Is his guard up or down? Is his ego up or down? Will his primary attack be a jab/cross combo followed by a clinch to take down, a mount and a ground and pound or will he most likely grab her by her hair threatening her anticipating and receiving a victim’s response of passive/submissive behavior? Does she not have the element of surprise as an advantage if she decided to fight back? And if she did fight back, would her primary attack be a clinch followed by an HKE combo or would she not attack vitals first considering the position and mind set of both predator and prey in such a situation? When Mike Tyson allegedly raped Desiree Washington, did it look anything like his match against Donovan Roddock that same year? Did he knock her out with a hook prior to forcing himself on her? Out of every successful rape escape incident we’ve all heard about in the last 20 years on the news where a woman successfully defended herself against a violent rapist and criminal, never, not once did the report ever mention her using a rear naked choke, a clinch, a boxing combination or any other sort of ‘martial arts techniques’. As a matter of fact, every time it was mentioned that a woman had some form of martial training, the result ended in rape. In
the next example, when a woman attempted a martial arts technique,
her attacker threatened to kill her, she only survived when she
went primal and instinctively fought back. For example: For example: Fri May 7, 8:47 AM ET Add Oddly Enough - Reuters to My Yahoo! JOHANNESBURG
(Reuters) - A woman bit off the lower lip of a fugitive man she
said attacked her outside her house in the South African town of
Tzaneen, police said on Friday. They said the man -- who was already
wanted on charges of burglary and rape -- waited outside the woman's
house for her to return from an errand and then tried to drag her
inside. Another example: “A
rapist was left speechless when his intended victim bit off his
tongue as he tried to force it into her mouth. The 30-year-old woman
from Harry squatter camp in Wadeville on the East Rand then ran
off, tongue in mouth, to the nearest police station a kilometer
away. Police were shocked when she produced the bitten-off tongue.
Moments later, the suspect also arrived in agony, with blood pouring
from his mouth, hoping to get medical help. He was immediately arrested." “My
friend Lynn was walking in the park one afternoon and saw a woman
in the initial stages of an assault. Lynn (maybe 5'5") went
into rampage mode and attacked the assailant. The two women were
able to drive the attacker away while drawing attention to the situation
by yelling the whole time. Lynn's action was selfless and unrestrained.
The intended victim later told police that Lynn's direct and physical
intervention broke the assailant's concentration and his resolve
to do her harm.
So stating that root skills in a sporting delivery system is an absolute necessity and that without it you are doomed is a fallacy. Although these skills can do nothing but improve and enhance your survivability and health for that matter, they are not necessarily the end all and be all for far more people have successfully defended themselves against certain odds with absolutely no training whatsoever then there have been martial artists who have used what they learned to successfully defend themselves. A behavioral delivery system is critical, much more so than a physical one in terms of personal protection. This is what loads the dice in the favor of the intended victim because seldom will an attacker pick someone whom he thinks or believes will hurt or maim them as a victim. The attacker will predominantly and primarily make an attack on the mind prior to an attack on the body, hence posturing, instigation through intimidation, cursing, threats, explicit anger, etc. The range will also be close quarter but the aggression will not be sport related at all, it will be very different such as lapel grabs, strangulations, weapon deployments, tackles, shoves, hair pulls, and sucker punches from natural / non sport combative stances, incorporating aggressive dialogue, threats, etc. If the attacker doesn’t suspect a violent retaliation targeting vitals such as eyes, throat and facial features (not using the standard punching or JKD finger jabs either), his reaction will be very different than if he was squaring off with an opponent who was trying to do the same… in one instant, it is seemingly out of nowhere, in the other, there was awareness, consent and preparation. It is the state of mind and behavioral delivery system that makes such attacks successful not the ‘technique’ or tool itself. The problem is in fixating on the tool (the eye gouge for instance) and claiming “anyone can do that”, yes, it is true; anyone can do that, however, how many real fights that you've seen or heard of ended with one of the opponent's having their eyes gouged out? Point being, although anyone can do it, most people don’t and don’t even consider it or train for it for that matter. So yes, anyone 'can' do it, but rarely does anyone 'do' do it. Just because you played badminton all your life doesn’t automatically make you a good tennis player. This of course doesn’t mean you don’t need a good physical delivery system. We’ve always and continue to advocate the necessity of both a behavioral and physical delivery system. If anything, we highly recommend actively training in an alive combative discipline. However, some people unfortunately don’t have the time, energy, or desire for that matter to train 3 or 4 times per week to enhance their combative skills. Does this mean they cannot learn to effectively defend themselves? Does this mean that they don’t have the right to defend themselves? Absolutely not. If that were the case, we wouldn’t be alive as a species today since people have been effectively defending themselves since the dawn of man and before MMA arts or NHB ever existed. So how did they do it? How does a woman defeat a crazed rapist without any prior training at all? Luck? I think not. There’s much to be said about attitude, mind set and belief systems. The behavioral and psychological arsenals fine tunes our already existing survival instinct. The key is in getting people back in touch with it, we already posses the tools and instinct, we just need to re-awaken them and stay true to the physiological rules that govern our minds and body. _________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHY WE DO… "Everybody
today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments
and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little
time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other,
and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world. Work
without love is slavery." The dichotomy of my work is that I teach people, if necessary to protect themselves, to hurt others in doing so. It is truly unfortunate that the need for the line of work I am in exists. I wish that it could only be for leisure, health, fun and sport but alas, the world we live in has dictated otherwise. I wish that I could stick to the other elements of my work but something inside of me burns and I have chosen the enhancement of survivability as my primary path. At the risk of opening myself up to criticism, ridicule and mockery, I honestly do what I do because I care. Are we driven by money? No, but money helps us continue our work. Without it, we couldn't provide the information, the instruction, the materials we provide. Is money the primary concern? No, if it was, I would be doing something else that was much more financially rewarding or I would have succumbed to the demands of franchises and easy certifications. Are we driven by ego? No. Although this industry promotes gurus and masters, cult mentalities and hierarchies, I believe that we are but guides. What we do isn't anymore special than the work a garbage man does, your math teacher did/does, the firemen do or any other endeavor. There is honor in all work as long as the work is honest and done well. Without the garbage collectors, we'd be swimming in our own filth. Did your math teacher convince you that his math was the best? Are we driven by fame? No. Fame is a non issue. Fame doesn't bring happiness or feed our children or put a roof over our heads. The quality of our work does. Do we care to have a good reputation, yes, but that again is based on the quality we provide and the personal attention we give to those who seek us out. The essence of the martial arts had much to do with peace, harmony and spirituality. Courtesy was the cornerstone of all virtues. It is this virtue that is required of any human being in order for them to maintain a peaceful co-existence with the world. Justice is also one of the martial codes that have lost its meaning. People embarked on their martial journeys to improve themselves and enhance their survivability both through the practice of self protection and the health benefits provided through the training and healthy living. Why do you do what you do? Don't answer this question too quickly. Reflect upon it well and answer it truthfully, not with a political agenda or the expected time honored response, but with the truth. Answer it for yourself and not for anyone else to hear. Why do you do what you do? I am reminded of Mother Theresa's words engraved on the wall of her home in Calcutta: "People
are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; If
you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
If
you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true
enemies; If
you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; What
you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; If
you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; The
good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Give
the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; You
see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; Religious connotations not withstanding as your beliefs are yours and mine are mine, the true essence of the martial arts is in the improvement of the self and in the aid of improving others. Therefore the existence of the system or style in question must promote their truths as truths and your reasoning behind seeking them out should be clear, concise and honest regardless of the reason whether it is for health, sport, competition, art, discipline, self defense or a combination of all. Passion is more important than the financial reward for the true reward is to be found in the help you provided through your guidance that improved and/or possibly saved someone's life. There is nothing wrong with making a good living out of it either as long as it isn't at the expense of integrity, honesty and quality. So
if what you do truthfully and honestly works for you, who is to
say it is wrong? Keeping an open mind in this field is a difficult
task because it is easy to shut something out that we've never even
experienced as a defensive reaction to another's attack on our ways
or their nay sayings. One should have the strength and courage to
think for themselves but unfortunately, the martial arts industry
rarely caters to such openness. Trust in oneself is important, trust
in another is earned. So regardless of who says what and what guru,
master, coach or teacher said about something, (myself included),
and regardless of the arguments they presented for the pros and/or
cons of it (logic preceding of course) seek it out for yourself
and form your own opinion on it, regardless of the outcome. You'll
be glad you looked for yourself because the knowledge will now be
yours and not another individual's who simply imparted his filtered
opinion to you. _________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THERE
ARE NO ABSOLUTES It is critical to understand that there are no absolutes. There is no black and white in combat or defense, there is no 'always' or 'never', there is nothing but an infinite amount of shades of grey, speculations, maybe's and IT DEPENDS! How long does a street fight last? 10 sec.? 25 sec.? A minute? A minute an a half? Honestly...? Who fucking cares? It will last as long as it will last... the question is, will you? How conditioned are you? Do you understand the effects of emotional and psychological stress and how it affects your performance? What are you prepared to do? I train my students overkill. They are prepared to go 5 minutes straight if they have to, 10 minutes or half an hour of that is what it takes. So they don't care if the average is 10 seconds or 3 minutes. That is a concern they don't have to even think about because they are prepared to go on and on until they are safe, whatever it takes. I am often asked why our workouts in our classes are so grueling, why I allow the fights to go on for 20 minutes non stop sometimes, why the overkill if a street fight only lasts X amount of seconds... because you never know. Prepare for the Terminator so everyone and everything else will pale in comparison. "When you throw a kick (or punch or strike or whatever you wish to insert here) where do you land after?" It depends. What was your opponents reaction? Did your strike have the desired effect? What was the result of your choice? "When someone throws a straight punch, I was told to always move to the out-side and never to the in-side, is this correct?" It depends. Does your opponent have a friend standing on his out-side? Are you leaning against a wall which is 'his out-side'? Is the hand or arm you are 'supposes to' block, parry, jam whatever with functional that day (I.e., is it in a sling, broken wrist maybe, sprained, tendanitis in the shoulder?) "When defending against a knife ALWAYS stabilize the weapon hand before attacking." - When defending against the knife, NEVER stabilize the weapon hand just attack, attack, attack!" It depends. Where's the knife? Close, far, stabbing you? What is your opponent doing? Is it a static attack? Is it dynamic? Is he leadng with the knife or coming at you Folsom prison style? Does he have a friend? Is his friend aremed? Do you see what I am getting at here? There are no absolutes! "DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE WHEN IT IS CALLED UPON." - Senshido Adage - This philosophy will help create clarity in the moment. Fixation on this or that may get you killed. There are no black and white answers. Train your defenses in various scenarios to find out what you will do. Meaning: You want to work on defense against a static knife attack at the throat? Good. First work the principles and concepts, then the physical defenses until you are comfortable with them. Next. Take that situation, the static knife attack, and do it under the following cnditions; 1.
