I thought that the Dems were going to "end the culture of corruption". Apparently it's only "corrupt" if you try to hide it? If you do it with the attitude that you're flippen royalty... then all is well.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Made Yellow Belt...
I passed the physical and written qualifications for yellow belt in American Combato a little over a week ago. I'm still trying to figure out if I got it in around four months... or if it was more like 13 years. Feh...
It feels good though. Just those simple accomplishments can get you motivated to keep moving... and with more determination that before. Some people will look at it and have little if anything to say. To each their own. This is important to me on a number of levels. For some of my friends, nothing I do is important to them. At least not on the surface.
But then... some people are extremely limited in their views: both of themselves and thus of others.
So for them... and the many others who will criticize, rebuke and demean those who follow their goals while they themselves remain content to merely exist, I submit the following:
It feels good though. Just those simple accomplishments can get you motivated to keep moving... and with more determination that before. Some people will look at it and have little if anything to say. To each their own. This is important to me on a number of levels. For some of my friends, nothing I do is important to them. At least not on the surface.
But then... some people are extremely limited in their views: both of themselves and thus of others.
So for them... and the many others who will criticize, rebuke and demean those who follow their goals while they themselves remain content to merely exist, I submit the following:
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt 1910, The Sorbonne, Paris France.
The Ten Most Common Strength Training Mistakes Made by Martial Artists
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com
Noted sports scientist Dr. Paul Ward uses the following formula to predict success in athletic competition:
Productivity = Potential — Losses Due to Faulty Process
While your potential was determined at birth, there’s still much that can be done to minimize the mistakes you make along the way.
After years of training and consulting to competitive martial artists, I’ve compiled a list of the ten most common errors (all of which I’ve made myself at one time or another) that martial artists make when embarking upon strength training programs:
1) Not training for strength:
Many martial artists feel that strength training is counter-productive, causing one to become too large and slow, despite the fact that in every other sport known to man, it makes athletes faster. Training like a bodybuilder (see mistake number 3) can certainly produce these undesirable effects, but properly designed strength training programs improve strength, speed, agility, endurance, and technical performance. Strength training should be viewed as a tool, the utility of which depends upon the context it’s used in.
2) Training for the wrong kind of strength:
Strength as a bio-motor ability has many expressions. All human movement requires strength, and for this reason, all athletes must concern themselves with developing their strength levels to the utmost. What many don’t know, however, is that there more types of strength than there are bogus ab-training gadgets on late-night info-mercials!
Here’s a partial list:
Maximal Strength: The amount of musculoskeletal force you can generate for one all-out effort. Maximal strength is your athletic “foundation,” but it can only be expressed in the weight room during the performance of a maximal lift. While only powerlifters demonstrate this type of strength in competition, martial artists need to develop high levels of maximal strength in every muscle group.
Relative Strength: This term is used to denote an athlete's strength per unit of bodyweight. Thus if two athletes of different bodyweights can squat 275 pounds, they have equal maximal strength for that lift, but the lighter athlete has greater relative strength.
Competitive events which have weight classes depend heavily on relative strength, as do sports where the athlete must overcome his or her bodyweight to accomplish a motor task (such as a jump kick). Further, events which have aesthetic requirements (kata competition, for example) rely heavily upon the development of strength without a commensurate gain in bodyweight.
Strength can be developed through two very different means— by applying stress to the muscle cells themselves, or by targeting the nervous system. The former method is accomplished through the use of bodybuilding methods (repetitions between 6 and 12), and results in strength gains through an increase in muscle cross-section. The latter is accomplished through higher intensity loads (repetitions between 1 and 4), and increases in strength are the result of the body's improved ability to recruit more of its existing motor unit pool.
For martial artists and other athletes who depend upon relative strength, bodybuilding methods should be used sparingly, unless a higher weight class is desired. Most strength training sessions should consist of high intensity, low repetition sets, which improve strength through neural adaptations rather than increases in muscle cross section.
3) Training like a bodybuilder:
My consultations with competitive martial artists reveal that bodybuilding is the predominant paradigm in today’s strength training world, at least in this country. But bodybuilding methods are designed to produce muscle mass, not strength. And while bodybuilders are strong, their relative strength is poor compared to other explosive strength athletes. These methods have some degree of utility for beginning martial artists as a means of attaining basic fitness, but after a year or so, they should be used sparingly, if at all.
4) Using insufficient intensity:
Most martial artists can relate to doing hundreds of pushups, sit-ups, and leg lifts in class, but as soon as you go beyond approximately 12 repetitions, the stimulus is too weak to favorably improve strength values. Think about it: as a martial artist, would you rather have the ability to perform weak techniques for hours on end, or the ability to deliver explosive, powerful techniques when it really counts? In training, you reap what you sow.
5) Lack of variation:
While many people realize that the training load must be progressively increased, few understand that the training stimulus must also be periodically be varied in order to prevent stagnation. Elite sprint coach Charlie Francis recommends changing the training program whenever there is a one week plateau in strength gains. Internationally acclaimed strength coach Charles Poliquin utilizes alternating phases of high volume with phases of high intensity in order to keep his athletes progressing.
6) Lack of periodization:
Periodization refers to planning the training process. For most, the idea of planning is intuitively obvious with regards to business, family, and finances, but when it comes to training, most people don’t make the connection. While many people attribute the success of Eastern-bloc athletes to illegal steroid use, periodization deserves the real credit. The martial arts seem to be the last sport on earth to take advantage of this important tool!
7) Excessive use of machines:
“Machines” according to exercise specialist Paul Chek, “are like sleeping pills for the muscles.” Chek is referring to the fact that machines tend to rob the stabilizer muscles of adaptive stress. Stabilizers are muscles which anchor or immobilize one part of the body, allowing another part (usually the limbs) to exert force. The most important stabilizers are those of the trunk— the abdominals and trunk extensors. If the motor cortex detects that it can't stabilize the force provided by the prime movers, it simply won't allow the prime mover to contract with full force.
8) Ignoring the principle of specificity:
The body's adaptation to training is very specific to the type of training that has been endured. This is sometimes referred to as the "S.A.I.D." principle— Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. So, as an obvious example, if you want to develop strength in your legs, you have to do strength training exercises for the legs.
Less obvious than the previous example is the fact that exercises must be done at specific volume and intensity ranges in order to elicit the desired result. For example, if you're trying to grow muscle, you must perform exercises in sets of five to ten repetitions— roughly corresponding to 70 to 85% of your maximum capability for a single repetition. It's not enough to simply make sure you're training the right muscles!
Commonly, instructors make the mistake of thinking that if an exercise "mimics" the desired skill, it is specific. A common practice involves trying to improve punching speed by rapidly "punching" with light dumbbells as fast as possible.
But this method is flawed, because the angle of resistance is incorrect, assuming that this exercise is done while standing erect. A better approach would to be to perform dumbbell bench presses, which correctly align the muscle fibers against the resistance being used.
The specificity principle is abused in other aspects of martial arts training, as well. Most instructors train their students aerobically, despite the fact that nearly all forms of martial art, including self-defense scenarios, are predominately anaerobic. Another common example is the practice of slowly extending a kick, and then holding the leg in mid-air until the instructor gives the signal to return it to the floor. While this method may work if you intend to find employment as a human mannequin, for the purpose of improving kickingpower, it borders on useless.
9) Ignoring rate of force development:
Being strong won’t help you if you don’t have enough time to display it! In the martial arts (as in most athletic endeavors), the problem is that the amount of time to develop maximum muscular force is extremely limited— usually only a fraction of a second. While high levels of maximal strength are a necessary prerequisite for the development of speed strength (power), too much time in the weight room grinding out heavy weights at slow speeds, without switching to speed strength methods later in the training cycle, results in slow athletes.
The ability to apply muscular force rapidly is called rate of force development, or RFD. While bodybuilding methods slightly improve maximal strength, it has a negligible effect on RFD. Training with heavy weights significantly improves maximal strength, but again, the RFD remains largely unchanged. Only when speed strength methods (plyometrics, ballistic training, etc.) are used, is the RFD significantly improved.
