Secrets
Every advertisement for Martial Arts and Self Defense touts their “Secret Techniques” to make you unbeatable and invincible. I wish that it was that easy in the real world. When was someone unbeatable in the real world? Ali was beat, Tyson was beat and the current crop of professional fighters will all suffer a loss one day. I have lost fights in my life. Nobody is invincible. The funny thing is that many people know the best kept secret already.
The secret is not just one thing, it is made up of several different aspects. Part of the secret is that they know that they can be beaten on any given day. They work as hard as they can to enhance their chances of winning. Professional fighters train up to eight hours a day in the weeks before a fight. They work hard and continue to improve their skills. Oh wait; there is the other part of the secret, hard work. They want it more than the other guy, so they work their tails off in preparation for a contest.
How does this fit in with self defense? The advertisements are a sales gimmick. They want your hard earned money, but cannot deliver on their claims. I do not believe that any martial art is the total answer, including Shen Chuan. I have never seen the one technique that will win every time. I do think that every system has something to offer, whether what to do or what not to do in life. I think that part of the real answer is realizing that you are responsible for your own safety. Knowing this you need to work hard at what you are doing, be it martial arts, exercise or your job. If you want to survive a fight for your safety, you have to work hard to make it happen. That does not mean you have to spend your whole life training and working out. You just have to work hard when you have the time to train. It is better to train thirty minutes a day at full blast than to do nothing.
I believe that hard work is the most underrated “secret” out there. In today’s world, everyone wants the quick and easy solution. Nobody wants to put forth the effort required to advance or improve in any aspect of their lives. They look at life as if they were owed everything with little output from their own efforts. I see it often in my martial arts classes as well as the classes that I take to improve my skills and chances. I often have people come to the school and leave after a few classes, because it takes some effort on their part to improve. I have seen people come to a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu class and walk out after realizing they would not be Gracie level after one class. It takes sweat and effort to become good at anything, but many people are not willing to make the effort. I recently earned my 5th degree black belt, it was not given to me just for showing up. I am happy to have earned it, but I am proud of what it symbolizes, years of hard work, years of sweat and toil to learn as much as I could.
I apologize if this is more of a rant on a soapbox then a real essay. I believe in hard work to get anywhere in life. I believe that you are responsible for your safety, not anyone else. I also believe that I am responsible for my own failures and accomplishments. It all comes down to the ability to work hard to reach your goals and desires. I have a long way to go as I have not met mine yet, so hopefully we can take the journey together.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Payback
Defendant Knocks Out His Attorney - Watch more free videos
After being in Law Enforcement for years, I get a chuckle out of this clip.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Going to be a great fight at UFC 81
First, sorry about the delay in posting. I have had quite a few LE training days as well as my regular stuff.
Brock Lesner is an absolute monster. He has an incredible work ethic and great wrestling skills. He is a machine in the gym. I believe that he will win against Frank Mir tonight at UFC 81.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thoughts on Edged Weapon Defense
I read through a lot of literature and what Internet “experts” have to say about edged weapons training. A lot of people say that there is no way to defend yourself from such an attack. The conventional wisdom is that no matter what you try, the “knife fighter” is going to prevail. I recently read a post that stated that “No matter what you do, it is hopeless to defend yourself empty handed.”
I do not believe that is a true statement. It is my personal opinion that type of mental programming creates failure. If you do not believe that you can survive and prevail, you won’t. It is pretty plain and simple. You will only be able to do what your programming allows you to do and to a low level of performance at that.
I teach edged weapons defense to a large number of people on a pretty consistent basis. I have been a Police Officer and Police trainer for a good part of my life and have always tried to train people to survive an edged weapons attack through the use of physical and mental tools. If you do not give people the tools and tactics to survive all forms of attack, you are cheating them. You are neither an ethical, nor complete trainer. You are depriving your students of a chance to survive and move forward through a horrific attack.