You're alone. The list can go and on and on... see ifyour "technique" remains the same throught out. See if the results are the same everytime... There are no absolutes. This is why we do not teach techniques but conceptual guidelines, tool and target development, strategies and tactics... _________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEYOND
TECHNIQUES Techniques
as described by Webster's II New College Dictionary goes as follows: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Imposing our failures onto others. Martial artists in general seem to think that just because they can or can't do something, then the same goes for everyone else. That's not only narcissistic, but self-centred as well. The main difference between reality based systems and mixed martial arts (besides the hundreds of apparently not so obvious ones) is that reality based systems are geared more towards general population and Joe/Jane average, whereas mixed martial arts are geared more towards athletic men (more so than women). Majority of sport oriented martial artists don't seem to grasp that not everyone concerned about their personal safety is interested in winning the next UFC. How many times have we heard "If he's so deadly then why doesn't he enter the UFC?" The answer is simple… for one, it's not a matter of being 'so deadly' and because people who train in reality-based systems would use tools and tactics that are forbidden in the UFC. This includes the will to do whatever it takes to survive and go home as intact as possible. If you took these tools and tactics away, you would be left with a mixed martial art. Therein lies the difference. When the UFC first started, it was much more realistic it terms of a 'street fight' then it is today. Back in the early 90's, there were no weight divisions, there were no time limits and there were 2 rules and 2 rules only: No eye gouges, no throat strikes. Today is much different. Today there are weight classes, time limits, several holds have been barred (which makes me wonder why it is still referred to as "No Holds Barred"???) and due to this, the training of these athletes have had to have been modified to fit the environment they are competing in. So imagine training in a martial art that automatically restricts several tactics and holds. How beneficial is that in reality? For example: One of my students, Dave, came to see me for private lessons in grappling, as he was about to enter 2 separate grappling tournaments. I began to train him and as we were going along, he stated that in his division, there were certain submissions that were not permitted. He also stated that there was a time limit and that one could win on points. Well these 2 particular 'rules' changed the dynamics of his training. No longer could he train certain holds and finishers but we also had to train him to win on points by establishing certain positions in case he got tired or was facing a better grappler. This type of training is extremely counter productive to surviving a real fight. After a few weeks of strictly training in grappling, my student began to develop bad habits in the group classes. In our PHASE 2 classes, all the students conceal a training knife on them and are instructed to attack anyone at anytime during the class from the moment they walk into the school to the moment they exit the school. So during the warm up session of one of our classes, another student jumped Dave from behind and pulled his blade out. Dave reflexively went for clinch and a takedown but was stabbed multiple times in the process, he got up and realized it afterwards and was very disappointed in himself. (Now in contrast to this, so those of you who like to cut and paste my articles on other forums in order to criticize them and whine about how impossible it is to defend against a knife and this type of training proves nothing), every other student who was also jumped by surprise and had a knife pulled on them did fine. Not to say none of the fights ever hit the ground, not true, some did, and the student's grappling skills were imperative in aiding them in surviving such an attack but the point is, they didn't solely rely on grappling or mixed martial arts tactics. Their training was 'limitless' and not bound by any rules or codes of conduct or sportsmanship. They did whatever it took. This is not a bash grappling or mixed martial article. If I were to write the piece in reverse, I would give you the same amount of reasons why a reality based fighter wouldn't fare as well as a mixed martial artist in a UFC style bout. Two different arenas, two separate set of tools, tactics and strategies. Don't get me wrong though, I would put my money on Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture or Frank Shamrock any day of the week in a street fight but how many Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture or Frank Shamrock's do you know? Regardless of how hard your mother trains, she will never acquire the skills, strength or stamina that any of these pros have, even if she quit her job, quit being a housewife, quit being your mom and trained 6 days a week for 5 hours a day, she would never acquire such level of proficiency. So wouldn't you prefer your mother arm herself with psychological warfare and some down and dirty true no holds barred tactics that will allow her to stun and run a potential rapist rather than attempt to get him in a mounted position and ground and pound? Please… before you go off thinking there's no way a 40 or 50 or even 60-year-old mother could defend herself against a rapist, keep in mind that women have been doing so since the dawn of man and without any training whatsoever. Tony Blauer always said that there are far more people who have successfully defended themselves in the history of mankind with no prior training whatsoever then there are martial artists who have used what they've learned to defend themselves. This because of their will, beliefs and mental arsenal. A woman and her 12 year old daughter in British Columbia (sometime around 1991, or 1992) caught a burglar in their apartment by surprise, he was over 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed over 220 pounds as described by the news. Not wanting to get caught he grabbed a fire poker and began beating the mother with it, he cracked he skull open, broke her arm and wrist. Her daughter jumped on the man and he grabbed her off his back and smashed her face into a wall knocking her flat out. The mother saw this and freaked. She attacked the man with an intense ferocity that caused him to panic and take off. How could this be though? But she wasn't a BJJ black belt? She never competed in the UFC?!?! How odd! Gees, if she's so deadly, why doesn't she compete in the UFC? I mean, this woman just took out a man twice her size and with a split skull, a broken arm, and wrist none the less! It wasn't her technique that saved her and her daughter's life. It wasn't her arm bar, her chokehold, her ground and pound or how adept she was in her footwork or clinch work. It was her mindset. It was her sheer will to survive. The idea behind reality based training, is in helping regular folk get back in touch with their 'killer instinct' if you will, to give them the necessary tools to be able to avoid a potentially violent confrontation through environmental awareness and profiling skills (both people and locations). To provide them with the necessary skills to defuse and de-escalate a potentially violent confrontation through choice speech and the understanding of behavioural aspects in relation to violence. To provide them with the necessary physical tools that won't get them into a 3 to 10 minute brawl with a potentially armed attacker, but instead arm them with the proper tools to stun and run if possible or debilitate someone long enough to flee. This compiled with mixed martial arts training provides the average citizen with an enhanced chance at surviving violence. There are certain reality based trainers out there however who only advocate eye gouging and groin strikes and they think that this will stop a decent grappler, obviously, they have never fought a grappler. Statements like these make those of us who teach a holistic curriculum look bad and group us together. Mixed
martial arts and reality-based training are intertwined; you cannot
take away the mixed martial arts aspect from reality-based training
but you can take away the reality based training from mixed martial
arts, hence the difference between sport and street. Train
diligently and intelligently. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Shred or not to Shred… Since the term Shredder was coined, it has raised many eyebrows. The most common mistake made regarding this concept is that it is a technique or a set pattern of sequential moves that can be trained like a boxing combo. It isn't. Let me clarify a few misconceptions regarding the Shredder. For one, although I have been accused of doing so… I have never stated that it is the end all or be all of personal protection training, not at all actually. I would like to state however, that every single individual who has 'experienced' the Shredder first hand both on an offensive and defensive level, have made it their choice conceptual tool. If I, or anyone swears by it, then it is our choice and our prerogative. Nowhere do I force it upon anyone; you want it, we'll teach it to you, you don't, no worries, it's all good. When I speak of 'experiencing' the Shredder first hand, I don't mean reading about it on a forum, a magazine, an article, or even viewing it on a tape for that matter. Very simply stated, if you like the Shredder and it works for you, then by all means, use it. If you've experienced it and it didn't work for you, then by all means, don't use it. Let me tell what you the Shredder is not: It is not a technique. It is not a pattern of sequential moves or a combination of any sorts. It is not a tool you decide to use at anytime of your choosing. It is not this millennium's new 'Straightblast'. The Shredder's forte is not in it's technical retaliatory properties, it isn't about how it breaks a nose, gouges out an eye or breaks a jaw. The Shredder's forte is in its psychological traumatic abilities. It is designed to completely disorientate and unbalance (both on a physical and psychological level) an opponent. Once in motion, each improvised tool based on your opponent's reactionary movements will find their mark rapidly and savagely. Your opponent will literally have no time whatsoever to react except reflexively by attempting to do whatever is in his power to just not be there. This is largely due to the fact that the timing between each choice retaliatory tool is based on less than a half beat. Each choice tool is delivered in a fluid (flow like manner) on a quarter beat. Imagine for a moment, sticking your face in the propeller of a helicopter in full motion… this is akin to being Shredded (metaphorically speaking of course). The beauty of the Shredder is that it can also be applied with minimal force and cause little or no injury and still be effective at subduing your opponent as it will maintain its disorienting and unbalancing features. Once in motion, the Shredder cannot be stopped or countered or intercepted by the said opponent. I have personally done the following demo, live, dozens of times (matter of fact, it can be seen in our Get R.E.A.L. video series) where I give a participant a real blade and tell him to put it in his pocket