10) Ignoring the antagonists:
Muscles work in pairs— for every muscle in the body, there is another muscle that is capable of opposing its force. This "pairing" mechanism is how we are able to move with precision of movement and speed. However, when one part of this pair becomes too strong in relation to the other, force output capability suffers.
Unfortunately, many athletes unknowingly reinforce this imbalance every time they train, thinking they are respecting the principle of specificity by training only the prime movers (or "agonists"). An example would be a martial artist who reasons that since the quadriceps muscle extends the leg during kicking, the quadriceps should receive the brunt of the training focus.
Before long, the hamstrings (which are the antagonists in kicking movements) are weak in proportion to the quads, and power output declines. At this point, the martial artist may conclude that weight training "slows you down," because for him, it did.
Here's the problem in the above example: the weaker the antagonists are, the sooner they will contract and oppose the prime movers (to prevent joint hyperextension), resulting in a slower movement. But stronger antagonists are less sensitive to this protective response— the body "knows" that they are strong enough to decelerate the limb at the last possible moment. The next time you watch elite boxers on TV, notice the development of the lats and biceps. Great punchers always have well developed antagonists.
(Bonus Mistake!)
Mistaking strength training as the ends rather than the means: While it might seem ironic, the objective of strength training is NOT increased strength per se, but improved athletic performance. I would suggest that sports conditioning coaches keep this in mind as they design conditioning programs for their athletes.
About The Author
Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
Click here to visit Charles' site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with "Escalating Density Training," Charles' revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.
http://www.staleytrainingprograms.com
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com
Noted sports scientist Dr. Paul Ward uses the following formula to predict success in athletic competition:
Productivity = Potential — Losses Due to Faulty Process
While your potential was determined at birth, there’s still much that can be done to minimize the mistakes you make along the way.
After years of training and consulting to competitive martial artists, I’ve compiled a list of the ten most common errors (all of which I’ve made myself at one time or another) that martial artists make when embarking upon strength training programs:
1) Not training for strength:
Many martial artists feel that strength training is counter-productive, causing one to become too large and slow, despite the fact that in every other sport known to man, it makes athletes faster. Training like a bodybuilder (see mistake number 3) can certainly produce these undesirable effects, but properly designed strength training programs improve strength, speed, agility, endurance, and technical performance. Strength training should be viewed as a tool, the utility of which depends upon the context it’s used in.
2) Training for the wrong kind of strength:
Strength as a bio-motor ability has many expressions. All human movement requires strength, and for this reason, all athletes must concern themselves with developing their strength levels to the utmost. What many don’t know, however, is that there more types of strength than there are bogus ab-training gadgets on late-night info-mercials!
Here’s a partial list:
Maximal Strength: The amount of musculoskeletal force you can generate for one all-out effort. Maximal strength is your athletic “foundation,” but it can only be expressed in the weight room during the performance of a maximal lift. While only powerlifters demonstrate this type of strength in competition, martial artists need to develop high levels of maximal strength in every muscle group.
Relative Strength: This term is used to denote an athlete's strength per unit of bodyweight. Thus if two athletes of different bodyweights can squat 275 pounds, they have equal maximal strength for that lift, but the lighter athlete has greater relative strength.
Competitive events which have weight classes depend heavily on relative strength, as do sports where the athlete must overcome his or her bodyweight to accomplish a motor task (such as a jump kick). Further, events which have aesthetic requirements (kata competition, for example) rely heavily upon the development of strength without a commensurate gain in bodyweight.
Strength can be developed through two very different means— by applying stress to the muscle cells themselves, or by targeting the nervous system. The former method is accomplished through the use of bodybuilding methods (repetitions between 6 and 12), and results in strength gains through an increase in muscle cross-section. The latter is accomplished through higher intensity loads (repetitions between 1 and 4), and increases in strength are the result of the body's improved ability to recruit more of its existing motor unit pool.
For martial artists and other athletes who depend upon relative strength, bodybuilding methods should be used sparingly, unless a higher weight class is desired. Most strength training sessions should consist of high intensity, low repetition sets, which improve strength through neural adaptations rather than increases in muscle cross section.
3) Training like a bodybuilder:
My consultations with competitive martial artists reveal that bodybuilding is the predominant paradigm in today’s strength training world, at least in this country. But bodybuilding methods are designed to produce muscle mass, not strength. And while bodybuilders are strong, their relative strength is poor compared to other explosive strength athletes. These methods have some degree of utility for beginning martial artists as a means of attaining basic fitness, but after a year or so, they should be used sparingly, if at all.
4) Using insufficient intensity:
Most martial artists can relate to doing hundreds of pushups, sit-ups, and leg lifts in class, but as soon as you go beyond approximately 12 repetitions, the stimulus is too weak to favorably improve strength values. Think about it: as a martial artist, would you rather have the ability to perform weak techniques for hours on end, or the ability to deliver explosive, powerful techniques when it really counts? In training, you reap what you sow.
5) Lack of variation:
While many people realize that the training load must be progressively increased, few understand that the training stimulus must also be periodically be varied in order to prevent stagnation. Elite sprint coach Charlie Francis recommends changing the training program whenever there is a one week plateau in strength gains. Internationally acclaimed strength coach Charles Poliquin utilizes alternating phases of high volume with phases of high intensity in order to keep his athletes progressing.
6) Lack of periodization:
Periodization refers to planning the training process. For most, the idea of planning is intuitively obvious with regards to business, family, and finances, but when it comes to training, most people don’t make the connection. While many people attribute the success of Eastern-bloc athletes to illegal steroid use, periodization deserves the real credit. The martial arts seem to be the last sport on earth to take advantage of this important tool!
7) Excessive use of machines:
“Machines” according to exercise specialist Paul Chek, “are like sleeping pills for the muscles.” Chek is referring to the fact that machines tend to rob the stabilizer muscles of adaptive stress. Stabilizers are muscles which anchor or immobilize one part of the body, allowing another part (usually the limbs) to exert force. The most important stabilizers are those of the trunk— the abdominals and trunk extensors. If the motor cortex detects that it can't stabilize the force provided by the prime movers, it simply won't allow the prime mover to contract with full force.
8) Ignoring the principle of specificity:
The body's adaptation to training is very specific to the type of training that has been endured. This is sometimes referred to as the "S.A.I.D." principle— Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. So, as an obvious example, if you want to develop strength in your legs, you have to do strength training exercises for the legs.
Less obvious than the previous example is the fact that exercises must be done at specific volume and intensity ranges in order to elicit the desired result. For example, if you're trying to grow muscle, you must perform exercises in sets of five to ten repetitions— roughly corresponding to 70 to 85% of your maximum capability for a single repetition. It's not enough to simply make sure you're training the right muscles!
Commonly, instructors make the mistake of thinking that if an exercise "mimics" the desired skill, it is specific. A common practice involves trying to improve punching speed by rapidly "punching" with light dumbbells as fast as possible.
But this method is flawed, because the angle of resistance is incorrect, assuming that this exercise is done while standing erect. A better approach would to be to perform dumbbell bench presses, which correctly align the muscle fibers against the resistance being used.
The specificity principle is abused in other aspects of martial arts training, as well. Most instructors train their students aerobically, despite the fact that nearly all forms of martial art, including self-defense scenarios, are predominately anaerobic. Another common example is the practice of slowly extending a kick, and then holding the leg in mid-air until the instructor gives the signal to return it to the floor. While this method may work if you intend to find employment as a human mannequin, for the purpose of improving kickingpower, it borders on useless.
9) Ignoring rate of force development:
Being strong won’t help you if you don’t have enough time to display it! In the martial arts (as in most athletic endeavors), the problem is that the amount of time to develop maximum muscular force is extremely limited— usually only a fraction of a second. While high levels of maximal strength are a necessary prerequisite for the development of speed strength (power), too much time in the weight room grinding out heavy weights at slow speeds, without switching to speed strength methods later in the training cycle, results in slow athletes.
The ability to apply muscular force rapidly is called rate of force development, or RFD. While bodybuilding methods slightly improve maximal strength, it has a negligible effect on RFD. Training with heavy weights significantly improves maximal strength, but again, the RFD remains largely unchanged. Only when speed strength methods (plyometrics, ballistic training, etc.) are used, is the RFD significantly improved.
