Bugei Journal

Review of Dukkha by Loren Christensen

2011-12-06T12:38:00.001-08:00

Review of "Dukkha" a Martial Arts Novel by Loren W. Christensen

Dukkha is about Sam Reeves, a detective and martial artist. The book opens having Sam recover from a recent work related tragedy. He gets back to work and is hoping to pick up where he left off. Instead of things getting better for Sam, he is devastated by another tragedy. Before he has a chance to even get his head on straight he is introduced to long lost family and things begin to become even more complicated when the families problems also surface in Sam's life.

First, I know there is a suggestion for writers to always write from what they know. From personal experiences, from things they have seen or done. If that is even remotely true than I look forward to seeing what the author has in store for us next. This book was a pleasure to read. I had trouble putting it down until I finished the book.

Second, there are few books out there that go into such detail in the fight scenes and I really enjoyed the flow of the fights in this book. In my experience, it can be a difficult thing to keep the tension and rhythm of the story and not risk having that break for a fight. This book doesn't have that problem. The fights fit into the story very well.

Third, there is a taste of the supernatural in the story and it works very well along side the grit of the real world that I imagine the author is including from elements of his own experiences. It is fun and fascinating without being so over the top as to ruin or rule the book. A well done balance.

Finally, I enjoyed the characters. They each had depth and fit into the story very well. The interactions they go through brought out emotions in the form of support for the good guys and anger and frustration at the bad guys.

I recommend this book! Everyone that reads it will find something to enjoy in this story. Even more so for Martial Artists and those in Law Enforcement. I think there is some great thought provoking material and if you buy this book the author will likely write the next one. So, get out there and buy it people. I am hooked and really want to see what happens next.

What to teach...

2011-11-13T15:10:00.001-08:00

So, the question is this: Can one school teach in each of these contexts without creating a conflict in the goals of training? Sport, Self Defense, Martial Arts.

Honestly, I don't know. I can see arguments all over the place for and against this type of thing. If your intent is self defense and most self defense occurrences take place in a very messy, heated, and quick exchange you don't get much time to think. Thus your reactions need to be honed to a specific set of responses. You need to react appropriately and do so consistently. This of course is to reduce the margin of error, which is never going to go away. To may variables, to many things that can go wrong.

So, conversely I want to teach sport and add in some self defense techniques. Most sports take place within a set of rules designed to make the fight last longer and where no one walks (or crawls) away with any major injuries. When I say major I mean a broken back or punctured lung. However, that is at some level the goal of self defense. Now we have a conflict in training. I train to hurt people or I train for sport. The goals and strategies are very different.

Now lets add one more context to the mix. Martial Arts as a study could be anything from a spiritual pursuit for some to a observance of the historical and traditions for another. They do not necessarily fit into sport or into self defense. Some Aikido and Tai Chi schools have come to this... They study their art for the art's sake. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that if that is what you want from your studies.

If fact, I am not trying to recommend any particular context with this article. My goal is to seek understanding only.

I tend to think that it might be okay to focus on one or two of these things but not all three. That also doesn't include contexts I believe might very well need to be considered as well. Law Enforcement/Security. What about a Military context. Strategies designed to work for a Law Enforcement Officer are probably not best used in most sports and certainly not in wartime. At least in my opinion.

The one thing that is going to be true in each of these contexts. All the techniques we use are going to be the same for the most part. It is the strategies, the method of application of those techniques that changes between contexts. The strategy might also change which techniques are useful and which are not but the techniques remain the same.

I heard one quote I think about from time to time. Paraphrased. "Karate tournaments are a nice distraction but when they are done it is time to go back to the real Karate training." I have heard it said that Tournament style Karate represents only 10% of what real Karate is all about. I agree with that whole heartedly. That doesn't make it wrong just not the direction I want to go with my art. So no sport.

For now, I am going to focus on Self Defense as my primary context and Martial Arts from a historical perspective to fill in the gaps with fun stuff.

Feel free to chime in...

N.

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: Abernethy Seminar Review

2011-10-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: Abernethy Seminar Review: This last weekend Sensei Nick and I had the chance to go to a seminar in Missouri hosted by the Blue River Martial Arts Club . (Thanks to Er...

Kata Bunkai - Blocks as Strikes and Strikes as Blocks

2011-09-02T01:37:00.000-07:00

Blocks as Strikes: Pinan Shodan begins with one of my favorite techniques. What I have heard called a Box Block or mid level and high level block. Now one of the applications I had an instructor tell me that this is a defense against an attack performed with a Bo(staff).

I asked about how you could make this functional and they said told me that we should block the attack with the front hand and the back hand is in a high chambered strike. I didn't really like that answer so I kept my eyes open for a better answer. That came initially from a Lua instructor names Steve Taylor.

At first I didn't put the technique together with what I was doing in kata. Thick headed I know but I was working on Lua not Karate so for one reason or another I simply didn't connect the dots. So the applications in Mr Taylor's Lua class are very fluid and practiced in a much more practical manner than I was used too at the time. In his class the technique I believe he called a full moon block. And again, in his class the word block was a bit misused, but as with all things Lua, even the blocks have teeth.

Here is your example. Mr Taylor got some sticks or a baseball bat and had us practice someone swinging it at us. We never put a ton of power into the swing but we didn't need too. We always left class with plenty of bruises and it was great! Anyway, which side of your body does one want to take a hit with a bat. Back or Belly? If you turn your back to the swing you cannot contain the bat once hit. You have to reach around behind you to get some sort of control over the bat. Well, that is not going to work very well. On the other hand if you turn your stomach toward the bat you have a much better chance of gaining control over the bat up front. Now all this also assumes that you (the intrepid defender) are also going to close the gap on the person swinging the bat at you. Better to get hit with the handle of the bat than the business end where all the force is located. Make sense so far? I really will come up with a video or something as soon as I get a chance.

So, to summarize the defense, stomach toward the bat move in toward the attacker as quickly as possible. Once close pull the bat in close to gain control and attack back. Insert kicks, punches, biting or whatever else you want to get the bat away from them.

So going back to the box block. A very similar defense here. In this case we will assume that the attacker decides to throw a big looping hook punch. Common in most bar room fights if you didn't know. The box shown in the picture above is best if your stomach is toward the attack and you close the gap on your attacker as quickly as possible. The hand nearest the attacker can strike to the nose, chin, face, neck, etc... You really don't have to be too particular as to what you hit. Just hit something. The high hand forms something of a frame or box near the head to absorb the shock of the punch. The same movement exists in Aikijutsu, Aikido, Jujitsu, and many others. All with subtle variations but still.

As you move in to a blocking technique, you also strike your opponent to disrupt their ability to keep fighting. If only for a moment.

Strikes as Blocks: Now for the same concept applied to a strike. The lunge punch in Karate is called Oi Zuki. Now I am using this as an example but the application of this move is just one of many. All movements in Kata can be interpreted in multiple ways. Just because this is the one I have chosen doesn't mean that is all there is...

So the idea is this. We are going to use the lunge punch to close the gap on an attacker again. This time the attacker can be throwing a kick or a punch in a more linear fashion. Trying to hit kick us in the stomach. They could start from far away, say a meter or two or they could be right on top of us. Inches away. (Yes I mixed units intentionally, I want to make you people think.)

Anyway, the punch part of the technique can be used to push someone out of balance. If they are in the middle of an attack it will take the power out of their attack. It is very difficult to throw a strong attack when someone is off balance. Of course that also doesn't account for the use of the "chambered hand" also called a Hikite or pulling hand. I will go over it more in depth soon. For now it could be used as counter or pulling pressure on someone where the punch could be pushing pressure on the head. Pull the body in close and push the head away and you have yourself a pretty spiffy and simple takedown. Make the punch a punch technique at the same moment of the pull and the takedown becomes pretty quick and potentially painful.

Thus your strike blocks their attack indirectly through off balancing the attacker, striking them with force (the teeth I spoke of earlier), and in this case as with the other each moving taking on double duty. Making it more effective technique in a fight.

Anytime you can solve two problems with the same single technique you place yourself ahead of the game. Of course, this is a massive simplification and needs to be trained and drilled many many times.

A few excellent instructors

2011-08-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

I want to point fingers at source of a great deal of my understanding of the martial arts. These instructors are world class. So, what qualifiers am I using to identify these instructors? First, these guys are all published authors. Second, I have read their books and I really like what I have read. So, everyone I list here is subjective. But hey! My blog, my opinion.

If these guys ever offer a seminar in your area, you really should attend. They are amazing guys and I have also attended seminars with all of them and it is always eye opening.

First the instructor, a book title or two, martial arts style.

Rory Miller

Facing Violence
Meditations on Violence
Jujitsu

Kris Wilder

Way of Kata
Way to Black Belt
Goju Ryu Karate

Marc MacYoung

Professionals Guide to Ending Violence Quickly
Secrets of Effective Self Defense
Dango Jiro - his own style

Iain Abernethy

Bunkai-Jutsu
Mental Strength
Wado Ryu Karate

Without going into detail on these guys, some of them are published and some are not but they are each some of the best instructors I know. Also, I have had the privledge of working a little with these guys and they really do know their stuff.

Lawrence Kane, Goju Ryu
Steve Taylor, Lua
Al Peasland, Complete Self Protection - his own style
Nicholas Yang, White Crane Kungfu and others...

Now, I have left people off that I respect as martial artists and instructors. This is not meant as a slight to them at all. I want to keep my list consice.

Also, notice I do not list my own name here. Frankly, I hope I can feel worthy of this sort of thing some day but for now I am happy with just finding the opportunity to work with these guys.

Train diligently...

Kata Bunkai - Stances

2011-08-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have decided to write some about how I teach Kata Bunkai, this is a great place to start. This information comes from my own experiences, years of practice in Shotokan Karate and several other martial arts forms, some great instructors, seminars with other incredible martial arts instructors, and lots of books.

Stances form the foundation of movement or the transfer of energy. During the performance of kata a stance is essentially a snapshot of motion. As much as stances appear static they are not. There are no pauses in a fight and a kata's movements are supposed to mimic the movements of a fight. Stances are essentially the best possible position for your body to be in at the moment of energy delivery.

(To take that a step further, Aikido and Aikijutsu systems as one example use the same stances as Karate, as do all fighting styles really, just because the movements are natural even though they may not seem to be when you begin practicing them in earnest. I am working on a book that will be a better job of explaining this idea as it relates to the Aiki arts. Yes, this is a shameless plug!)


Zenkutsu Dachi

So there are three primary stances, many other stances used in Kata are a variation on these themes. The first stance called a Forward Stance, in Japanese the stance is named Zenkutsu Dachi. The purpose of stance is to drive energy forward. Think of someone trying to push open a heavy door. One foot in front of the other usually feet set at approximately shoulders width apart. If you watch a boxer throw a strong right cross and could stop him at the apex of the power of his swing you can see the foot and body position of something that closely resembles a reverse punch (Gyaku Zuki) from Kata.


Kokutsu Dachi

Next is the Back Stance (Kokutsu Dachi). This stance as with all stances can have a variety of uses. In particular, the best way to see this stance is from the perspective of pulling energy out of a system. If you have ever played tug-o-war, where do you put your feet? Generally, one in front providing an anchor against the pull and the other placed in back providing stability. Just an example of course and there are other applications exist beyond this explanation. One example might be the use the front leg to bend the knee of an opponent as you use your hands to pull that person off their feet. Might not be the best example without pictures but I will come up with some for you next time.


Kiba Dachi

Last of the three stances. The Horse Stance (Kiba Dachi). In a work place if you have to pick something up or put something down you generally put feet about shoulder width apart and bend your knees to move vertically. Heavy box, dropping a co-worker, etc... In the case of a throw or take down, same thing, move up to reduce the friction of someone' contact with the ground or throw down to drop someone on their head.

Another arguement I have heard over time is, where should the pressure of the stance be? Should I grip the ground with my feet? Should I pull in with my feet and press out with my thighs. Should I...blah blah blah. Honestly, this is all going to be true at some point or another. Stances should be mutable, adaptable. Fights are a mess. They rarely go the way you hope they would and no amount of planning will prepare you for the shock and chaos of the event. Okay, not entirely true but trust me when I say, if you have never been there before it will be eye opening.

So stances need to adjust to chaos, to be adaptable. Perhaps the stance needs to be narrow one moment and wide the next. Mobility and stability are inversely proportional in my opinion. The more stable you become the less mobile you are. Thus one stance could be either or a middle ground making you not particularly stable or mobile. In that case you would have stability and mobility in equal parts. Why does that matter? Throwing someone is going to require some stability or else you could go down with the person you throw. Could be okay in some cases but sometimes it is a VERY bad idea. Imagine a law enforcement officer going to the ground when surrounded by multiple assailants. Might very well be the last time he does that... He needs to focus on staying upright. In this case he might still be in a lot of trouble but if he is on the ground escape is not much of an option anymore.

So, find the purpose of the stance. Find ways to challenge the strength and integrity of the stance. Playing tug-o-war, sparring, hitting a heavy bag, and there are other alternatives to testing a stance too. I will list them some other time.

Next, the first move of Heian Nidan/Pinan Shodan.

Some other topics I want to cover:

Defensive conditioning taught in the Heian/Pinan series.
Application of Hikite.
Techniques hidden in your "Block".
Much more....

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: A request to instructors everywhere

2011-08-17T03:48:00.000-07:00

Read it people. This is IMPORTANT! And it mentions me and a book I strongly recommend by author, Sensei, and all around good guy, Lawrence Kane.

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: A request to instructors everywhere: "A teacher can either make or break a class, a subject, or a concept. I truly believe the reason I always hated math was because I struggled ..."

Occidental Martial Arts

2011-08-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

First, in case some of you didn't know. Oriental essentially means "eastern". The oriental people are people from the east. Simple enough, right? So we are looking at people from Thailand, China, Korea, Japan, etc...

Occidental on the other hand is "western". So Occidental people are us western types. The America's, the U.K., etc...

So, when I refer to occidental martial arts I am not talking about things like Viking axe techniques or fencing. I am referring to people in the west who have made things like Karate their own. There is a circle of "Pragmatic Martial Artists" that I have been studying specifically that I think really have some amazing talent in the arts. The things they teach are thoroughly thought out and taught in a way and with a depth that is totally world class. Their instruction is unparalleled.

I have been fortunate enough to study with many of these guys in the last few years and every time I walk away with new insight into the martial arts, violence, and conflict management. Many of them published authors as well they really offer a wealth on knowledge on these topics.

The reason I bring these people up is this...I have been exposed over the years to the philosophy that in order to get any real instruction into the martial arts we need to go study in the east. We have to find instructors in Japan or elsewhere or what we have learned is invalid or not useful.

Now I think that this perspective is not as common as it was a few years ago but I still hear it from people on occasion. There are still some good schools in the east. However, there are also several not so great schools. It is possible from what research I have done personally and via written materials that there are as many poor quality schools in the east as there are in the west. In fact, given what I have seen I am beginning to think that the number of really good schools in the world is smaller than the number of schools that teach wrong things into their curricula.

I want to point out that this discussion is ignoring the concerns on the sport world. Martial arts as they apply to the real world and not in a ring. For that matter I suppose I am including the people who do not know the difference between these two contexts.

Believe me or not, some of you should rest easy knowing that it is possible that a western school can be world class. That we do not have to go to some foreign or exotic location to learn something about the martial arts that we will never get at home. I will try to publish soon a list of qualifications for a good school. Perhaps even a list of these western instructors that you can watch for in your area.

I would add in closing that there is a good chance that we could go to some of these exotic locations seeking a "master" with which to study and end up simply disappointed.

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: Spider Sense and Safety Words

2011-07-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: Spider Sense and Safety Words: "'My spider sense is tingling...' When I first began discussing the idea of studying Martial Arts seriously again with Sensei Nick, we talk..."

Growing a thicker skin...

2011-06-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, my story.

This job I have now requires that I do a lot of technical work. Some of the systems I work on I was unfamiliar with when I started. As you can probably imagine it can be overwhelming at times and I get lost in a "not sure what to do next" problem. On top of that, the people in charge of this project are really not very helpful. To the point of being down right rude at times.

So this job has been something of a challenge to me. I still find myself being far to nice to people and letting them get under my skin when I don't realize I am letting them bother me. I have done with relationships in the past and with past employers. It is a bad habit. We should not let other people's actions dictate how we feel or act. Others can be jerks but to let them be that way and then get a response from us means they got what they wanted. Their reward is...I want to make you mad to show my superiority, therefore, when you get mad I have proven I am better than you.

Now this is not the case with everyone. The reasons for doing it are mixed. In one example, I know a guy who is being selfish and very spoiled. I know that is mean but I only know he is cause I did the same thing to some degree many times in my life. I didn't get my way and so I started acting hurt or sad or depressed. Trying to make the person who did it feel bad for what they have not done for me. It is a passive agressive manner in which to bully people. As I have gotten older I see it for what it is. I think most people do this in one form or another.

The fact is, if you ask for something and you don't get it. Move on or find out how else to make it happen. With people, if they say no. Time to find someone else that will say yes. You cannot or should not MAKE people think your way when they do not want to. You can offer your values and beliefs to people but it has to be their choice to take them up otherwise we waste time to keep pursuing.

Anyway, back to the story. Lost in the work I didn't know well and having problems with the people who would not let me do my job and I felt very lost.

My boss told me that he just did his job anyway and tries to have a thick skin about things. Well I figure out that he doesn't have a thick skin about this stuff all the time but it gave me a great deal of insight into what I was and was not doing.