and pull it out at anytime to stab me with it as soon as we enter the clinch zone. As the Shred begins, it is impossible for the opponent to do anything else except try and get away. Why? Because the Shredder bypasses all cognitive processing and causes instant panic and havoc. It bypasses your opponent's reflexive response and flinch mechanism due to the repetitive onslaught. The Shredder uses tools from a spontaneous barrage of gross motor skills where the targets are manifested by your attacker's panicked attempt at defensive disengagement. It gives you a 'ghosting' (A term I borrowed from Sammy Franco) type of effect because while Shredding, you completely and totally overwhelm the individual while at the same time shifting out of his power-box leaving you virtually risk free of being struck. The Shredder can shift you from close quarter combat to grappling with ease if you so desire. It is a perfect companion to a grappler's tool box especially when using the said range in a real fight as in coincides with any and all close quarter application type combat I.e. grappling, ground fighting, close quarter combat, and even in close boxing. What tools are utilized in a Shred? Any and every tool at your disposal during a high stress situation. (I mention 'high stress' because all fine motor skills during a perceived threat and imminent danger are unusable due to the bypassing of the cognitive brain by the mid brain). Gross motor tools include: spitting, biting, hair pulling, clawing, raking, elbowing, kneeing, head butting, palm striking, neck cranking, rear naked chokes, etc. etc. How do you practice the Shredder? With a training partner. The only inanimate object remotely useful to train solely the physical portion of the Shredder on is the BOB Dummy. Heavy bags, focus mitts, etc. don't do it. Since tactile sensitivity is a primary principle of the Shredder and you grossly rely on reactions, solo training the Shredder becomes for the most part… obsolete. You can however shadow Shred if you're visual enough a person to do so, this will however focus more on biomechanical application. So… is the Shredder 'the best' thing you can do? Is it 'unbeatable'? Is there anything better out there? It depends on whom you ask. For many, including myself, it is a concept that has yet to fail. I have personally used it in almost every violent confrontation I have encountered that turned physical and it worked exactly the way I described it. So for me, I have yet to find something that suits me as well. It may not be for everyone as everyone is different; it's all a matter of personal preference I believe. Just do yourself and me a favour though, don't pass judgement on it (good or bad) until you've experienced it yourself with someone who's trained directly with me or one of my crew. I hope this shed some light as to what the Shredder is. Please understand that the written word is left to interpretation through filtered perception, it is but 10% of communication… we do not have access to tone or body language. Note:
The Shedder is explained in detail in both the Get RE.A.L tapes
and the Strategic Stick Fighting tape available through our shop
section. Thank you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM
FROM THE LIMITATIONS OF 'STYLES & SYSTEMS' "Once
the combative mind frees itself of the obstructions from necessity
(primarily caused by the fixation with technique), it will evolve
to its highest state of absorption and enhance its moment to moment
capabilities with refined accuracy. The 'fight' from its earliest
point, to its state of incompleteness is so vast that any attempts
at locking onto specifics deludes our chances of survival from the
minimal... to the extreme." This
was part of a reply I gave someone on my forum a while back. I got
several emails telling me how profound and enlightening these words
were to some and others asked me to explain the quote to them.
Probable Worst Case Scenarios Here's an ugly scenario; you are out with friends, you are assaulted, and out of your group of three, you are the only one versed in self-protection… Ouch! This is a very likely scenario. Here's another one just as ugly; 3 of you, separated when the proverbial poop hits the oscillating turbine, you are taking care of business, the problem is: your bud is not, and is about to get shanked from behind. He is stunned and you need him to turn around. You want more? I knew it! You can escape, so can your bro… the problem is, bro # 3 is down… you have to think up and implement a strategy in a matter of seconds to execute a "combat rescue" so you can get him help. More? You are trying to get home from the middle of a riot or a massive rumble. Your friends and you get separated… Yada yada yada… On the battlefield, communication is paramount. Infantries, artilleries, air support cannot operate without it. The street is a micro version of this. It is inevitable, if more than one guy gets jumped, communication between the 2 or more, can play a large factor in your survivability. Imagine if the others are untrained, you are baby sitting, trying to get them out alive…. Wow… what are the chances without the proper training? This is part of the challenges of surviving a street set up. Shit… one more thing to learn, to program… you are right! It never stops. The people you socialize with are all upstanding citizens (I hope) and, despite that fact, they might or might not share your ideas, beliefs and values regarding self-preservation. Maybe for some, self-preservation is a karate class at the local YMCA while for others; SD training is futile since it "does not happen to people like them". Bottom line is: You will have to assume leadership instantly. Ruffling feathers is not a concern. Being sensitive and apologetic will waste valuable time… you owe no explanation to anyone; the situation dictates that you take charge immediately. After asserting yourself as the instantaneous leader, just like putting the mask on yourself before your child in an airplane, you need to tactically position yourself so you can act and do the job of saving your butt and your friend's DESPITE him/herself. Tangles at this point are your worst nightmare, grappling; any position forcing you to "tunnel" in on your opponent is to be avoided. You need, at this point, the ability to deal with your immediate threat, while diffusing your detection systems (sight, auditory) onto the scene of the altercation. As
a "general" at this point, there is no grey… It is
black or white. You can't afford to guess / assume / hope / wish
etc… If you have to direct people, it is an order and vocalized
as such. The "order" has to be acted upon instantaneously.
Be forceful. Hesitation on your part will breed hesitation on theirs.
Do not waste time on justifications, explanations and such. Man do these scenario ever suck. After securing your group, keep them together, survey… is anyone hurt? Nobody leaves the group without checking with you. The last thing you need is to have to go fetch "John" who went back to teach them a "lesson". The choice to wait for law enforcement is yours. Do not wait if the scene is not secure. Wow, all this is overwhelming… imagine if firearms are deployed? Or just toss a few weapons like bats, chains, bottles etc… "That's fine muthafako, but how the hell will I train for that?" Easy… scenario replication training! Scenario replication training is a great way to test your tactical confidence. It permits you to pressure test your skills on an emotional / psychological and physical level. Your training should prepare you for worst-case scenario. It's imperative to not 'act' but to instead 'be' yourself in the moment you created without anticipation, without prior thought except to the ones natural for the moment created. Where does your mind naturally wander and what does your body want to do naturally in that moment, then bind your combative strategies to that moment. Your workouts must always duplicate a combative situation even when weight training, you must weight train for functional strength as opposed to simply building 'mirror muscle'. Consider the work out's association on a psychological and emotional level to your goals. Everything you do has to have a philosophical reason behind it or else you are strictly 'working out' the body. In order for the training to be efficient on all levels, it needs to take into consideration all variables. Sparring in separate ranges such as grappling, boxing, kickboxing and even mixed martial arts sparring are but physical tool developers and are definitely a necessity, however, they are but a means to an end. Scenario replication is the totality which allows you to explore the emotional, psychological and physical links together. Train
intelligently and diligently -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mythology,
Mysticism and Martial Arts It's
amazing what people are willing to believe without seeing, willing
to believe what they hear and willing to believe it all without
experiencing. You cannot build a reputation on what you are going
to do. Theoretical fighters are just that. Foundations built on
words. Train intelligently and diligently. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mythology,
Mysticism and the Martial Arts Currently,
the world is plagued with tens of thousands of fraudulent self-proclaimed
masters of martial arts, hand to hand combat and self-defense experts.
For the most part, these are charlatans taking advantage of people's
fears and insecurities, their desires to emulate their heroes on
the silver screen and their need for empowerment. The cause of this
unfortunate state of the arts is commercialism. The media. By the
time the Asian martial arts exploded into the US in the late 1950's
early 60's, they had become so exploited and distorted that they
had no bearings of resemblance to the true arts. They had merely
become commercialized clones, and bad ones at that. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIMPLICITY REVISITED Martial
artists in general still don’t fundamentally understand the
concept and extreme importance of pre contact psychology. It’s
amazing to see forum after forum; message board after message board,
all that is being discussed is ‘techniques’. Which technique
is better, which techniques would you use against an armed attacker,
multiple attackers, a grappler, a huge individual? How unfortunately true. Back
to the physical side: knowing thousands of moves and techniques
will create major problems in the natural flow of spontaneity during
a real life extreme violent attack. In real life, it’s the
surprise or “sucker” attack which counts. All other confrontations
are not entirely “real” personal protection/self defense
situations since they allow for some sort of preparation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AN INFO SESSION AT A TRADITIONAL SCHOOL (This article first appeared in The Bible of Hand to Hand Combat volume # 8 – 1995) The following semi-fictitious story humorously illustrates what occurs in many martial arts schools around the country today. Sad as it may be, it is also true however it does not mean that all schools are like this. I personally know of at least a dozen schools where things like this occur. You know, at least 10 people who were training in a school as the one described below have realized this after reading the following article and actually quit training at their school after years of being members there? Read, enjoy, take with a grain of salt or two… but beware. Mrs.
