FULL CIRCLE

As martial artists, we all know the history of what we do. ALL combative studies come out of a need for survival on the battlefield. Since confrontation began, man has always looked for an edge to be the last one standing. With or without weapons, these were soldierly pursuits and as such were taught in a soldierly environment. Struggle, challenge, pain, and the strength of character to overcome all obstacles were normally found only in a disciplined lifestyle. As civilization progressed and wars waned, there were still those that sought the discipline of the martial life as fighting methods were systematized within their various cultures. With longer periods of peace and the rule of law, the drift from the martial to the art began. Even with the emphasis on development of the character though, the body was still challenged and forged in the “school of hard knocks”.

I began my training in the 70’s when those that wore a Black Belt were still a rarity and carried a mystique. My instructor was a Marine veteran who fought in Vietnam, a Golden Gloves Boxer who fought on the USMC boxing team, and as a kid, grew up on the islander side of Oceanside, CA. during the 60’s.  He was a fighter and that was the way he ran his Kenpo classes in the mid and late 70’s. Fight Night was a big part of our organization where students from another Chinese Kenpo school and two Kajukenbo schools would get together at one of the schools, put on the gloves, and go full-contact. Broken bones and knockouts were a regular occurrence but that is what was expected. Training back then demanded a price that you were expected to pay. Dropout rates were high, women were few, and full time karate instructors were almost non-existent.

Sometime in the early 80’s, along came the Karate Kid and the martial arts changed forever. We all know what happened, schools catered to kids, martial arts took on flavor of the week, i.e..  kung fu, ninjiutsu, kick-boxing, Tae-Bo, etc… there was money to be made teaching and suing. Mac-Dojos popped up everywhere and people forgot the “martial”. I have a school down the road from me right now whose selling point is they have produced over 2000 black belts in 15 years. A Black Belt no longer has the meaning it once did and that is a shame. I believe it is indicative of our culture with its highly developed sense of entitlement and the need for instant gratification.

All is not lost though. Some never left the school of pain, especially many of the Hawaiian lineages and some of the traditional Japanese systems. Recently, a new breed is beginning to make its presence felt. These are men and women who actively seek the hard road and are recreating the mystique of the warrior. Many come from the military and law enforcement using military based combatives such as Systema, Krav Maga, CQD, SPEAR, and others that incorporate hard, physical training and contact into their programs while doing away with the art. The popularity of MMA has also shown that fitness, stamina, and the ability to take as well as give punishment are key components to winning the fight. Even McDojos are incorporating elements of combative training into their programs, albeit more for the ‘feel good” aspect rather than any practical value. The martial art community is slowly coming full circle back to the days of discipline and hard work. When combined with the science of violence, we are beginning to except that maybe those old guys actually new something.

Good training for self-defense should be hard and sometimes painful. You need to hit and get hit, you need to experience fear and uncertainty, and you need to learn how to overcome limits while striving for greater challenges.

Some Thoughts on Principles of Combat

Principles of Combat

How many people have:

       jumped out of an airplane

       bungee jumped

       gone night diving in the ocean

       climbed a vertical mountain

Knowing that we are very likely not going to die allows us the rush, thrill, fear, and excitement of voluntarily engaging in all of these “activities’.

Now, how many people have:

       had a gun or a knife put in their face

       been shot at or had said knife attempt to perforate you

       been shot and/or perforated by said knife

       realized you were being gang attacked AFTER you felt the first punch

The hormonal cocktail is the same but when the choice of whether or not we engage in a dangerous activity is taken from us, our perception of the physiological responses changes. This understanding allows us to better approach the realities of dealing with violence. Most modern combative systems acknowledge three basic Principles of Combat:

            1. Understand the Survival Stress Response (SSR) and its affect on performance

            2. Attitude (or Mindset)

            3. Managing Fear

In fact these same principles can be used for any stressful situation one might encounter. Understanding SSR comes from a book and from experience. There are several excellent reads on the subject including “Sharpening the Warriors Edge” by Siddle and “On Combat” by Grossman. If you are serious about this stuff, invest. Experience is a little harder to come by. Replication of an adrenal dump in a training environment is almost impossible but we can get close using the correct methods and motivators.

In American Kenpo, your attitude constitutes half of your response. Logic, skill, and physical ability constitute the rest. I have seen women fight like tigers and men cower in a corner. The Unbeatable Mind is a term heard often these days among military and civilian motivators. Once you accept the fact that bad things happen, you have to make up your mind that surviving (winning) is just as important as oxygen. In other words “Refuse to Lose”. Managing fear is a by-product of the first two principles and is a combination of both physical and psychological responses. Autogenic breathing, forced visual diffusion or surveying your environment, and forcing yourself to action are physical responses. Visualization and stress inoculation are “brain training” and allow the body to “break the freeze” during an SSR. Some reality-based instructors incorporate Damage Control as a principle. If the body is taking damage and experiencing pain during the event, a whole new beast as added to the equation but based on personal experience, pain is usually not an issue during an SSR.

Future blogs will dig deeper into each principle as well as provide videos of drills and scenarios students can use to improve their skills under stress.

BULLYING: WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG? Pt. 2

BULLYING: WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG?  Pt. 2

Erick Kondo’s Victim Factoring is the idea that for non-random crimes and yes, bullying is now a crime; we can look at the Individual Factors that increase or decrease our chances of becoming a victim. If these factors are under our control, we have the ability to decide whether we want to alter them. Option one, we can Reduce Societal Risk or change the world we live in. Simply put, make it tough to be a bully. Florida Statute 1006.147, also known as The Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act is the Florida Legislature’s response to the problem of bullying in all Florida public schools and is a very comprehensive law. An existing system, School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting (SESIR) is the method used to track the number of bullying incidences into a state database. Most legislative action focuses on the bully. Consequences include separating victim and bully, counseling, suspension, and expulsion. That requires a victim to tell on and/or testify against the accused bully. Even children know that nobody likes a tattle-tail. So we find a way to convince kids that telling on bullies is the right thing to do. Osceola High Schools have instituted a reporting program called “Speak Out” where defined bullying incidents can be reported anonymously through drop boxes and on-line. Bullies seek a positive return for their action whether it is social or personal. Our top-down legislative plan hopes that if faced with ostracization, conflict, or some other significant repercussion, the net-gain for their action is now gone. Now we have to assume that all bullies are afraid of consequences but that is just not the case. This type of legislation will only work if the bully cares about consequences. Whether a nation or an individual, some will construe weakness as opportunity and worry about consequences only if they get caught. Also, there are a percentage of kids out there that just don’t care about repercussions or don’t consider them at the time of the event. This brings us to option two of Kondo’s Victim Factoring. We can Reduce Personal Risk or change ourselves. Unfortunately, personal factors are a non-player in American Society. Everyone should be accepted for who they are even if they are different. Being different though, only presents the potential to be bullied but does not guarantee a child will suffer. The victim must be suitable or else the bully’s goals will not be realized. Personal and social skills now become the defining factors. The victim either allows the bullying to happen or will not have the social support network to fall back on once it does happen. So what can we do to reduce the Risk Factor of children falling into this category of low self-esteem and/or poor social skills? If we take different off the table simply because it is wrong to force kids to fit a pre-conceived concept of conformity, we are left with the child’s perception of self worth and more importantly, their innate nature.