I tied my ability to do my job, my happiness with my work and everything to people. Well, if you have not noticed, people suck. Not all of them all the time but even our loved ones will disappoint us from time to time. Often that feeling is made worse by people we see as important. So tying our happiness to other people is something that dooms us to failure. People are too inconsistent.

Anyway, I realized something after this. The bosses here do not want me here. Personally or professionally cause I find problems. They do not want people to find problems. They want all the problems to go away. Specifically, they want to pretend there are no problems.

Well they have given me enough crap that I want to find every problem I can before I leave. I have even thought about making problems but that is dishonorable and I won't do that. Anyway, it was a remarkable feeling of freedom to realize that I can do my job as best as I can with or without their help or permission. In fact, I have been given instruction to do my job despite anything they say. For that matter, I give my self permission to do it. Within their rules but I will still find every problem on this project that I can. And I will report them ALL. Even if they are not mine to report.

Because, THAT is my job and I am going to do it regardless of their opinions.

So extending this to life. THIS is my life. Is it what I want from it? Am I who I want to be? (To quote a song). If not fix it! Starting now. I still love my people and it occurs to me that I will even if they are being disappointing a ton more easily if I do not tie my love to their behavior.

My kids are a great example of that. I always love them. I get irritated by them sometimes but that doesn't change that I love them. So I have already done this naturally to some extent. Why not extend this to my entire life.

I love this quote. Not sure if I totally agree but it is cool anyway.

"We are the defined by what we love and not by what loves us in return." - unk.

Anyway, in summary. It is not a matter of building up a thick skin to all the troubles in this world. It is the realization that we should always find happiness in the things we love. Without regard for the things that may or may not love us back. That to me is pretty darned profound. I have known this for a long time but now I get it at a much deeper level. I am doing a better job of putting these thoughts to words.

Okay, more about martial arts soon I promise.

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: I challenge you to keep an open mind

2011-06-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

Samurai Girl's guide to the Martial Arts: I challenge you to keep an open mind: "Recently I found out about a seminar that is being held in Lakewood by Mr. Roy Miller. WOW! He's coming to Colorado and teaching a seminar r..."

Biting Humor

2011-06-10T02:33:00.000-07:00

So why do people insult others and disguise it as humor. I recently heard a student from a school to which I used to belong say something that came across as playful but had a bit of a bite to it. This kind of humor from someone that is a subordinate of the organization is disappointing to say the least. I left the organization on good terms but feel like I am being spoken poorly of behind my back. Am I paranoid. Probably. However, I have heard others from the organization say similar things about me or my school and I think it is in very poor taste.

All this implies that the person and the organization do not respect me. As I have never made any accusations toward that group or their instructors I do not appreciate the slander. I mean really. Come on people.

So, if anyone from that school read this, please be considerate, I would appreciate it if you would be kind enough to reign in the commentary from your people. If you have question about my ethical background, family lineage, martial arts ability (or even lack there of), ask me. But to make baseless claims and badmouth others is just...silly.

Thanks!

Languages

2011-05-03T16:56:00.001-07:00

I posted this on Facebook but I want to repost on my blog too.

I have heard more foreign languages in this last two weeks then I have heard in a lifetime. Polish, Italian, Russian, Latvian, Urdu, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay, Norwegian, Serbian...I am pretty sure I am missing some but that is probably most of them. And they almost all speak English. English seems to be the common ground for everyone here. That is VERY helpful but American's are so far behind in languages.

Most of these guys speak two or three languages with relative proficiency. One of the Electronics Engineers on board is native to Italy and speaks 3 other languages and can read and write in three of those four. Good grief. Time to hit the Michel Thomas Audio's again. Many of the management on this project are from Italy. I think I am going to listen to Italian first. I would really like to understand what conversations I am being left out of...

Wouldn't it be spiffy to be able to at least understand a few languages by the time I am done with this job. That would be sweet.

Response to: Thoughts on Sparring

2011-04-30T01:48:00.000-07:00

Samurai Girl's guide to The Martial Arts, Fitness and Nutrition: Thoughts on Sparring: "Tournament is coming. As such, I have been attending Fight Club and Tournament Club to practice my sparring and my kata. Mostly sparring sin..."

I tired posting something to clarify some of my thoughts on the subject of sparring from the article above and my post got lost. Very frustrating. So I am posting here and linking it over to the article. Read it and then come back. Also be sure to read the comments as they are important as well.

_____________________________________________________
A method for fixing the limitations in sparring:

First, what are the limitations

Point sparring in Karate, for example, is riddled with problems that are inconsistent with the goals of self defense. The context is all wrong. Example. In the arena of self defense a civilian goal is to run away. Get the heck out of Dodge. Run! As a civilian it is not our job to fight the bad guys or any craziness like that. That is the job of law enforcement. This gets into context which I would gladly link to another article outlining context but my colleague has not finished it yet. I may write that one up soon too.

In point sparring, it is not our job to hit or hurt the guy bad enough to end the fight. In fact, quite the opposite. We are required by the rules to protect our opponent. Thus all the sparring gear and the rules of locations that are legal and not legal to hit. Protect your opponent and have fun. Nothing wrong with that and there are some valuable lessons to be learned from this too. However, it is huge to mistake this for real violence.

On the other hand, a good thing that can be gleaned from this kind of sparring. You build reflexes, works on some of the preliminary stress and fear felt during conflict, and some conditioning of the body for conflict endurance. This is just to name the first things off the top of my head. I can list more good and bad for this style of sparring. I can also tell you which other sparring styles are going to work better for building these skills but this style is an option anyway.

A quick overview of other styles limitations and good skills built by their sparring rules:

Muay Thai - bad: teaches to back up (not good in a fight where you could back over an obstacle) - good: teaches people to attack at multiple levels, power generation etc...

Jujutsu - bad: fight to the ground (not good because random passers by might give you a quick kick to the head, and yes I know people this has happened too) - good: teaches ground control which can be useful when trying to escape a fight that has managed to go to the ground. Or perhaps for one that started there.

Judo - bad: no striking...it really can make a difference guys, I promise. good: excellent balance management and manipulation.

That is just to name a few...

Anyway, the best way not to fall into the trap of sparring with a particular rules set and making those things a habit is to spar with several rules sets. Never allow yourself to get used to a specific set of limitations. We need the experience sparring offers to get the experience we need to make what we do work in a conflict. And even on the street there are rules. (Thank you Marc MacYoung and Rory Miller for pointing that out.) Even on the street it is out job to run away as civilians. There are times where that may not be the best option but by and large it should be the first thing we strive to do.

So if you are going to change up the rules from time to time, it is best to look at and be aware of the specific skills you want to build while sparring. That way even though you have rules to follow you are focused more on the things that make you a better fighter. Be aware of the limitations too but build those skills.

One great book for this is "Bunkai-Jutsu" by Iain Abernethy. He has a list of different themes of sparring for students to try out. Plus the book has a wealth of additional information that is very worth the read.

Samurai Girl's guide to The Martial Arts, Fitness and Nutrition: Face your fears

2011-04-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this article by Samurai Girl. Good stuff.

Samurai Girl's guide to The Martial Arts, Fitness and Nutrition: Face your fears: "Tonight, in honor of my dojo's Wednesday night fight club, I wanted to write about facing your fears. Wednesday night we have a s..."

Major Life Changes

2011-04-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I quit my job at my primary employer for the last thirteen years. My last day was Friday, April 8th. I didn't expect a parade or anything like that, truth be told I was just ready to move on to new things. However, I think my leaving went relatively unnoticed by anyone but my close friends at work. It was an odd feeling. Again, I didn't need anything to escort me out in a blaze of glory or anything but it felt a little odd to walk out without remark.

On the plus side, now my life is mine to navigate. The job I had was safe. It was reliable. Nothing great and not too bad. It was a life of mediocrity and I have had enough.

I am now self employed and have my hands in several pies. The thing I love is this...my "destiny" is mine to control. I know it was before but it just didn't feel like it. Now I will take on new jobs and never know for sure what is going to happen next. I will succeed or fail based on my own merit and willingness to work hard. I am not afraid of hard work. Not in the slightest.

Only a few small steps left in me taking total control of my life. Or course no battle plan survives contact with the enemy but I have a plan. One that will make me happy and set me apart from the tedium I allowed myself to get mired in before.

I will be posting new information as I get it. My first big contract is taking me to Singapore. I will be sure to post pictures when I have some. Wish me luck.

Week two of Hyperfitness

2011-03-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I am on week two of the book "Hyperfitness". The workout is eating my lunch. I got up at 5am this morning and went through the M/W/F workout and it was a killer. I felt like I was carrying a pile of lead weights through the entire workout. I felt great once I was done but getting done was a chore and a half.

It has been too long since I have worked on my cardiovascular health. Far too long.

Anyway, I am going to keep at it. I think I may do the first two week routine for an extra week or two just to get to more comfortable with the work out. Then I may switch to the week three/four set. I will definitely be adding some of these workouts to my martial arts classes. Some tough stuff.

Thanks Sean Burch for your work on this book. It is amazing, even if I am not real fond of you at 5am every Monday through Friday.

What is Black Belt to me?

2011-03-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Well, this seems to be one of those questions that has no real answer so I have decided to define what I think makes someone a Black Belt, at least for my school.

Capable of self teaching (Teaching the Martial Arts by Lawrence Kane)
Essential understanding of: (Rory Miller and Marc MacYoung are great sources of information here)

Violence
Basics of self defense (outside of actually fighting, things like conflict communications and awareness.)

Strategy and Tactics of chosen martial arts style (The Way of Kata by K. Wilder and L. Kane, Bunkai Jutsu by Iain Abernethy)
Basic understanding of proper fitness practices (Flexibility, strength, and endurance training)
Cursory understanding of how all martial arts function. (Very basic knowledge in the areas of Physics, Kinesiology, Anatomy, etc...)

This is what I want from my students. I am working on putting together the resources to make sure that all my students have this information. I have a required reading list that has proven to be very helpful to my more committed students. I do not think that walking away from my school should be the equal of a college degree. However, to walk away from any school without notes and books to read when there is so much valuable information out there is irresponsible, in my opinion.

Training this way should make us better students in all subject areas. Getting to black belt does not instantly make us magical. It does not give us the ability to walk on walls and such. Nor should it make us dumber by allowing us to ignore common sense. This kind of training prepares us to be a self guided student.

Ideally I would like for my students to walk into any school in the world and be able to analyze what they see and understand. Again not magically be able to replicate it but just understand it. With a basic understanding of how techniques work I also hope that when faced with violence the student will be capable of adapting to the situation without much down time. To give them the tools to be creative and not just spit out what they have been taught only.

A new workout routine: Hyperfitness by Sean Burch

2011-03-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

I started a new exercise routine I found in a book called Hyperfitness. I didn't have time to get through the entire workout before it was time to teach class but I got through half of it. Wow! That was rough! I am following the beginner track, what Sean calls Trekker. I can only imagine what my fitness level is going to be once I complete the advanced track, called Sherpa.

Sean apparently as ascended Mount Everest and these are some of the exercises he has used to get into the shape he needed to do just that...

Sean does a great job of also covering the basics of nutrition and the motivations needed to be successful. Some good stories and a obvious love for the work, this book is pretty cool. I am on week one so I will be sure to post my results as I proceed.

Also, about 3 weeks ago I started at about 265 lbs. I went skiing last week and have been watching my caloric intake. I weighted in last night and I am at 253.6. Not bad in three weeks. Little fast but I am certain that a good part of that is also water weight.

This guy loves Squats! I need to build my legs strength back up anyway so I am excited to get through the first 12 weeks so that I can check out my progress.

Wish me luck. I am going to need it.

Amazing 3 Dimensional Sound

2011-03-11T19:03:00.000-08:00

Some guys at work told me about this and I finally listened to it this week. It is an AMAZING example of sound in three dimensions! Give it a try and if you are interested look at the second link for an article on the technology. Get a pair of headphones and plug them into your computer before listening.

Good stuff!

Listen to this: (Headphones and eyes closed required)

http://ccgi.bluerabbit.plus.com/~bluerabbit/virtualbarbershop/

If you want to know more take a look at this link:

http://www.tested.com/news/how-binaural-recordings-simulate-3d-sound-in-headphones/1866/

Enjoy!

Stress

2011-03-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

I recently found myself carrying all my tension around with me. I carry mine in my shoulders and in my chest. Not good. I discovered I was doing this when I went to visit my doctor for my annual check up and realized before the doc came in to check me that I was practically holding my breath. Now I work in a hospital so doctor offices do not cause me any stress. I do not care one way or the other about needles so that wasn't it.

However, I have a lot of other things in my life right now that are very stressful right now. I have two major projects that are both in a hurry up and wait state. I do not like things that leave me with a sense of incompleteness. On going projects are fine but these are projects that require a major life transition and I feel like I am not making progress the way I would like, thus, the stress.

Sitting in the exam room I took several deep breaths and calmed myself. Forgot about what I needed to do for the day. Got rid of the lists and the tasks and the hurry. And I especially got rid of the "wait". Deep breath.

I did not stop thinking about everything I narrowed my thoughts to one thing. At first my breathing and then a single topic that makes me happy. First was the visualization I use to get away from things. A secret place hidden away in my mind. I used it a long time ago when I was a teenager and had trouble at home. It is a very calming scene. After a little bit I started thinking about some martial arts training I have been working on lately. Again, it was relaxing to me.

By the time the nurse came in to get my vitals my blood pressure was down to 106/68. Lower then I have had my BP in quite a while. I have been working out more and I have been trying to eat better but this was a pretty good number for me still.

If nothing else, this exercise reminded me that a little time spent in meditation or prayer can help separate us from all the stress of the day to day. That sometimes it is needed and not just something we should do every once in a while. Time in prayer can also serve this purpose, and in fact, might even be better if you believe in that sort of thing. Just relax, breath deep, and listen.

Give it a try.

Launch of a new website

2011-02-25T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I have an announcement I wanted to share. I still have one big surprise in the works for some time in March so this is not all I have going on but it is a big one to me. I have launched version 1.0 of my new website.

Guinn Investigations

Thanks to Tiffani Sahara Creative for the graphic design work and to Jeremy Hill for his help with website services in getting it online. They are both available for work and I have their contact information if anyone needs their services. They are incredible!

I am building a client list now if anyone knows someone needing either Process Service work and/or Private Investigations. Get the word out.

Who are you?

2011-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

Is life defined by our actions or our perceptions? I had this argument with a friend in High School and I do not think we ever came to a conclusion. But I have a quote that supports my stance on the argument.

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.
- Thomas Jefferson

What do you think?

Some great quotes...

2011-02-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

I like quotes, the more simple and profound the better. Here are a few that really hit me this week.

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
- Nelson Mandela

"Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even."
- Muhammad Ali

Thanks to Incense and Candles blog for the great quotes!

Knife in Chinese man’s head

2011-02-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this blog post by Wim Demeeres. His blog post makes some very good observations: (Also, ee-gad! Four years!)

Knife in Chinese man’s head

By Wim

Here’s something you don’t see every day…

A Chinese man living in Yuxi, Yunnan province, had a knife removed from his head after it had been lodged there for four years…

He suffered from headaches, had difficulty swallowing and so on. He self-medicated for years to live with the pain but eventually, he went to see the doctors. Imagine their surprise when they took an x-ray and saw a knife lodged in his skull…

X-ray of the knife inside the Chinese man's head.

Turns out the man fought a robber four years ago and remembered being struck in the jaw during the fight. I guess you could say he was pretty lucky to survive it… But that’s not what I wanted to point out, this is:

The man didn’t even know he got stabbed, let alone have a blade still inside him.

Which only goes to show that fights are unpredictable and things can happen so fast, you don’t know what’s going on until it’s too late. He clearly didn’t see the blade because he never even considered a knife wound as the cause for his medical issues. Had the knife struck a few inches to the side, the Chinese man wouldn’t have survived it. So he got real, real lucky.

This is one of the biggest issues I have with people who claim sports fighting techniques are great for self defense. It’s not that they can’t work in that environment, that’s not the problem because they sure can. But you typically don’t train knife defense when you’ll be fighting in the Octagon, simply because there won’t be a knife-wielding opponent there. And defending from a knife attack is very different from defending against a double leg take down. Which seems common sense to me but apparently it’s not for many devoted combat sports practitioners. Because if you claim otherwise, they say you’re a dumb as brick traditionalist.

The knife, after removal form the man's head.

The weird thing is this: go to any MMA or muay Thai gym and ask if they agree that the way you train will be the way you react. Most of them will agree. Then ask them if you have to train for what happens the most in the Octagon instead of preparing for some sort of traditional art’s concept like fighting on an ancient battlefield. I’m pretty sure they’ll agree again.

But if you then point out that outside the Octagon, people use knives and other weapons, especially the criminals who are most likely to attack you, they don’t see the disconnect: sports fighting is not self-defense because it doesn’t address what happens most in real-life violence. It’s similar, I absolutely agree with that. But the differences are just as important as the similarities (Thank you Randy!) and it’s the differences (he’s unarmed vs. he has a knife) that can get you killed.

“Yeah but how about defending against unarmed attacks?! MMA is the shit for that!!!”

I don’t think that’s true but I’ll not dispute that sports fighting can be devastating in unarmed self-defense situations. Being able to punch, kick, knee, throw, etc. with a lot of speed and power is a crucial skill to have there. But here’s the rub:

Just like with our poor Chinese man here, you might only find out weapons are involved when it’s too late to do anything about it. Chances are, you won’t be as lucky as him so perhaps it’s not the best idea to count on luck here and prepare accordingly.