Jane Herman (Potential client) Master
Sensei (Of no oriental origins) What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “How about cardiovascular training and weight reduction?” Master Sensei - “You want to lose weight and gain confidence, no problem, our style is designed for maximum efficiency in all areas. Mind, Body, Spirit, Jane. Here is your uniform, it is called a Gi, you must treat it with the utmost respect for it is your traditional garb for every time you train” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “Uh, these are really big on me, they make me look 20 pounds heavier and I feel silly in them. Also, I’m not crazy about the white, do they come in other colors? Why must I wear this?” Master - “This is a traditional martial arts garb Jane, you wear it to honor and respect the ancient masters. White is the color of beginners, it reflects your purity in the arts. That is why I am the master and you are the student.” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “Excuse me? Sir or master?” Master - “In martial arts, you have to respect your seniors, those who have achieved higher rank and have moved on in the arts. It is a sign of discipline and respect. It teaches the student humbleness and in turn makes them grow to be better people.” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “I see a second place trophy hiding up there on your shelf?” Master - “Yeah, I got second place in the international competition and that rat fink judge ripped me off, there were 179 contenders in my division and I got second place, I wasn’t feeling well that day you see Jane, I had a flu and my back injury was acting up.” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “Okay…when I feel ready to move up in belts, do I just let you know or…how does that work exactly?” Master - “Well Jane, rank promotion is taken very seriously here. We will let you know when you are ready and set a time and date for you to pass the test.” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “Anything else I should know about?” Master - “No Jane, that’s about it.” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “Are you positive?” Master - “Absolutely” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “MmmmHmmm.” Master - “Now that you are ready to sign up, you must repeat after me, the student’s oath of good citizenship. -- I promise to develop my body and mind. I promise not to drink or do drugs. I promise not to use my martial arts skills to harm other people. -- Good Jane, you are now ready to begin your journey into the martial arts.” What
He’s really saying: Jane Herman - “And why must I do all of this?” Master - “Simply because that’s the way it has always been done, that’s the way I learned it, that’s the way it will continue to be done and that’s the way it is. Uh, Mrs. Herman, Jane, no wait, don’t leave, sign this contract first, wait, Jane, Jaaaaaane!” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following article is written by Senshido Instructor Marc Ste. Marie AKA the Malevolent Preacher REALITY BITES... HARD.
So,
the worst is over? Nope, my body allows the pain to creep back…
It’s awful man I need help. Everything is closed; I catch a
glimpse of myself in a window… Lopsided and pathetic, a real
Dickens character. Two thousand dollars worth of designer clothing
and I look like the “artful dodger” yes I read Oliver
Twist…. A few more excruciating steps bring me to Tim Horton’s,
twenty four-hour donut and coffee joint, and hopefully a phone I
can use. I’m so happy I’m weeping. Marc Ste, Marie (MP) The
above story is a pretty accurate description of surviving real violence.
No Bullshit stories of how a secret Russian combative technique
was used, no crap about flying arm bars or extreme detail about
every techniques used or angles appropriated, just the reality of
being caught off guard at the wrong moment. Why? Because unlike
a NHB event a self defense situation presents a different perspective: Please... Train intelligently and diligently. Richard Dimitri -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following article is written by Senshido Instructor Alan Simoneau. Bully Proof Like many others, the back-to-school countdown began for me today. In one week I’ll be walking through those doors again and for one week after that the building will be eerily quite. I am a high-school special education teacher and continue to see what most adults have forgotten: school is not necessarily the friendliest of places. Although my school is quite peaceful and the administration is consciously (and effectively) trying to keep it that way, it is, like all schools, a microcosm of our little neighborhood. What that means is that while Ralph is trying to get to his class, Jerry is selling drugs just off school grounds, Jason is looking for another kid to “tax” and Alfie’s swagger warns of another attempt at intimidation and humiliation (all names are fictional, of course). The fact of the matter is that bullies have always been part of school. That being said, the nature of the beast has changed. In my day (I’m 31 and a former student of that very school), a bully would find his target, pursue him/her verbally in the hopes of working himself up and or escalating the “conflict” and then usually sucker-punch or otherwise rough–up their victim. The victim usually signaled their defeat by giving in to their attacker’s demands (ex. Handing over their lunch money) or by “staying down” after they’ve had enough of a physical confrontation. Then, like now, giving in to a bully’s demands means that they’ll be back for more. Once a person has acknowledged and accepted their “victim” status they are virtually inviting future trouble be it at the hands of the original bully or a different one. The whole notion of “staying down” when you’ve had enough has changed with serious and possible fatal repercussions. Falling down and staying there now as often as not seems to trigger a frenzy among the bully’s friends. Blame it on wrestling, violence on t.v. or the decline of western civilization if you will but once someone goes down they will very often be on the receiving end of a viscous stomping. I’ve seen one-on-one “fights” progress to the use of improvised weapons (chairs, books, backpacks, plant-holders, staplers, etc.), weapons (knives) and mass stompings by six-plus people. While the above imagery may in many cases seem to be extreme, they are not necessarily so. But even if that kind of beating did not take place, think about the other effects of being targeted by a bully. - Self-image and self-esteem are completely held captive by the bully.
So what do you do if your kid is being bullied? The most important thing is to realize that you are not your child and you do not live in their world. What this means is that the rules that you feel generally apply to society do not necessarily apply in school. Typically, adults will advise their kids to do the following when faced with a bully (1) Tell your teacher/principal/authorities Why this doesn’t work… First, it assumes the person you tell will do something about the situation. I have personally heard teachers say “its part of growing up”, “they deserve it” and “It’ll toughen the kid up”. Unfortunately, some teachers are petty and ignorant. They ruin things for the vast majority of teachers who really do care for “their kids”. Even if you put aside any ignorance or lack of caring on the part of the teacher they will very often be stuck in the same bind as the principal and most authorities. That is to say that we need proof before we can really do anything and even with adequate proof there is only so much that we can do. Second, and more importantly, any kid who tells an adult what is going on is immediately labeled a “rat”. Being a rat in school is the equivalent of being a rat in prison only on a lesser scale. Being a rat basically means that you can’t handle yourself and that you haven’t weaned yourself away from adult supervision. While an adult might think that telling the authorities would solve everything, a kid sees this as an admission of inadequacy and a great source of embarrassment. Imagine if as an adult you were the victim of fraud or some type of confidence game. Would you be too embarrassed to call the police? Most people are and that’s why so many criminals go unpunished. Multiply your feelings of embarrassment by 100 and you’ll know what a bullied kid feels. The third reason why “telling the teacher” doesn’t work is that the mere fact of reporting the incidents of bullying virtually guarantees that physical retribution will follow. So if you tell anyone, you’re a rat who can’t handle yourself without help from adults and you’ve probably put yourself in a position where you’ll be friendless and isolated. Top it off with physical revenge and you’ve pretty much guaranteed yourself a bad school year. (2) “Ignore the problem and it will go away” Why this doesn’t work… Most people live in apathy and denial. Many of these do so successfully, some not so. While you might delude yourself into thinking that it won’t happen to you, you should thoughtfully consider that it just might happen to your child. Once a bully has locked his sights on your kid there is little he/she can do to avoid the predator in such a relatively small and predictable environment that most schools are. Schools tend to be rather regulated with pre-set start and end times, recess and lunch periods, etc. Before you tell your kid to ignore the bully ask yourself just how they are supposed to do so given the fact that they are both students in the same school. Telling them to avoid the bully is like asking a goldfish to avoid a piranha it shares an aquarium with. (3) Stand up to the bully Why this doesn’t work… Ok your kid doesn’t want to be a “rat” and avoiding the bully is just not practical. What about standing up to him? Put simply, what do you expect your kid to do after they’ve said “Stop!”? Are they supposed to say “Stop or I’ll say Stop again!”? Telling them to stand up to a bully is often akin to sending then to the lions with a big steak tied around their neck. What kind of conflict resolution skills do they have? Are they able to defuse or de-escalate a verbal confrontation? Given that most adults often fail at this and most fail to acquire the skill (yes it is a skill that can be learned) , how can you expect a teenager to used reasoning and negotiation strategies on someone who is pre-disposed to ignore words?! When push comes to shove, can kids handle themselves? What about against multiple opponents? Improvised weapons? The revenge that may come later when no one is around to stop the fight? And don’t assume that the adult bureaucracy will step in and do the right thing after the fight either. So what can you do to "Bully Proof” your kid? Victims often feel that they can’t get any help without being labeled a rat. They feel isolated, friendless and alone. If you teach your kid not to fight you make it easier for those kids who do. If you don’t give them the skills needed to detect conflict, defuse confrontations and defend themselves you are doing them a great disservice. There is absolutely no reason why your loved ones should feel isolated, suffer assaults and risk injury, hospitalization or worse when a few simple defensive skills (emotional, psychological and physical) are easily taught and practiced. - If you teach your teen to be aggressive in all conflicts you are creating one of "them”. - If you teach them to be passive you’re lying to them about ignoring the problem in the hopes of it going away. You may be raising a victim. Solution: Introduce your children to a self-defense system that looks at all aspects of a confrontation (emotional, psychological, behavioral and physical). Those who know how to handle themselves very often do not have to prove it. Self-defense skills do not necessarily make you a bully but rather someone who is safe from bullies. In its purest form, self-defense does not mean beating people up; it means surviving a violent confrontation with minimal damage to your mind, body and spirit. Stay
Sharp P.S. Anyone else out there think Rich should put together a Kid’s self-defense tape? If you have any input or ideas as to how to bully proof a child in school, please post them on the Senshido Forum for public discussion. Thank you.