As a martial art instructor, I have had the privilege of teaching children as young as four years of age for the last twenty years. One advantage I have over schoolteachers is that I can work with these children several times a week up until I send them off to college or into “the world”.  What I have found is that children have a fairly developed personality type long before they start the formal education process. They can be shy, out-going, adventurous, timid, have a need for friends or a preference for solitude, industrious, lazy, physical or cerebral, concerned or indifferent, and all combinations thereof.  While certain personality types are more prone to being bullied, no one is immune. Renowned Martial Art Instructor Keith Hafner wrote a wonderful book called “How to Build Rock Solid Kids”. I have used its ideas for years as a teaching tool to improve the lives of the children and teenagers I work with. Its first and most significant precept is to Create a Positive Outlook within your child or the children under your care. Young people commit suicide when they feel there is no hope or no reason to go on living. Children must become involved in something that gives them a positive return. Whether it is social or athletic, the activity should make them feel good about themselves. While the martial arts are for everybody, not everyone is for the martial arts. The same could be said about football, baseball, soccer, dance, or fill in the blank no matter how much the parent wants their child to enjoy it. Children must be taught social etiquette. They must learn how to shake hands, look someone in the eye while talking to them, how to walk and talk with confidence, and they must feel strong. I’m not talking push-up strong but the kind that comes from “ I like myself and my future and no one can take that from me” strong.

Regardless of how much legislation we implement though, schools and organized activities cannot do this alone. It will be the parent, not a teacher or a legislator who will determine if his or her six year old is welcome by everyone at IHOP. Parents must find programs specifically designed to develop the character and personal strength that their children must have in order to succeed in this world. It will be an up-hill battle on so many levels but our culture is changing. As a nation, we are becoming more tolerant of difference and less tolerant of what is now considered aberrant behavior. I do not believe we will ever stamp out bullying completely but can make it socially un-acceptable, un-rewarding, and most importantly, teach our kids to stand strong against it.

BULLYING: WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG? Pt. 1

BULLYING: WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG?

 Part I

 

With all of the “Anti-Bully” and “Stop Bullying Now” programs prevalent in our society, we are still loosing our kids to this aberrant behavior. There isn’t a week that goes by that I hear of one of my students mention bullying they saw, heard of, or in a few cases, were on the receiving end of. These events are no longer isolated incidences but have now become the norm. With all the focus on stopping bullying, why is the problem getting worse instead of better.

As a Martial Art Instructor, child mentor, and someone who was bullied in a long past and distant time, bullying has been a study near and dear to my heart. After years of seminars, workshops, lectures, and various “anti-bully” programs, I’m beginning to wonder if in our zeal to stop bad things from happening, we have exacerbated the problem. We have created this vision of eradicating bullying therefore ending bully-driven suicide and violence. Unfortunately, legislative solutions are more idealistic than practical and tend to distract from the reality of the issue.

The dominance game, i.e. bullying, is a natural part of human social interaction. Regardless of how unacceptable our civilized and educated culture might find it, a certain profile of human given a certain set of circumstances, will seek to increase their social status at the expense of lowering someone else’s. As much as we love our kids and think they are the most wonderful beings on the planet, they are basically amoral. Appealing to a child’s morals is not reliable since they are still forming them. Good, bad, right, wrong, fear, courage, are not innate and are taught via the culture they live in.  Morals, values, and customs are relative but several themes are consistent. Throughout our history, physical strength, power, and the will to fight for the group have been revered. The natural inclination for humans is to seek status within “their” group. With this in mind, how can you expect a socially cognizant twelve year old to be morally mature given the decisions adults make on Reality Shows?  While a moral campaign is still an ideal goal, it may not work and does nothing to end the torment affecting our children here and now.

Forty-nine states have passed anti-bullying legislation that on the surface feels good for everyone involved. Unfortunately, unless an actual crime is committed, i.e. battery or assault, there are no criminal or civil repercussions. More importantly to the schools, there is no funding for these laws. School systems are left to implement various mandated programs, educate teachers and staff, and by the way, find the funding themselves to make sure it’s done right. As a business partner and OASIS Volunteer with the Osceola Schools system, I am very familiar with our over-burdened and over-worked educators so it has been no surprise that responses to accusations of bullying tend to favor the bully. Osceola Country does have one of the better programs in place with its Designees These are selected and trained senior administrators designated to address bullying complaints. Unless seen by staff, witnesses, or physical evidence is present though, more often than not, it is the bully’s word against the victim’s and little gets done.

This brings us to the point of the relationship between the bully and the victim. Why do some kids pick on other kids? Bottom line is because they can and they want to. Social scientists will pontificate on the reasons why one child chooses to bully another but at the end of the day, they are all excuses. Kids and adults will always find a reason to pick on someone else. Understanding this, we may rationalize that bullying is a relationship between two parties based upon an imbalance of power.  If we can accept this precept, those in authority can begin to formulate an appropriate plan of action.

"Life" Insurance

“Life” Insurance

What would you be willing to pay to ensure a long, healthy, and safe life? I’m sure most will say just about anything. Then you ask “what are you doing to ensure the above?” Then the answers slow down and thoughtful looks appear. I could now go on about exercise, eating healthy, regular doctor’s checkups, staying away from “hey watch this!” moments, and obeying traffic laws. I’d like to think that most of that “stuff” is just common sense but in reality, it’s not. All I can do is try to influence people in my small circle of friends, acquaintances, and people that care to listen to me. What I would like to propose though is the study of a martial art also being “life” insurance.