10) Ignoring the antagonists:
Muscles work in pairs— for every muscle in the body, there is another muscle that is capable of opposing its force. This "pairing" mechanism is how we are able to move with precision of movement and speed. However, when one part of this pair becomes too strong in relation to the other, force output capability suffers.
Unfortunately, many athletes unknowingly reinforce this imbalance every time they train, thinking they are respecting the principle of specificity by training only the prime movers (or "agonists"). An example would be a martial artist who reasons that since the quadriceps muscle extends the leg during kicking, the quadriceps should receive the brunt of the training focus.
Before long, the hamstrings (which are the antagonists in kicking movements) are weak in proportion to the quads, and power output declines. At this point, the martial artist may conclude that weight training "slows you down," because for him, it did.
Here's the problem in the above example: the weaker the antagonists are, the sooner they will contract and oppose the prime movers (to prevent joint hyperextension), resulting in a slower movement. But stronger antagonists are less sensitive to this protective response— the body "knows" that they are strong enough to decelerate the limb at the last possible moment. The next time you watch elite boxers on TV, notice the development of the lats and biceps. Great punchers always have well developed antagonists.
(Bonus Mistake!)
Mistaking strength training as the ends rather than the means: While it might seem ironic, the objective of strength training is NOT increased strength per se, but improved athletic performance. I would suggest that sports conditioning coaches keep this in mind as they design conditioning programs for their athletes.
About The Author
Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
Click here to visit Charles' site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with "Escalating Density Training," Charles' revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.
http://www.staleytrainingprograms.com
Saturday, January 23, 2010
This man is an absolute IDIOT!!!
Whether this moron is a troll.... looking to impress the "Internet multitudes" or this actually happened (and the more I read this type of story the more I realize that, sadly... it probably IS true) this is an example of some of the most irresponsible and irrational "judgement" that I've ever seen anyone display.
You can already see some of the CRTICAL mistakes that this imbecile has made:
1) He should have egressed (left, departed, gotten the **** out of Dodge) the area as soon as he saw something was amiss. No need to "investigate".
2) He STOPPED HIS CAR!
3) HE ROLLED DOWN HIS WINDOw to talk converse with two crap bags who were stopping traffic by blocking the road.
Note: A gun is NOT a magic wand or mystical talisman.
So... once he's out of the vehicle he doesn't have enough unarmed training to deal with the situation that he's put himself into. Oops. That punch he got could very easily have been a knife or club attack. He actually stood there (we're supposed to believe) and allowed himself to be held by one asssailant while the other punched him in the face. Then suddenly he was able to break free! Hooray for our hero! He never felt that his life ws indanger... even while being held and punched by two complete strangers who had stopped his vehicle by blocking the road. Either he's completely fulll of crap... or he's an absolute moron.
Friday night and raining, my fiancé and I went out to dinner and a stop at target for cleaning supplies, nothing like spending a Friday night cleaning. We finish our meal and drive through the parking lot to Target. On the drive over I am following roughly 5 cars in the parking lot. The first car in the queue is stopped by 2 men. They are standing in the middle of the road and stopping each car that goes by. [b]We reach the two men and they stop our car by standing in the middle of the road.[/b] My car reaches them and they stop us. [b]I roll down the window[/b] and they say “we need a ride to mill” (local ASU bar street). I say “ sorry guys I can’t do that for you, please get out of the road”. They say “c’mon bro” I say “no” and they hit my side mirror in and say **** you”. [b]I slam the car in park, get out[/b], and authoritatively confront the two males (both were ~5’10” 160ish) and say “please put my mirror back and get out of the road”. One of the two males says “sorry sir” and goes to fix my side mirror. On my walk back around the car the other male says “oh! Looks like we have a tough guy on our hands”.
You can already see some of the CRTICAL mistakes that this imbecile has made:
1) He should have egressed (left, departed, gotten the **** out of Dodge) the area as soon as he saw something was amiss. No need to "investigate".
2) He STOPPED HIS CAR!
3) HE ROLLED DOWN HIS WINDOw to talk converse with two crap bags who were stopping traffic by blocking the road.
I am carrying my Sig P220 carry IWB in the small of my back.
Note: A gun is NOT a magic wand or mystical talisman.
They blocked me from entering my vehicle so I moved one. He shoved me back while his friend grabbed me from the side. 1st male who will be named “pumpkin” threw a sloppy right hand at my face. I tried to move, but he caught me on the left side of my face near the ear. **** just got real. While the 2nd male was holding me from the side I approach “pumpkin” waiting for the perfect punch. My eyes never left his jaw. When the grip loosened from #2 I struck pumpkin with a sharp right jab connecting seamlessly with his jaw. He flew back, fell over, and stayed on the ground for 2-3 seconds. During that time I pushed away #2 and ran back to my car. I throw the car in drive and before I knew it boom! My back window shatters. I drive off about 20 feet and call the police. The fat lipped “pumpkin” punched through my back window. The two men calmly walk away. I keep my distance, but follow them to their car. My fiancé , now driving my car, follows. On the phone with the police I give them the description of the males. They hop in their car, Toyota Prius, I give the police the plate number. They are backing out of their parking spot and my fiancé tries to box them in until the police arrive, but fails. “Pumpkin” is in the passenger seat with his shirt on his mouth, bloody split lip and arm, and rambling about something.
Police arrive 2-3 minutes later and take down the above report. Officer #2 says that I should have shot them. I don’t file a claim for the assault I just want my window paid for.
In hindsight:
-Don’t wear flip flops in the rain. I lost my shoes within seconds.
-Move weapon to standard hip holster with snap closure. The act of getting out of my car raised my shirt and inadvertently exposed my firearm, they could have EASILY taken this from me.
-At no point in the confrontation I felt like my life was in danger.
What would you have done differently?
*Disclaimer: I am not a billy bad ass, they restrained me and punched me in the face. I would like to hear some honest input on the above incident.
Mods: please move the the appropriate section or delete is necessary.
So... once he's out of the vehicle he doesn't have enough unarmed training to deal with the situation that he's put himself into. Oops. That punch he got could very easily have been a knife or club attack. He actually stood there (we're supposed to believe) and allowed himself to be held by one asssailant while the other punched him in the face. Then suddenly he was able to break free! Hooray for our hero! He never felt that his life ws indanger... even while being held and punched by two complete strangers who had stopped his vehicle by blocking the road. Either he's completely fulll of crap... or he's an absolute moron.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Why Weight Training
© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
THERE are, unfortunately, some outright charlatans claiming to be offering "special combat fitness" programs, or "their unique" exercise plan that will enable you to become a virtual superman "with ease". As is the case with close combat and self-defense techniques, there is nothing secret, mysterious, complicated, hidden, or even particularly new under the sun.
Weight training, or progressive resistance exercise, has actually been around for thousands of years. It was utilized in various forms by the ancient Chinese ch‘uan fa masters, and by Indian and Korean martial arts practitioners. The barbell per se did not exist in ancient times — but the principle of progressively increasing the muscles‘ work load so as to gradually build the desired physical attributes has long been acknowledged and used by intelligent, serious-minded people; and that principle is the one upon which the plate-loading barbell is based.
Around 1970 the brilliant innovator Arthur Jones created the Nautilus Machines. These machines are based upon the exact same principle that the barbell is based — and that ancient methods of resistance exercise that preceded the barbell, were in turn similarly based, earlier in history.
Nothing new. Just new ways of applying an old, proven principle. And it IS proven. And there are no "experts" or "innovators" who have come up with any better or "superior" principles; and any who claim to have done so are, in our personal opinion, self-serving, commercializing con artists. (That some of these con artists may wear black belts does not grant credibility to their chicanery!)
We cannot emphasize too strongly how important a good, well-planned training program of barbell and dumbell exercise is for the student of close combat and self-defense. It is the single most valuable supplementary exercise for any combatant. In real hand-to-hand combat you need all of the strength you can bring to bear! Do not deceive yourself.
Weight training is simple, inexpensive, safe, efficient, and provides comprehensive physical training when properly done. This means that an all round, sensible routine of weight training exercise builds all of the necessary physical attributes: strength, more efficient coordination, agility and athleticism, toughness, well-being and rugged good health. After a few months of weight training a person who is new to the activity will be shocked at the progress he has made and how much the program has given him.