New Design for Guinn Martial Arts

2011-02-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

Guinn Martial Arts has a new design thanks to Tiffani Sahara Creative. It looks remarkable and I really appreciate her hard work on this project. If you like the design you can buy a copy of your own on my logo gear website.

Powerline Designs - Guinn Martial Arts Logo Gear

Need any creative work done, feel free to contact Tiffani at the link above. Want a Shirt or coffee mug with this awesome design on it. Go get one today!

And, yes! I AM shamelessly promoting my stuff.

This Conclusion Comes with Clarity

2011-02-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

This Conclusion Comes with Clarity:

"If you open up the Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵) you will find a comment somewhere in the pages that a person should be familiar will all arts. Musashi also goes on to make the distinction between being familiar and understanding other arts, he is not suggesting that you master every art, just know about them.

Here is a quick list of where I have spent time, Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Hung-gar, Modern Arnis, Goju-Ryu, Judo, Aikido, Brazilian Jujitsu, Kenpo, Tai Chi and wrestling. You know what this experience has given me? A certainty. A certainty that what I am training now is right for me. This conclusion comes with clarity because I have had and still have the intellectual curiosity to explore other arts. A curiosity fostered by my parents, by my teachers and some of my martial arts instructors.

Now obviously I can not, nor could I try every art that is out there, that is impossible, however, a sampling allows you to “be familiar” as Musashi puts it. I liken it to a child that is resistant to trying a new food. They do not want to try it because they are confident that they know what it tastes like, and in a fit of immaturity turn up their nose to something that they have never tasted.

Some of my students have gone off to other arts, leaving the school permanently. Other students have returned after knocking around the martial arts world a bit. Other students have found something that lights them up more than karate. My comment to both of those paths is, “cool.”

I say get out there. There are more diverse opportunities in the martial arts than we have ever known in the history of man. Get out there try something new, you do not have to marry it, you can just date, it's OK....Guh a head, it's OK."

This article was written by Kris Wilder and Lawrence Kane. They are some great guys from up in the Seattle Washington part of the United States. If you ever get a chance to study with them it is totally worth your time. As for this article, I absoluely agree, read it and give it some thought. Personally I have spent time on, Shotokan Karate, Aikijutsu, Aikido, Jujitsu, Sambo, Wing Chun Chuan, Daito Ryu, Goju Ryu, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Muay Thai, Lua, Uechi Ryu, Kendo, Kobudo, Kempo, and the list goes on. Some of them I have worked on for years and others I have merely spent a passing seminar or book or even video tape in study. This does not make me an expert in all these styles. I can honestly say I am not an "expert" in any of them. I think I know a tiny bit more than the average bear but I have just scratched the surface of what there is to know of fighting and the martial arts.
-N.

Dehumanization and Self Defense Training

2011-02-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

"On Killing" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a book that I have been reading for quite a while. It is a fascinating read but it has taken me forever to get through it. I think I just have a lot of irons in the fire. (Too many projects for those of you outside the area) Anyway, as I said it is a great read. Some very interesting information in it for certain. I am not sure I agree with everything said in the book but that is important for any new information. We must be able to analyze and see the truth of it. I will go into detail on that in another post. However, I have come up with an interesting (to me anyway) observation.

"Othering" People

Without giving too much away. There is a practice of dehumanization nicknamed "Othering" by some. It is the process of psychologically separating yourself from another group of people in order to allow you a mental barrier from any sort of personal accountability. This makes it possible to herd, maim, and even kill with less remorse than one might have otherwise. Applied in the book specifically to war it is how soldiers on all sides are able to kill their enemies. I do not make a conscious practice of labeling people. However, I realized on the drive in that I do it subconsciously. It happens for me every time I get cut off in traffic. Especially when I am cut off or if I perceive a threat to my or my car's safety. Then the person who dunnit becomes "othered" with a whole list of words I will not share here.

Racism

It occurred to me after reading this that this is the same process people who are racist use to separate themselves from the race or ethnic grouping of people they dislike. In this case, it is based on something as stupid and arbitrary as skin color perhaps. Keep in mind this practice may or may not make you a bad person. I can see where this practice might be necessary at times. I will get into that in the training section later.

This practice is merely a tool used by people to set themselves apart. However, there is no better example of the tool itself not being evil just how it is used being evil. In the case of the Nazi movement in the 1940's the "Aryan" label was used to elevate a people above others. Kind of a reverse to the process but still holds the same principle in common. Of course, everyone knows their terrible focus was on the Jewish community at large and they also used derogatory terms to infuse both a sense of elevation to themselves and a dehumanization to their target. This redundant use of both dehumanization of a population and the elevation of a people could have put an even larger mental divide between them. Looking back it did create a serious hate within the people of Germany. No matter the justification it worked and was terribly effective.

If nothing else the use of this tool in the United States is still alive and well today when dealing with people who vary from a Caucasian background. Some friends of mine went to a diner in nearby town and were refused service to my friends based entirely on the skin color of one of them. I admit to be a lot naive here because I knew this sort of irrational behavior still existed but had no idea it happened anywhere near here. The phrase used by the company owner was essentially, "We do not serve people like Him here." The use of the pronoun was emphasized to show the dehumanization that the owner felt.

Law Enforcement(LEO)

A few years ago some law enforcement agency was picked on by the media for employing profiling as a means to identify potential threats to security. The main statement by the media is that profiling is not fair because it lumps the innocent in with the guilty. The very feeler and not a very thinker response. It is a shame that the people who questioned this practice didn't look closer at the statistics to see that this is perhaps not real fair but is also very effective.

Another method of "othering" the people you have to manage is to set them apart by their actions instead of by their appearance. In law enforcement because it is sometimes necessary to employ force to stop a situation the use of "othering" terms can be seen when the policy refer to the person as a suspect or some other similar term.

If it keeps the general public safe from people who might hurt us is it still wrong? I do not think so. I think it is a means to a end. It is a tool that allows people to do what they need to do to get buy. Making the use of force, without it even needing to be lethal, easier.

Self Defense Training

Something that I know several people have talked about in self defense circles has also been about this concept of a "failure to engage". I think it is likely more common among civilians than LEO. This is due to the fact that as a civilian we have a bigger list of things to consider. Do we run away? Could we get hurt? Would we have to hurt someone else? Do I have the right to intervene? etc... Not to mention that if we do get involved in violence, too many systems do not give their students all the tools they might need to be effective. Yes, you can punch and kick but what if the person you face is seemingly impervious to your attacks? What about the idea that as a civilian our number one goal is to run away?

So, perhaps one way to make the engagement issue easier is to include some sort of "othering" effect during training. Make clear to the person performing the technique that the opposition has crossed a line. Pick a "go button" or some sort of threshold that you will not abide. (Examples: They get to close after being told to stay away. Or the grab you after being told to leave you alone.) It is probably a good idea to role play these things on occasion too, just so they are not so much a shock the students in class if it really happens.

Have everyone in class take turns being the attacker and the defender and include the use of terms that separate you from the opposition. I would think that the terms do not need to be derogatory but they do need to set a firm line between the two people. I prefer to use the term "bad guy". Probably a little to cut a dried considering sometimes the bad guy could be family. That is where you make clear that the thing that makes them the bad guy is that they have crossed that threshold that we have set for ourselves mentally. They have crossed over into the bad guy zone. Making us need to be good civilians, if that is our context, and run away. If LEO is your context then instead of running away you arrest the situation. Bring the crime to a stop or whatever is appropriate to the situation.

Conclusion

This is a new topic for me. I will learn more where possible and be sure to share my research as I get more information or as my experiences show me a new perspective. Give this a try in your school. Decide for a single scenario to role play what make the opposition the bad guy. Perhaps something they can role play in class. Perhaps telling the defender that they have hit someone in their family. etc... Once the context of the scenario is established then let the attacker and defender play out the defense using the tools they have learned in class (punches, kicks, throws etc...). This kind of drill will give the students a chance to try something very different for some of you. In each drill have the student either quietly or aloud use terms that condition them to putting a line between them and their attacker. Again, try to avoid terms that might offend as we want everyone to get along in and out of class. You can talk about the attacker as the bad guy if that is easiest for you.

I welcome suggestions and observations on this article. I didn't have the time to write it like I wanted but still want feedback if you have any for me.

Martial Arts Drills: Gunting

2011-01-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

I was going to make a post about various drills in the martial arts but it occurs to me now that one drill can make an article all by itself. In some cases a drill could probably be a book unto itself. Thus, I am going to simply post a single drill at a time rather than try to post a host of them.

Gunting
Source: Filipino Martial Arts but I have seen many styles from many backgrounds use this or something much like it. I have seen things like this drill in Chinese Wing Chun Chuan, and in Okinawan Karate just to name a couple of styles.

Description:

Several forms of this exist but I will describe the main linear form of the choreographed routine that I was taught as an introduction to Gunting. This form is also empty handed but as many of you know the drill can be done with knives and sticks among other weapons. The literal translation from what I am told is "Scissoring". Keep in mind this is the way I have been taught this drill. I apologize if I have done something wrong or explain something poorly.

The drill works like this:

Partner one(P1) uses a straight punch to the face of partner two(P2). P2 then blocks first with the mirror hand parrying from the outside of the attack. Think Pak Sao from Wing Chun. The block should touch the back of P1's forearm.
P2 then blocks the same arm again by moving the opposite hand under the first block to back hand the punch at the elbow. In this case think of another block from Wing Chun called Tan Sao. I had some trouble finding good pictures so I will try to make some of my own and post them.
Next P2 performs a trap before taking a turn at punching back. The first hand to block traps the punching arm down against P1's torso. At the same time as the trap P2 chambers his free hand for a return punch.
P2 punches P1 in the face and P1 performs the same three blocks followed by an punch back. The drill continues back and forth.

How to Continue

Once this drill is comfortable from the right side then the two can switch sides and try again with the left side forward. Once comfortable with the left side then the challenge is to transition from left to right side and back again without a break in the rhythm of the drill.

Purpose

I find that especially among the systems that focus a lot more on kicks that the hand skills are under-developed. This is a quick drill to teach students that will allow them to develop the basic timing, blocking habits, and coordination needed to rapidly improve the person's hands. Plus, personally I really enjoy this drill.

Variations

There are several variations of this drill. There is a circular version done with a similar pattern to start. Once it is mastered it is possible to integrate it to the overall drill as well. Switching from linear to circular and left to right makes the drill pretty challenging without considering the addition of un-prescribed techniques.

Another variation would be the addition of weapons like knives and sticks. It can be done with one weapon in a hand or with weapons in both hands. It can also be done mixing weapons such as a stick and a knife for each person.

One more variation to the root of this drill. In the drill the defender is performing three blocks and one punch. It has been pointed out to me that this is unrealistic in terms of the timing of a real fight. Few fighters, if any, are going to be so much faster than an opponent as to block and strike with four techniques before the attacker gets a chance to do more. "Solutions" for a suggested fix to this problem.

Problems

Timing: To reiterate, few fighters, if any, are going to be so much faster than an opponent as to block and strike with four techniques before the attacker gets a chance to do more. In my experience (which I will be first to tell you is limited) I have never had a chance to use any sort of complex blocking techniques to avoid being hit. Let alone the idea of hitting or blocking the person multiple times. Plus, to block three times uses a lot of energy in a fight and does nothing to improve my station. To make things worse if all I do is focus on blocking attacks and I throw one block for every attack I will eventually miss one. Although more than likely I will miss most of them. Want to test this, stand toe to toe with someone. Close enough for both combatants to put both hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them and have them throw punches. You can shift weight back and forth but must block the punches. You will find that this is near impossible. Plus if the puncher is creative it will be near impossible.
Power: Another problem with the drill is that in order to maintain flow the drill loses power. What I mean by power is the ability to deliver a great deal of kinetic energy. The point of striking to begin with... Both combatants would walk away from a training session with a lot of bruises on their arms and face with all blocks and punches were throw with a full sense of power. Might make for a long class.
Accuracy: This one is also sacrificed many times but does not need to be. Each combatant needs to be reminded that they are to punch with the intent to contact the face. Often the two will begin to throw their punches offline with the target so as not to hurt their fellow student. That is kind but not helpful. If you as the striker get into the habit of missing the target, it is possible you will do it reflexively in a high stress situation. Plus, the defender will develop the habits of block attacks that would never come in contact. That too is a bad habit to be in. Both punches and blocks need to be in line with true combative intent. If you like keep the drill slow at first so that strikes when/if they do hit will not hurt so bad.

Solutions

Timing: Rory Miller teaches a drill I have named "The Miller One Step". I am certain there is probably a better name out there but this is the one I have come up with so far. Anyway, the drill can be extensive in its variety but the one thing it does well is address the three points listed among the problems with the drill. Miller went on to teach that in order to spar in a controlled environment we must break at least one of those rules above to keep people safe from injury. A primary tenant of the one step is that each combatant gets one strike each in turn. This assumes that both people are of equal relative speed in a fight. A fair assumption in most cases. Using the one step format we can fix one timing issue by only allowing a one for one exchange.
Power: When a strike is practiced it needs to come in contact with its intended target and follow through need to be as if the power of the punch is fully engaged. Using the concept that the strike is a block and a strike it is also necessary that when a block is normally thrown in the Gunting drill that it be a punch instead and is thrown with the same point of contact with the attack as the block was to begin with but is thrown with enough drive to push past the intervening arm to a target on the attacker. Again, I will try to come up with pictures as soon as I can. I am certain it will make things much easier to understand.
Accuracy: As mentioned before, do not miss the intended target. Make a practice of contacting the intended target and not punching to miss. It is a very bad habit to get into and I know of people who have done just this on accident when under stress.
Fundamental change in Gunting Drill: Since the drill will look nothing like the original it will be important to note that in order for this to work one person will be an attacker and the other a defender. The attacker gets three of four punches aimed primarily at the defenders face. Followed each in turn with a defense that is both block and strike from the defender. Once that string is done the roles switch.

Even with the improvements to the drill, it still has flaws. But remember that in order for everyone to leave class happy we have to build flaws into the drill to stay uninjured. This drill is one of many and should not be given any sort of preference over other drills as a training tool. As with anything, it will be necessary to keep the flaws that we introduce changing every once in a while to make sure that we do not fall into a habit that might hurt us as a result of our training.

I will try to post pictures and possibly a video soon.

My Favorite Techniques and the Styles They Come From...

2011-01-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

Sanchin Dachi

I have read a great many articles from various websites about why this and how that. I have decided that I want to do something fun for a change. I want to list some of my favorite techniques and the systems they come from in my years of training. Keep in mind that this is from my experience and is therefore subjective. I am in no way telling you that these are the best and what you do is bull. Each person studying the martial arts or self defense or whatever needs to make the system theirs and these are some of the things I enjoy practicing.


Shuto Uchi

First the name of the technique and then the style or styles where I received most of my training in them:

Mawashi Geri or Roundhouse kick using the shin as a point of contact - Muay Thai and Lua

Muay Thai - the kick comes around from the side and in the class I was in was usually aimed at the midpoint of the thigh.
Lua - the kick is performed differently, this kick instead of traveling a flat plane from the side into the target it travels up and into the target at an angle. Using gravity to hold the person into the kick this is supposed to make the person getting kicked receive more of the kinetic energy of the kick.

Shuto Uchi or Knife Hand Strike - Karate

OC - The chambered position of this technique is a technique all by itself. Combining the two makes this technique very effective.
I like open hand strikes and this one is a good one. I have dropped people with it a few times.
Uchi Kaiten Nage

Uchi Kaiten Nage or Inner rotary throw -Aikijutsu and Goshin Ryu Aikido

Example, move into a clinch with the opponent, wedge in and strike the side of the neck with a forearm. Once the person struck is off balance from the strike keep pressing so that they do not recover. Make a circle with the head to the opponent's hip opposite the direction of the initial hit.

Moroude Uchi Uke or Double Inner Forearm Block - Goju Ryu Karate, Shotokan Karate

This is one of the first movements in Sanchin and it can be with hands open or closed depending the the application or style since other schools teach it as well.
The main reason I like this move is that I can feel a great deal of strength in it.

Nami Ashi Geri or Returning Wave Kick - Shotokan Karate

This kick is one of my favorites. It can be used as a very close kick to take a person's legs out from under them or to damage a target without having the distance needed for most normal kicks.

Nami Ashi Geri

This movement is the same as what you might see kicking a Hacky Sack.

These are just some of my favorites, there are plenty more but these are some of the things that stand out to me. What are some of your favorite things about the martial arts? Particular techniques you like, stances, punches, drills, anything? Put a few of your favorites in comments if you have a moment.

Nicholas Yang Seminar, April 1st and 2nd, 2011

2011-01-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

We have a seminar coming up that should prove to be a great learning experience. Nicholas Yang of Yang Martial Arts will be coming to Eric Parson's School in Independence Missouri on April 1st and 2nd. It should be a great opportunity to train. Here is the information I just recieved from Barbara Langley, a publicist for YMAA.com

You won’t want to miss this seminar. YMAA has supported several seminars along with the Blue River Martial Arts Club (Kris Wilder, Rory Miller) and now Nicholas C. Yang at MCC: Blue River Campus, 20301 E. Highway 78 (23^rd St.), Independence, Mo.

Here are some of the details:

Friday, April 1 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling) For those comfortable with break falls
Saturday, April 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chin Na and White Crane. Open to all.
Cost: $40 and $10 for the first session on April 1.