Human nature is imperfect, always has and always will be. While not specifically stated, Cain’s murder of Abel is generally accepted as being born of jealousy, and so it began. Fast forward several thousand years and guess what! It’s still happening today but on a slightly larger scale. Humans will always want and while most will actualize those wants in a socially accepted manner, enough won’t and in turn, will impose their will on others. I’ve talked about the origins of structured fighting systems in another blog so I’m going to jump ahead to now. Why learn a martial art when we have cops, guns, the rule of law, and statistically speaking, very low crime rates. At this point, I’d like to interject a personal story. My wife Tina, has been a martial artist for over seventeen years. She has learned a modern system that is very self-defense oriented to include heavy physical contact, assault drills, ambush prevention, “street” weapons, awareness skills, and the legal ramifications of violence. During that whole period, she hasn’t gotten into one fight! This has put her in the predicament of asking her-self, was it all worth it?  She voluntarily chose to make a huge investment of money, pain, time, effort, and challenge but as of yet, has not had one opportunity to smoke a bad-guy. Now, she is afraid to use her knowledge for fear of getting into trouble with the law and/or being sued. I on the other hand feel that she has accomplished every goal of her studies and continues to maintain that skill set. She is extremely fit, knowledgeable, continues to live the life-style of awareness, and when asked what she would do if confronted by REAL violence, is confident in her ability to survive and overcome. I like to think I’m a realist and plan accordingly. I do all the above mentioned “stuff” along with a bunch of “other stuff”. I keep an emergency bag with trauma kit in my vehicle, a trauma kit on my modular belt, I stay up on first aid knowledge, I keep enough money in savings to get by for several months of un-employment. I ensure my vehicle is properly maintained. I own firearms and maintain proficiency in their use with regular NRA and privately sponsored training courses. I READ THE NEWS, all of it. Local, national, world, right, left, and internet all have information that one can use in making informed decisions. In other words, I’m trying really hard not to be caught by surprise, and that in a nutshell is why I train in a martial art. The idea of learning self-defense is to use it when you need it but as the saying goes “It sucks to need and not have”. Do you really need to fight over a parking spot, a Cabbage Patch doll, or some real or imagined slight? I don’t think so and if awareness, avoidance, and verbal/physical diffusion skills are not part of your curriculum, then you are not learning self-defense/protection. Most won’t get this for the simple reason that it takes effort above and beyond what they HAVE to do. Tina wants to be around to have fun with her grandkids. Her martial arts training has been one investment to ensure she reaches that goal.

A Back-Fist to the Head

A student asked a question concerning a particular technique. I couldn't come up with a short answer so I came up with this. "Wanna' hear it? Here it goes."

Are there multiple targets to the head with the back fist?

Let’s talk about back-fists, also known as back-knuckle. Today, back-fists to the head are VERY common and taught in most systems. Unfortunately, a lot of the weapons taught today, came from men that actually fought with their hands, sometimes for their life. When your life is on the line, you are very motivated to train in the hardest schools in order to turn your body into a weapon. This includes the lengthy and painful conditioning exercises we see old school Karateka and Hard-Stylists use. I have come to the conclusion that very few of today’s martial artists have thrown a back-fist to someone's head with intention. Traditionally, the back-fist was trained on the makiwara or other conditioning aid. The training itself was almost meta-physical.Very few train to that degree anymore but the weapon is still being taught as though you can pop someone in the temple or skull and get a knock-out without damaging your hand. Aiming for the jaw or cheek in a fight with a whipping attack AND COUNTING on it is risky. I tried a short chopping punch to a guy’s jaw in a parking lot a long time ago in a far away galaxy. His flinch was faster than my punch. I caught him in the temple and knocked him out BUT broke my hand in the process. I still had to save my friend from the two on him, but now I’m damaged and I know it. With that said, I’m a big believer in soft on hard, hard on soft. I still teach the system as taught because it’s not for me to water it down and my experiences are just that, mine. When I teach a student a traditional weapon and its use, I do have a tendency to teach options in relation to the person being taught. I consider size, relative physical and mental strength, aptitude, and yes, I consider gender. Face it, a 98lb, trained; diligent female using a back-fist to the temple is NOT going to have the same result as a 220lb untrained male using the same weapon/target. This brings us back to mechanics. Proper structure and mechanics are universal but mass is not. For some targets, you just need a big bullet and big bullets with proper mechanics work on ALL targets. Visualize a .22 to the arm then picture a .50 to the same spot on said arm. If you are unfamiliar with imparted kinetic energy, YouTube it to get a better idea. One of my first introductions to AKKI women demonstrating their brand of weapons, targets, and kinetic energy was at the 1^st AKKI Las Vegas International Camp in 1998. The technique taught was Thundering Hammer modified for women. Instead of the forearm to the mid-section, it was a palm-heel to the groin. Instead of a hammer-fist to the cervical, it was a palm to the OP. My over-eager training partner for that seminar was my wife who promptly smoked my testicles and knocked me out. I’ve been teaching options ever since.

I am not poo-pooing traditional empty-hand weapons. In 1977, I watched Tak Kubota casually back-fist a makiwara bolted to the floor at a San Diego karate studio. He broke two of those supporting bolts and bent the other two. At the time I thought it was pretty cool; now when I think about it, I’m amazed. How many practitioners train the way he does though? Again, look him up. He is the epitomy of tradtional hard style training. I for one do not nor do I have the inclination. Bottom line; know your weapons, their capabilities, and your ability to use them. More importantly, learn the correct mechanics that drive ALL of your weapons because when the fat lady sings, it will come down to attitude, target, weapon, moment, and the mechanics that bring it all together.

Dirty Fighting for Martial Artists

The argument has been around since UFC 1; most street fights go to the ground, BJJ rules on the ground, therefore BJJ is the best for street fighting. The “Street” exponents (RBMA, Combatives) argue that BJJ is learned under a codified rule system and that there are no rules on the street and a good eye gouge/throat shot will nullify any advantage that the BJJ guys have. Having spent most of my life studying a street oriented self-defense system as well as having a Purple Belt in BJJ and grappling for well over ten years now, my views on this subject have changed as my knowledge has increased.