The psychological benefits of weight training are at least as great as the physical benefits. Becoming fitter, stronger, more able to do anything of a physical nature better, and feeling wonderful increases your confidence, poise, self-image, and readiness to apply yourself with assurance to your technical combatives work.
Please, for your sake, get started on a good, sensible, all round weight training program. The exercises you want to include in your routine are:
The regular or behind the neck press
Heavy barbell or dumbell curls
Bench pressing
Bent over single dumbell or barbell rowing
The squat
The dead lift
Abdominal exercise
There are other excellent exercises, but that provides a foundational schematic that will insure you work everything well, and reap the fullest measure of all round possible benefits from training.
Keep sets and repetitions reasonable: Between 1 and 3 sets — no more. And about 6 to 8 reps per set, when working more than a single set per exercise, with anywhere from 8-10 to 20 reps per set of squats.
"WHY" WEIGHT TRAINING? Because you need it!
That‘s a rough outline of the way to go. Now GO!
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
THERE are, unfortunately, some outright charlatans claiming to be offering "special combat fitness" programs, or "their unique" exercise plan that will enable you to become a virtual superman "with ease". As is the case with close combat and self-defense techniques, there is nothing secret, mysterious, complicated, hidden, or even particularly new under the sun.
Weight training, or progressive resistance exercise, has actually been around for thousands of years. It was utilized in various forms by the ancient Chinese ch‘uan fa masters, and by Indian and Korean martial arts practitioners. The barbell per se did not exist in ancient times — but the principle of progressively increasing the muscles‘ work load so as to gradually build the desired physical attributes has long been acknowledged and used by intelligent, serious-minded people; and that principle is the one upon which the plate-loading barbell is based.
Around 1970 the brilliant innovator Arthur Jones created the Nautilus Machines. These machines are based upon the exact same principle that the barbell is based — and that ancient methods of resistance exercise that preceded the barbell, were in turn similarly based, earlier in history.
Nothing new. Just new ways of applying an old, proven principle. And it IS proven. And there are no "experts" or "innovators" who have come up with any better or "superior" principles; and any who claim to have done so are, in our personal opinion, self-serving, commercializing con artists. (That some of these con artists may wear black belts does not grant credibility to their chicanery!)
We cannot emphasize too strongly how important a good, well-planned training program of barbell and dumbell exercise is for the student of close combat and self-defense. It is the single most valuable supplementary exercise for any combatant. In real hand-to-hand combat you need all of the strength you can bring to bear! Do not deceive yourself.
Weight training is simple, inexpensive, safe, efficient, and provides comprehensive physical training when properly done. This means that an all round, sensible routine of weight training exercise builds all of the necessary physical attributes: strength, more efficient coordination, agility and athleticism, toughness, well-being and rugged good health. After a few months of weight training a person who is new to the activity will be shocked at the progress he has made and how much the program has given him.
The psychological benefits of weight training are at least as great as the physical benefits. Becoming fitter, stronger, more able to do anything of a physical nature better, and feeling wonderful increases your confidence, poise, self-image, and readiness to apply yourself with assurance to your technical combatives work.
Please, for your sake, get started on a good, sensible, all round weight training program. The exercises you want to include in your routine are:
The regular or behind the neck press
Heavy barbell or dumbell curls
Bench pressing
Bent over single dumbell or barbell rowing
The squat
The dead lift
Abdominal exercise
There are other excellent exercises, but that provides a foundational schematic that will insure you work everything well, and reap the fullest measure of all round possible benefits from training.
Keep sets and repetitions reasonable: Between 1 and 3 sets — no more. And about 6 to 8 reps per set, when working more than a single set per exercise, with anywhere from 8-10 to 20 reps per set of squats.
"WHY" WEIGHT TRAINING? Because you need it!
That‘s a rough outline of the way to go. Now GO!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A Tip From Josey Wales
© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
RECALL the following, in that classic Western with Clint Eastwood (Outlaw Josey Wales)? …
“NOW REMEMBER, THINGS LOOK BAD AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT, THEN YOU GOTTA GET MEAN. I MEAN PLUMB, MAD-DOG MEAN. CAUSE IF YOU LOSE YOUR HEAD AND YOU GIVE UP THEN YOU NEITHER LIVE NOR WIN. THAT‟S JUST THE WAY IT IS.”
Every now and again we find something in fiction that makes excellent, practical sense. Rarely do we ever hear anything in the classical/traditional ("flowing robe set", as Rex Applegate used to call it) martial arts school that makes as much sense as Josey Wales‘ screen admonition.
YES! When the chips are down and you have no choice but to get him or he will get you, then go animal! Determine to go berserk with killing, murderous, insane fury. Make up your mind to die killing your attacker, if necessary — but that you WILL NOT go down to this scum who is attacking you! SET YOUR MIND: YOUR ATTACKER WILL NOT SURVIVE!
Sometimes it comes down to that. Who has the more determined will to prevail? You already have a tremendous advantage in a self-defense situation, since it is almost certain that your assailant believes that you are easy to take (or he would not be making the attack). He has no way of knowing either how you feel or what you believe. He cannot assess your skills, and he is — as he moves on you — focusing on his own actions and objectives. So . . . if you will determine to explode like a frenzied, murderous madman, and simply rip, claw, pound, bite, gouge, spit, hack, kick, and in every manner open to you, strive to destroy that monster who is attacking you, you‘ll probably not lose. Most especially is this so if such an attitude, will, and mindset is behind combat proven, war-tested, reliable, no-nonsense destructive hand-to-hand battle skills!
In her very excellent book, What Cops Know, Connie Fletcher discussed something that a seasoned Chicago police officer told her about street sewage: Punks and violent trash do not attack anyone who appears to be crazy. Why not? It certainly isn't because they have compassion for the mentally disturbed. It is because mentally unbalanced (“crazy”) people are 100% unpredictable, and they just might not give a damn who is attacking them, or how their attacker is conducting the assault. A crazy person MIGHT ATTACK HIS ATTACKER — PRECISELY BECAUSE HE IS CRAZY, AND THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE SUCH A MENTAL CASE MIGHT BE CAPABLE OF INFLICTING AND BE WILLING TO INFLICT — WITHOUT MERCY, AND IN A HEARTBEAT!
Getting the message?
Combat is no game. We would always prefer to avoid trouble of any kind if at all possible. However, our life and the lives of those dear to us is the paramount value. Anyone — anyone — posing a threat to that value will either be destroyed before he can do damage, or we BOTH will perish as he strives against us. But — one way or the other — any violent attacker IS COMMITTING INADVERTENT SUICIDE, AND TO HELL WITH POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, PUBLIC OPINION, SOCIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, THE OPINIONS OF DO-GOODERS, ETC.
The violent offender must and will be STOPPED.
Dear reader, there is so much to be said for possessing the capacity to be "plumb, mad-dog mean" when the need to defend yourself arises, that we hope you‘ll cultivate the mindset to be so!
Take it from Josey Wales!
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
RECALL the following, in that classic Western with Clint Eastwood (Outlaw Josey Wales)? …
“NOW REMEMBER, THINGS LOOK BAD AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT, THEN YOU GOTTA GET MEAN. I MEAN PLUMB, MAD-DOG MEAN. CAUSE IF YOU LOSE YOUR HEAD AND YOU GIVE UP THEN YOU NEITHER LIVE NOR WIN. THAT‟S JUST THE WAY IT IS.”
Every now and again we find something in fiction that makes excellent, practical sense. Rarely do we ever hear anything in the classical/traditional ("flowing robe set", as Rex Applegate used to call it) martial arts school that makes as much sense as Josey Wales‘ screen admonition.
YES! When the chips are down and you have no choice but to get him or he will get you, then go animal! Determine to go berserk with killing, murderous, insane fury. Make up your mind to die killing your attacker, if necessary — but that you WILL NOT go down to this scum who is attacking you! SET YOUR MIND: YOUR ATTACKER WILL NOT SURVIVE!