Nicholas is the president of Yang’s Martial Arts in Boston. In February 2008, he earned the qualifications for YMAA Shaolin Instructor. He teaches Shaolin and Taijiquan at YMAA in Boston.

In addition to the seminar, there will be an opportunity to learn more about the historic aspects of Independence (home of President Harry Truman, two major Civil War battles, and the jumping off point to the trails that settled the Westward expansion.) AND have dinner with Nicholas Yang and some of the participants. Rooms have been reserved at a local hotel--reasonably priced.

CONTACT: Eric Parsons (816) 604-6764 or eric.parsons@mcckc.edu.

If you can make this event it will be worth the cost of admission. I had an opportunity to work with Nicholas Yang in Seattle at the Crossing the Pond - Martial Arts Expo in August 2010 and he is obviously very knowledgeable about his art.

Hope you can make it. For people in the Tulsa area, if you want to carpool or caravan to the event please contact me and I will help work out the details.

Fear and Pain

2011-01-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

This is a topic I said I would discuss some time ago and it occurs to me that I have not yet followed up. Pain tolerance and your pain threshold are important things to understand. I think we must also be aware of the fact that our reactions to pain are in large part an emotional response. Very few people respond to pain in an analytical way.

Why does that make a difference?

For most people emotions are difficult to control. Fear being one of the really big ones where control can be lost quickly. In some psychology, fear is said to be one of the most primal emotions and greatest if not our single motivator. Not sure I agree with all that but I can tell you that for me fear is a big motivator. If we look inside I think we can all find fear as one of the root feelings associated with many of our actions. That fear might come in the form of fear of loss of life, fear of loss of a job, fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection, and for guys a big one is fear of failure.

When I say fear I am not talking about a paralyzing sense of panic. Just the spectrum of small fears that nag at you day to day perhaps all the way up to but just before the panic stages. Fear is just very common. In fact, I have heard that stage fright is the number one fear for most people.

Analyzing your Fears

So why are these things so scary? What is it we are afraid of specifically? I think if we start to really examine our fears we can make them unravel. Pull them apart till we get to the core of the issue and then logically weight the value of those fears.

I am going to focus on the fear of pain because I think it is a far less realized fear than is addressed in all of the "My Biggest Fears" lists I have found online. Example, I work with an instructor that lives about 45 minutes from my home. It is difficult for me to drive there every week but I try to go as often as possible. This gentleman has been studying the martial arts for over 40 years. He has worked with instructors like Ajarn Chai Sirisute (Muay Thai), Dr. Maung Gyi (Bando), Morihei Ueshiba (Aikido), and many many more. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with this man.

Over the years I have invited several martial artists, mostly black belts, to his class. I always try to go with them to introduce them and also to make sure they have someone to work with since I sent them. The instructors classes are based primarily on Lua but of course are colored by his many experiences and training over the years and in other styles. One thing that is fairly common place in class is pain. Not enough to make a guy cry like a baby but he teaches people about violence. That includes things like biting, joint manipulations, striking with power, etc... I think that with the exception of perhaps two students I have never in my near 20 years working with this man had anyone go to his class more than once. Why is that? Fear and Pain. More to the point, fear perhaps of pain.

Some of these black belts are high ranking too. Third and forth degree, years of training, some in great shape and others in terrible shape. The only students that I know that have stayed are either military trained or have been students of mine. That is not to say that I have some special corner on the market for preparing people for this class but that I try to be realistic about how violence in the real world is going to happen.

Why do we Fear Pain?

What is there to fear? I think that in large part we associate pain with injury and injury with death. Pain is a brief look into our mortality. That may seem like a big jump for some of you but look inside and see where the path goes for you? Pain is unpleasant and a great deal of pain can kill you. Indirectly but dead is dead. Pain can put you in shock and your body can respond to shock by shutting down. Rare but possible. However, Pain in small manageable bits can be enough to improve your threshold. To make the kind of pain you can withstand more bareable and to challenge the top end of what you can push through.

I hope that no one ever has to deal with pain from violence. If you do feel pain, many times the adrenaline dump we experience with violence will mask the pain. However, that is just a mask, the pain will make itself felt eventually. Pain is unpleasant but it is not a show stopper. Or at least it should not be. Chronic on going pain such as from serious injury or illness can wear down a person's tolerance of pain. But think about the pain of training for a big athletic event. You cannot tell me that people who train for the Olympics do so without pain. If they did I think they would fail.

Conclusion

Suffering is a natural part of life. We experience it at some point or another, that I think is unavoidable. So why do we work so hard to avoid it? Why work so hard to avoid pain when an opportunity to train with one of the world's greatest martial artists is available. It is unpleasant but human beings grow through adversity. So by running the other way from pain, fear, and suffering we are actually avoiding growth.

I don't know if you believe in the Bible, frankly even if you do not there is wisdom in its pages. Example:

Romans 5:3-4 ...glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Looking at human history there are many times where people find growth through suffering. Christianity happens to be a very good example of that very growth. In some of the most harsh conditions in the world we can find pockets of Christian faith that thrive despite the adversity of being executed publicly for their faith when discovered by the local government.

Pain is no fun but pushing through the it, pushing through the fear associated with it can lead to great improvement. Not just in athletic ability for those of us who train in the arts but in character too. We have all heard the expression that pain builds character. If it is true than the converse must be true as well. A life of ease must ruin character. Perhaps...

Not the most organized post but it works for now. I may go back and edit this a few times. Sorry if it rambles.

My Bucket List Updated...

2011-01-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, I posted about my bucket list not too long ago and I have decided that there are some more things I want to add. Not sure how I will make these things happen yet but they will happen: (not in any particular order)

Visit Japan! - as mentioned in my last post I found out a friend of mine is going to be going to Japan in 2012 and it made me realize I have always wanted to go. So I need to make this a priority for my life and I need to go. It may not be at the top of my list but it is on the list for certain.
Pay off my bills - when I say my bills I don't mean the day to day stuff. I have three big loans. My mortgage, my car loan, and my student loans. I MUST get rid of these debts, I am tired of paying for them.
Go to England - I want to go see everything and study the martial arts with Iain Abernethy and Al Peasland on their home turf.
Go back to Seattle - I didn't get a chance to actually work out with Kris Wilder while I was in Seattle and I really want to go back and work with him some more. I am currently working through the "Sanchin Kata" book and DVD so that I don't waste his time.
Publish my own books - I want to publish books on my Aikijutsu system. I want it to be a resource for my students and I would like to do a good enough job for others to look at it and say something like, "Hey! This isn't garbage." I would also like to get a work of fiction published too.
See my kids accomplish their dreams - I love this quote: "Find something you love and you will never work a day in your life." -Samuel Clemens. I would like to see my kids doing something with their lives that makes them truly and totally happy and fulfilled. I would like for it to be productive and meaningful too but I am afraid if I put too many stipulations on this it will not happen. So I wish for the best for both of them. I also hope that if they decide to be part of a family of their own that they are happy and healthy.
Go see, Ghost and Darkness - the two man eating lions from Tsavo Africa, currently on exhibit in Chicago. Supposedly killed and ate over 130 people back in the late 1800's before being killed.
Visit the grave of Musashi - I would really like to do this some day. Not a spiritual thing for me, just something to do to make it real.
Attend a seminar with Patrick McCarthy - another martial artist that I would really like to work with some. Being that he lives in Australia means I also want to go see the sights while I am there.
Visit New Zealand - I don't care about the movie sets but I really want to see more of what appears to be some incredible countryside.
Make a living out of being a Private Investigator/Process Server/Executive Security - I want to work for myself. I want to be successful in a field that has unlimited potential. I see these things as something I can really enjoy doing. Something I can tie into my life very well.
Skydive - yes I know. I might not need to worry about the rest of the list if I do this but it sounds like a blast. I want to do it! I think Japan is first tho...
Get Healthy - I want to get my weight down to 210 at most. This is probably the easiest of the goals to be honest. However, I have really been dragging my feet working on it. The emotional side of this is fixed now I think and I have started losing weight. I will post my progress in time. Perhaps after the initial weight loss is proven not to be a fluke.

New Additions to the list:

Spend a year abroad in China - perhaps as a volunteer English teacher.
Spend a year abroad in Japan - same thing, maybe as a volunteer English teacher.
Go visit my friends that live abroad - My main example would be my buddy Stan. He is a missionary and I would really like to go see him no matter where he is located when I finally have the money to do so.

There will be more to post in time but again, this is a good start.

Cause your workout is my warm up...

2011-01-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

I saw the title as a quote on a shirt and thought it was funny, to some degree very appropriate. Throughout my martial arts training I have not been as disciplined as I probably should have been which is in part why I have not excelled in some areas of my training. I consider myself to be very knowledgeable but frankly I have reversed what Dr. Yang tells us about training. Dr. Yang is a very knowledgeable martial arts instructor who studied under a couple of different masters in Taiwan growing up and has since continued to learn. I have had the honor of working with his son Nicholas Yang and he too is very skilled.

Dr Yang said during some article I read recently that it is his opinion that training is 90% physical and 10% academic. For the past couple of years I think my studies have been reversed. Much more academic and little physical. Not that I want to imply that I think I know better but my personal preference is something like 75/25 physical/academic but this means I need to hit to Dojo floor a bit more often for myself. As a teacher, it is difficult to work out while teaching, at least not at the same level as the rest of the students. My clients paid to be instructed and in order to do so I need to be paying attention to them. That being the case, my workout needs to be some other time. At least in my opinion.

As for the quote, my personal exercise regime has not reflected this concept in some time. I have been doing martial arts or road work and rarely both in the same session. On the other hand, in most of the martial arts classes I have taken, especially the more physically demanding classes like BJJ, the warm up really was what most people would do for their entire workout. Running, calisthenics, stretching, etc.. All done before we actually hit the floor for our training time.

This is the model I need to institute for both me and my classes. 20 minutes of workout stretches, running, calisthenics, shadow boxing, etc.... Then on to skill building. I have done this to some extent in the past but I think I am going to focus on re-ordering the class just a bit for the next 3 to 6 months and see if I get a better response from my students and myself.

Rank Sheets for Guinn Martial Arts - Aikijutsu

2011-01-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

Here are the rank sheets I have so far for my Aikijutsu classes. They have been built and rebuilt many times and I am still not happy with them.

There is a fine line between not enough information and entirely too much. Frankly, I am not sure where that line is located. I find myself able to gather information much more easily than organize it. I need someone smarter than me to organize this stuff or at least help me get a solid progression.

I am always looking for input on my rank sheets or at least a link to other people's rank requirements so that I can see how they have done their work. Please feel free to email me directly if you don't want the information online or if you prefer I would welcome a link in a comment on this topic.

Rank Sheets for Guinn Martial Arts - Aikijutsu

Thanks for the input.

Martial Arts Study Group #2

2010-12-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

I just thought everyone should know. The first study group went very well. I covered a pretty good sized survey of concepts rather than going in depth on any single topic. The next session is on the calendar for Saturday, January 15th from 9am to 12pm.

This time I am going to go a bit more in depth over techniques taught in Heian Nidan (Pinan Shodan). We will cover the concept several key points in the kata but the focus will be on the basic strategies learned from kata analysis, also called Bunkai.

I have three key points I want to cover and here is my plan for what I wish to cover:

Operational Conditioning as taught by the kata. (30 min)
What is a policy statement in kata? (1 hour)
How do they apply in a real fight? (Miller One-Step) (1.5 hours)

I hope to have a few more people this time. If you know someone in the area that might enjoy the class please spread the word. The more people we can get the better.

Studying Multiple Disciplines

2010-12-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

This post inspired by a post at the Okinawan Fighting Art: Isshin Ryu blog by Charles James. The post on Multiple Disciplines.

"Jack of all trades and master of none." I have heard this quote many times. I am not certain I agree with it. In The Book of Five Rings by Musashi tells us, "Become acquainted with every art." as one of the key tenants to learning the Niten Ichi Ryu style of swordsmanship. He includes that one should have at least a basic understanding of weapons other than the sword as well.

Fighting is not limited to a style any more than it is limited to a location or a time of day. If your style of martial arts does not teach ground fighting then I am of the opinion that you need to look elsewhere to find those skills. True, this can be a much harder road to travel.

What must be determined in order to decide what is best for each of us is that we need to decide on a context in which our training needs to take place. That needs to happen before we ever decide if a single style is going to be enough for us. The context can be sport, military, law enforcement/security, or even civilian. When we take on the context of violence in the outside of the Dojo then styles become a very unimportant descriptor with no real meaning other than a social group we can belong to for part of our training.

If viewed in the right light I think a martial artist can be a student of all of the martial arts regardless of source or age of the style or of lineage. Fighting is limited by a few things. The main one being that the human form is going to be the same from one person to the next. Weapons, although various, are going to work in one of a few models. All the techniques taught by every martial art in the world are merely tools that must follow the same basic natural laws of physics and human physiology. Styles are a method of organizing the tactics and strategies of how to apply the basic tools. However, if we break the martial arts down to their most fundamental components, and punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick. Sure their are always subtleties from one school to the next but those can be sorted through and probably need to be by each individual. What works for one might not be best for another. I am six foot two inches and weight about 250 pounds. I can kick to the head no problem but in a fight I think I would be a little too slow for this to realistic. On the other hand I know a few martial artists whom I have seen kick others in the head during a non-dojo based confrontation.

All that said I for one am fond of the schools/styles I teach. However, to say that we cannot study multiple styles at the same time is not correct, in my opinion. The practice of studying multiple styles might make advancing in rank much more difficult. But rank is subjective and is relate-able only to the school in which it was issued. Skill in fighting is difficult to quantify but if it is our goal than styles have little place in deciding how good we are in the end.

A Subtle Distinction

2010-12-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

This is a great clarification of terms from Rory Miller's Blog.

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A Subtle Distinction: "It always bothers me when people say, 'There are no rules in a street fight.'

That's just ignorance. Of course there are rules. At the very minimum, there are laws. If you don't act (and train) with respect to the laws there can be some pretty dire consequences. Unless you like community showers, no privacy and spending time in large crowds of people who are generally either asocial or antisocial.

That's without including the local taboos.

Oh, yeah, there are rules in a street fight.

But there is no such thing as cheating. That's a subtle distinction.

Rules and cheating are social ideas, things designed to keep you at a very specific level of interaction. If you cheat as a child playing games, you won't have any friends. You cheat at a card game and you may lose more than friends, depending on the culture. You might get knifed or you might get voted out of the country club.

Rules keep everything hunky dory in the tribe. The big rules are physics, the big social rules are laws. The rest are just agreements and expectations. Most unwritten, most things we just do, subconsciously, because we have always seen them done. Alternatives don't occur to us. We could just move our little Monopoly doggy to 'Go' every time, regardless of what the dice say. But we don't. That would be cheating. And no one told us that. That is what we, as socialized individuals, bring to the table.

There is no such thing as cheating when you are under attack. You're a good person. You don't cheat. And so you hesitate, not doing things you know would work because you aren't sure if you will violate social taboos. If it's going to violence, guess what? The social taboos have already been pretty much nullified. There are rules in a fight. Please don't go to prison. But there aren't a lot of rules unless you bring them in your own head. If you do, the rules in your head only apply to you.

There is nothing you can do under assault that will make the other kids say, 'I don't want to play with you any more! You're a big cheater!'

And you know what? If their idea of play involves a criminal assault, I'm okay with it if they don't want to play with me anymore.

Tshirts for charity

2010-12-28T08:21:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine is selling some great looking shirts to raise money for a program that he and his wife started in Uganda while working in the Peace Corp. Here was Eric's first email with the details of why we need to sell shirts:

...I am writing with a query/request. As most of you know, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda for two years (2004 - 2006). While I was there, I founded a martial arts group that Sarah and I eventually incorporated into our anti-HIV/AIDS life skills training program. My top student in that group, Felex Forward, has continued to train in the martial arts and is also currently working as a primary school teacher in the country under which capacity he is trying to continue the joint life skills/martial arts program that we developed. In addition, Sarah and I have been helping him with school fees to allow him to gain more education. However, last month, Felex was told by the local government that they were going to demolish his house because the town had recently been promoted to a district capital and they wanted to "beautify" the neighborhood. As such, he is in dire need of assistance. I've been contemplating various fundraisers to help him, and based on their popularity, I thought that selling our "Ask me about my bruises" shirts might be a good way to go. As such, I've redesigned them to make them popular to a broader audience. Plus, I had an artist friend of mine come up with a new back image, which I think is pretty cool. You don't need to take my word for it, though. Check out the attached images.

On the front of the shirt

On the back of the shirt

I for one will be ordering at least one shirt. I hope I can get more but if you can afford just one it will go a long way to helping Eric and ultimately his friend in Uganda. Today I got another email from Eric with the details of how to order your shirt.

Hello,

First, I just want to thank everyone for their positive responses. Seems like maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea after all.

Anyway, on with the news. We are up and running and ready to take orders. Anyone interested in ordering a shirt just needs to email me at askmeaboutmybruises@gmail.com.
There are two possible payment options - checks or Paypal. Once someone contacts me with an order, we'll determine their payment preference, and if they choose Paypal, I'll then send them an email invoice with an embedded payment link. Nice and simple. Also, if anyone wants to make an additional donation, that can easily be included in either the check or the invoice.

Once again, thanks for all of your help in supporting this. Now, we just need to get the word out and move some shirts. I hope to put something up on Facebook soon, so feel free to share that, if you like, and let me know if you need any further info to include on websites, blogs, etc.

All the best,

Eric

Good luck Eric, I hope you are able to do everything you want to do with this program. God bless your continued efforts in Uganda.