Fifteen years ago, I was one of the “street-exponent” guys that decided that well placed strikes, presses, pulls, and breaks would take a BJJ player out of his environment and turn him into a reactive mass like anyone else that had a finger stuck in their eye or their trachea pinched. After several years in BJJ, I discovered that BJJ guys can do all that illegal stuff too and can do it better because they are well versed in using the ground to stabilize their targets. They are also very adept at hiding their own targets from probing hands. I have found the key to effective “dirty” fighting is to train regularly in all three areas, striking, groundwork, and illegal stuff. More and more striking schools are incorporating groundwork into their curriculum. Most BJJ schools offer MMA striking skills (boxing, Muay Thai, G&P) but again, these are taught in a sports environment. If you do not train to use the naughty stuff then odds are you will not use it when the balloon goes up. If you have never tried to gouge someone’s eye, how do you know you can do it let alone know how someone will react when his eye is being attacked? If you have never pulled a clavicle, how do you know how deep you have to dig for a grip or how hard you have to pull to separate it? I’ve gone after both; with the eye, he fought through the damage (and there was a lot of damage) and he still picked me up and carried me across the room to slammed me into some furniture. I’ve gone for clavicles twice (pre-BJJ) and have yet to get a solid grip and without that, forget about a separation. Breaking someone’s finger? Never slowed me down and there were no drugs or alcohol involved on my part.

In the early 90’s, I attended a seminar with Paul Vunak one of the early proponents of RBSD and still a respected name in the field. One of the areas he covered was Kino Mutay, biting and pinching. It was a delightfully painful experience that also included hair pulling and was almost a system in itself, not unlike Chin Na for the Chinese Systems. Whereas most of the pinching, pulling, and biting were distractants, several specific attacks inflicted a significant amount of damage. Prior to that seminar, I thought a bite was just a bite and a hair pull was just a hair pull. Afterwards, I realized they were special tools that helped you reach a specific goal and when used properly, were very effective to that end. The most important thing I learned was that you needed time to facilitate maximum effect. This meant the target had to be stabilized and controlled in order for the attack to garner the desired result. If a human being can cut off their own arm in order to survive, do you really think a poke in the eye, fishhook to the mouth, or a bite to the cheek is going to make someone just give up and quit? These attacks are just tools and as tools, they need to be used properly to maximize their function. Hair pulls are used to create disturbances in balance and cancel zones. Bites and pinches are used to create openings and/or space. In extreme situations, they tear, crush, and gouge. Rarely will the infliction of pain alone be the primary motivator in making a really bad person give up their desire to make you a resource. While these are considered horrific attacks that can cause incredible damage as well as kill, they are still very viable options when it comes to preserving your life. Are you prepared to use them?

TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS OR COMBATIVES. No Softy’s Please!

I have had the opportunity to train in JKD, MCMAP, MAC, PFS, and KMW Krav Maga. I also had the privilege to have been exposed to SCARS/SAFTA/CQD, SBS Combatives (Jap-Slapping), and Systema. I enjoyed every minute of the training and learning experiences and would gladly participate in more opportunities to work with any one of the instructors or groups again. With that said, the question arises; are Combatives/Reality Based Martial Arts (RBMA) better than learning Traditional Martial Arts (TMA)? Like most of life’s questions, it depends on personal experience and goals. Let’s take a 10-cent history tour of the martial arts in general. Structured hand-to-hand combat pre-dates the Old Egyptian Empire with the primary emphasis being to kill or disable an enemy if a weapon was lost in battle. Adult sports came about as a means to test military related prowess and skill. Cultural and geographic differences took H2H in many different directions but the one common thread besides making their skills as effective as possible was the requirement of self-discipline, which included mental toughness. Those that had the aforementioned requisites that fought and won, got to pass their knowledge and experience on. For hundreds of years, these skills were pretty much isolated to the military class. As time passed, former military types would teach to their families, relatives, and friends. Most know the story of Bodhidharma, an Indian monk who taught Buddhism at the Shaolin Temple in China. The monks were lacking the physical and mental strength required for the hours of meditation, so they were taught an Indian martial art based exercise to toughen them up. This combined with the indigenous martial arts eventually became the base for many Chinese and Japanese systems. Europe had it’s own roots in Egyptian wrestling and Greek Pankration. While not as structured or formal as the Asian arts, they were still very effective in their own right. As the need for personal fighting skills faded, the styles and methods became the property of those few that had the desire, attitude, and discipline to learn, improve, and test them. They pretty much remained family, ethnic, or professional military taught skills up until the late 1800’s when the need for carrying personal weapons diminished and the public, especially law enforcement, began to see the need for an edge. William E. Fairbairn is generally recognized as the Father of Modern Combatives. He studied and tested various Chinese and Japanese martial arts while working as a Shanghai cop in the early 1900’s eventually developing his own system called Defendu. Not much in the way of fluff or formality, but for its time, it did what it was designed to do which was to give the masses a quick and dirty way to break things on another human being. At that time, the masses were military and law enforcement types who again, had the requisite discipline and attitude to jump into the fray because it was fun.

Cut to today where almost everybody knows of, or trains in the martial arts. The Asians had turned many of their arts into personal development vehicles and with national sponsorship, sent martial emissaries through out the world. Most westerners live in relative security so the need for a personal self-defense system is minimal at best. In other words, we have become soft. With the commercialism of the martial arts in the 70’s and 80’s, the modern karateka is more apt to be some eight year-old Black Belt swinging a pair of glowing nunchuku while doing aerial kicks. The softening of the martial arts in general has been going on since instructors realized they could make a living teaching “karohtee”. These days it’s self-improvement, fitness, sports, and in fewer cases, self-defense. So where does that leave those of us who truly desire to learn real self-defense and fighting skills. For many today, it’s Combatives, military or street oriented systems that rely heavily on contact and attitude vice uniforms and bowing. Simplistic, gross-motor skill based striking taught in high energy, high stress environments. With the right mindset, they work very well. Watching two SEAL’s or SBS Operators work CQ material is like watching a single purpose driven machine accomplish its design. These types of professionals are trained to go into dark places of the mind reaching levels of controlled violence that most people will never comprehend, let alone experience. Even at the induction levels of their training, they are broken down and rebuilt as mission driven warriors whose use of violence is just another tool in their kit. They use what works and don’t give a crap about being pretty or formal. Take that same material and give it to a civilian who hasn’t developed the “kill or be killed, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” mindset, and the efficacy changes. This is where the divide comes into play. In a past Blog, you read the Sheep, Sheepdog, Wolf concept. I believe there is a large group of people out there who will never be able to effectively deal with violence. Whether it be social conditioning or “I was born this way”, some people just go to crap when faced with somebody trying to hurt them or worse. They will probably never accept violence as an answer unless they experience some life-changing event. Others want to take charge of their own security but don’t have the physical skill set to do so. They just have lousy motor-skills and all the training in the world won’t improve them. Another smaller group has the desire and the skill set but not the mind-set and this is where either good martial arts or combatives training can come into play. For years, martial art training was very militaristic and brutal. Lots of pain, fatigue, blood, and broken bones where the norm in any dojo, kwoon, or studio. Like the military, old school training required intense discipline and obedience to your instructor. Failure to obey or not put forth the required effort resulted in punishment. It was in this environment that the “warrior” mindset was created. Those that survived, reached higher levels of skill and those that couldn’t hack it, went back to being sheep. Combatives try to recreate that military regimen with lots of yelling, movement, full power striking, mini-scenario drills, and functional fitness training. Combatives also lean heavily on massive amounts of firepower or repetitive striking using gross motor skills. While simplistic and functional, it’s not always the best way to get the job done. Some schools of thought look at Combatives akin to having a sledgehammer as the only tool in your toolbox. 