Sometimes it comes down to that. Who has the more determined will to prevail? You already have a tremendous advantage in a self-defense situation, since it is almost certain that your assailant believes that you are easy to take (or he would not be making the attack). He has no way of knowing either how you feel or what you believe. He cannot assess your skills, and he is — as he moves on you — focusing on his own actions and objectives. So . . . if you will determine to explode like a frenzied, murderous madman, and simply rip, claw, pound, bite, gouge, spit, hack, kick, and in every manner open to you, strive to destroy that monster who is attacking you, you‘ll probably not lose. Most especially is this so if such an attitude, will, and mindset is behind combat proven, war-tested, reliable, no-nonsense destructive hand-to-hand battle skills!
In her very excellent book, What Cops Know, Connie Fletcher discussed something that a seasoned Chicago police officer told her about street sewage: Punks and violent trash do not attack anyone who appears to be crazy. Why not? It certainly isn't because they have compassion for the mentally disturbed. It is because mentally unbalanced (“crazy”) people are 100% unpredictable, and they just might not give a damn who is attacking them, or how their attacker is conducting the assault. A crazy person MIGHT ATTACK HIS ATTACKER — PRECISELY BECAUSE HE IS CRAZY, AND THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE SUCH A MENTAL CASE MIGHT BE CAPABLE OF INFLICTING AND BE WILLING TO INFLICT — WITHOUT MERCY, AND IN A HEARTBEAT!
Getting the message?
Combat is no game. We would always prefer to avoid trouble of any kind if at all possible. However, our life and the lives of those dear to us is the paramount value. Anyone — anyone — posing a threat to that value will either be destroyed before he can do damage, or we BOTH will perish as he strives against us. But — one way or the other — any violent attacker IS COMMITTING INADVERTENT SUICIDE, AND TO HELL WITH POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, PUBLIC OPINION, SOCIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, THE OPINIONS OF DO-GOODERS, ETC.
The violent offender must and will be STOPPED.
Dear reader, there is so much to be said for possessing the capacity to be "plumb, mad-dog mean" when the need to defend yourself arises, that we hope you‘ll cultivate the mindset to be so!
Take it from Josey Wales!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A Perfect Example of Condition White.
There are a few details required to set the scene below.
The basic Color Code as invented and described by Jeff Cooper is as follows:
White: An unacceptable level of inattention to ones surrounding. The individual is completely oblivious to any occurrence or more specifically any THREAT in their immediate area that may affect them. This is the type of person who gets hit by a train while walking on a set of tracks and texting on their cell phone.
Yellow: An normal and acceptable level of attention and scrutiny of ones surrounding including people, objects and occurrences. This level of attention should be the norm for everyone wishing to be ready to avoid or deal with trouble.
Orange: A HEIGHTENED level of scrutiny, alarm and recognition of an actual threat: directed at people, objects or occurrences in the area.
Red: Action against the threat.
Watch the video below and see if you can identify where it all went wrong.
Note that NONE of the security personnel are paying attention to the woman after the initial purse search and discovery of A WEAPON! In fact... one of them turns his back completely and is looking into the adjacent room. His "back up" is busy studying the details of what appears to be a cheap Bic ballpoint pen.
If the article is correct and a knife was found on her person, she should have been either placed face against the wall... or face on the floor. Not standing with her hands in her pockets, fondling a second weapon.
Note the inattentiveness of ALL of the security officers. Are they waiting for direction from a supervisor? Are they watching some other activity in the adjacent room? The officer on the left is staring at a device in his hand... and takes absolutely no notice of the attack until it's too late.
This is the type of behavior I would expect from guards at a shopping mall in middle-America. NOT security personnel (private or otherwise) at a checkpoint in a nation where terrorist attacks are a daily occurrence.
If I were in a position of any authority I think that I would at the very least INSIST on additional (adequate) training for these officers. I would more likely dismiss this particular security company's contract immediately. I would do it for the sake of their own staff.
A video appearing on the video-sharing Web site Youtube yesterday contains first-hand footage of a Palestinian female terrorist stabbing a civilian security guard at a West Bank checkpoint.
In the video, filmed on October 25, the Palestinian, who allegedly asked to enter Israel via the Kalandiya checkpoint for medical treatment, is seen being examined by a Border Police officer.
The officer finds a knife in her purse, and while he takes the purse aside, the woman pulls another blade from her trousers and stabs the civilian security guard standing by.
The security guard, working for a private firm, was still recuperating from his moderate wounds yesterday.
The video seems to not be direct footage, but footage of a closed-circuit TV surveillance camera’s output. The date “10/25/2009″ appears faintly at the bottom of the screen early in the clip.
An investigation was launched to find the source that leaked the video to Youtube.
The basic Color Code as invented and described by Jeff Cooper is as follows:
White: An unacceptable level of inattention to ones surrounding. The individual is completely oblivious to any occurrence or more specifically any THREAT in their immediate area that may affect them. This is the type of person who gets hit by a train while walking on a set of tracks and texting on their cell phone.
Yellow: An normal and acceptable level of attention and scrutiny of ones surrounding including people, objects and occurrences. This level of attention should be the norm for everyone wishing to be ready to avoid or deal with trouble.
Orange: A HEIGHTENED level of scrutiny, alarm and recognition of an actual threat: directed at people, objects or occurrences in the area.
Red: Action against the threat.
Watch the video below and see if you can identify where it all went wrong.
Note that NONE of the security personnel are paying attention to the woman after the initial purse search and discovery of A WEAPON! In fact... one of them turns his back completely and is looking into the adjacent room. His "back up" is busy studying the details of what appears to be a cheap Bic ballpoint pen.
If the article is correct and a knife was found on her person, she should have been either placed face against the wall... or face on the floor. Not standing with her hands in her pockets, fondling a second weapon.
Note the inattentiveness of ALL of the security officers. Are they waiting for direction from a supervisor? Are they watching some other activity in the adjacent room? The officer on the left is staring at a device in his hand... and takes absolutely no notice of the attack until it's too late.
This is the type of behavior I would expect from guards at a shopping mall in middle-America. NOT security personnel (private or otherwise) at a checkpoint in a nation where terrorist attacks are a daily occurrence.
If I were in a position of any authority I think that I would at the very least INSIST on additional (adequate) training for these officers. I would more likely dismiss this particular security company's contract immediately. I would do it for the sake of their own staff.
Rethink The Value Of Padded Suit Training
© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
SHOT placement is the most important thing when determining the potential man-stopping probability of a hit from a handgun bullet. Interestingly, that is also one of the most important factors for determining the results of smashing into an enemy using an unarmed combat move. Surely a handaxe chop delivered with great force to the windpipe will kill. But the same blow across the side of a strong man‘s upper arm might only cause him to shrug.
One very popular training item is the full padded body suit that permits students to flail away wildly and hit the padded "attacker" full force — presumably gaining, as a result of this practice, some kind of "powerful striking capability" so that they have confidence that they will be able to stop a real adversary.
We disagree.
Padded men present completely unrealistic and misleading, oversized targets. Far better to practice, using the same control that has always been employed in combat karate and ju-jutsu training (ie stopping just short of contact) with a real, live, unpadded training partner. That way, there is no problem at all in locating and focusing on the truly vital target areas. This cannot be done in competition or in sparring, but competition and sparring have nothing to do with combat training.
"But what about experiencing contact?" one might ask. Get that by smashing into insentient targets. Striking posts, heavy bags, dummies, padded trees, etc. will all allow you to kick, jab, pound, strike, and chop with all of the power that you are capable of generating — safely. Combined with practicing skills realistically with a partner (ie not by substituting targets so as not to injure anyone; but by never bothering with any targets but the most vulnerable, and practicing in a controlled, well-regulated manner) this approach will result in a laser-like focus on the body‘s most dangerously vulnerable attack points, and the power and speed required to devastate those targets.
That is what real world combat and self-defense demand.
If you wish to have your training partner dress in anything besides a gi, have him wear a bala clava ("ski mask") or street clothes — just like the vermin against whom you are preparing to defend yourself wears. But do not have a partner wear artificial padding that alters his entire shape and appearance.
Hit inanimate objects for training the natural weapons‘ power, speed, and force delivery capability. Do not hit fully at all, in training. This way you‘ll memorize and never deviate from training against the enemy‘s most vital points and dangerously vulnerable target areas. Your training will not be such that you go after one set of targets in sparring or competition, but try (impossibly) to "remember" and to "remind yourself" not to go after those targets in an actual attack, but instead then focus on the "real" targets.