Addendum:

I verified with Eric that the shirts are $20 each and that includes postage. Send them an email to askmeaboutmybruises@gmail.com with the following information:

Size and Quantity of shirts (example - Size XXL Quantity 2)
Shipping Address
Pay by Check or pay by Paypal Invoice

If you have any questions contact me or post in comments here.

Thanks again!

The Black Belt Paradox

2010-12-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

Another excellent article from Sue on "My journey to black belt" Blog. I wanted to post a comment but my comment was apparently way to big. So, my comments are at the bottom of this post...

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The Black Belt Paradox: "

A couple of weeks ago I received a comment to one of my posts in which the commentator SCB said: 'I hear 'time in grade' references; I hear 'syllabus' and other such things that cause me concern as to what black belt means so would like to see you post on that subject, 'What black belt means to me?''.

I think that the subtext behind this comment is what do I think about the concept of a syllabus focused kyu grading system with the acquisition of coloured belts and the coveted black belt?

When I started this blog nearly two years ago I was a purple belt (4th kyu). At that point in my training the idea of ‘journeying to black belt’ seemed like a reasonable target to pursue in a martial art. Isn’t that what every martial artist wants? I then became aware through listening to other more experienced martial artists and through my own personal development that ‘it isn’t about getting a black belt – it’s about the training’.

I have also become aware that many people don't agree with the coloured belt ranking system and prefer a system that observes the more traditional training method whereby students wear a white belt until their sensei deems them proficient enough in the mental and physical aspects of their art to be awarded the black belt. Do I agree with these view points? Err..yes and err..no!

Yes I agree that it’s not just about getting the black belt. I don’t want to follow some watered down syllabus that fast tracks me to shodan. I want to immerse myself more fully in the physical, mental and cultural aspects of martial arts and I need time to do that properly. BUT… I like my brown belt and I liked all the coloured belts I had before – they are markers of my progress, they help me put my new found skills and knowledge into context, they motivate me. They are like mini rewards for the effort I have made. And yes, I want that black belt.

Lets look at the origins of the kyu/dan grading system and what its inventor, Professor Jigoro Kano the 'Father of judo', was trying to achieve with his system. The kyu/dan grading system was introduced into judo in 1883. Initially it was just a white belt for ungraded students and a black belt for graded students.

Prior to this a student would train under a master for many years learning only the few techniques and kata that he wanted to teach. After several years a few trusted students may be taught some more dangerous 'hidden techniques'. Many students would train for years with a master, learning only a limited range of techniques and if they left they would have nothing to show for all their efforts. Occasionally the master may issue them with a scroll which listed the techniques they had learnt. It was very difficult for most students to learn a complete system of fighting - only the trusted and dedicated few would achieve this honour. Martial arts had a 'closed shop' mentality.

All this changed with Kano's introduction of the belt ranking system. He extended the white/black belt approach to include a range of coloured belts and introduced the concept of a systematised syllabus that gradually built up from elementary moves to increasingly more difficult concepts as the students skill and knowledge developed. Each stage of the process was marked with awarding the student the next coloured belt. Once all the techniques of the entire syllabus had been learnt the student was awarded the black belt to signify they now knew all the basics of their art.

The advantage of the belt ranking system was that all students now had the opportunity to learn an entire fighting method in a logical and systematised way. Judo had now become an 'open shop' allowing many more students to train. Gichin Funakoshi soon saw the potential of the belt ranking system for karate as he introduced karate to Japan. Adopting the belt system made karate more acceptable to the Japanese government and allowed Funakoshi to propagate it within the Japanese university network. From there it spread to the world.

If you are a critic of the coloured belt ranking system remember that without it Eastern martial arts may never have spread around the world and may still be the preserve of small secretive dojos training only handfuls of students. Instead hundreds of thousands of people around the world are able to participate and enjoy the benefits of learning Eastern martial arts.

However, I accept that the belt ranking system has its drawbacks. It has been abused by many clubs or organisations who have developed a very narrow syllabus that does not teach a complete fighting method. This goes against Kano's original aim of enabling all students to access a complete fighting system. A martial arts system is only going to be as good as its syllabus so if the syllabus is incomplete then so will the resulting martial art be. This does not mean that the principle of the belt grading system is flawed, only the martial arts system that is using it incorrectly.

The other problem of the belt ranking system is that it can focus the student's attention to much on the next grading rather than on the process of training. Again, if this is happening it is the fault of the instructor rather than the belt ranking system. In our club we are not syllabus focused all the time. Many students do not even access their syllabus from the website trusting that through their training they will be taught the things they need to know.

Karate often avoids the pitfalls of being over focused on syllabus by engaging in whole class teaching. In our club, the only time we split into grade groups is to practice kata but even then we often do kata practice as a class - revising more junior kata and trying to copy more senior kata from more senior students. Learning is circular in karate and this is reflected in our syllabus. We are tested on some of the same material every grade - obviously we are expected to perform it at a more proficient level as we progress.

I think the belt ranking system is a positive introduction to martial arts, allowing it to be accessible to a much wider number of students. Any faults that one can level at it are generally faults of its application rather than its principle. It is up to the student to find a club that applies the principle well so that they learn a complete and comprehensive martial art system. The belt ranking system does not mean that the belt is more important than the training - the training will always be the most important thing but students in the junior ranks need external motivators, need structure and order and this is provided by the ranking system. As you become more experienced then motivation internalises more and you become less dependent on rank. This takes experience and wisdom to understand.

When I look at who it is that tells me it’s not about the black belt or that we don’t need coloured belts, I realise that they are all (no dis-respect is meant here) – black belts! It seems to me one needs to acquire the wisdom and experience of a black belt to realise that getting the black belt is not important and only really represents the beginning. I can ‘know’ this but it remains precisely that – knowledge, not wisdom. I have to go through the process myself of converting this knowledge into wisdom through practice, learning and experience and to help me do this I need my belts, all of them! I call this the Black Belt Paradox – you need to acquire a black belt in order to truly understand that ‘it’s not about the black belt’.

"
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Now my comments:

I really like the post. I would add that the colored belt system and the adoption of the uniforms in Karate are mentioned in a transcription of notes from a meeting of the Karate Masters in 1936.

The book this comes from is called: Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts: Koryu Uchinadi, Vol. 2 by Patrick McCarthy.

People like Chojun Miyagi, Kenwa Mabuni, and many others were all present and discussed these points as a means to classify students so that they could compete. That competition was meant to stimulate the dying art of Karate. As was noted in the meeting, many young men found the competition more interesting in Judo than the self defense aspects of Karate taught to that point. For better or worse here we are...

From a motivational stand point I agree completely that a rank system of some sort needs to be used to show progress. Especially for younger students. Honestly, it doesn't matter what system you use so long as you have the simple components that the existing system offers.

A visual and social award that demonstrates progress toward a goal or goals. A method of organizing the material that needs to be learned in bite sized parts. And those are just for starters.

Example: Imagine getting a college degree where the instructor takes you to a room full of all the textbooks and supplies one would need to complete a college degree and is then told, Good luck. Learn it all and perform all the necessary projects and assignments to complete the degree. With no other instruction than that few might do it. Others would give up before they started.

My favorite quote about a black belt it that it represents one thing. You are now officially...a student of the martial arts. Black belt is little more than an acknowledgment of progress. One more link in the chain. Although this one is a little like coming of age and being allowed to vote or drive. It is a milestone. We will all have the post-black-belt hangover if we go into it thinking that it is the ultimate or end-all. I went into mine having already started cross training into another style and knew full well that this new style was going to take me years more. Thus I never experienced the hangover since I knew I had so much more to learn.

Anyway, I will be adding the Black Belt Paradox to my terms. Very useful.

Thanks,

Nick

Purebred Dog, Purebred Martial Art

2010-12-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

An excellent observation in this article by Kris Wilder. One in which I hope my school can withstand scrutiny. I do not need the approval of others but ultimate scrutiny comes in a live test. One I hope no one has to experience. I would add that if all you want is a show dog, that is just fine. But be sure you are not fooling yourself or others about what it is you offer. Getting a show dog and passing it off to others as a durable work dog is unwise and not fair to the show dog at all. To use this metaphor.

Also, Merry Christmas to all my readers! I hope you and your families all have a great holiday.

_________________________

Purebred Dog, Purebred Martial Art: "

When I was a kid our family lived on a farm. When you live on a farm, rarely is there something on the farm that is not useful. Everything has to contribute to the farm.

Our family car was a station wagon. A station wagon not only carried my parents and my brother, but it also carried feed, and animals when needed.

Dogs where an important part of farm life. Our two dogs served as guard dogs, keeping coyotes away from the chickens, serving as doorbells when somebody pulled into the driveway, and for me as a kid, they where great playmates. Neither of these dogs where purebred dogs, they where mutts, comprised of Beagle, Airedale, German Shepard, all swirled together with who knows what else.

When I asked my Dad one day why we didn't have purebreds, just mutts his answer was simple, “Purebred dogs have problems.” He went on about how some purebreds had hip problems, others digestive issues, and the behaviors that where bread into them wasn't always what was best for a good farm dog.

His point was the temperament and resiliency of the mutt dog was well suited for the farm, useful and low maintenance. Further they where nice dogs with good personalities, dependable, easy to acquire and cheap to maintain.

So here is your audit, is your martial art a mutt dog or a pure bread? Is your martial arts school the Westminster dog show, or is it a working farm?

I would submit to you that the purebred art is just like the purebred dog, looks great, not particularly durable and in the final conclusion not very useful.

Movie Trailer for "Thor"

2010-12-15T08:45:00.000-08:00


Thor Movie Poster

Okay I admit I really enjoy superhero movies. A lot! Spiderman, Iron Man, Dark Knight, etc.. The new movies from DC and from Marvel have been great. Even despite a few things I would like to see improved in each movie I still really like them. They are just plain fun.

Well, I have been very reluctant to see the next installment from Marvel. Thor. The character has SO much potential to be campy or silly. However, the trailer was just released for this movie and it looks fantastic. Check it out on the Marvel website.

Movie trailer for Thor.

Plus, in the trailer I saw a few actors I really like that I didn't know were going to be in the movie. I am looking forward to this one and that is a shock since I was on the fence as to whether I should go see it, until now.

Political Humor

2010-12-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

I am not much on political humor most of the time but this one made me chuckle out loud. Also, as a disclaimer, this does not necessarily reflect any political views on my part.

Barack Obama met with the Queen of England.

He asked her, "Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give to me?"
"Well," said the Queen, "the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people."
Obama frowned, and then asked, "But how do I know the people around me are really intelligent?"
The Queen took a sip of tea. "Oh, that's easy; you just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle."
The Queen pushed a button on her intercom. "Please send Tony Blair in here, would you?"
Tony Blair walked into the room and said, "Yes, your Majesty?"
The Queen smiled and said, "Answer me this please,
Tony, your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?"
Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answered, "That would be me."
"Yes! Very good," said the Queen.
Obama went back home to ask Joe Biden, his vice president the same question. "Joe, answer this for me. Your mother and your father have a child. It's not your brother and it's not your sister. Who is it?"
"I'm not sure," said Biden. "Let me get back to you on that one..." He went to his advisors and asked every one, but none could give him an answer. Finally, he ended up in the men's room and recognized Colin Powell's shoes in the next stall.
Biden asked Powell, "Colin, can you answer this for me? Your mother and father have a child and it's not your brother or your sister. Who is it?"
Colin Powell yelled back, "That's easy, it's me!"
Biden smiled, and said, "Thanks!" Then, he went back to speak with Obama. "Say, I did some research and I have the answer to that riddle. It's Colin Powell!"
Obama got up, stomped over to Biden, and angrily yelled into his face, "No! you idiot! It's Tony Blair!"
AND THAT MY FRIENDS IS WHAT'S GOING ON IN WASHINGTON D.C.

On a side note: I pray that all leaders in a government position remember the people they support and their needs. Needs that can be met based on reason and experience. I also pray that someone in this country understand that federal money is to be used on a federal level and NOT locally to line some lobbyist's pocket.
In other words! Cut pet projects! I read the other day where some NIMROD congressional leader asked, "How else am I going to get federal money into the hands of my constituents." And my reply is, that is not what it is for you fool!

Anyway, sorry, I do not like to bother with politics and I certainly do not want this to become a political platform so I will likely not be mentioning this type of thing again. Perhaps that would be a good reason to open another blog.

Martial Arts Study Group

2010-12-10T07:34:00.000-08:00

What: Martial Arts Study Group
Where: Main Street Martial Arts, Collinsville, OK
When: December 18th, 09:00 to 12:00
Why: To bring martial artists together in order to present ideas and all grow from the experiences we each bring to the class.
How Much: $5. For now, this amount may go up in time but it will remain fairly cheap. My secondary hope is that when I have larger seminars I will have a strong base of martial artists that will attend.

On December 18th I am going to have the first meeting of the Martial Arts Study Group. My plan for these classes is to have an informal meeting where martial artists from any background and skill level can get together and train. I have several motivations behind this class. Here are some of them:

An opportunity to work with students that cannot attend regular classes.
A time and place for black belts to workout together, regardless of school or organizational affiliations.
To raise the overall skill level of all martial artists in the community through cross training.
To create a organization of martial artists that will give us a semi-regular opportunity to be social with others in the community.
To share insights and concepts about the martial arts that not all of us may know.
To clarify context based training.
To fight burn out. Everyone needs to learn and grow to avoid becoming stagnant.

The inspiration for this meeting is based on a couple of groups I know of outside of Oklahoma that gather and share information. Each person benefits from the time and I think everyone will walk away from the class with something new to think about and work on.

The material I plan to cover in class will be to demonstrate how the first move of each of the Heian Kata has a hidden component that can be used in self defense. Taking our natural responses to surprise and making them more effective.

If you want to see some of those kata they are listed in the Kata section of my website. Guinnmartialarts.com
If you want take a close look at the first three kata in particular.

Heian - Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yodan, and Godan.

I hope to see lots of people in class!

Fighting with myself

2010-12-09T08:26:00.000-08:00

This post is inspired by a post made on "The Striking Post". A Blog by Kris Wilder, martial arts instructor and all around great guy. You can see his post at Martial Arts Training Tip #62


Too much negative!

At some point all of us have heard of the concept of positive and negative self talk. We all have an internal monologue and some of us even have an internal dialogue. Do not worry. Internal dialogue only becomes a problem when you start losing arguments or when the internal becomes external. More on that some other time. I have had thoughts out loud a few times. The best is when I am stepping off an elevator and the only things that people on the landing hear are about kicking people in the head. Out of context since I am a martial arts instructor. Of course, they do not know that and I usually do not clarify. Okay, so making people wonder about me is a little fun. Anyway...

In our personal dialogue we use both positive and negative terms. Kris's post pointed out the use of sweeping terms that usually have a very negative impact. Take a look at his post for details. One example I can share is the, "I will never be able to..." . Now some things we can say with all honesty. "I will never be able to fly like superman." Of course watch some joker make a bit of tech that allows this and I have to eat my words. You get the point I hope.

I am not one to frequent these negative limitations mentioned in the post on myself. I know I have accomplished a lot in my 37 years of life and I plan to accomplish a lot more. However, lately I have caught myself using other negative statements. Especially in regard to other people. The best example I can think of is while driving. The term "Road Rage" is a common one around here. To be fair, there are some very bad drivers out there. I am one of them from time to time. However, it occurred to me after reading that post that I have fallen into the trap of the negative talk about a lot of things in my life. Having been recently divorced and somewhat getting stuck in the old "feeling sorry for myself routine" I think it is something I have done for a while and it just got worse recently.

Now, someone I have seen that is at total odds with this type of feeling. Iain Abernethy. I have been studying his martial arts materials for years now and I got to meet Iain in Seattle during the Crossing the Pond Martial Arts Expo. Iain always seems to be very upbeat. I have been watching his posts on twitter and even when Iain is ill he his posts are unnaturally happy. (I say unnaturally, jokingly of course.) Iain had a great spirit about him at the seminar. Quick with a laugh and a smile, he is a great guy. I am absolutely certain he has had his down moments. Times where he felt like screaming, yelling, or even throwing things. I imagine everyone has days like that at some point. I am also certain that the fact that he is doing for a living what most of us in the martial arts only dream of does not hurt either. Teaching seminars all over the world. Meeting great people, and all the while getting paid to do it. Wow! But with a negative attitude even the best jobs can become a chore.

I have seen a similar spirit in Kris Wilder and Al Peasland during the seminar. Both great men and had a slightly more subtle strength of attitude behind their interactions during class. To continue the observation I saw a powerful confidence in Rory Miller and Marc MacYoung too. I saw uncommon experience in Nicholas Yang. But from all of these gentlemen. I didn't see one of them use negative language. At least not during the seminar. Again, I was only briefly able to interact with these guys but to me they are all accomplished. Anyone who can find a way to do what they love for a living is successful. Someone to whom I can see aspiring to be more like them in my life. I am certain they have ALL had trials and tribulations. Yet they are still accomplished.

Instructors from the Martial Expo, 2010

As Kris pointed out if someone comes out with negative language in their speech or in their dialogue with the people around them. We can safely assume that it has taken five times as much negative dialogue internally to become comfortable enough with it to come out in our day to day interactions. Not good!