Since they both work, why choose one over the other? Well, the answer can be summed up with one simple question; what is your end-goal? If your end-goal is basic self-defense in a short period of time, go with Combatives. On the other had, if you truly want to dig deep into a system as well as find out what you are made of, look into the more combative systems of the martial arts. These will vary with system and instructor but some of the more recognized “violent” martial arts are the Aki-Jiu-Jitsu or Samurai Systems, the Hawaiian Systems (Kenpo/Kempo, KajukenBo Family), Archipelago Systems (Kuntao, Silat, Kali), and one of the new kids on the block, Kyokushin. These Systems will teach mindset; complete anatomical weapons development, body conditioning in order to take punishment, and hardcore fighting skills. Again, some people will not have pre-requisite complex motor skills for higher biophysical usage as required by many martial arts. That’s okay, look for a system that complements your abilities as well as your end-goal.

Over the years I have come to the belief that the style or system you choose to learn isn’t quite as important as how it is taught and what are your expected results. I train Mills Kenpo because I like the speed, power, and violence of it as well as the logic and science that makes up its driving force. I train in Combatives because I enjoy the randomness of the interaction. Any training where the real risk of injury or danger is present will develop mindset. To paraphrase Frank Mir when asked to compare TMA with Combatives (specifically Krav Maga), his statement was along the lines of  “when going to a gunfight, do you bring along the guy that shoots two nights a week in his free time or do you bring along the guy who has made a lifetime journey out of combat shooting”. I know who I want covering my six.

Tactical and Performance Imagery

I was sitting at a Denny's Restaurant a few days ago enjoying a cup of coffee and free wi-fi. As usual, I was seated close to an alternative EXIT and facing the door. I noticed a young man in his mid-twenties enter who appeared to be acting nervously. I could see that he was scanning the restaurant and something about his actions got my spidey-sense tingling. His eyes locked on to a man and a woman sitting at one of the booths and his demeanor changed instantly. His eyes focused, he visibly tensed, then walked over to the couple, pulled out a handgun and promptly shot both of them. As soon as I saw the pistol, I yelled "GUN!" and immediately low-ran to my exit and made it out the door as shots were still coming from inside the restaurant. The scenario ended as I was reaching for my cell phone to dial 911. I went back to my coffee and finished closing service tickets on my laptop.
Mental Imagery or Performance Imagery (PI) has been a part of my training since first introduced to it by the late Professor Wally Jay in the mid 70's. His presentation of visualization was used to explain how he could make students perform what appeared to be superhuman skills. He went on to say that visualization was a key ingredient to ALL physical performance whether it is athletic, combative, or life. Tactical Performance Imagery (TPI) is used by the military and LE as means for action preparation and after action analysis. Mental rehearsal can create the proper mindset prior to an engagement and mental review allows subjective analyzation of events following the action. For the martialist, it allows the mind to create experiences that can be used in the decision making process. When training, most martial artists normally learn from “ideal” situations. The “dummy” makes the perfect attack, holds position, and allows the defender to develop his skill set. As training progresses, the attacks become faster, more sudden, and more powerful. Given the fact that no training will ever replicate a real assault though, we must use every available method to build experiences into our decision tree. Any school serious about developing real self-defense skills will incorporate all of the following:

                        Working full-speed techniques in the air to target
                                   (develops flow and speed)
                        Working slow-motion techniques with contact to target
                                   (re-enforces target acquisition and weapons development
                                    and “felt” penetration)
                        Working full-speed techniques with controlled power to the body
                                   (develops flow with contact, creates “I’m going to hurt you”
                                    mindset, allows analyzation of striking potential,
                                    acclimatizes “dummy” to contact/pain)
                        Working full-speed and full-power techniques to target on an
                                    armored body

(develops flow with contact, re-enforces target acquisition
and weapons development, creates “I’m going to hurt you”
mindset, allows for variables, brings “alive” techniques

                        Stress Training Drills and Scenarios
                        Visualizing techniques that destroy an opponent as well “what ifs”

Rory Miller, Corrections Officer, Martialist, and author promotes the idea that ALL self-defense training is theoretical. Until the student applies it AND it works, he is just learning what might work based on his instructor’s experience or lack thereof. My goal as in instructor is to build into my student’s decision-making tree as many realistic experiences as possible. When the balloon goes up, humans will sink to the level of their training. If there is no experience to draw from when involved in an assault or action, heart rate goes up, lizard brain takes over, and all kinds of not good things can happen. Good imagery will manifest itself with physical changes, heart rate goes, breathing gets shallow, face flushes, ear’s redden, etc… Thirty years later, I can still jack my heart rate to over 100bpm when I visualize a gang assault experience. We are all bad-asses in our mind but reality has a way of stomping on our bad-assness. Proper imagery training also involves “what ifs”. What if you don’t get the expected result of your strikes, what if you’re in a toilet stall, what if you go down, what if you make a tactical room entry and face a child pointing a pistol at you, what if…..
                       
 Today I use PI regularly as a means to stay aware and to improve my skill set. Whether it's visualizing myself performing a technique or running a scenario through my head while standing in line at a Post Office, imagery is a must for those who plan on using there martial skills should the need arise. Then again, I could be a good sheeple and not worry thinking that bad things will only happen to other people.  

Myth of The Slap Art

Not sure when it began but I have heard people talk about it as far back as the 60’s. Watch the average kenpoist work his stuff and you hear and maybe even see quite a bit of slapping. Now, I’ve been backhanded as well as forehand slapped and have yet to be put on my butt let alone put in the hospital. So, what’s with all the slapping, on your body as well as your opponents? Well, let me tell you what I’ve heard first and then we’ll go into a few theories of mine. Anybody that knows American Kenpo will tell you that it’s predominately a hand system and that the hands move at a VERY high rate of speed. One of the ways kenpoists maintain and even increase their velocity when striking is to rebound their weapons off their own body. In the AKKI, this principle is called elastic recoil. For example, my strike goes out on a straight line, makes contact with the target, and after the desired penetration, the weapon rounds off and comes back. At this point, I’ve decided to hit another target with the same arm so instead of recovering my weapon to position, I maintain velocity, neutralize my weapon by relaxing my hand and opening it up, bounce it of my own body and launch a new weapon on the same/different trajectory to the same/different target. Below is a short clip of one method of Elastic Recoil. Here, I strike Carlos with a backfist to the liver, rebound off my own body and ridgehand to the throat (in this case, his upper chest).