We shall shortly be posting some new material on www.seattlecombatives.com and hope that you‘ll visit that site regularly, too.
May 2010 be a prosperous, healthy, and happy New Year for you and yours.
We‘ll be back next month!
Stay Combat Ready,
Prof. Bradley J. Steiner
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
SHOT placement is the most important thing when determining the potential man-stopping probability of a hit from a handgun bullet. Interestingly, that is also one of the most important factors for determining the results of smashing into an enemy using an unarmed combat move. Surely a handaxe chop delivered with great force to the windpipe will kill. But the same blow across the side of a strong man‘s upper arm might only cause him to shrug.
One very popular training item is the full padded body suit that permits students to flail away wildly and hit the padded "attacker" full force — presumably gaining, as a result of this practice, some kind of "powerful striking capability" so that they have confidence that they will be able to stop a real adversary.
We disagree.
Padded men present completely unrealistic and misleading, oversized targets. Far better to practice, using the same control that has always been employed in combat karate and ju-jutsu training (ie stopping just short of contact) with a real, live, unpadded training partner. That way, there is no problem at all in locating and focusing on the truly vital target areas. This cannot be done in competition or in sparring, but competition and sparring have nothing to do with combat training.
"But what about experiencing contact?" one might ask. Get that by smashing into insentient targets. Striking posts, heavy bags, dummies, padded trees, etc. will all allow you to kick, jab, pound, strike, and chop with all of the power that you are capable of generating — safely. Combined with practicing skills realistically with a partner (ie not by substituting targets so as not to injure anyone; but by never bothering with any targets but the most vulnerable, and practicing in a controlled, well-regulated manner) this approach will result in a laser-like focus on the body‘s most dangerously vulnerable attack points, and the power and speed required to devastate those targets.
That is what real world combat and self-defense demand.
If you wish to have your training partner dress in anything besides a gi, have him wear a bala clava ("ski mask") or street clothes — just like the vermin against whom you are preparing to defend yourself wears. But do not have a partner wear artificial padding that alters his entire shape and appearance.
Hit inanimate objects for training the natural weapons‘ power, speed, and force delivery capability. Do not hit fully at all, in training. This way you‘ll memorize and never deviate from training against the enemy‘s most vital points and dangerously vulnerable target areas. Your training will not be such that you go after one set of targets in sparring or competition, but try (impossibly) to "remember" and to "remind yourself" not to go after those targets in an actual attack, but instead then focus on the "real" targets.
We shall shortly be posting some new material on www.seattlecombatives.com and hope that you‘ll visit that site regularly, too.
May 2010 be a prosperous, healthy, and happy New Year for you and yours.
We‘ll be back next month!
Stay Combat Ready,
Prof. Bradley J. Steiner
Monday, January 11, 2010
Tips For Developing Followup And Viable Attack Combinations
© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
THERE is an actual documented case where a single round, randomly fired by a fleeing felon from his .25 caliber pocket automatic as he exited the tavern he had just robbed, struck and instantly killed an unfortunate victim. The victim was not even an intended target; the bullet simply found its mark accidentally.
As anyone familiar with firearms and their combat employment will tell you, the .25 automatic is a pip-squeak weapon, and its round has been known to go unnoticed by persons who had been struck by it — in some cases, multiple times.
The late karate Master Mas Oyama killed a man once — a known member of the Japanese Yakuza — with one punch. It happened during an altercation that was initiated by the criminal, and in which the criminal attempted to strike the first blow. (In Seattle, Washington not that long ago, some out-of-control, impulse-driven misfit also killed a man with a single punch. It was not an instance of self-defense, but rather just one of those times when an individual who had no business circulating in civilized human society, deemed a minor dispute worthy of initiating a violent, retaliatory physical action).
It happens. Sometimes — rarely — one blow does the trick. But the classical/traditional concept that is fundamental to most karate systems (i.e. that of training to dispatch an enemy with one, single, telling blow) is seriously flawed. Again, not that it “cannot be done”. All sorts of incredible and unusual things are possible; but that does not make such anomalies viable standards by which predictable outcomes may generally be anticipated. There have been cases of parachutists surviving and being relatively uninjured when they hit the ground, after their chutes failed to open. But this is no indication that people can or should consider training to jump from planes without parachutes. The chances are nearly 100% certain that the jumper will DIE.
It is foolish and it is unrealistic to train with the idea that the ability to drop a serious enemy with one, single blow, can be reliably developed. Those training in classical/traditional karate methods who wish to be able to actually defend themselves, are well-advised to take heed of this. Training to stop dangerous physical assailants with one blow is training for suicide. Always train to attack relentlessly . . . stop only when the assailant has been decisively neutralized and has lost both the ability and the willingness to be a further threat.
Around 1970 we began to drastically alter the classical/traditional type of ju-jutsu and karate that we had learned, and we began (heavily influenced of course by Charles Nelson and by our studies of the WWII-era classic texts by that period‘s now well-known notables) to teach all-combat, practical unarmed combat and defense. One conspicuous fact stood out in our mind then, as it continues to stand out in our mind today: THE DISCIPLINED, SPECIFIC, FORMALIZED PRACTICE OF A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF ATTACKING COMBINATIONS, DESIGNED NOT FOR CONTEST BUT FOR COMBAT, WAS A NECESSITY FOR LONG-TERM, REAL WORLD TRAINING, AND SUCH A SYSTEM DID NOT EXIST. So we began to work hard over the next two to three years to develop such a comprehensive system of these skills.
The task was not a simple one. In fact, combination training and follow-up sequences of actions had always existed in virtually every percussionary (karate-like) art that had ever been developed. But these were sequences of highly stylized, sparring type actions, in which clenched fist punching, high and/or complex kicks, blocking and so forth were practiced. Okay for classical training. Fine for sport. No good for hand-to-hand combat. Besides, with the exception of kenpo-karate, in which combinations and followup was always stressed, there remained that traditional goal of one shot stops, which always influenced the spirit and methodology of all classically-rooted training. (Note: Kenpo-karate‘s great weakness, in our opinion, is its emphasis on very specific self-defense — i.e. reactive — techniques, as opposed to proactive, preemptive, OFFENSIVE techniques, and its rather questionable objective of teaching a tremendous number of such techniques. This leaves the student with a body of skills that he all too often can barely remember, and that — even when properly recalled — are not actually the best upon which to reply for actual, real world hand-to-hand combat. Too acrobatic, "artsy", and elaborately complex and meticulous in their requirement for detailed, fine motor movement performance).
We cannot instruct our readers in how to execute the attack combinations that constitute one very critical aspect of American Combato, in this Newsletter. Personal instruction is needed. However, what we can and wish to do right now is — a) Convince our site‘s visitors, regardless of their present style or approach to self-defense, that combinations and followup is essential, because determined, dangerous, experienced, and quite often multiple and/or armed assailants are VERY DIFFICULT TO STOP, and b) There are some tips we can provide that should help anyone who is training seriously to enhance his followup capabilities enormously, and to do so in a manner that adheres to that which the military calls “combat logic”. In other words, if you follow that which we shall present, you can be confident that it will contribute not to your progress as a competition fighter or as a performer of classical/traditional doctrine (both worthy goals; but never our goals), but as a self-defense exponent and as a hand-to-hand combatant.
Use the following suggestions to begin now to develop the all-important followup and relentless attack capacity that s so crucially important in serious, real world close combat an self-defense emergencies:
#1: ANY TIME YOU DELIVER AN ELBOW SMASH YOU ARE PRIMED FOR A FOLLOWUP HANDAXE CHOP OR HAMMERFIST BLOW
This has application for both attack and defense. For example: A man whom you have become aware intends you harm stands in front of you and you are physically poised and mentally ready (in "orange"). Move fast as he begins to attack and smash him across the face or head area with a powerful forward elbow blow that sweeps in with your bodyweight behind it as you execute a falling step in towards him. Upon completing and following through with your elbow smash, immediately cut back and chop him viciously across the opposite side of his face, neck, or head with a handaxe blow. (The hammerfist to temple, jaw, or neck is also viable). This is an example of how to attack and use the elbow smash/chop in such a predicament.