In almost every case that I have ever come across as an student and trainer, the attack has never been from 21 feet away .Edged weapons attacks are not like the High Noon Shootout. The edged weapons attack comes from the push, shove, clinch or even grappling on the ground. The attacker is in close and doing the damage now and it needs to stop now.
You have to have the ability to stop or at least slow down the attack to be able to go to your guns, knives or other weapon system that you are trained to use. What choice do you have? The attack is happening; you are being cut and possibly going to die if you fail to respond to the attack. This is where I differ from the experts out there. You have to have some idea how to defend yourself from the edged weapons attack. You are there and have to get out of that situation with the least amount of damage done to you.
Can you survive an edged weapon attack? Yes, without a doubt. Is everyone you face on the street a trained “knife fighter?” The majority of edged weapons attacks are from angry, out of control people. They are in an intense rage, on drugs or mentally unstable. The last person that I had to deal with that was actually carrying a knife had slashed his own throat and was on drugs and mentally unstable. He was not a trained knife fighter, but he was still dangerous. Was he going to attack me like Remy Presas or like a crazed maniac? The attacks differ. The trained fighter comes at you like an action movie star, super small movements with the intent to kill or disable you quickly. The maniac will usually attack with the overhead ice pick, stab to the belly or a wild back and forth slash. The maniac is out of control and might not have a plan other than hacking you up.
They each have different mindsets and different aims, but if you are not trained to at least attempt to defend yourself, the results are the same. If you are not trained to deal with an edged weapons attack, you have no chance to survive. You are missing a tool from your massive tool box of self defense construction equipment. If your instructor tells you that there is no way that you can defend against an edged weapons attack, find a new one.
I do not believe that is a true statement. It is my personal opinion that type of mental programming creates failure. If you do not believe that you can survive and prevail, you won’t. It is pretty plain and simple. You will only be able to do what your programming allows you to do and to a low level of performance at that.
I teach edged weapons defense to a large number of people on a pretty consistent basis. I have been a Police Officer and Police trainer for a good part of my life and have always tried to train people to survive an edged weapons attack through the use of physical and mental tools. If you do not give people the tools and tactics to survive all forms of attack, you are cheating them. You are neither an ethical, nor complete trainer. You are depriving your students of a chance to survive and move forward through a horrific attack.
In almost every case that I have ever come across as an student and trainer, the attack has never been from 21 feet away .Edged weapons attacks are not like the High Noon Shootout. The edged weapons attack comes from the push, shove, clinch or even grappling on the ground. The attacker is in close and doing the damage now and it needs to stop now.
You have to have the ability to stop or at least slow down the attack to be able to go to your guns, knives or other weapon system that you are trained to use. What choice do you have? The attack is happening; you are being cut and possibly going to die if you fail to respond to the attack. This is where I differ from the experts out there. You have to have some idea how to defend yourself from the edged weapons attack. You are there and have to get out of that situation with the least amount of damage done to you.
Can you survive an edged weapon attack? Yes, without a doubt. Is everyone you face on the street a trained “knife fighter?” The majority of edged weapons attacks are from angry, out of control people. They are in an intense rage, on drugs or mentally unstable. The last person that I had to deal with that was actually carrying a knife had slashed his own throat and was on drugs and mentally unstable. He was not a trained knife fighter, but he was still dangerous. Was he going to attack me like Remy Presas or like a crazed maniac? The attacks differ. The trained fighter comes at you like an action movie star, super small movements with the intent to kill or disable you quickly. The maniac will usually attack with the overhead ice pick, stab to the belly or a wild back and forth slash. The maniac is out of control and might not have a plan other than hacking you up.