EXPERIENCE? In my humble opinion…? Yes. I’ll explain why and also present some of the most common debatable points I’ve come across. A reality based instructor who’s faced violence, "been there and done that", has a certain understanding that can only come from experience. Experience is very important. Now, don’t get me wrong… this doesn’t mean that experience alone can produce a great teacher or instructor, absolutely not, however if you had the choice between the following, which would you honestly choose? A great
teacher with an excellent curriculum and ability at transmitting
information who teaches personal protection and hand to hand combat
but who’s never faced violence let alone fought. A great
teacher with an excellent curriculum and ability at transmitting
information who teaches personal protection and hand to hand combat
who’s survived violent encounters, has been exposed first hand
to the crippling effects of fear and the adrenaline dump and surpassed
them to walk away as unharmed as possible. Now, I’ve heard on several occasions’ people stating that if you’ve been in many fights you either look for it (which makes you a trouble maker) or you have no defusing or de-escalation skills. That is a very myopic and judgmental statement. There are those who are victims of racial violence because of where they live and have too physically fight to defend their very lives almost daily. There are those who work in high-risk environments. To simply pass judgment without knowing al the facts is ignorance. Not to say that there isn’t trouble makers and bullies out there but don’t pass judgment until you’re equipped with all the facts. Another thing is, as a trained fighter we pick up on subtleties that regular folk don’t pick up on. The pre contact phase of an assault in the making. Once that is picked up on, any Good Samaritan would immediately intervene and come to the aid of the defenseless or potential victim. This will put us in an immediate confrontation, which cannot necessarily always be defused. Case in point. On a hot summer day with my wife and extended family (we were 8 adults and 6 children between the ages of 2 and 7) in a tourist part of Montreal called Old Montreal. We stopped at one point, and everyone began discussing where we would be getting ice cream from. It was a debate over Ben and Jerry’s, Baskin and Robbins and a regular corner ice cream bar. During this conversation between my family, the children were milling around and the women’s purses were hanging (about 4 of them) off the baby’s stroller. I’m standing there looking around and suddenly spot this man who is sitting about 25 feet away from us in the middle of a crowd and he’s scanning our group. This bastard is scanning for a "loose" child and the hanging purses. So I immediately place myself right in his field of vision and eyeball him. Just being made, I figured he’d up and leave but no, this SOB decides to size me up and down. I cross my arms lower my head and brow and slowly shake my head "no". He glances around then figures it’s not worth it so he up and leaves. Thank God. My family was completely oblivious to this entire situation. Does it mean it didn’t happen? Does it mean they go around looking for trouble? On several other occasions, I interfered when violence was escalating and helped out the potential victims. Does that mean I look for trouble? No. Just because people ignore trouble or because they seldomly hear or encounter any doesn't mean it doesn’t exist. It’s out there. We (trained fighters) do not attract it as it is sometimes believed, we can just sense it and catch it much earlier than the average folk. The average individual will just stand and watch some guy beat his girlfriend or attempt to assault an elderly gentleman, not because they don’t care but because they don’t know what to do. I do, and I will not sit there and let it happen if I can do something about it. A man is viciously beating a young woman outside of a bar during a 6-man melee; you’re at a red light sitting in your car witnessing it. No one is doing anything to help her. What do you do? 2 men, after an intense argument with a woman exit their car and aggressively move towards her at a fast pace, she is approximately 20 feet away and frozen from fear; you’re about 10 feet away from it all. What do you do? These are 2 situations I encountered. I interfered in both and ended up in a physical confrontation saving the intended victims from further violence or potential violence. Do I look for it? Am I a bully? If it were your sister, mother girlfriend or wife, would you not be glad I had shown up? An experienced instructor can offer you something a theoretical instructor can never offer you. First hand knowledge. Learning defense against a knife-wielding assailant from someone who’s never been attacked by one before, no matter how exceptionally good the curriculum and material is, is just second hand information. The instructor in question can only ‘imagine’, like yourself, what it must be like to have a sharp blade just missing your carotid artery by a strung out bent on killing you punk. You can replicate the scenario but cannot replicate the emotional and psychological impact and it’s direct effects on the physical body of someone trying to take your life and miss by a narrow margin cutting flesh from the corner of your eye instead of your jugular. An instructor with no experience cannot adequately tell you from experience how an enraged attacker will react to certain things, he can only assume through vicarious research and second hand information what it must be like. Don’t get me wrong. I know of several HTHC instructors with tons of experience that I’d never recommend and I know HTHC instructors with absolutely no experience whom I’d highly recommend. I am not denigrating either or. I am simply stating that experience makes a difference as long as the instructor in question is good at transmitting his information and isn’t egotistical to the point of trashing others in order to elevate himself. Food for thought. If you have thoughts you’d like to discuss on this matter please email me or post them on our forum. Thank you and keep safe. Richard Dimitri
Formlessness In reality, the scenario will dictate the outcome. Strategy, tactical awareness and proper use of tools through proper tool development will enhance your survivability. For example: Almost every single student I’ve ever had has been conditioned to ask the same type of questions. "What if someone does this ? (Fill in any desired attack of your choosing). "Where do I land after throwing my kick?" "What do I do if he does this ? (Fill in any desired technique of your choosing). My answer and any responsible personal protection instructor who’s done his research and has had first hand experience of violence answer should be and is… "It depends". On what? On the nature of the attack, on your mind set in the moment, on the environment, on the amount of aggressors, on the possibility or probability of a concealed weapon, on the level of intent of the aggressor, on your physical well being in the moment of the attack (are you sick, hurt, tired, drunk, in excellent physical condition etc...?) On the environment. On the time of day or night. On whether you are alone or not and who is with you etc. It's important to look at the scenario specifics. It's imperative to have several options based on several possibilities. Strategic implementation is more important than any technique. Each one of the above questions will dictate a different strategy. There is no black and white answer to defending yourself, there are no particular techniques that work all of the time, there is no one strategy for every scenario. This is why it's important to explore all possibilities. The scenario will dictate the outcome, the tools, and the strategy used in the moment. Have a mental blueprint for several possibilities (as many as you can think of) then learn to spontaneously improvise moment to moment based on the event in the moment. Whatever you do, do not fixate. Fixating solidifies your thought process and puts you in critical focus on whatever it is you fixated upon. For example: The topic of a drug-crazed attacker or multiple attacker situations wanting your money or valuables comes up frequently and the most common response to these scenarios are "Give him your money and/or run". However, it's important to look at the scenario specifics... it's easy to say run, but what if that particular day you had a sprained or broken ankle or foot? Since the scenario dictates the outcome it's imperative to have several options based on several possibilities. Strategic implementation is more important than any technique. Look at every possible scenario: 1.