Quick side note here, while training under an unnamed kenpo senior in the early 90’s, he always stressed travel being necessary in order to develop power. In other words, the more time and distance your weapon had to travel, the more power it had when it got to the target. Logically, this is true, but it is only one method available to ensure max power on contact. Increasing time and distance while striking isn’t normally the best course of action. (think John Wayne). On the other hand, striking using the elastic recoil principle still gives us that big chunk of travel but now it’s part of an ellipse with no stopping and re-starting. On the other side of the slap is a basic method called slap checking. Here, your open hand acts as a check to your opponent’s weapons or body. They are very momentary unlike positional or pressing checks hence the slapping sound created when applied.

So far we have a whole lot o’ slapping going on but nobody’s been hurt yet. Now here is where we get to the part that I feel has led to the “Slap Art” moniker. I’ve been in my fair share of dust ups and on one particular occasion, I tried a speed shot to the jaw of a young shirtless Scorpions fan in the RFK Stadium parking lot. He flinched at the last second and I clipped him in the temple. He was out but I fractured the metacarpal of my little finger in two places and I still had two more guys to fight. With that said, I’m not a big fan of punching people in the head but I am a big fan of dropping an open hand on a jaw, maxillary sinus, or temple. Note, a palm-heel to the jaw can offer VERY impressive results with no tweakage to the small bones of the hand. Unless your training partner is armored up though, hitting with power to the face does not usually encourage a second practice shot. What you end up seeing in many kenpo schools is using open hand shots to the body vice the head/face. This allows the weapons to build in the muscle memory of hitting uninterruptedly. Now before you beat me up for training to miss the target, it is only one method kenpoists use to train. When it comes to demos or show and tell though, it is the more visually impressive method of demonstrating the speed and power of American Kenpo. Please understand that there are many methods of training that will get you to the top of the pyramid. Working the body is one, as are pulling the strike before it hits the target, slow motion training with attitude and effect, and full power training on armored up partners. They all have their weaknesses and strengths and with that mindset, I incorporate all of them into our training paradigm. Actual training methods will be discussed in future blogs but for now let’s get back to slapping. 

I watched a 235lb Black Belt drop to his back from a Paul Mills chest slap. I have been dropped to my knees and have dropped students to their knees with chest slaps. Now imagine taking that slap and raising it up 8-12 inches and striking a 12 lb.object on a flexible support. The last time I did it to someone was five years ago in a bar in Kansas City and it was the only strike I threw. Technically, it wasn’t quite a slap but it was an open hand to the jaw and it did enter on an arc. Last bit of FYI. Ed Parker's "slap" was affectionally known as "The Parker Paw". I've only seen pictures of the aftermath of a Parker Paw so take my impression with  grain of salt but OMG (I have kids), it left one hell of a mark. Please, before you pick on our slapping, find a qualified instructor and stand in front of him as he or she touches you. It will leave a mark and I am very confident you will have a much greater appreciation of the power of the slap.

Why Aren't We Tough Anymore?

ADVERSITY BUILDS CHARACTER
Not sure where I read or heard it but I use the previous statement quite often to students and those I mentor. It is very much along the lines of a Friedrich Nietzsche quote "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger" used as a training mantra in the U.S. Navy's BUD/S Special Warfare Training School. Up until the last few hundred years, life was tough for most. 20,000 years ago, it was a struggle to find food, shelter, survive the elements, and to keep from being eaten. Once communities began to form and a roof was a sure bet, there was less fear from tooth and claw, but now man had to deal with "I want what you have". In other words, the strong took from the weak. Pretty much up to the industrial age and the Rule of Law, the majority of humans had to work hard as individuals and as communities to fulfill their basic needs. Work was very physical for both men and women and the image of the rugged individual persisted well into the 20^th Century. With the widespread use of electricity and all of its wonderful progeny, leisure time became a significant part of our lifestyle and the concepts of adversity and struggle became a distant memory for most western societies. These days, adversity is finding a lost remote or getting to work on time. A struggle involves making a choice between eating at Outback or Chili's. Psychologists say that humans are basically lazy and that is why we have the modern wonders we have. Humans are always looking for an easier/better way to do things; especially those that help is exert less effort. Greater productivity in less time gives more time for leisure activities and for most; those activities usually don’t require great physical expenditure or risk. We have become soft and spoiled and we like it. Today in the U.S., “Manifest Destiny” has been replaced by “shop ‘till you drop” and “can I super-size that?” The vast majority can spend their whole lives without ever having to deal with the threat of somebody trying to take their stuff and/or killing them. Most of my students have never been in a fight let alone a violent physical assault. As the “softening” of our society continues, the weaker we become both as individuals and as a nation. Lucky for us though, the United States is known for its individualism, its rich history of overcoming great odds, and when push comes to shove, woe be to yea who try picking on us. Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Grossman introduced me to the concept of Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves in his groundbreaking book “On Combat”. The premise being the vast majority of people are sheep, and that’s okay. Sheep keep society humming along on an even keel. Sheep are nice, adverse to violence, pay their taxes, and wave at you on country roads. They have found their station in life and are happy or at least excepting of it. Wolves on the other hand, are not nice, are willing to use any means including violence to get what they want, may or may not pay taxes, and usually see sheep as resources. Sheepdogs in turn look a lot like the wolf, have the same tools and are not hesitant to use violence but only for the common good. They keep the sheep safe and insulated form the big bad wolf. At one time, sheepdogs wore shinning armor or white. These days, they wear the camouflage of our services or the blue of law enforcement officers. Sheepdogs also come in a subtler form, those that recognize violence is a possibility and take steps to ensure they are prepared to meet it even if it includes using violence on their part. The common thread to all sheepdogs is ADVERSITY. Sheepdogs constantly challenge themselves by voluntarily taking on tasks that are difficult. Whether it’s the mental and physical challenges of the military, the dangers of working in law enforcement, the blood and bruises of training in the martial arts, even the effort of going to the gym or shooting range regularly, sheepdogs always take the hard road. Unfortunately, choosing the challenge has become the exception while taking the easy way has become the norm.
I wish I knew the secret to wanting to make things difficult for myself vice sitting in front of the tube for hours. I don’t always want to train, eat in moderation, or workout, but I do because I know I’ll feel better about my choice afterwards. If your informative years have been easy with no expectations other than getting good grades and staying out of trouble, odds are you’re going to want to continue that thought process as an adult. Simple efforts lead to simple rewards. Rewards lead to expectations and expectations lead to entitlements. Pretty soon, everybody is getting, and nobody is giving. Those that have struggled tend to appreciate what they have a lot more than those who have had things given to them. Hard work brings great rewards even if it is only the satisfaction of having done a good job. When I mentor youth, my message is one of effort, service, and choice/consequence. I believe the key is to get the word out to our kids through leadership programs such as Explorers, Scouts, JrROTC, and martial art classes. Even organized athletics offer many opportunities to teach kids the value of effort and challenge. As long as we keep having enough young people volunteer for the military, enroll in a Police Academy, or take responsibility for their own health and protection, we can keep the wolf at bay. Otherwise a nation of sheep with no one to protect it will soon become someone else’s flock or worse.