So, here is what I propose and something I am going to do for the next week. Beginning today and through next Thursday the 16th. Every time I say something or feel something negative I am going to stop myself as best I can and look for the silver lining. What redeeming quality can I find in the negative I just experienced. There should be a way to find a positive spin on just about anything. I would challenge you to do the same. I have caught myself doing the negative thing three times this morning already. Each time I forced myself to stop and find a way to turn how I felt around. To seek out the positive or to find a way to make the ultimate outcome of that negative thing become positive. Might sound like a lot of self help garbage but if you think that...guess what. You are being negative and that is where you can start today! Good Luck.

My hope is that this type of positive reinforcement will improve my outlook or mood. Pending the outcome of the experiment I will make this a permanent change. If it does not work I will just try something else. Post your comments on some of the things you experience this week if something really stands out to you. Knowing others have the same issues might help to fuel each of us along.

Self Defense...

2010-12-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

In college my Aikijutsu instructor was Dr. Carl Farinelli. A great person and a man of many talents. When I say many talents. This gentleman defined the concept of the Renaissance Man. From what I know of him he has degrees in German, English, and Education with his doctorate being in Education. At the university he teaches a variety of academic classes. These changed back and forth over time so I cannot tell you what they are now but they were in each the fields of study mentioned above. In addition, he also taught a country/western dance class, a few musical instruments, and of course the martial arts classes. Since I have known him he has also been in a few bands. An amazing person.

One thing I picked up from him were the four steps of self defense. Now, these are very simple and with anything made simple it might leave room for inference but work with me here. I have changed the words used to make it more easily remembered but the material is the same.

Avoid, Evade, Talk, Walk

Avoid - always doing our best to not be where the problems can occur. Being aware of our surroundings and if we see a problem...evade.
Evade - when we see a problem we go around it. Give it a wide berth if you will. Someone gives you the creeps, cross the street. I don't agree with everything in the book but the core tenant of "Gift of Fear" by Gavin DeBecker is that if you get a vibe off someone it is probably right. Go around them. If they close on you and evading is not an option then...Talk.
Talk - when the problem is not avoidable it is time to confront. There are several rules I would add to this issue. Of course this is supposed to be simple but here are some sub-rules that should apply all the time.

Make eye contact - give them a good look. Most criminals do not want to be remembered. Remember the clothes they are wearing, scars or distinguishing marks, hair color or style. Depending on your mindset at the time you might even make a audible checklist. If they know you are taking their inventory it might make them rethink their choice.
Keep your distance - do not let them inside 8 or 9 feet. Tell them to stay back. If you have told them and they still close on you they have shown you they mean you harm.
Asking for money - simple, this is one of the only things where you should just go ahead and comply. Toss your purse or wallet away from your escape route. When they move to get it. You head the other way. You can make more money, you cannot recover from death.

Walk - the assailant has accosted you. All bets are off! Rory Miller and Marc MacYoung are some great resources for this information. Rory pointed out that many people don't feel allowed to act on their own behalf. Like no one has ever told them they are allowed to be mean to survive. Remembering that your number one goal is escape, every action you take should be toward that end. Hit them hard and often. As soon as you see a way to escape, make for the hills! Run! If escape is not an option. Kids you must stay to protect, trapped in a locked room, etc... Hit, bite, scratch, tear, until you are certain you are no longer threatened. This is where the martial arts or self defense techniques take over. Assuming they have been trained with this end in mind.

Looking at these steps, notice how the majority of them have nothing to do with actually fighting. This is as is should be. Most of what we need to know to avoid violence is in our heads. However, most of us will face violence at least once in our lives. Statistically, some people see violence more then others. Those people skew the average for the rest of us. We might never see violence in our lifetime, I hope that is the case for everyone. But it is better to be prepared than not.

Again, this is a very simple model. And one that I think applies to young men before anyone else. TV, video games, and other things glorify violence and make it almost attractive. I know my son is nearly a teenager and he likes games of this nature. He has even expressed an interest in joining the military. I have tried to explain and I think I have done fairly well. Violence is rarely fun. I would say that in my experience violence is a great example of extraordinary stress.

For most of us that work in the civilized world, violence is a foreign concept. He might experience stress from a deadline or an important presentation. But the stress of violence is like making someone experience all the stress of years of an office job in less than a second. It can be breath taking and confusing and . It is primal. Most people might glorify that but most are just not ready for it. It can be very scary. One thing to consider, I have fought people that want to knock my head off in a figurative sense. I have never had to face someone who was trying to out right kill me. I hope I never do.

Finally, there is a time to fight. Don't get me wrong. But do it knowing that it is not going to be nearly as fun as a video game. Also, there is also the violence we don't see coming. Ambushes and such. Skip straight to the last option in that case. Being aware that violence can occur is great but it won't cover every event. If you ever get the eerie feeling that something is wrong, act on it. Better to be considered a little paranoid than to end up a statistic.

Okay, enough rambling for now.

My Bucket List

2010-12-01T14:22:00.000-08:00

In order to make sure I keep my goals in sight I am making a bucket list. Anytime I get worn down by the day to day grind I will refer back to this list to keep my spirits up and my focus on what I want. Of course, the list is fluid. I can add and remove at any time. However, if I remove it had better be to put something bigger on the list.

First, I am going to start with some accomplishments. After all, motivation also comes from looking back to see that success is possible no matter what anyone else tells us.

Completed Goals:

Bachelors Degree - I have a degree in Management Information Systems from Northeastern State University.
Third degree Black Belt - A few days after I started Karate my instructor asked me what I wanted to accomplish with their class. I looked at their rank and it was Nidan or second degree at the time. I told them I want a third degree. Since then (approximately 20 years ago) I have received a fourth degree in Karate and a fifth degree in Aikijutsu. More importantly I have praise from a few people I really respect in the martial arts. Rory Miller and Steve Taylor. Now they didn't say anything like, hey this guy is the best. Although I would like to hear that one day. They simply said "He gets it." That means more to me then anything.
Buy a house - looking back it was probably not the best plan but all in all I think it worked out. I still have a house and it needs some work but it is home.
Buy a car I want - Done! I bought a Mazda CX-7 back in June. I really cannot afford it. Honestly I think I over reacted to my new found freedom. Although I must say I love my car.

There are more things but these are some of the big ones I have done so far. Next are some of the big ticket items I want to accomplish before I am no more:

Visit Japan! - as mentioned in my last post I found out a friend of mine is going to be going to Japan in 2011 and it made me realize I have always wanted to go. So I need to make this a priority for my life and I need to go. It may not be at the top of my list but it is on the list for certain.
Pay off my bills - when I say my bills I don't mean the day to day stuff. I have three big loans. My mortgage, my car loan, and my student loans. I MUST get rid of these debts, I am tired of paying for them.
Go to England - I want to go see everything and study the martial arts with Iain Abernethy and Al Peasland on their home turf.
Go back to Seattle - I didn't get a chance to actually work out with Kris Wilder while I was in Seattle and I really want to go back and work with him some more. I am currently working through the "Sanchin Kata" book and DVD so that I don't waste his time.
Publish my own books - I want to publish books on my Aikijutsu system. I want it to be a resource for my students and I would like to do a good enough job for others to look at it and say something like, "Hey! This isn't garbage." I would also like to get a work of fiction published too.
See my kids accomplish their dreams - I love this quote: "Find something you love and you will never work a day in your life." -Samuel Clemens. I would like to see my kids doing something with their lives that makes them truly and totally happy and fulfilled. I would like for it to be productive and meaningful too but I am afraid if I put too many stipulations on this it will not happen. So I wish for the best for both of them. I also hope that if they decide to be part of a family of their own that they are happy and healthy.
Go see, Ghost and Darkness - the two man eating lions from Tsavo Africa, currently on exhibit in Chicago. Supposedly killed and ate over 130 people back in the late 1800's before being killed.
Visit the grave of Musashi - these are in no particular order but this is one thing I would really like to do.
Attend a seminar with Patrick McCarthy - another martial artist that I would really like to work with some more. Being that he lives in Australia means I also want to go see the sights while I am there.
Visit New Zealand - I don't care about the movie sets but I really want to see more of what appears to be some incredible countryside.
Make a living out of being a Private Investigator/Process Server/Executive Security - I want to work for myself. I want to be successful in a field that has unlimited potential. I see these things as something I can really enjoy doing. Something I can tie into my life very well.
Skydive - yes I know. I might not need to worry about the rest of the list if I do this but it sounds like a blast. I want to do it! I think Japan is first though...
Get Healthy - I want to get my weight down to 210 at most. This is probably the easiest of the goals to be honest. However, I have really been dragging my feet working on it. The emotional side of this is fixed now I think and I have started losing weight. I will post my progress in time. Perhaps after the initial weight loss is proven not to be a fluke.

Well here they are so far. The list may change over time. In fact I expect them too. Especially as I accomplish things. If anyone out there has any suggestions on how to more quickly or cheaply accomplish them I welcome the help.

Don't like something...make a change.

2010-12-01T12:39:00.000-08:00

I wrote a entry on this topic but thought it was a bit dark and maybe a little negative. So I am writing it again and this time I plan on the material to be a lot more up lifting, at least to me in any case. A good friend of mine told me about the terrible Thanksgiving she had and I must admit I was speechless. Parents of the friend arguing and calling my friend by their son's ex-girlfriend's name. Then to top off the day walk in on the 20 year old brother while he is "watching" porn. I mean...Wow! I know I have problems, for that matter we all have problems. Mine seem to pale in comparison to the problems of this family. Sad as it may be to say, it makes me really feel pretty good about my issues. I feel very sorry for the friend and her date. I can only imagine inviting a friend over for a holiday only to have your family act out in this manner.

During the course of my discussion with her I told her she should come back and visit us next time. To avoid that family if nothing else. She went on to tell me that she will come visit one day but is saving her money to to go to Japan. Well I must say I have always wanted to go to Japan. I am rather jealous. It occurred to me that the only thing keeping me from going is time and money. Both of which I can come up with if I plan things out appropriately. For a long time I gave up on any idea that I might be able to do something like this type of trip. I had too many obligations that felt like weights holding me back from what I wanted to do. Most of them were self imposed and some were not. But now that I have an opportunity to re-invent myself I am going to go after this sort of thing. I have one earthly obligation in my life right now.

My kids! They are wonderful. I love them more than I can put into words. They are great but they will eventually move on to their own lives. If I live for them, when they are gone I will have nothing. As many people who know me can tell you I am in no immediate danger of this event. I have many irons in the fire, to coin a phrase. Martial Arts, Private Investigator, Writing, Reading, Travel. I was able to got to Seattle in August to attend a great seminar hosted by Kris Wilder. It was great. I enjoyed Seattle so much I want to go back. I have even thought about living in that area once my kids are off doing their own thing.

Then it hit me. My kids being old enough to wander off to college or whatever path they choose seemed to be years away, many years. Far enough as to not be much to consider even. A few days ago it occurred to me that my youngest is about to turn 10 years old. That means that Emma has only 8 more years to be at home. 8 years may seem like a long time to some people. It is not. Considering the fact that I feel like my kids were just born a few years ago and I am about to have a 13 and 10 year old at home. Time where I need to be there for my kids in a leadership role is going to go fast. I will always be there for them. For that matter I really like my kids. After High School I may move to Seattle and if they want to go with me I can see that being a nice little adventure for one or both of them. If they wanted to go. I am pretty sure Conner will want to go. He went with me on the trip in August and I think he loved it as much as I did.

All this to say that I have created hurdles that keep me from what I have always wanted. Now many of those hurdles are visible for what they really are... Excuses to keep me away from risk. To keep me safe and give me excuses not to work hard for what will really make me happy. I do not want to be safe anymore. It is time to step out. Bigger than I have so far.

As mentioned before I am fairly accomplished. I am goal driven and always have been. I do not say all this to brag but just to point out that despite my being goal driven and a list maker I have failed to do everything I have ever want to do. I do not like it and it is time it changed. I think my next post is going to be a bucket list. I will try to show some of the things I have already accomplished from my list and some of the things I want still to accomplish. I would welcome a similar list from all of you in the comments of the next post.

Anyway, onward to changes.

Apostates

2010-11-29T07:26:00.000-08:00

Rory Miller has put to words what I have felt in many social exchanges throughout my life. I cannot say I fully understand or can realize first hand, perhaps, everything written here but I have glimpsed its truth.

Apostates: "This is going to be complex.

One of the tenets of Conflict Communications is that people belong in groups. We are all members of at least one and usually many groups. Whether that is a tribe, a school, a tradition, a family, a club, a profession or something else. People don't survive well on their own-- either physically or psychologically.

Groups have rules. You can call them mores (pronounced moray, like the eel) if you want to go all anthropological/sociological. A group without rules isn't a group. NOT because rules are the bedrock of social control but because rules are the bedrock of identity. Dietary laws may or may not have had survival value in the past. The fact that they continue even when they do not is a sign that their primary value is one of identification.

There is no identification value in common sense. Any society that survives will value, for instance, trust within the group and productivity. No society will survive that doesn't value self-preservation (and this is one to look at because what someone says they value or what a group honors, like martyrdom, doesn't actually happen all that often. The words and the music of many cultures are not truly in accord.)

This means the identity value is in the silly stuff-- the stories and myths and ritual. A Christian is not defined as someone who is meek and kind to others and honors his parents. A Christian is defined by the belief that a man-god got nailed to a Roman torture/execution device and quit being dead three days after being buried.

You can follow every law and rule and live with what people might call perfect Christian ideals, but if you don't believe that piece, you can't be a member of that group.

So every group has mores that are arbitrary if not down-right weird, because those are where the group identity rises.

And this is where the edge-walkers come in. I can't speak for everyone, but one of the things about almost dying is the way it clarifies things. Lots of things are bullshit and once you see that, once you see the value of breathing when someone has tried hard to stop you AND you see the inevitability of the end-state of not breathing, your identity doesn't come from labels and rituals. Maybe, in the end, your identity doesn't even need to be.

So loving your neighbor makes sense, because there is only so much time to get loving in... but heaven doesn't matter. Heaven is not good or bad or true or untrue. Heaven DOES NOT MATTER. The rituals and the myths do not matter. If I like you, what do I care about the patch on your shoulder or which party you vote for or where your ancestors came from? If your waiken has forbidden you from eating birds, other than some menu switching, your myths don't affect my friendship (or dislike) for you.

When the edge-walker gets to this understanding, he is neither fish nor fowl. He does fit into a tribe, in his own mind. He values what he values- the good works and the people themselves. He does the right thing. He will give his life to protect these people, myths and all, and will not feel slighted or ashamed to do it. He is one of them, on a deeper level than they can probably feel because it is not a matter of ritual and the random chance of birth. The edge-walker chooses.

But he will no longer be accepted as one of them. Without the rituals and the myths, the trappings, he cannot be identified. 'Because he serves us and will die for us does not mean that he is one of us.' He hears it rarely, but sees it again and again. This is the separation, one of the most unexpected and disturbing things if you spend too much time on the edge.

Two amazing poems...

2010-11-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

Here are two poems that I think almost all black belts can appreciate at some level. Given that each black belt takes time, determination, sacrifice, and sometimes a little suffering. We definitely walk a different path than most:

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Poem provided by Poets.org - The Road Not Taken

This poem is a bit more altruistic but I think it is a good perspective for anyone. Especially for a black belt. I really like this one too. The description of my blog in the header is derived from this poem in part.

To Have Succeeded

To laugh often and love much:
To win respect of intelligent people
And the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics
And endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give one's self;
To leave the world a little better,
Whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch,
Or redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm
And sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier
Because you have lived...
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poem provided by Theo Pavlidis - To Have Succeeded

I am always happy to hear good quotes or poems if anyone finds something interesting to post to comments. I will have a post of some of my favorite quotes next week sometime.

Becoming a follower

2010-11-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

Got a post from "The Striking Post" by Kris Wilder and it was very thought provoking. However, one note that stood out to me was the one at the end that asked people to become followers of his blog. This helps him to know who is out there and if we are still listening. I have done this for Kris and would ask you, if you watch this blog for my posts, become a follower so I know you are listening too.

It is a small thing. Insignificant mostly. I will post even if no one is reading just because I like the practice but to know someone reads my posts too would be really spiffy! Become a follower today.

Awareness

2010-11-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

I saw a great post on the Striking Port Blog by Kris Wilder (author of Little Black Book of Violence) and he made a very interesting point. The gist of his post was that it is useless to simply tell people to "Be aware!" Aware of what? I admit at some point when I had just started teaching this type of thing I too would tell people to be aware, just as my instructor had told me. Looking back on this lesson over the years and it really is a useless comment in training.

So to continue Mr. Wilder's post he pointed out that what we really want to be aware of are the aberrations in the normal patterns of the world around us. The world (society) flow in a certain standard. Consider, personal space between people or how someone talks to you. One of DeBecker's (author of Gift of Fear) mentions in his book is that charm is not inherent. It must be learned. So if a person is being charming and it gives you the heebie-jeebies then chances are you are right. There is a change is a non-normal flow in the standard patterns around us.

An extreme example might be a person walking through a crowd that bums into people. Perhaps even several people. If you watch even the busiest and most crowded streets everyone moves with a certain pattern. Very rarely will you see someone move against that flow. Unless they are a tourist or are breaking pattern for a reason.

So essentially we are not just being aware. We are watching for something that breaks the routine. Is flowing against the current or standard pattern of the environment.

Another quick example, people do not stare most of the time. If someone is staring at you, then this would also be a change in the normal pattern. Look for the elephant in the room. With a little practice he will not be hard to spot.

The Way of Sanchin Kata by Kris Wilder

2010-11-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

I have started studying the book "The Way of Sanchin Kata" by Kris Wilder this week. It is a very interesting read and something of a bear to put into practice. I also have the companion DVD but have not looked at it yet. I have also gone over my notes from the seminar Kris presented back in 2009. I really like the power generation effect that this study obviously builds. It is very different from what I have learned from of my instructors here in Oklahoma.