What if you did have a broken ankle and couldn't run? Each one of these questions will dictate a different strategy. Each one creates a different visual image as to what you would or could do. Never fixate on a move or technique. Never fixate on a range or style of fighting. Explore all possibilities and venues. Train yourself for the unpredictable. See what you can do when you are sick, tired, hurt etc. Learn to work with your limitations. Do drills with an arm in a sling, work with a limp, and figure out your options under several circumstances. There are no particular defenses to a particular attack. One of my students having trained in a different style stated that when jamming or blocking a "John Wayne" punch, you should always move to the outside. That to me is fixation. The term "always" has got to be removed from reality based trainers vocabulary. Moving to the outside is definitely more desirable if you are facing a single opponent. Throw in a friend of his standing to his outside and jamming a punch to the outside now becomes a dangerous "move". Do what needs to be done when it is called upon. This strategy helps create clarity in the moment and keeps your mind in constantly fluidity. Look at your mind as a "memory bank" or a "filing cabinet". Stack but one or two files and find yourself in a violent confrontation and find that your two files are insufficient, your mind will freeze as it has no more files to look at. Stack it with an unlimited amount of options and your mind will constantly search for and eventually find the best solution to the problem at hand. Muscle memory development must be done (after tool development) through unrehearsed scenario specific training. Change the same scenario over and over again in order to gain a tactical edge. For example, take the following scenario: you’re in a club/bar, you go up to the bar to buy a drink and some A-hole bumps into you and spills his own drink over himself and you. He gets aggressive and insulting and begins to threaten you verbally and begins to shove you. What do you do? (Before reading on, take the time to answer this question on paper on the above mentioned scene we created.) Now, let’s add the following factor to the original scenario: Your drunken girlfriend/wife is in the ladies room and will be out to meet you shortly. What do you do? (Again, answer the question on paper before reading on.) Let’s add yet another element: His two friends just joined him and are also prepared to go at it and are just as aggressive. What do you do? (Go ahead, write it down…) Yet another factor: You had a few too many yourself and are feeling rather nauseous. What do you do? And another: The bar/place where you’re standing in the middle of your confrontation is jam packed with people and you barely have the room to move around the mingling bodies. What do you do? Here’s one last one: The music is blaring, the strobe light is on and one of the "attackers" just gripped his beer bottle by the nuzzle in a "clubbing" sort of fashion and is slowly circling behind you… What do you do? Besides all of the added elements, it is also important to consider where the ladies room is and which direction is your wife/girlfriend coming at you from? Where is the bouncer and will he be on your side or theirs? Is the floor slippery from spilled drinks (do you have grounding?) What are you wearing (constricting clothing, a suit and tie, easily grabbled materials?) Not so simple anymore is it? If you’ve tackled each one of these scenarios on paper like I suggested you should have several different strategies as to what you would have done. As you can see, it doesn’t really matter how good of a grappler, kicker or boxer you are, it doesn’t matter how powerful your strikes are, it doesn’t matter how fast you think you may be able to execute your technique… what matters is your strategy. Your tools will be used when they are called upon depending on the moment at hand. If you’re not training this way, then you are not preparing yourself for the grim realities of the street. Train intelligently and diligently. Sincerely Richard Dimitri
GUIDES NOT GODS... In the martial arts and self-defense fields, founders and instructors are looked upon as knowing it all and being somewhat "almighty" or "Supreme". Not surprising considering certain martial arts and their instructors require (and I use that term loosely) they be called "Master", "Guru", "Sensei", "Sifu", "Senpai", "Sir" and other eccentric names that glorify the teacher more so than he/she deserves. Now before you start sending the hate mail and death threats over my above paragraph, let me explain myself. In the traditional arts, these terms or names were (are) used to generate respect and discipline. Some of those are cultural terms, which I do not necessarily disagree with however these terms and names have been seriously exploited, over used, misunderstood and even abused. Just because I posses knowledge that others do not and they seek my education in this particular field does not make me superior or better than anybody else. To call someone else "Master" is down right belittling. It exemplifies a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority and puts the one being looked upon on a pedestal. This on its own is an added pressure we as teachers or instructors don’t need. To be looked up upon as the one who knows it all. And when God forbid the student’s see you eat, go to the bathroom or get emotional over a personal issue in your life, there goes your air of superiority. Titles are just that. Who is the man behind the title? A math teacher doesn’t demand to be called master or guru just because he knows math. Is it because we are looked upon as "fighters" (and I use this term very loosely as well) that we should command immediate respect and dare I say reverence? Because we can "kick your ass" if you do not? I am being facetious to make a point… I recall a part in the movie "Grand Canyon" with Danny Glover and Richard Kline where Richard Kline is being mugged/robbed by a gang of black men as his car is stalled and he’s waiting for a tow truck. Danny Glover comes to the rescue and plays it like nothing is happening, treating the gang like regular people and like they weren’t there to cause any trouble. At one point, one of the gangbangers walks over to Danny Glover and shows him his gun threatening him. Danny Glover responds something along the lines of "Look man, I’m just doing my job, I got a family to feed and a responsibility and I know it’s not your problem but I ask you politely, please, let me do my job." The gangbanger looks at him and says something like "I’ll let you do your job but answer something for me first. Are you respecting me because of who I am or because I got a gun?" Danny Glover tells him it’s because of the gun. The gangbanger responds "I thought so, no gun, no respect…" What the gangbanger didn’t get was that he didn’t get any respect because of what he was doing not because he was inferior (as he deemed himself to be). His gun bought him respect out of fear and a lot of times unfortunately so, fear equals respect. This is the problem I have with the martial arts community. For the most part, martial arts and self-defense instructors earn their respect out of instilling fear and putting an air of supremacy. I once caught a guy running into his martial arts instructor at a department store and he bowed to him and referred to him as "Sensei" the entire time… I just feel that that’s a little too much. Respect is good, belittling yourself in order to show respect for another is not. Martial arts and self-defense instructors are not Gods. We do not have all the answers. We do not posses the ultimate fighting secrets and undefeatable styles or systems. We are guides. We posses a certain amount of knowledge and in some cases experience that others do not posses in our fields. We are here to help better yourselves, improve certain aspects of lives, enhance survivability etc. The irony of this is, certain instructors don’t even have their shit together and they’re out there telling you how to get yours together. That’s a paradox on it’s own. Question what you’re learning if you have doubts and if you intuitively don’t like the answer you get, well…. Live & Learn. Rich
FIGHT OR FLIGHT? In the pre contact phase of an assault or fight, what leads one of the 2 parties to throw the first punch and how can you tell when your adversary is about to launch his physical assault? Sadly enough, in most martial arts today, the pre contact phase of a violent encounter is highly undermined. During the potential for violence is when the fight or flight syndrome kicks in. The specifics of a certain event will lead you to believe that you are in danger and a host of physiological changes will occur within your body. Naturally, the 2 emotions felt the most during this stage are fear and anger. One will be predominant over the other based on the scenario specifics and your mind will begin to race to hopefully find a solution. For the most part, if you re untrained and your killer instinct isn’t developed, you will most probably go into denial, shift your mind else where and put your body into automatic pilot letting it take the brunt of the assault. This is what is called being a victim. If you are properly trained to deal with violence (and I’m not talking about black belts or NHB champions) you will be able to spot the warning signals. For the most part, there are noticeable changes in behavior that occur before an individual goes physical. For example, if your attacker starts to breathe faster and shallower, if his skin tone goes paler, body tenses up a little, tone of voice changes, angles back or forward a little bit, chances are he’s about to "let loose". Skin tone getting paler doesn’t necessarily mean he’s afraid, this assumption has cost some parts of their anatomy. Sudden paleness means the blood is leaving the body and rushing into the muscles. This is usually followed by a physical assault. A sudden shift in weight forward or backward can also be telegraphing a shift in range… he’s getting prepared to strike from his comfort zone. There are of course, like always, exceptions to the rule. EDI’s (emotionally disturbed individual), violent criminals and drug-induced individuals may attack without any prior warning or change in behavior. However, determining the type of attacker you are facing will increase your chances of survivability. Human instinct and physical responses automatic to your nervous system will always predominate over your training. Millions of years of evolution cannot be wiped out in 3, 5, 15 or even 20 years of training. This is when stylistic interference occurs. Your mind’s desire to perform what you learned in martial arts training is in direct conflict with your natural reflexive response, fight or flight syndrome and flinch mechanism. This is where most lose the physical portion of the fight. This is why it is imperative that you look at how you instinctively move and respond to sudden and surprise attacks and learn how to offensively and defensively bind your combative strategy to it so that the nucleus of your arsenal is your core reflex. Therefor making it a non-perishable skill. The post physical stage begins when you deem yourself out of danger. You enter the adrenaline withdrawal stage and begin to feel the effects of the fight. Certain aches and pains may be discovered and the inevitable feeling of nausea (sometimes slight, sometimes heavy) is usually felt. Depending on the severity of the outcome (confrontation) some feel an overwhelming level of posttraumatic stress and fear the event repeating itself. Some LEO have retired after such confrontations due to the post physical stage. In extreme cases following, experiencing guilt, fear or the development of certain phobias may occur and be quite damaging. Besides that, in the pre contact phase of the attack, what makes one throw the first punch is usually the inability to defuse the situation by the intended victim. That, and ego. If you’re being verbally assaulted and aggressively respond to the attack, you are challenging and/or threatening your opponent. Number one rule of defense, never challenge or threaten your opponent. The whole reason behind the verbal assault is to be instigated to a level which the verbal assault will turn into a physical one. If your opponent is mouthing off or is still in the pre contact stage; that is because he is not mentally nor physically prepared to go physical yet. He needs you to help him get there. This is where passive behavior comes in. It neutralizes the need to become more aggressive. Fight fire with? Water, not fire. Thinks about it… would you rather strike someone who’s expecting it and is mentally and physically prepared for a counter attack or someone completely unaware of a coming attack? Passive behavior escalates ego and drops guard… if you cannot verbally defuse the situation, you want to at least make your opponent overconfident and nail him from a natural and non-violent stance. This strategy also works well in a multiple attacker situation, catching the first guy by surprise will automatically reduce the numbers by one right off the bat. Not to mention causing a psychological delay in the rest of them (however not always true). So bottom line, the more you know about the psycho dynamics of violence, the better you can handle a situation. Keep your ego under control… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADITIONAL DILEMMA: MULTIPLE ATTACKERS I’ve had many conversations with various martial artists on the topic of multiple attackers. For the most part, they are under the diluted impression that it is impossible to defend one’s self if faced with more than one assailant. I once read an interview with martial arts legend Rickson Gracie and the writer asked Mr. Gracie what he would do against multiple attackers and he jokingly replied something to the extent of "I’d use my .44 or run." But he never seriously attempted to respond to the question. If you’re one of these Internet martial artists and like to spend your days and nights in rec.martial.arts news groups talking about it instead of actually doing it, you’ll find many people in these news groups also share the same opinion. The most frustrating part of it is that they insist on projecting their failures and inability’s onto others with statements like "Any one who claims to teach self defense against multiple attackers is full of s#!