Or: An adversary who is grabbing at your collar or shoulder from behind pulls you toward him, and you smartly go with his pull and slam an elbow into his solar plexus, liver, or spleen. Immediately upon landing the elbow smash, whip the hand down and chop your attacker in the groin.
#2: A “HAND YOKE” THRUST IS PERFECT FOR INDEXING YOUR HAND AND FINGERS FOR THE DEADLY “THROAT LOCK”
Warning and Caution!: The throat lock is potentially deadly and should be utilized, as all of the serious actions of unarmed combat should be utilized, ONLY to defend against truly dangerous and unavoidable physical attacks!
Locking the fingers high under the jaw and around the thyroid cartilage ("windpipe") is one of the key basic blows of unarmed close combat. The hand yoke is a non-lethal but extremely disorienting blow that is somewhat easier to apply instantly, than is the throat lock. It so happens that once a hand yoke thrust lands, the control/contact with the enemy‘s throat is such that snapping one’s fingers slightly upward and transitioning into a throat lock (assuming the situation warrants such an action) is easy! With that throat lock in place, a would-be murderer (rapist, home invader, abductor, etc.) can now be permanently stopped — either by using the throat lock to completion or by maintaining the throat lock tightly and smashing the assailant’s jaw or head with a powerful heelpalm blow from one's opposite hand. This could end lethally. Do not practice with any amount of force on any live person!
#3: WHEN THE BASIC CHINJAB SMASH CONNECTS AND THE OPPONENT’S HEAD IS NOT SLAMMED BACKWARD, THE HAND-IN-PLACE OFFERS A COUPLE OF FABULOUS FOLLOWUP OPTIONS
Raise the elbow of the chinjabbing hand and the clawed fingers transition immediately to a kind of "tiger‘s claw" grip on the enemy‘s face, fingers well able now to gouge into the enemy‘s eyes, drive his head backward and down — and if you step in smartly while doing this, you‘ll smash your man head first to the deck!
Or — once the hand connects, use your opposite hand to seize your opponent‘s head from behind, and then — using both hands — apply the dangerous head-twist takedown throw (one of the few throws we use in American Combato) while holding your enemy‘s head securely and wrenching it viciously as you step and get your hip into the throw. Do not practice this with any degree of force on a live partner; it can break a man’s neck! Train the movement GENTLY with a partner, or use full force against an imaginary adversary.
Also — when and if the chinjab smash snaps the adversary‘s head backward and continues upward past his head (probably because you miscalculated and struck too close to the end of the chin, rather than deeply under the jaw) bring the heel of that same hand sharply downward, cracking your enemy on the bridge of his nose, jaw (it will break the jaw), skull, or collar bone. Retracting that hand with the downward striking stroke naturally positions it for a followup chinjab smash!
#4: WHEN EAR-BOXING SEIZE THE EARS AFTER THE CUPPED PALMS BLOWS CONNECT. THIS IS A PERFECT POSITION FROM WHICH TO . . .
Knee the testicles (he‘ll never even know what the hell you‘re doing!).
Rip his ears off his head — simply by utilizing a motion similar to that which is employed when shooting a bow and arrow.
Release one hand and, still retaining a grip on one of his ears with the other, smash an elbow to the side of his head.
Slam a head butt powerfully into the enemy‘s face while retaining the grip on his ears.
Obviously, once you‘ve landed a good ear box attack and seized your enemy‘s ears, he is yours!
#5: WHEN YOU DRIVE BOTH THUMBS INTO YOUR ENEMY’S EYES. SEIZE HIS HEAD AND INSERT THE MIDDLE FINGERS OF BOTH HANDS INTO HIS EARS
You now have multiple followup options that fit the position you have secured, perfectly :
Shake your enemy‘s head violently, while digging both thumbs deeper into his eyes and gouging outward toward his temples.
After either simply gouging the adversary‘s once after grabbing him or after shaking his head violently, viciously thrust both thumbs forward with the weight and strength of your body behind the action. (This will send your man flying — down stairs, into traffic, out a window, onto his back on the pavement, etc. — and leave him completely helpless to prevent your escape from the area).
#6: AFTER THE THUMB ATTACK AND HEAD GRIP JUST DESCRIBED ABOVE (WHICH WE CALL THE “CAT’S GRAB ATTACK”) DRIVE A KNEE TO YOUR ENEMY’S TESTICLES
The knee blow will cause your opponent to lurch forward, deepening the thumb gouge instantly.
#7: ANY ATTACK TO AN ENEMY’S EYES WILL SET HIM UP INSTANTLY FOR A KICK TO HIS TESTICLES OR TO A KNEE — AND THAT IN TURN WILL BRING HIS HEAD FORWARD AND LEAVE HIM OPEN TO ANYTHING YOU CHOOSE TO DO
Remember our rule: “Whenever you attack high, you create an opening low; whenever you attack low, you create an opening high.”
#8: ELBOW, KNEE, FIST, HEEL OF THE HAND, AND SOMETIMES EVEN FINGERTIPS JABS TO THE SOLAR PLEXUS BRINGS THE RECIPIENT’S HEAD FORWARD
Knee his face.
Box his ears (something like playing the cymbals, whenever your opponent is in a bent over position, thusly!).
Chop his brainstem with a vertical handaxe blow.
Use any combination of the above.
If your man has not collapsed completely by the time you‘ve pummeled him, you need only seize his shoulders and push them downward toward his feet, to send him flying to the deck. Then stomp him.
#9: WHENEVER A KNEE TO THE TESTICLES HAS DOUBLED YOUR ADVERSARY OVER, A SECOND FAST KNEE BLOW TO HIS FACE IS AN EXCELLENT FOLLOWUP
Remember also that, while kicking a man in the head is most normally reserved for times when he is on the ground, if a powerful front kick to his testicles doubles him over in agony, a second front kick (using the same leg) can provide a kick to his face forthwith, almost certainly concluding the encounter.
#10: WHEN CLOSE IN AND SLIGHTLY TO AN ENEMY’S SIDE, A LATERAL HANDAXE CHOP TO HIS CAROTID ARTERY WILL PLACE THE CHOPPING HAND AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE STRIKE IN A PERFECT POSITION TO APPLY A THROAT LOCK (IF THE ENEMY HAS NOT BEEN LITERALLY KNOCKED DOWN AND OUT BY THE CHOP)
#11: A FORWARD HEAD BUTT “WINDS YOU UP” FOR A BACKWARD HEAD BUTT — USEFUL WHEN TWO MEN APPROACH FROM BEHIND AND IN FRONT, APPLY A GRAB, AND PERHAPS ATTEMPT TO ROB YOU
This is really a variation of the basic action we teach against an unarmed controlling hold from behind from one man, as a second attacker approaches from the front. Here — when there is distance — a front kick converts instantly after delivery to a back kick, utilizing the momentum of the retracting leg to apply maximum force to the kick delivered to the attacker holding you.
Simply ask yourself when analyzing all situations, "What has this particular blow 'wound me up for‘ and 'how can I deliver a followup blow naturally and with no added movement, immediately following impact?‘"
Those examples and suggestions are easy to understand and, with a little thought and practice, very easy to apply. They will also lead you to grasp the principle of perpetual followup, and that is the point.
Be realistic when you train for self-defense. Be ready to go "full steam ahead" and not stop until anyone who has chosen to attack you or to attack a member of your family, etc. is absolutely, positively, completely, and reliably neutralized.
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
THERE is an actual documented case where a single round, randomly fired by a fleeing felon from his .25 caliber pocket automatic as he exited the tavern he had just robbed, struck and instantly killed an unfortunate victim. The victim was not even an intended target; the bullet simply found its mark accidentally.
As anyone familiar with firearms and their combat employment will tell you, the .25 automatic is a pip-squeak weapon, and its round has been known to go unnoticed by persons who had been struck by it — in some cases, multiple times.
The late karate Master Mas Oyama killed a man once — a known member of the Japanese Yakuza — with one punch. It happened during an altercation that was initiated by the criminal, and in which the criminal attempted to strike the first blow. (In Seattle, Washington not that long ago, some out-of-control, impulse-driven misfit also killed a man with a single punch. It was not an instance of self-defense, but rather just one of those times when an individual who had no business circulating in civilized human society, deemed a minor dispute worthy of initiating a violent, retaliatory physical action).