Further, the other Goju Ryu schools in the area don't get into anywhere near this level of detail on this kata. At least not in my experience. That is not to say that they can not. I don't know if they can but I have certainly not seen it.

My secondary reason for working on Sanchin Kata is that I really like a kata in Shotokan called Hangetsu. In the Okinawan systems of Karate it is called Seisan. Seisan finds its root in Sanchin like many other kata and I want to be better at it. Seisan and Tensho and fascinating kata and I think they will be my preferred path to progress in my study of the martial arts. Or at least one of the paths I am taking for now.

Recommended Authors

2010-11-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

Mosaic of Martial Arts Books

I have been reading martial arts related material for some time now and I have found some authors to be must read material. This is in no way a slight to authors not on the list. It represents a body of work that I have had the privilege to read and review, so far. Things that have had a profound effect on my understanding of the world, violence, and the martial arts.

Author and some sources of reading material. (In no particular order)

Iain Abernethy - Bunkai Jutsu(book), Iain Abernethy(newsletter).
Rory Miller - Meditations on Violence(book), Chiron Training(blog)
Kris Wilder - The Way of Kata(book), The Striking Post(blog)
Marc "Animal" MacYoung - Professionals Guide to Ending Violence Quickly(book)
Lawrence Kane - Teaching the Martial Arts(book), The Way of Kata(book)
Lt Col Dave Grossman - On Killing(book), On Combat(book)
Loren Christensen - Fighter Fact Book 2(book), On Combat(book)
Dr. Jwing-Ming Yang - Bagua Zhang(book and DVD), YMAA Publication(website)

There are more but this is a pretty good start. Of course, if you ever have questions for me I would be happy to answer them. I think in order to really have a good understanding of anything it requires study. The kind of study that comes from both experience and reading(academic).

A wonderful quote

2010-11-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

Going through my daily glance at Google Reader and I see that Mr. Rory Miller has posted another couple of articles. There is a quote from his most recent post called "Old School".

I have my personal definition of bad and evil. A bad guy will hurt someone to get what he wants. Evil will hurt someone even if there is nothing to gain. It's simple, but it works for me. - Rory Miller

I love it! So clean and concise. Reading observations from Rory Miller, Kris Wilder, or Iain Abernethy I always feel very humbled by elements of their work I would consider to be profound. This quote is a good example.

Their work is inspirational. Keep it up guys. Want some great reading take a look at my list of recommended authors on this blog.

2011 Seminars you must attend!

2010-11-09T07:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I received an email from my friend and fellow martial artist Eric Parsons of Blue River Martial Arts. Eric has been host to a couple of great martial arts seminars over the last two years. First we had Kris Wilder of West Seattle Karate come and teach in Spring 2009. Then in the Spring of 2010 we had Rory Miller of Chiron Training. Again it was a fantastic seminar and I learned things far more valuable than just the martial arts from both of them. The details have been and will be the subject of other blog entries. Needless to say that given the opportunity I would go study with both of these gentleman again in a heartbeat.

Little bit more background: In August of 2010 Kris Wilder hosted the United States side of the Martial Art Expo. A seminar series that had some of the biggest martial arts names in the world teach both here and in the United Kingdom. The instructors included Iain Abernethy, Al Peasland, Kris Wilder, Rory Miller, Marc "Animal" MacYoung, and Nicholas Yang. The trip to Seattle was wonderful all by itself but the seminar made it that much better. We had a great time and I enjoyed meeting all of the guys in the seminar. I hope with some small changes to the order of things that we can do something like that again.

All this brings me to the main point of the article. Eric is currently working on the details of hosting two seminars next year. Nicholas Yang on April 1st and 2nd and Iain Abernethy October 7th through the 9th. As mentioned above I worked with both of them at the Martial Arts Expo and I am really looking forward to these next seminars.

Nicholas Yang, was great to work with and obviously very knowledgeable about the martial arts. Having grown up with Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming as a father could not have been easy at times but the evidence that both are great martial artists was demonstrated to me at the martial arts expo. The focus of the material for this seminar is going to be Chin Na, White Crane Kung Fu, and Shuai Chiao. For me with a Karate and Aikijutsu background I am hoping that I can use these Chinese arts to fill in any gaps I might have in my styles. As they are in many ways the forerunners of both Karate and Jujitsu(Aikijutsu). I am looking forward to this seminar.

Next is Iain Abernethy. I didn't get anywhere near the time I wanted to meet him in Seattle but he is one of those guys whose great attitude is infectious. Iain seems to have an indomitable attitude. He is also well published with books like Mental Strength and Bunkai-Jutsu, he was the first author I read that gave me insight into the world of applied martial arts. I have spent years putting together a lot of the information that seems to have always been common place to Iain. Iain's style hits very close to home with my martial arts. His primary Karate style is Wado Ryu and mine Shotokan. I am certain that to look at them now they may not be what most think of when they talk about those styles but Iain has taken his Karate back to its root function as a real world means of self protection.

Both seminars are going to be worth any investment you might need to make to attend. If you have to choose one you will have quite a dilemma on your hands. I will be sure to post more information on this blog and on the Guinn Martial Arts website as I get more details.

2011 is shaping up to be a great year!

Laws of Nature and The Crosswalk

2010-11-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Part 2...good stuff!

Laws of Nature and The Crosswalk: " by Kris Wilder

To follow-up on my previous blog regarding “Be Aware!” Pffft...useless.” I mentioned that I find myself ruminating at stop lights. As a result, I see some interesting things. I see people believing that, “I am safe when I am in this crosswalk”

Got news for you Padre, you are not safe.

As I sat at a stop light, I watched a young man with his i-pod, texting on his phone, never look up as he stepped into the cross walk. He just responded to the beeping of the cross walk signal while stepping on to the magical protective white paint of the cross walk.

This cross walk guy has all the rules, laws and rights on his side. Crosswalk guy is 100% justified in walking into that cross walk, heck the light changed. The laws of nature say that if I miss the light, for whatever reason, he is dead. I would say that the laws of nature trump the man made laws every time.

The point in my previous post was that I can't go around on alert all the time, not possible. However situational alertness is a darn good idea. So let's solve this problem with a quote from former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, “Trust but verify.”

This, “Trust but verify” is a great little maxim to use in the martial arts, and day-to-day living. You already use it on the mat or dojo floor already don't you? Don't you have a follow-up technique if you first technique fails? Don't you follow through on a throw?

Sure there are a lot of issues in this posting, but I would say, the primary message here is; Know that the laws of nature trump the laws any city council can make.

So I guess the maxim now reads; “Honor natures laws and look for abnormal behavior.”

Yeah, nice maxim that bookends the two extremes.

“Be Aware!” Pffft...useless.

2010-11-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

I had to share this article from Sensei Kris Wilder. Plus look for the follow up article as well.

“Be Aware!” Pffft...useless.: " by Kris Wilder

I always think that first principle of self defense to be utterly useless, at least as presented.

A considerable amount of my time at stop lights has been spent pondering this idea. “What is awareness and how do I implement it in a manner useful to me?” Clearly I can not walk about like a crazed meth-head flinching at every moth that goes zig – zaggy past me on its way to the nearest light. Assuming that every person is a threat is not going to work either. I am not going to throw down on grandma on line at the Safeway pharmacy, no upside.

I am always seeking ways to condense, to distill, to a single statement, my methodologies. How do you assemble the idea of “Be Aware!”

Well I got that answered by a cop named Ivan that I met at Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO. Ivan said, “The cop has the job of investigating the unusual.” Now we do that all the time, but being aware that we are looking for the unusual is the kicker. Actually we unconsciously look for irregularities all the time. I am suggesting that being actively aware that you are looking for anomalies in pattern makes a tremendous difference in the identification and assessment.

Ask any person that does crowd control, works a door, bounces, or cops, they will tell you they look for the disturbances, the unusual in the patterns and once they find that disturbance then they identify why it is unusual.

Like I said I try to condense these ideas to a useful maxim and what I have here is; “Know you are looking for behavior on either side of normal from the baseline environment.”

Have a better version, a tighter expression of this idea? I am always open for comment.

Oh, and one last thing, those jobs I listed above, their job it go toward the disturbance. My job is to go the other way.

Update on my life

2010-11-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

I have not been writing in some time. I completed my Phase 3 class which is the second part of the classes needed to get my license as a private investigator. Now I have to take the state test as my next step. The test is going to be on November 16th in the morning. Once I pass it I will need to come up with about $500 for the bond, PI license, Agency License, and other odds and ends.

I also need to come up with another $500 to get my process server license. This is actually a higher priority than the PI license as with it I can start working immediately. Once I have it I can earn the money I need for the other.

As for the PI work. I have to build a clientele and I need to work with a mentor to get a little experience before I start taking my own contracts. Plus I need about $4000 to $5000 in equipment to really get started. I will need to invest in other equipment too but that can be done over time.

I applied for a small business loan but after three weeks of waiting and a few phone calls to get some feedback I still have not heard from my banker. So, either something odd is going on or the guy wants to tell me "No" and just hasn't found the time to come tell me. I am not sure.

I attended an OPIA (Oklahoma Private Investigators Association) meeting while in class last week and met some great guys. I hope that one of those contacts will be my mentor. I would like to shadow some people for a couple of runs before I get started. I also need to sit down with my friend Clay and see what information he picked up in the Process Server class he took at C.O.P.S. (Center of Professional Studies). From what he said they had some really great information.

So much to do and so little time with which to do it. Plus I plan on incorporating my business into an LLC and that means I also need to fix my articles of incorporation and get them filed with the state so that I can get that ball rolling too. In order to get my Agency license I need to have the corporate filing done first. Plus I need to have all the bonds issued in the company name. Bonds are going to be in place of liability insurance for now and I have to have them by state law in order to get licenses.

At some point I also want to join the OPIA. It would be a great organization to be a member of and provide me with some great contacts for when I start working. I have a feeling that until I get away from my current employer I will need to use subcontractors to get some of my work done.

It will take a lot of work for me to organize all this but it will be worth it.

Lastly, I need to start getting my name out to people. I just don't want to put the cart before the horse. I need to have all the licensing before I start accepting work. but if I wait till I have my licensing I might be waiting longer to get the work and I will need to start working immediately.

Anyone know where I can scrounge up about $500? Might take me as much as 6 months to pay it back but I will get it paid back in time.

Plan B is to wait till tax time and use what little money I get back from taxes to get started. That will work fine but I sure don't like to wait.

Exit Poll 2010

2010-11-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

Fox news posted a really nice statistical analysis on the exit polls for this midterm election. Some very interesting material and some things that you are just a given. Take a look:

Foxnews.com - Exit Polls

Driving a little traffic for Rory

2010-10-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Rory Miller has posted a note about a e-book he just published online. The book is about violence and looks very interesting. It is being sold for $5 and should be worth the price. I have not bought it yet but I will, once done I will be sure to publish a review on my website. Guinn Martial Arts

Rory Miller's new e-book

Rory's Blog about the book.

A link straight to the book on Smashwords

Taking my daughter on vacation

2010-10-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

My daughter Emma and I are going to leave Saturday morning for Texas. Our plan is to check into our hotel and go straight to Six Flags. I went ahead and bought season passes for 2011. Not sure how many times we will be using these but at this point since Emma and I are going Saturday and Sunday I have already saved $80 for not buying daily tickets.

If all goes well I will get one more season pass for my son Conner and maybe we will have some fun going back some more throughout 2011. We will see.

I am really looking forward to the trip, it should be great fun. I know Emma is looking forward to it as well. She has asked various questions about it for nearly two weeks. Which means it is very much on her mind.

I will be sure to post some pictures when we get back.

Re: Making Sense of "Sen"

2010-10-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is a great article on the concept of initiative in the martial arts.

The First Strike

New TV Show - No Ordinary Family

2010-10-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

I like television and movies. I have so much to do I really should not watch TV but I have found a new TV show that I enjoy. No Ordinary Family is a show about a family that discovers they have super powers and begins to learn to adjust to their new found abilities. Think Incredibles but live action instead of animated.

A very well done show. It is on ABC on Tuesdays at 8/7c.

Right now they have the pilot and the first two episodes online. Take a look. Good stuff, funny with a touch of serious.

Conditioning your mind for battle, Part 1

2010-10-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

This topic is actually very complex and far reaching in its complexity. However, there are a few elements that I think are needed in any type of violent conflict. Whether it be empty handed or with weapons.

First, find your center. I know that in different schools this can mean a lot of different things, however, I am not talking about Chi or anything mystical. In this case I am going to recommend that you drop your weight just a little bit. Bend your knees. The easiest way to know how to bend is to do this... Stand up straight, legs nearly locked out. Back straight. Sit straight down as if there is a stool directly under your bum. As you begin to bend your knees pay particular attention to keeping your back straight. After bending your knees just a few degrees you will feel the muscles engage. Almost like a catch in the legs. You will be just before the quads engage fully. It should be fairly comfortable although when you are not used to it your legs will tire quickly. With your body aligned straight up and down with knees bent you are best able to engage and stay in balance. You can be mobile and static as needed. You can best generate power from this relaxed and flexible position.

Second, breathe! Too many times when we exert ourselves we can find ourselves holding our breathe. Especially when we find ourselves in a conflict when stress is high. Another common place to do this type of this is to watch people climb a flight of stairs really fast. Many times people are not used to being athletic will hold their breath as a response to the quick heavy exertion. Also, psychologically, breathing is a great stress reliever. Just focusing on forcing yourself into a regular breathing pattern can take you out of the tunnel vision created by conflict and adrenaline.

Third, close the gap. As part of the conditioning needed to protect yourself. I think almost all of the martial arts would teach to move toward and not away from an attacker. At least in a "real world" conflict. The primary reason is this: If we stay at arms length we are at the optimum position for all the punches and kicks they can throw to land at their most effective. Basically, we would be in a perfect spot for them to hit us as hard as they are able. By closing in on the opponent you shorten the distance they need to build up momentum in their attacks. If the defender is worried about getting close than think about the example I got from Rory Miller's blog. Give a 300 lbs. man a cat and tell him to hold on to it. Then throw a bucket of water on the cat. The man should have trouble maintaining a grip on the cat without getting scratched up pretty well. How much more effective should the defense of an adult be over a cat. Get close and attack.

There is more to training yourself to be prepared for an attack. Self defense isn't exactly color by numbers but there are some things you can train yourself to do that will help. These three are near the top of the list. Drop your weight, breathe, and close the gap. Once inside, bite, scratch, slap, become that angry cat and make the attacker want to run away. Again, this is not all but it is the beginning.

And, of course, this is all assuming that simply running away and talking are not options or have already been exhausted.

Failure to engage

2010-10-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Talking to a friend over the weekend and he works as a police officer not far from where I live. During our discussion we covered a lot of topics and it was great. I look forward to the next time I get to hang out with that family. They are all great people.

One topic stuck out in my mind and it was something I can see relating to martial arts training. Something I would like to see if there is any way to train someone out of the fear this event can create. My buddy called it "failure to engage". It happens mostly to rookies and in the Dojo I have seen it in white belts and first time instructors. I have seen it happen in any situation where the person in question has to exert some sort of authority over someone else. Especially where that authority is in the form of physical contact.

For example, the first time I stepped into a Karate class my instructor called me over a few days into the program and asked me to spar with her. She took it very easy on me. Being 16 I was hesitant to hit hard, not so much in being hit but there was a little fear of being hurt at the beginning. (Some people never get over their fear of pain, but that is an article for another time.) So, when asked to hit her or kick the instructor I was not comfortable at all.

Another examples comes from the first time I was asked to teach a class. It is one thing to give a lecture in a classroom. Entirely a different thing to give a lecture in an environment where the students are supposed to interact not only with you but each other. That gave me some pause as well.

My last example is the one that sticks out to me personally. When I worked as a bouncer, around the time I first started I had to ask people to follow the rules. It was very strange to tell people what to do and have them immediately comply. I am so used to my kids dragging their feet, or people at work looking at you with the "who are you and why are you telling me to do this" attitude.

The example that my officer friend gave was during a potentially violent encounter a rookie is asked to take someone off their feet, for whatever reason, and they are hesitant to actually engage. To put their hands on someone and drag them to the ground. This "failure to engage" doesn't happen all the time but is more common than not.

So how do we train people either in a law enforcement setting or in a martial arts setting to get rid of the fear that makes people fail to engage. The officer said that most of the time you can tell people all the time about acting on their authority but they have to experience it. Possibly even get hit a couple of times before they realize that it is time to act and not wait for the bad guys to get the first swing.

In a personal defense/civilian setting, job 1 is to run away. To get away from the trouble if we can. However, even in this instance we need to be able to engage. We cannot wait for the bad guy to act. If we see a threat and fear for our safety or the safety of others than we have a responsibility to act. At that point it is time to demand people make room for you to get away. If they don't than you get to use your training as a martial artist.

One tool I know works on things like this is visualization. Close your eyes and visualize someone acting in a threatening manner. When they do engage. Immediately! If it is a mistake you can still go before a judge or whomever and explain that you felt threatened and that you feared for your safety/life/or that of someone else. Just remember, we must engage, sometimes in order to run away.

Things to include in training for self defense

2010-10-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

The majority of martial arts schools only ever teach the tools of the martial arts and rarely touch on any of the other aspects of violence or conflict. What I mean is that the tools are the actual punches, kicks, throws, etc... These techniques are taught in some form or another by all the martial arts or fighting arts in the world. Obviously there are some variations in execution of those tools but a punch is a punch.