% and a con artist." First of all, to a certain extent, they are correct… at the risk of pissing a few people off, let me state why. For the most part, most of the martial arts out there do not effectively teach self-defense, let alone defense against multiple attackers. So, the claim is somewhat correct. But not entirely. Why most arts fail against multiple attacker situations is because they look at the confrontation from a purely physical perspective. Of course if you square off against 2 or more guys and try to go toe to toe, you’ll most probably lose. Ego will primarily be the major cause of your defeat. In a multiple attacker situation, there are many psychological factors that could be used to even up the odds. Passive / Submissive behavior, pattern interrupts, congruous distractions, verbal initiators and more. Each of these works to your advantage in setting up a safe escape. A passive behavior backed with congruous passive dialogue will help in defusing the situation, raise the attacker’s egos and drop their guards. If you cannot persuade your attackers to walk through proper verbal defusing strategies, then, because of passive behavior, they will never expect or anticipate a savage retaliation coming from a nonviolent posture. This sudden switch in behavior (or broken rhythm if you will) will catch them completely off guard and by surprise. The first strike will momentarily disable the individual and also cause a psychological momentary lapse of reason within the rest. This will allow you to either take another one down or run if possible. Once one or two of the attackers have been disabled, this will reduce the number of threat towards the intended victim. A pattern interrupt is a distraction than can be made either physically or psychologically. Anything to momentarily take the attacker’s focus away from their task of ripping your head off. The pattern interrupt has to be appropriate to the situation at hand in order to function effectively I.e. your attacker better believe it, so don’t yell "Hey, Look, Superman!" while pointing at the sky in order to shift his focus. Passive behavior all of a sudden switching to aggressive rage will throw your attacker a loop. Taking your wallet out and offering money for them to leave you alone so that when their attention shifts to the wallet, you use the moment to strike is also a good pattern interrupt. For example: In
a recent situation, one of my assistants was attacked by 4 guys
(see Confrontation section for full details on story) he intercepted
the fight at the pre contact stage by using dialogue and a pattern
interrupt / distraction. He was surrounded by the 4 guys, one sitting
directly behind him (they were on a train) and the other 3 directly
in front of him. Using a verbal initiator and a distraction using passive body language, he caught them completely by surprise. This surprise dropped and knocked out 2 of his assailants and bought him time to run. Alas, being in a moving train, he didn’t get very far. The remaining 2, after a moment of hesitation and shock got up to run after him. The fact that my assistant was better trained allowed him to also quickly dispose of the remaining 2. The point is this; had my assistant stood up and confronted the 4 guys or adopted a "stance" or tried to grapple, kick box or kung fu the 4 guys on a train, he would have ended up in the hospital. It wasn’t so much what he did physically to end the confrontation (he used nothing but an elbow, a knee, a palm strike and a front kick) it was more so the tactical set up and strategic implementation which allowed him to walk or should I say run away intact. Mind set is more important than technique. Ranges and styles are incidental… You can defend yourself against multiple attackers, IF you do so strategically AND intelligently. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORIGINS AND WHO CREATED WHAT The following is an excerpt from an interview conducted by Derrick Cox with Straight Blast Gym owner Matt Thornton. I decided to add it in here because he speaks the truth on founders, originators etc. etc. He states that the truth is out there for anyone to seek and acquire as their own. Nobody owns the truth. So this piece is intended for all those who whine, nag, bitch and complain about those who "steal" their materials. If teaching and preaching the truth is all that really mattered, these self-proclaimed geniuses and masters of the cutting edge wouldn’t worry to, to much about who’s using what. As long as the material taught works and is helping people then it doesn’t matter where it comes from or who originated what. As long as copyright materials, company and incorporated names aren’t being used, then everyone has the right to acquire their knowledge from all available sources. If you do not want your materials used then don’t put it out there to be used. Plain and simple. One cannot re-invent the front kick, the jab, a chokehold or a "move". One can rename a "move" and copyright the name but the move or technique itself is not copyrightable. If I rename the front kick and decide to call it an "advance" kick, slightly change the angle of the foot when thrown and copyright the name "Advance Kick", nothing stops someone from using it and renaming it the "Obverse" kick. As far as vocabulary or terminology goes, well, everyone has access and the right to use the English language. Especially when using scientific or psychological terminology that ALREADY EXISTS! So if you do use what you have acquired from others, be it through books, articles, videos, face to face instruction or the world wide web, all you are required to do is mention the source (if deserved), and make sure you fully understand it and TEACH IT CORRECTLY BECAUSE PEOPLE’S LIVES ARE AT STAKE. So, with this in mind… Let’s get to that except. So let me understand, you are saying that JKD cannot, or should not become a "style", right? Correct me if I am wrong, I am trying to understand here. Let me use another example. I am going to describe a curriculum to you and you tell me what it is, okay? All right. Okay... the idea is to utilize western boxing... emphasizing a strong lead. Learning to develop what is called a "stop"... or the ability to intercept your opponent’s movements with that lead. If your opponent is well guarded... or hesitates to lead, then you can draw his hands down with strong low kicks to the shin and legs... Allright, give me a name now. Okay, that’s obviously Jun Fan JKD, sounds similar anyway. Beautiful... okay, now I am going to add a few things and then you tell me what we have got, Allright? Okay. Allright... we are going to practice striking the inside of the bicep, and nerve center just under the arm... this in case we are out boxed and need to create a good opening... finally, we are going to add Jiu-Jitsu... or ground fighting. In particular, the mount position, and some basic self defense moves and armlocks... what do we have now? Okay... JKD concepts... the Filipino destruction’s and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a concepts curriculum. Would you say that all that put together would be fairly cutting edge? Yes, I would say so... I think it is... yes, it is. Good... now here is my point. All the above mentioned curriculum was written down in detail by a guy named Professor Lewis. He wrote it in a book titled "The new science". Okay... so what? He is a JKD guy, or stole the JKD curriculum. Actually, I would hesitate to say that... you see... the book was published in 1906. (pause) Wow... allright... so where are we at then? Where we are at is the fact that as the wise King Solomon said "Their ain't nothing new under the sun". In fact Bruce probably had this book in his library... or maybe not, maybe he came to the same conclusions as you logically will if what you do is based around reality. Point is who cares how he came up with it. It’s not his, its not Professor Lewis’, its not Chinese, its not Filipino, it is the property of whomever can make it work. It belongs to whoever has the balls and attributes to own it... to own it through training, sparring, thinking and growing. NOT by following an Icon... a "sifu" a "sijo", a "guru"... be he a Jun Fan JKD Icon, or a concepts Icon... truth is truth. So you see the very idea of an original Jeet Kune Do is a joke... it’s a myth. There is only what you can do... what can YOU do Derrick... not what Bruce Lee could do. The idea that you would create yet another hierarchy, yet another set of rules, yet another "system" is an affront to everything Bruce Lee said, or more properly what Krishnamurti said... I understand it in the sense that I understand why it happens. Most people are weak and need that affirmation of a style, a leader, a founder, and a sifu. Most people need it, so it exists. I guess in much the same way as organized religion exists, the masses may need it. But, NO... That’s not JKD my friend, that is certainly not it. There is much more to this interview than the paragraph listed above. Matt Thornton is one of the few intelligent innovators out there walking his talk and preaching the truth. Listen carefully. Rich -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A WORD IN PASSING I would like to talk about the traditional arts for a moment in order to make something very clear for those of you out there who think that I am completely against them. I am not. If it weren’t for the traditional martial arts I would not exist. I would have no foundation to base myself upon nor would I be able to teach what I now teach. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the traditionalists who remain true to themselves, their arts and their students. Two of my traditional martial arts teachers, with whom I studied Sil Lum Hung Gar Kung Fu with for over 9 years, are a prime example of the true spirit of the martial arts. They have integrity and loyalty to both their style and their students. They are however a rare breed amongst the traditional martial artists of today and I have studied with many instructors in the last 24 years of my life both traditionalists and non-traditionalists alike. They were the only ones who walked into my school and wished me well when I opened up and asked nothing of me. (One of my instructors who will remain nameless had come in and demanded I write his name in all of my brochures, promo material and signs outside. Now that would not be too much of a problem if his school wasn’t two blocks away at the time, he by the way went out of business a year after he opened.) They (Hung Gar School) demonstrated humbleness and respect that they have maintained through out the years. They are one of the most respected schools in the Montreal area for a very good reason and I say with pride that I have studied under them for over nine years. The problem I have with most of the traditionalists is simply that they do not teach what they preach. This is socially irresponsible and dangerous to the consumer who believes that what he/she is getting is functional street self-defense. Some are aware of this and that makes them border line sociopaths while others are simply diluted and don’t have the patience, intelligence or motivation to research otherwise. Now, I know that I write things in a humorous fashion and that it can sometimes be shocking to some people but amongst my humor and harshness you shall find that I speak the truth. Like it or not, agree with it or not, it remains the truth. There are always exceptions to every rule so I will not state that there are no traditional schools which teach effective self defense out there. In the last four years I’ve alienated most martial arts schools around me traditionalists and non-traditionalists alike. All except the Sil Lum Hung Gar School. The rest don’t know what to make of me. I’ve nothing bad to say about anyone, I’ve only spoken the truth. Some instructors personal lives completely negates everything they preach and teach, others will smile to your face and spit behind your back, some have gargantuan egos and claims while others simply lie, cheat, steal and scam. Some actually have great material and their programs are very good yet their personality and ego get in the way of their progress and