Experiences Part 1

One of my former students who lives wayyy too far away to train has asked about my experiences with violence as to seek insight on what, why, how, and to include the “after action” report. I’m always a little antsy on discussing my “fights” on a public forum for several reasons. First, while I don’t want to advocate violence as your first option, sometimes it’s your only option. As noted Combatives Instructor Tim Larkin says, “When violence is the answer, it’s the ONLY answer”. Second, the written word is notorious for being taken out of context and I’d rather not spend the rest of my life defending my statements so please just take it for what it is, MY experience. Lastly, I don’t want to come off sounding like my “fighting skills” rock and that “Bruce Lee don’t have nuthin’ on me”. With that said, I’ll share three experiences that left a lasting impression, changed my martial art outlook, and show that they ALL could have been avoided. This first one still invades my dreams and taught me some very life changing lessons so I’ll describe it first. I’ll relate the other two in future blogs.

1980 San Diego 20 years old

I had attended a friends birthday party in Imperial Beach and was returning home when I had a burning desire for some Jack in the Box onion rings. I pulled off I-5 and went to the nearest JaBo which was located in the Shelltown (Mistake #1) area of National City. It was almost 11:00pm and instead of going through the drive through, I went in to order (Mistake #2) as well as use the rest room. When I entered, I noticed four vatos in Pendletons and pressed white t-shirts (Ignored Warning #1) sitting at one of the tables. I ALMOST (Mistake #3) turned around and left but I had to use the head and I wanted those onion rings. While making my order, the server gave me a strange look, (Ignored Warning #2) which I disregarded. She told me that they were in the process of closing and that they would have to make my onion rings which would take a few minutes. While waiting, I went to use the rest room. When I returned, the place was empty other than the two servers (Ignored Warning #3). I collected my food and went outside to my truck. I immediately started digging into my onion rings (Mistake #4). I sensed/heard someone running up behind me (Ignored Warning #4) and as I started to turn, I felt the shock of the hit as well as seeing a flash bulb go off in front of my eyes. Onion rings went everywhere as I staggered back against my truck and I started throwing blind punches. My vision was fuzzy and I could only see the guy directly in front of me but I knew that there were at least two more because I could feel them hitting and grabbing at me. One of them kept yelling something about “East Side” but other than that, at was all noise. I managed to drive my thumb into an eye (Good Move #1) of they guy in front of me. He screamed and that’s when I went down to the ground. I immediately went to my back (Good Move #2) and started kicking anything and everything that I could reach. They in turn started playing soccer on my torso. I had kept the truck to my back (Good Move #3) and when I had been put down it was now to my right. It took several seconds (hours?) to realize that I was taking some serious damage to my ribs. After one nasty barrage, I found I couldn’t breath and scared s$#*tless, I rolled under my truck (Good Move #4). Thank goodness for lift kits and off-road tires. They would not go under after me so they slung rocks, concrete, bottles and insults at me for about a minute (or it could have been another hour). I heard a siren come on close by and I could see them take off. An SDPD patrol car pulled up about 30 seconds later. After paramedics and paperwork, I drove myself to the hospital. Total damage, one broken rib, three cracked ribs, multiple contusions, cuts, and abrasions, a split lip, and a concussion. All and all, for making a bunch of stupid mistakes, I came out okay. I did find out during the interview why I was jumped. One of the hoods was the server’s boyfriend and she had noticed my affiliation tattoo on my wrist. They were Shelltown Cholos and in my teens, I had run with East Side and still wore the tag. They hated each other with a passion then and five years later, they still hated each other.

Lessons:

At the time I was a Green Belt in Chinese Kenpo. We were a fight school and the techniques were more for belt progression than actual use. We were not taught any awareness or avoidance skills but we were taught how to take a punch and keep fighting. Skipping the very obvious mistakes I made prior to taking the first punch, I learned the following lessons about the attack itself:

Always step off when covering. I did not learn COVER until I began my American Kenpo training in 1988. Turning in place just gives your assailant a different part of his intended target to hit (think OODA).

Don’t try to kick in a mass attack. The violence of action on my part combined with the pushing, pulling, and striking from my attackers forced me to lower my base. Even lowered, I still felt unstable and attempting a kick/knee would have put me on the ground a lot sooner.

They don’t come at you one at a time like the movies. In fact their exuberance probably kept my damage to a minimum because they kept getting in each other’s way.

Maneuvering to the outside in class is relatively easy. When the attack is real, it’s a hell of a lot more difficult to maneuver anywhere let alone maneuver with a plan.

Use your environment. Vehicles, buildings, fixed objects, clothing, anything lying around that might make a weapon or a defensive tool.

When tunnel vision kicks in, go after the guy you can see and inflict as much damage as possible up to and including maiming and lethal force. One of my students is a Federal Corrections Officer and two weeks ago, he handled his first inmate killing. An inmate was beaten and stomped to death by five other inmates. He had the unpleasant task of trying to keep the inmate alive until medical help arrived but ended up watching him die before help got there. Even if no weapons are involved, a mass attack is a deadly force assault. Treat it as such and do whatever it takes with the eyes and throat being the primary targets.

Tattoos can get you killed but peroxide and table salt will get rid of them.