They each have different mindsets and different aims, but if you are not trained to at least attempt to defend yourself, the results are the same. If you are not trained to deal with an edged weapons attack, you have no chance to survive. You are missing a tool from your massive tool box of self defense construction equipment. If your instructor tells you that there is no way that you can defend against an edged weapons attack, find a new one.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Parkour
Parkour or freerunning is really neat. Parkour practitioners have great functional, fluid strength. It is dangerous and sometimes illegal, but exciting to watch. The abilities of Parkour athletes are incredible. They are in incredible shape and have great flexibility and are able to explode and take a lot of abuse. They are pretty fluid and graceful, even when they eat the big one. I don't practice this by any means, but I still find it fun to watch.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Need for Combative System Intergration
I am still really involved in Police Training and I get to see a lot of interesting results in the officer's skills. I often see that depending on what they think the problem is, they will put on a hat that fits only that situation. This becomes confusing to all involved and can cause someone to be injured or killed. I feel that all training should be integrated so that people do not have to operate under a different system for each problem that they face. Whether it is a firearms, edged weapon, hand to hand or other question. You do not want your officers having to change systems under combat stress. It can cause them to hesitate or react inappropriately. The can be burdened with the fear of making the wrong move or decision.
It is often extremely hard to get all of the Instructors in a Department on the same page. In my last job, there was concern that you were encroaching on someone's feudal territory if you even suggested that everything be brought under one umbrella. The only people that could discuss firearms, where the firearms instructors, the only people to be allowed to discuss any other weapon systems were those Instructors. This type of feudal land protection does nothing but hurt the line officer.
The line officer needs to have skills and plans that fit together like Legos. Each specific part needs to be a seamless continuation of the other parts of the equation. It makes no sense to have Empty Hand Control Tactics be separated from Firearms or any other Combative Skill. By keeping each skill as a separate part of the equation the Officer has to decide what system to use at each change of resistance or attack. What combative mode are they in? Are they in their firearms stance, hand to hand combat position or in their ground fighting position? The position they need to be in is a total combatives one. Every skill, tool and tactic they use should fit under one combative system.
I personally think that everyone should be trained to fight like they walk. What I mean is that everyone needs to be trained to function as they normally would. They do not need to have to move from a convoluted physical platform that each skill set might demand. they need to be able to move naturally and freely. If you watch a lot of Police Involved Shooting clips, the Weaver stance is not very prevalent. Base everything off the way the body moves and you free up the Officer to respond correctly and more quickly. Everyone can walk and the body works well in normal positions.
The training needs to be based on a reality based system that allows the Officer to be able to flow from one skill set to the next within the context of a real incident. The firearms stance, hand to hand stance and every other "system" they are trained in needs to be the same. Tony Blauer opened my eyes to this with his SPEAR System. Every stance you are in, every position you find yourself in, is a fighting position. Every tool works from the same platform, whether it is firearms, edged weapons defense or straight hand to hand combat.
Your training must include situations that force you to use each of your tools or skills in ways that are not usually covered in training environments. Most people do not train to use their firearms in the middle of a hand to hand fight where the bad guy produces a weapon. Very few trainers will run drills where in the same scenario, the firearm fails and they have to go to edged weapons or other tools. Why not? Is it protecting feudal lands? Do not cheat yourself or those that you are responsible for teaching. Open your eyes to doing the best possible training for your people and integrate everything under one umbrella. Your troops will be safer and make better decisions, which is the reason for training to start with.
It is often extremely hard to get all of the Instructors in a Department on the same page. In my last job, there was concern that you were encroaching on someone's feudal territory if you even suggested that everything be brought under one umbrella. The only people that could discuss firearms, where the firearms instructors, the only people to be allowed to discuss any other weapon systems were those Instructors. This type of feudal land protection does nothing but hurt the line officer.
The line officer needs to have skills and plans that fit together like Legos. Each specific part needs to be a seamless continuation of the other parts of the equation. It makes no sense to have Empty Hand Control Tactics be separated from Firearms or any other Combative Skill. By keeping each skill as a separate part of the equation the Officer has to decide what system to use at each change of resistance or attack. What combative mode are they in? Are they in their firearms stance, hand to hand combat position or in their ground fighting position? The position they need to be in is a total combatives one. Every skill, tool and tactic they use should fit under one combative system.