growth. Remember, intuition is very powerful, if your instinct is telling you something but your mind negates and dismisses it, chances are you are lying to yourself and creating a compromise, ask yourself…is it worth it? For example, one of my students trained with certain reputed martial arts instructors in the city (Montreal) and was greatly taken advantage of in many ways. Empty promises and illusions of grandeur in exchange for slave labor. Another one was taking regular beatings, to the point of hospitalization disguised as mental conditioning exercises to toughen him up, little did he know it was simply the instructors method of releasing steam and upping his ego. I’m not here to judge but rather to make the masses think, question and trust their intuitions. Those of you who have studied with these pillars of virtue know whom I am talking about and those of you who haven’t, well count yourselves lucky. For the most part after studying with such filth you usually get completely turned off by the martial arts and that is really to bad because there are a lot of great schools out there depending on what it is one is looking for. If by chance, the instructors who read this and question if they are a part of the realm I have mentioned, or perhaps take offense at what they read; then chances are that they are part of that realm because if they were not, then they would have nothing to fear or worry about. The ego is an interesting thing and guilt plays often with our emotional intuition. Those with integrity won’t even question themselves, this piece, or me. Thank you and be wary of what it is you learn, it could be your life or that of a loved one you’re entrusting in the hands of another. RICH -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TO GRAPPLE OR NOT TO GRAPPLE: THAT IS THE QUESTION There is a disturbing trend out there and it concerns many fighters and practitioners of HTHC. The trapping range (a.k.a. the close quarter combat range) is being used (if at all) as a transition range. As a way to get into grappling. Let it be crystal clear: The trapping range is not someplace you cruise through while getting into the grappling range. Tony
Blauer said that The superior fighter has no emotional attachment
to any range. I've quoted him on this several times and someone
once asked me, what about a certain technique? I went on to add
that the Superior fighter has no emotional attachment to any range,
tool, technique, style or range of combat. He must be open and responsive
at all times and not limited within a faction. In the above variables, we haven’t looked at the nature of the 'attack' or the tactics involved. But each question created an image, scenario and maybe even a strategy through the nature of pro-activity. However, before you strike someone or apply a choke hold it’s primarily important to learn how to assess the situation. For example: What would you do if someone grabbed you and pinned you to a wall? It is simple to come up with a physical retaliation such as "Trap the hands, knee the individual to the groin area then side step behind them and apply a choke" But if the situation isn’t analytically dissected, then your physical response may not be the correct one. Let me elaborate: What if that person who grabbed and pinned you to the wall was your brother and he was irate due to a misunderstanding? What if it was a waitress in a bar who just got her butt pinched by some other guy and mistook you for him? What if it’s a six foot four biker who just doesn’t like the way you looked at his woman and his 7 friends are right behind him? Each one of these situations would require a different tactical response, which in turn would have an impact at how you would react physically. It’s imperative to learn how to grapple and even more important to respect its limitations. A good fighter knows how to grapple, an intelligent fighter knows when to grapple. An intelligent fighter learns how to grapple in order to understand how to beat a grappler and/or handle himself on the ground. Do what has to be done when it is called upon, never force a range or technique. This philosophy helps create clarity in the moment. A chess champion once said that the height in strategy is not in doing your best move but rather in doing the worst move for your opponent. That takes a certain amount of versatility and diverse-ability. There are times when it is necessary to ground-fight and times where staying on your feet is optimal. For the most part, on the street, you want to be up and ready to move, just in case. Remember that violent confrontations generally start at the close quarter range. If the confrontation is not taken care of verbally or physically at that range, or if the attack was unexpected and caught you way off guard, only then would it probably go to the ground. Learning grappling skills is extremely important for total defense. If you are ever taken down to the ground you will not panic. You’ll have the necessary tools and tactics at your disposal. However strictly concentrating your efforts on grappling or any other range for that matter, will hinder your chances of survival in many real altercations. Our message has always been to be diversified and skilled in all ranges. If the confrontation gets physical you must have no physical preference, no emotional attachment to any range, tool or technique, only then will you be capable of making a quick and strategic choice and apply the range to the confrontation that suits the situation and environment. Be open and responsive, do not plan, planning fixates your energy… be prepared instead. Preparation allows for versatility and is open and fluid to the moment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Real Cancer Growing In The Traditional Arts. As warfare evolved technologically, unarmed fighting forms became rituals (traditional arts), ways to condition (Tae Bo, Boxersize, etc.) and many other things except fighting. Martial artists are subject to the same motivating impulses as the rest of the human race. We all want money, fame, success and power. We all have our own image of success. To allot of these martial artists, it means starting a congregation of blind followers. The tumor starts to grow when a school is established and decides to branch out. At this particular point you cannot avoid setting up catalogues of moves. Uniformity is a must to be able to manage (read control) your schools and students. Case in point: Kali, a comprehensive system that encompasses unarmed and weapons fighting, blending ranges etc.…. So why is it going to the toilet? To answer this properly one has to look at its origins. It comes from the Philippines that is an archipelago constituted of a multitude of islands. Each of these islands had its own flavor of Kali that was adapted to its environment and reflected the culture and belief systems of the island. Now that Kali is more mainstream, some "smart" ass decided to form a federation (there is the beginning of your tumor). They now have a charter, a hierarchy, members, presidents, vice presidents (ingredients to the tumor i.e., cause and effect) and on and on and on, in other words: POLITICS (the full blown and irreversible tumor). At this point the tumor is malignant and terminal. (Simply take a look at the RMA newsgroups and you’ll understand what we mean) The creative efforts are stifled because all the energy is spent on creating policies, rules, regulations, planning conventions and deprecating those who do not follow their dogma. The research in functional combative training ceases and money, power and control become the issue therefore neglecting evolution. Using Judo as a model, we could say that if in country X people walk around bare chested and the weapon of choice on the street is a machete, country X will not practice Judo as in country Z where people walk around with canvas shirts and the weapon of choice on the street are brass knuckles. But get one individual to come along and federate the art and suddenly everyone is wearing a white canvas jacket for uniformity and learning a specific way on how to handle weapons generically. Get another individual to come in, dislike the canvas jackets and instead use 50% polyester/50% cotton, devise 2 separate ways to defend against each weapon and you now have 2 judo federations. Now how does that serve country X or Z? Dumb example, but it illustrates the point. As federations get bigger (read tentacles grow) the art becomes stale quite quickly. Students are evaluated using only one yardstick, because having different standards adapted to the student, his environment, his genetics, simply is not controllable by the federation. Enter memorization of techniques which every one must learn regardless of their differences as human beings, rules, regulations, standards, and exit improvisation, spontaneity, creativity and growth. Therefore solidifying something that should remain fluid. The normal cycle for these organizations concludes as this: Gets too big, too many egos, big fight over something completely irrelevant to fighting, big splintering explosion and now as with many martial arts (Karate and Tae kwon do to name but a couple) you have 100 egomaniacs starting 100 idiotic federations which have absolutely nothing to do with self-defense or HTHC. PS. Like Leonardo said: (and no, not Dicaprio for the laymen amongst you) "It is a poor apprentice that does not surpass his master." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMPROVISED WEAPONS In a society were the law abiding citizen is frowned upon for carrying means of self protection, in a world where instituted policies take your fundamental right to protect yourself and flushes it down the toilet by asking you to trust a system that fails to "disarm" real criminals, there are ways for the law abiding citizen to carry weapons that won’t get him in trouble with the system. In a penitentiary, when a man feels threatened, he will arm himself with whatever he can find. He might sharpen a stick, a piece of Plexiglas, metal, fit a razor blade to a toothbrush etc.… Mister everybody can easily carry "little surprises" that will help him prevail in an attempt on his person. Here are a few suggestions that could be easily used without causing trouble with big brother. PENCILS. You are on your way to your car… so you grab your trusted HB 2 pencil on your way, pause for a few seconds at the electric sharpener, et voila! Held in the ice pick grip, you can cause facial injuries or jam it in someone’s "equipment" on a rear attack. TOYS. They make great car weapons. Sports Experts makes a beautiful little aluminum baseball bat. Perfect size for junior. Also perfect to crack a punks head. The idea is to leave it in the car with a baseball glove and a ball. "Your honor, my nephew forgot his things at my place, and my intentions was to drop it at his place on my way home…" You have just justified the presence of the bat in your car. Senshido instructor Mark Ste. Marie has a toy gardening shovel that he got for his son…a fabulous red spade that (after testing) sliced a melon in half in 3 hacks. What officer would give the thing a second glance on you back seat? TOOLS OF YOUR TRADE. You work in a shop… nobody would question about the "Olfa" box cutter on your belt. You are an electrician you say? A few screwdrivers in a nice little pouch on your belt would not attract any undue attention. I mean, who could tell that you actually sharpened one on a belt sander. OK, so you’re a white collar kind of guy, that’s cool. Take a pen, something stylish, maybe a Parker or if it is within your means, a Mont Blanc, why sacrifice style? Replace the ink thing on the inside by a same diameter steel rod. On the same belt sander (ask the electrician guy…nicely), give the tip a point, not too much, and you have a nice spike that can be used as a kubotan without attracting the unwanted attention. GROOMING TOOLS. (For ladies) Rat tail combs are great. I would carry one but it is out of fashion for men to have these in their back pockets since 1978. Great to jam in, rake, puncture, and perforate a punk’s face. Take a wooden hairbrush and break the handle with a hammer, you get a nice sharp end. "Sorry your honor, I just couldn’t afford a new brush". Eyeliner pencil can be used the same way a HB 2 can using sufficient force. Travel size bottles of hair-spray filled with Javex or ammonia are great for spraying the facial area. YOUR CLOTHING. A little file work on studs can go a long way when dealing with the unpleasant elements of society. You know… It’s not your fault if he rubbed his face on you jacket sleeve and lost an ear. So he decided to hang himself using your tie, what could you do? The buckle of a belt works nicely too when swung like a whip. However, weapons, even improvised ones such as the myriad’s mentioned above must be used properly and in conjunction with the human body. A good HTHC fighter will not telegraph the use of such weapons and his assailant would only be made aware of them once the damage has already been done. If you do not know how to fight or use your own natural weapons, do not attempt to use an extension weapon, ever. For the most part, those who used a weapon without knowing how to use their own body, had it taken away and generally used against them. Be wary.
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