Last, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. I believe there is nothing mystical or psychic about a “bad feeling”. It is your mind’s unconscious ability to pick up on ‘triggers” that the conscious mind is too preoccupied to process. Good awareness skills are the conscious mind’s answer to why these triggers are important. Awareness is a skill and like any other skill, must be developed and practiced. Future blogs will discuss some of the methods I use to teach awareness. Fighting is ugly and it’s even uglier when you’re getting your ass kicked. Hopefully, you might learn a little from my mistakes that will keep from having your ass handed to you with bag of onion rings.

           

FITNESS FOR FIGHTING

Fighting/Self-Defense is the epitome of Interval Training combining cardiovascular endurance as well as anaerobic endurance. When coupled with the added psychological stress and associated adrenal dump of an unprovoked and unexpected attack, fighting is one of the most physically demanding venues the human body might be forced to endure.

Conditioning specificity for self-defense is a must for your overall martial art training. In the past, traditional martial arts used traditional training methods to strengthen and develop the body. Many of these practices while functional left a lot to be desired when it came to time involved and the return on that time investment. Today's methods incorporate modern science and equipment that allow the student to strengthen specific attributes in the limited time that students allot to training while still holding down a job, raising a family, etc.... Swimmers train to swim, runners train to run, and fighters train to fight. There will always be crossover skills when it comes to conditioning just as there are crossover skills when training in various martial activities. but being a good tournament fighter or forms competitor will not guarantee success in an ally. You must train and develop the specific skill sets required to specifically deal with violence.

A street fight or assault for the average person uses a significant amount of physical strength in a very short period of time. One-punch knockouts are rare, even for trained practitioners. Whether you choose to fight or run, your overall conditioning has a high probability of being the determining factor of whether you win or get away. You do not necessarily have to be stronger than your opponent but you should be able to last longer than he does.

Your ability to take damage and survive is also relative to your fitness level. Most people when faced with violence tend to "give up" or go defensive once they start taking damage. Physical conditioning goes hand and hand with mental toughness. A strong, trained body usually equates to a strong mind and a strong mind does not give up no matter how much pain or damage has been inflicted.

There are no rounds or time-outs in a violent encounter. You must be able to exert high-intensity effort for as long as it takes to survive or end the assault. You must also have enough physical strength to push, pull, and strike with damaging force.  Last, you must have the *Mental Toughness* to never quit.

SELF DEFENSE V.S. FIGHTING

I wrote this in 1988 when I first began teaching. A little simplistic but it shows my mindset at the time.

                      

                        "FIGHTING IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SELF DEFENSE FAILS".

The goal of any true self-defense system is ensuring personal protection. There are many ways to accomplish this goal with some of them being physical and others being non-physical. The best way not to get hurt is to avoid any situation where danger or a confrontation might be possible. Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world and violence can happen anywhere and at anytime. When avoidance and awareness fail, self-defense is your next recourse, but you still don't necessarily have to bring it to a physical level. Self-defense is also about psychology; can you talk your way out of it? Can you bluff your way out of it? Do you have your running shoes on if talking doesn't work? Remember, we live in a violent world where a simple argument can lead to a deadly encounter. Weapons are readily available and those combined with drugs, alcohol and a "I don't give a f#%k" attitude can make for a potentially deadly situation. Why take a chance to escalate a situation if the only things being exchanged are words? If you can walk away, walk away. If you can't walk away, talking hasn't worked, and you realize the situation is escalating to the physical level, it's time to act. You don't necessarily have to wait for your opponent to throw the first punch or make the first move but you do have to consider the results of your actions. In a court of law, anyone that reasonably believes that their person is in danger of physical harm has the right to defend them self, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN PHYSICALLY TOUCHED. Respond according to the situation. If it's a drunk, control him; if the assailant has a weapon and you believe he is trying to kill or maim you, you can respond with deadly force.

Now, what happens when you attempt your self-defense and it doesn't work? You miss with your pre-emptive strike, your timing is off, your strikes don't get the expected response, who knows? Anything is possible, self defense is not a 100% art and you have to be prepared for the unexpected. The situation has now gone from a self-defense scenario to a fighting scenario. In self-defense, skill, speed and surprise rule the outcome, but in fighting, size and strength are now more of a determining factor. In the fighting scenario, you and your opponent have squared off and you are both looking for openings and opportunities that either of you can take advantage of. This is the situation we, as KENPO practitioners, want to avoid for the simple reason that we no longer have full control of the situation. In self-defense, we control everything because we have the element of surprise and confidence in the knowledge of our skills. Once fighting has begun, we have to maneuver into a position where we can attempt to gain control back and apply self-defense techniques once again, but our opponent is now aware that we are a danger and will be much more wary of our actions.

Self-defense and fighting, two different worlds but still very related and either can turn into the other. While the KENPO practitioner does train to fight, both standing and on the ground, we acknowledge that our strength and the safest course of action lies in self-defense and that is the area we seek to perfect.

Welcome to My Blog

Am I paranoid if I identify Emergency Exits or sit facing the entrance in public places? Am I paranoid for locking my doors and turning on outside lights at night? Am I paranoid because I carry a utility knife and keep a handgun within arm’s reach of my bed? Just what is “paranoid” these days?

I am a martial artist who learned many years ago that self-defense training is more than two or three nights a week at the local karate studio. True self-defense, like fitness, is a lifestyle. I don’t diet but I do make healthy choices because those are the foods I want to eat. I exercise not to “get in shape” but to maintain a strong body and mind that can meet any demand placed on it. I have studied American Kenpo for over 30 years and researched modern self-preservation methods because the only one responsible for my safety and security is myself. The police do a great job of catching bad guys but more often than not, they end up investigating the crime scene. Stretched thin, over-worked, and under-paid, their ability to prevent crimes is limited at best. As an American raised on John Wayne and Louis L’Amour, the ultimate responsibility to ensure that I live a long, healthy, and productive life, is mine alone. In my youth, I played the man-dance and survived several violent encounters that should have left me dead. I believe in the basic “goodness” of people but have seen the worst of what one human being can do to another. In all likelihood, I will spend the rest of my life without ever getting into another fight or being shot or cut again. As the saying goes though, “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. We can never choose what bad things will happen to us but we can strive to be prepared when they do.

My name is Rick Brumby; I am a career martial artist, a student of history, modern combatives, combat conditioning, and a survivor. I make no claims to be a “Master” or an expert on anything but to paraphrase my teacher, Paul Mills, how can you teach swimming if you’ve never been in the water. I’ve been in the water and hope that my experiences can offer a little insight and a few ideas on how to stay safe and healthy. Welcome to my Blog.