I personally think that everyone should be trained to fight like they walk. What I mean is that everyone needs to be trained to function as they normally would. They do not need to have to move from a convoluted physical platform that each skill set might demand. they need to be able to move naturally and freely. If you watch a lot of Police Involved Shooting clips, the Weaver stance is not very prevalent. Base everything off the way the body moves and you free up the Officer to respond correctly and more quickly. Everyone can walk and the body works well in normal positions.
The training needs to be based on a reality based system that allows the Officer to be able to flow from one skill set to the next within the context of a real incident. The firearms stance, hand to hand stance and every other "system" they are trained in needs to be the same. Tony Blauer opened my eyes to this with his SPEAR System. Every stance you are in, every position you find yourself in, is a fighting position. Every tool works from the same platform, whether it is firearms, edged weapons defense or straight hand to hand combat.
Your training must include situations that force you to use each of your tools or skills in ways that are not usually covered in training environments. Most people do not train to use their firearms in the middle of a hand to hand fight where the bad guy produces a weapon. Very few trainers will run drills where in the same scenario, the firearm fails and they have to go to edged weapons or other tools. Why not? Is it protecting feudal lands? Do not cheat yourself or those that you are responsible for teaching. Open your eyes to doing the best possible training for your people and integrate everything under one umbrella. Your troops will be safer and make better decisions, which is the reason for training to start with.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Fear
I think that Cable News Channels are not the best thing out there for entertainment. My wife will certainly disagree as it is her relaxation vice. But is it really relaxing? Does Cable News do anything positive for society?
I really feel that the News does nothing but really spread despair and discontent throughout the world. The old cliche, "If it bleeds, it leads, " is so much more obvious in today's world. The News channels are having to fill the airwaves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. there is so much competition that they have to outdo each other with the goriest thing they can find. they all try to upstage the others with their breaking news alerts and get the information out there. From what I have seen lately, they just get on and say, "Nothing new to report, OJ is still in jail. Britney is still crazy and now buying pregnancy tests."
The other issue that I see with headline news is their constant reports on missing people. Unfortunately people have gone missing since the beginning of time. I hate that people are killed and never located. Cable News would have you believe that every woman in America is one step out of her house from disappearing. Cable News causes people to live in fear. They are worried about kidnapping, murder and general crimes against them.
The world is not as bad as the News People make it out to be. I think that the constant beating that Cable News shows inflict on us, make the world seam like a scary place. It does not have to be. Be aware of your surroundings and take responsibility for your safety, and the chances that you are assaulted drop. You can also take a break from the news and see how much better you feel.
Just a rant from someone that does not think that we need to live in fear.
I really feel that the News does nothing but really spread despair and discontent throughout the world. The old cliche, "If it bleeds, it leads, " is so much more obvious in today's world. The News channels are having to fill the airwaves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. there is so much competition that they have to outdo each other with the goriest thing they can find. they all try to upstage the others with their breaking news alerts and get the information out there. From what I have seen lately, they just get on and say, "Nothing new to report, OJ is still in jail. Britney is still crazy and now buying pregnancy tests."
The other issue that I see with headline news is their constant reports on missing people. Unfortunately people have gone missing since the beginning of time. I hate that people are killed and never located. Cable News would have you believe that every woman in America is one step out of her house from disappearing. Cable News causes people to live in fear. They are worried about kidnapping, murder and general crimes against them.
The world is not as bad as the News People make it out to be. I think that the constant beating that Cable News shows inflict on us, make the world seam like a scary place. It does not have to be. Be aware of your surroundings and take responsibility for your safety, and the chances that you are assaulted drop. You can also take a break from the news and see how much better you feel.
Just a rant from someone that does not think that we need to live in fear.
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