One big problem is that very few of the schools I have studied with ever really talked about the strategies or tactics associated with fighting. Furthermore, even fewer have ever really discussed the application of violence and where that meets the law. Also, what about de-escalation, understanding criminal bahavior, and responsibility to escape.

Rory Miller was kind enough to put this in perspective for several of us in a seminar. The martial arts are a practice of manufacturing cripples and corpses. We may have fun or train at a low level so no one gets terribly hurt but if we ever apply what we know to someone in a real setting as a means to defend ourselves then we are going to hurt someone badly. That is the point of our training isn't it?

Consider that lethal force is obviously anything that can take a life. However, just as bad in the eyes of the law is the concept of serious injury. In Oklahoma as in other parts of the US I am sure, serious injury is described as anything that causes: a serious gash or deep cut, major broken bone(s) such as a femur not just fingers, and/or damage to internal organs such as the liver or lungs. These are at the top of what the law enforcement community call the Continuum of Force. They are considered very serious.

Well, I can tell you right now, that as a standard of practice I teach my classes Aikijutsu. For years I new that knowing the law in regard to this kind of thing was important but never considered actually going to the effort of looking it up. So for years I was setting my students up for failure. Not in defense but in terms of the aftermath. Yes, Bobby was able to fend off his attacker but the guy has broken bones the likes of which he will never really recover from in his lifetime. Well, this can go well if Bobby was worried about being attacked with lethal force or at least reason to believe he might suffer serious injury. However, if the attacker was just trying to take his newspaper from the front lawn and they got into some sort of heated exchange that led to a fight. Well, now Bobby is looking at jail time.

As a martial arts instructor we need to be aware of the "loaded gun" we are handing our students. Just as we would hand someone a loaded gun we make sure they are aware of the safety concerns related to that weapon. Thus we should be equally as responsible with what we teach.

Marc MacYoung posted a complaint about this very thing recently. He makes a very good point. Thanks Marc and Rory. I am learning and I have started doing what you suggest. Even so far as taking classes on law enforcement so that I can better understand the law and where I stand as a civilian.

Keep the lessons coming guys. We need them.

Now!

2010-10-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

So when is a good time to get started on making changes in your life? What if the changes are major? Will we ever be prepared for all possible outcomes? What if we fail?

When do we get started realizing our dreams. For men the fear of failure is a big motivator or de-motivator as the case may be, and yet when asked about invention Thomas Edison had some quotes that I think fit into my world view very well. This quote stands out to me:

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work". - Thomas A. Edison

It is this attitude that needs to be learned by more people. I know this is an attitude I have failed to adopt until recently. In addition to my failure to maintain my self confidence I also have allowed myself to stop achieving. As mentioned in the last post, I like accomplishing goals. It is that sense of production that gives me a great sense of joy. Not just the finished product but knowing that what I am producing, the act of being in production is what I really enjoy. So why stop? Fear of failure. However, there is a better way to see failure.

In the long run, failure is a better teacher than success. Failure is also only truly loss when we give up. Using the quote from above we need to strive toward progress but always with a watchful eye on our failures. They will provide us with valuable lessons on how to proceed. Not that we should seek out failure but understanding it in the right light is taking a big step toward success. Not too long ago I talked to a friends step mom about business and she said that one lesson about the successful in business is that the wealthy see everything life exchange in a profit/loss perspective. Time spent with kids, work done for a particular person, work spent on my own concerns, learning and research, watching movies. Everything can be seen through this lens. It keeps them constantly aware of their progress.

The only catch I see to this goal oriented and driven type of progress is that we also need to make sure our priorities are in order. Without a proper sense of priorities we could get pulled in several different and sometimes counter productive directions.

To Edison work was the fun part. He enjoyed hard work and although I don't necessarily agree with everything he has said he is definitely a great person from which to find motivation. Another good quote:

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas A. Edison

I have never been afraid of hard work. Being a little ADD I have always felt like I had to fight up hill to get what I wanted academically but I did it none the less. I wish I had that attitude when I was in school. I also wish I understood how to handle my ADD addled mind better. Oh well, hind sight being 20/20 and all I get it now.

How do we get started?

Find Goals - Work with others to make sure they are reasonable. Look at the SMART goal accomplishment method. Each goal has to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Again I will explain the SMART plan in another post.
Organize and Order - Prioritize all the goals found in step one. Place goals that are contingent on other goals as subordinate. This goes back to the SMART model to assist with organization. Get a game plan on accomplishing this goal.
Verify against Profit/Loss model - Make sure that once progress is accomplished it will be time, money, and effort well spent. That it gets you that much closer toward accomplishing all you want or need to accomplish.
Gather Resources - Remember you don't have to go it alone. Other people can help you. You might very well have to compensate some but others you might not. Consider that you might also be able to trade services. Perhaps a previous accomplishment can be used to provide value to your help.
Get Started - Once you have your goal, a game plan, and the resources to accomplish it you need to get started. Don't wait if you don't have too. I wasted years trying to make some magic event tell me it was okay to risk. That magic event may never come.
Observe Progress - before during and after a goal is being accomplished we need to be in an observant mode. Always watching to see how things ebb and flow. If we do this as a matter of habit we might avoid disaster or even see opportunities we might have missed before. Some are simply not observant by nature so this might have to be learned. But as things progress we need to be able to reevaluate and for that matter know when we are done. If you are not observing your progress you may work on something long past its valued life.
Return to the beginning- every so often I think it is necessary to return to the front of this process and see what has changed. Add and remove goals as needed. Things change. Be sure you keep up with those changes. Goals change over time, be prepared to scrap everything if needed to start over. It is important that we also remain adaptable.

All this to make sure that if we are waiting on life to hand us the magic key. STOP WAITING! It is not going to happen. If someone does hand you a magic key, it is mine. Give it back!

NOW! Get started.

Chaos, confusion, and adversity

2010-10-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

For years I have fought against numerous factors that have kept me from making any progress in my life. Inertia being a big one. It is very easy to sit and wait for things to happen. It can even happen slowly over time while your not watching. I have always been a very goal driven person but have slowly but surely allowed my goal driven nature to be put on the sideline because I didn't feel my goals were fair or reasonable.

"So, what the heck are you talk about?" you say?

A short list of some of the life goals I wanted to achieve from my bucket list:

Achieve a 3rd degree black belt in some martial arts. (Passed and surpassed as I now hold a 5th degree in Aikijutsu and am working on my 4th degree in Shotokan Karate)
Get a college degree (Got it. I have an MIS degree from NSU here in Oklahoma)
Get a good paying job (Got it. I work as an IT person for a major hospital in Tulsa)
Have a family (Got this one too. I have two incredible kids. This one also counts in the fail column but I will explain later)
Nice car (Never really been much on cars but I like my Mazda CX-7, the first car I have ever owned that I really wanted.)
Go on a big vacation (went to Seattle, it was wonderful. Some minor setbacks but great all in all)

Now, as you can see I have a good list of goals that I have accomplished. And that is not all of them but these are some of the more important goals to me. The catch is that I also have a list of failures that bothers me a great deal. Now I am working on seeing my failures as opportunities to learn but it is hard when you have allowed yourself to be mired down in them.

Failures:

Don't live paycheck to paycheck (yep, I suck at managing money. I am behind on some of my bills and have WAY over committed myself to projects, repairs, trips, etc...)
Divorce (I don't believe in divorce. Frankly I would rather work through and suffer than ever give up. Stubborn? perhaps but I just don't like divorce. It is very rarely a good answer to a problem. However, it does me no good at all to not believe in this if my partner does. Hence, my divorce. Oh well.)
Raise my kids (I am very active in my kids lives. They stay with me half the time. Two days with me then two with mom and alternating weekends. It is not the best arrangement but it works well enough for now.)
Lose weight (yup, when I am stressed I eat. I am constantly sabotaging my success in weight loss with midnight snacks. Is this a matter of self-disciple? I don't know but it is a psychological and I am not fixing very well.)

Now to be fair there are also things that I am working on to improve my situation:

Get my PI license (this gets me a new career and hopefully away from working with computers as an IT person. I want this a lot!)
Slowly getting my house clean. (I have a lot of things bagged up but need more hours in the day and a lot more determination to get it done.)
Read books (I have tons of books to read and review, tons!)
Write my book (I have heard that everyone has a book in them. Most just don't let it out. I want to get mine out. In fact, I have a plan to write three of them for sure.)
Post on my blog (I like posting here as much as possible because it makes me get my thoughts out on paper. Very important for me right now because I have come up with some great revelations.)

The best analogy I can think of right now is that of a motor boat. Engage the engine and the boat gathers speed. You will feel the waves but at speed they are not quite so bad. However, if you don't make sure the engines stay engaged you begin to slow. Become subject to resistance and inertia. Life is full of things like this...hardship, heart ache, pain, sickness. These things and much more offer a myriad of obstacles to block our progress. If we are not vigilant while at the controls, if we are not prepared to fight through the adversity the boat slows and drifts. Perhaps even away from our goals.

To make matters worse I find myself also doing too many things are once to be able to make the progress I want. To continue the analogy, I am still steering the boat. But now I am also checking the radio, talking to friends, looking at the fish finder or a radar, etc.... If I am not careful I can't pay attention to my route or goals. Seems like I speed off into the rocks on a pretty regular basis.

How do we fix this? How do we get to our goals when we are overwhelmed? Well, I am going to start by enlisting help. Then I am going to reorganize my goal lists of the past. I am going to schedule things that help me make progress and remove things that might become obstacles.

One big thing I think needs to be used is the SMART plan for goal management. If you don't already know what that is I will post something on it soon. Keep an eye out for it.

Off to teach classes.

A long overdue project

2010-09-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have spent a few years making t-shirt designs for fun. Mostly I made the shirts I want to buy and just posted them online. Well, I have actually made a few sales over the years. I have finally decided to go ahead and make the shop a slightly bigger investment of time. Yes, I know I don't have much time. Oh well.

I hope you like the designs as much as I have making them. Enjoy the t-shirts and keep an eye on the site. I will be sure to make additions to the designs soon.

If you ever have any suggestions or requests I would like to hear them.

Powerline Designs

Training with a context

2010-09-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

A good friend and student, Sam Cluck, is currently working on writing an article about training and context. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product. As soon as it is done and published I will be sure to put a copy on my website as well. (If he will let me.) The outline for the article looks really good and for those of you who are very much visual learners this will be a great article for you.

Below a picture of Rory Miller and Sam Cluck. Rory's book "Meditations on Violence" and the material he covered in a seminar we attended has been a large part of the inspiration for this coming article.

Tulsa Police Arrest Mother In Infant Son's Death - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

2010-09-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

What the hell is wrong with some people?

Tulsa Police Arrest Mother In Infant Son's Death - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

What skills do you have?

2010-09-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last article, I am working on becoming a Private Investigator. One thing that I am learning about life in general is that it is all about who you know and what skills we can all share. It is amazing to me how some people have skills that one might never consider important. However, now I can see how networking is the way to go. Plus! I really like people. I am a very social creature all in all, for that matter we all are. Even introverts need people.

So my question is this: What skills do you have? List everything from the mundane to your most skilled.

Here is a list of some of my skills and there levels:
(Novice - unpaid and limited skills, Intermediate - paid but still limited skills perhaps 1 yr exp, Advanced - paid and at least 2 years experience, Expert - Paid and 8 or more years exp)

Martial Arts - Expert
Fight Choreography - Novice
Self Defense - Advanced
Private Investigator - Novice
Computer Support - Expert
Website -Intermediate
Writing - Novice
Author - Novice
Investing - Intermediate

Of course the description is just a guideline. You can set your skill levels however you want if you are confident enough in them. Just keep in mind I may call on you one day for that skill. I will be looking to pay someone for that skill and if you list yourself as an expert I will pay you as such. However, I will also expect an expert job.

Thanks everyone. Please feel free to email me directly if you don't want to post your information on this website. You can also contact me through my website contact form. guinnmartialarts.com

Private Security Training - Phase 1

2010-09-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

In Oklahoma an organization called the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training is responsible for managing Law Enforcement training and private security minimum curricula requirements. I am working on getting my Private Investigator's license and am currently in the Phase 1 class.

Phase 1 is the basics of security. Interpreting the Oklahoma Security Guard and Private Investigator Act, Responding to Accidents and Emergencies, Responding to a Fire, Writing Field Notes, Writing Reports, and Interpreting Legal Powers and Limitations.

After that I need to take the Phase 3 class. That class is tailored to the Private Investigator side of things.

Once done I should be able to get my licensing pretty quickly I think. I will have to take one more class, my Phase 4 class to become an armed PI but that is less important to just getting started. I am taking classes for a school here in Tulsa and so far I really like this facility. They seem to be very knowledgeable regarding the material. I look forward to Phase 3. My buddy Clay took that class and said they had a wealth of information to share.

This school also offers a series of Saturday classes. I would like to take them too but they cost $250 for all the classes and I am not sure I can come up with all that right now. Plus the Phase 3 class is also supposed to be $250. That is $500 all in the span of a single month. Unless I get some unforeseen windfall I don't think that is going to happen just yet. I will have to wait and take that class early next year I think.

Fortunately Clay is going to take this class. I will just have to pick his brain over the material once he is done with the class. This Friday I think I am going to borrow his Phase 3 book to get a head start on the class.

Amazing...

2010-09-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

Isn't it amazing. My son told me he wanted to go to church last night. I have been thinking a lot about going back to church too. I like going on Wednesday nights in particular because one of our pastors Taud Boatman, offers a class called Movies with Taud. He takes common mainstream movies like for example, Bruce Almighty and Avatar, and discusses the cultural and spiritual relevance of the topics in the film.

I decided my son was right and that we were going. I got there last night and found out that my favorite program was starting that night and running for the next 10 weeks or so. I will miss next week due to a class I have to attend but it was wonderful timing.

God is great!

Being nice and lying to be nice.

2010-09-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

I heard a story in Air 1 this morning where the DJ was late for an appointment and called in apologizing for running late. Being proactive about his problem and suggesting a solution by offering to reschedule etc... I think this was very appropriate. However, the lady he talked to was apparently very rude and even went so far as to accuse him of not only being fifteen minutes late but two hours and fifteen minutes. The DJ of course immediately got irate but admirably kept his cool and apologized too the lady. He went on to his appointment and told the lady that it must have been his fault and that perhaps he wrote the appointment down wrong. He admitted that he was pretty sure he didn't do this but said he did to be nice. To kill the lady with kindness.

I am not certain this is kindness. In effect, if you are certain you would not have made the mistake of scheduling things two hours off then you are lying to the person you are being nice too, to save their feelings. When is lying okay?

We all lie. Perhaps little lies here and there. Perhaps big lies. Some of these lies we tell others and some of them we tell ourselves. Of these two things, the lies we tell ourselves are the most dangerous. They can become part of the story we tell ourselves so that we can understand the world. The problem is that this story can set you up for failure later.

Both the lady and the DJ lied to each other and too themselves. The ladies lies came in the form of thinking that you can treat people with a poor attitude in a normal business setting and get away with it. It will come back to hurt the business in most cases. With the exception of things like the business of law enforcement or similar rough settings being nice is absolutely needed. I suppose one could make the case for being nice in a law and security setting too but that might be a stretch. The DJ lied to himself when he let the lady get away with being rude and letting her push him around.

The main reason I think this was is this: As a Christian there is a BIG mistake in thinking that we have to be nice all the time. Jesus wasn't nice all the time. I know people are going to get upset at that comment. Here is the thing. Jesus was understanding and always tried to be the teacher. But he also wasn't going to let go of the message to save someone's feelings. If he heard something that was wrong he would point it out. Period. No lying to himself or others.

Jesus, the sometimes truthful, is far less impressive than Jesus, who is truth.

Now one might say, "you are only saying this to excuse being rude and getting even or being rude back." That s not my intent either. Be nice but do not lie. Do not allow the person you are talking to, to roll right over you. Jesus came to give us power, strength. Not to make us weak and cow tow to bullies. Be right, be righteous. Sure be nice if you like. However, what good are you doing for that person by allowing them to roll over you. To bully you. If they begin to learn over time that this attitude gets them what they want they will make it a habit. Bullying will become a standard of operation, an automatic response to adversity. The person will become psychologically abusive if they are not already.

There must be a happy medium here. Where we can be nice and considerate. Calm and collected and yet not allow the bullies of this world to take advantage of others. By saying nothing or by being obsequies we allow the behavior to continue and to hurt the lives of others. If nothing else, calmly call them on their bad attitude. I have heard that it is a good practice to put a mirror in front of someone who is angry. Allow them to see their own face when they speak with heated words. When they see the ugliness on their own face, most will calm down.

It is admirable that the DJ got a grip on his anger. It is great that his intent was to be nice. He should be proud that he didn't propagate the behavior by being mean back or by passing it on to the next person he talked to that day. All very admirable. But I think we should all be very careful avoiding conflict.

Matthew 10:34
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

The word of God is referred to as a sword. I don't think this is by accident.

So how does this relate to the martial arts? Easy. Communications during conflict. This is part of what happens before and after the action. When we are preparing and/or coming down from an event. We must learn to control ourselves. Not to be angry with our words, the next person I talk to after a conflict or a fight may very well be a police officer. If I a still worked up and angry my words will condemn me even if I didn't start the fight. This may seem obvious but I think this truth carries through all communications.

Anyway, food for thought....


Uchi Kaiten Nage