It happens. Sometimes — rarely — one blow does the trick. But the classical/traditional concept that is fundamental to most karate systems (i.e. that of training to dispatch an enemy with one, single, telling blow) is seriously flawed. Again, not that it “cannot be done”. All sorts of incredible and unusual things are possible; but that does not make such anomalies viable standards by which predictable outcomes may generally be anticipated. There have been cases of parachutists surviving and being relatively uninjured when they hit the ground, after their chutes failed to open. But this is no indication that people can or should consider training to jump from planes without parachutes. The chances are nearly 100% certain that the jumper will DIE.
It is foolish and it is unrealistic to train with the idea that the ability to drop a serious enemy with one, single blow, can be reliably developed. Those training in classical/traditional karate methods who wish to be able to actually defend themselves, are well-advised to take heed of this. Training to stop dangerous physical assailants with one blow is training for suicide. Always train to attack relentlessly . . . stop only when the assailant has been decisively neutralized and has lost both the ability and the willingness to be a further threat.
Around 1970 we began to drastically alter the classical/traditional type of ju-jutsu and karate that we had learned, and we began (heavily influenced of course by Charles Nelson and by our studies of the WWII-era classic texts by that period‘s now well-known notables) to teach all-combat, practical unarmed combat and defense. One conspicuous fact stood out in our mind then, as it continues to stand out in our mind today: THE DISCIPLINED, SPECIFIC, FORMALIZED PRACTICE OF A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF ATTACKING COMBINATIONS, DESIGNED NOT FOR CONTEST BUT FOR COMBAT, WAS A NECESSITY FOR LONG-TERM, REAL WORLD TRAINING, AND SUCH A SYSTEM DID NOT EXIST. So we began to work hard over the next two to three years to develop such a comprehensive system of these skills.
The task was not a simple one. In fact, combination training and follow-up sequences of actions had always existed in virtually every percussionary (karate-like) art that had ever been developed. But these were sequences of highly stylized, sparring type actions, in which clenched fist punching, high and/or complex kicks, blocking and so forth were practiced. Okay for classical training. Fine for sport. No good for hand-to-hand combat. Besides, with the exception of kenpo-karate, in which combinations and followup was always stressed, there remained that traditional goal of one shot stops, which always influenced the spirit and methodology of all classically-rooted training. (Note: Kenpo-karate‘s great weakness, in our opinion, is its emphasis on very specific self-defense — i.e. reactive — techniques, as opposed to proactive, preemptive, OFFENSIVE techniques, and its rather questionable objective of teaching a tremendous number of such techniques. This leaves the student with a body of skills that he all too often can barely remember, and that — even when properly recalled — are not actually the best upon which to reply for actual, real world hand-to-hand combat. Too acrobatic, "artsy", and elaborately complex and meticulous in their requirement for detailed, fine motor movement performance).
We cannot instruct our readers in how to execute the attack combinations that constitute one very critical aspect of American Combato, in this Newsletter. Personal instruction is needed. However, what we can and wish to do right now is — a) Convince our site‘s visitors, regardless of their present style or approach to self-defense, that combinations and followup is essential, because determined, dangerous, experienced, and quite often multiple and/or armed assailants are VERY DIFFICULT TO STOP, and b) There are some tips we can provide that should help anyone who is training seriously to enhance his followup capabilities enormously, and to do so in a manner that adheres to that which the military calls “combat logic”. In other words, if you follow that which we shall present, you can be confident that it will contribute not to your progress as a competition fighter or as a performer of classical/traditional doctrine (both worthy goals; but never our goals), but as a self-defense exponent and as a hand-to-hand combatant.
Use the following suggestions to begin now to develop the all-important followup and relentless attack capacity that s so crucially important in serious, real world close combat an self-defense emergencies:
#1: ANY TIME YOU DELIVER AN ELBOW SMASH YOU ARE PRIMED FOR A FOLLOWUP HANDAXE CHOP OR HAMMERFIST BLOW
This has application for both attack and defense. For example: A man whom you have become aware intends you harm stands in front of you and you are physically poised and mentally ready (in "orange"). Move fast as he begins to attack and smash him across the face or head area with a powerful forward elbow blow that sweeps in with your bodyweight behind it as you execute a falling step in towards him. Upon completing and following through with your elbow smash, immediately cut back and chop him viciously across the opposite side of his face, neck, or head with a handaxe blow. (The hammerfist to temple, jaw, or neck is also viable). This is an example of how to attack and use the elbow smash/chop in such a predicament.
Or: An adversary who is grabbing at your collar or shoulder from behind pulls you toward him, and you smartly go with his pull and slam an elbow into his solar plexus, liver, or spleen. Immediately upon landing the elbow smash, whip the hand down and chop your attacker in the groin.
#2: A “HAND YOKE” THRUST IS PERFECT FOR INDEXING YOUR HAND AND FINGERS FOR THE DEADLY “THROAT LOCK”
Warning and Caution!: The throat lock is potentially deadly and should be utilized, as all of the serious actions of unarmed combat should be utilized, ONLY to defend against truly dangerous and unavoidable physical attacks!
Locking the fingers high under the jaw and around the thyroid cartilage ("windpipe") is one of the key basic blows of unarmed close combat. The hand yoke is a non-lethal but extremely disorienting blow that is somewhat easier to apply instantly, than is the throat lock. It so happens that once a hand yoke thrust lands, the control/contact with the enemy‘s throat is such that snapping one’s fingers slightly upward and transitioning into a throat lock (assuming the situation warrants such an action) is easy! With that throat lock in place, a would-be murderer (rapist, home invader, abductor, etc.) can now be permanently stopped — either by using the throat lock to completion or by maintaining the throat lock tightly and smashing the assailant’s jaw or head with a powerful heelpalm blow from one's opposite hand. This could end lethally. Do not practice with any amount of force on any live person!
#3: WHEN THE BASIC CHINJAB SMASH CONNECTS AND THE OPPONENT’S HEAD IS NOT SLAMMED BACKWARD, THE HAND-IN-PLACE OFFERS A COUPLE OF FABULOUS FOLLOWUP OPTIONS
Raise the elbow of the chinjabbing hand and the clawed fingers transition immediately to a kind of "tiger‘s claw" grip on the enemy‘s face, fingers well able now to gouge into the enemy‘s eyes, drive his head backward and down — and if you step in smartly while doing this, you‘ll smash your man head first to the deck!
Or — once the hand connects, use your opposite hand to seize your opponent‘s head from behind, and then — using both hands — apply the dangerous head-twist takedown throw (one of the few throws we use in American Combato) while holding your enemy‘s head securely and wrenching it viciously as you step and get your hip into the throw. Do not practice this with any degree of force on a live partner; it can break a man’s neck! Train the movement GENTLY with a partner, or use full force against an imaginary adversary.
Also — when and if the chinjab smash snaps the adversary‘s head backward and continues upward past his head (probably because you miscalculated and struck too close to the end of the chin, rather than deeply under the jaw) bring the heel of that same hand sharply downward, cracking your enemy on the bridge of his nose, jaw (it will break the jaw), skull, or collar bone. Retracting that hand with the downward striking stroke naturally positions it for a followup chinjab smash!
#4: WHEN EAR-BOXING SEIZE THE EARS AFTER THE CUPPED PALMS BLOWS CONNECT. THIS IS A PERFECT POSITION FROM WHICH TO . . .
Knee the testicles (he‘ll never even know what the hell you‘re doing!).
Rip his ears off his head — simply by utilizing a motion similar to that which is employed when shooting a bow and arrow.
Release one hand and, still retaining a grip on one of his ears with the other, smash an elbow to the side of his head.
Slam a head butt powerfully into the enemy‘s face while retaining the grip on his ears.
Obviously, once you‘ve landed a good ear box attack and seized your enemy‘s ears, he is yours!
#5: WHEN YOU DRIVE BOTH THUMBS INTO YOUR ENEMY’S EYES. SEIZE HIS HEAD AND INSERT THE MIDDLE FINGERS OF BOTH HANDS INTO HIS EARS
You now have multiple followup options that fit the position you have secured, perfectly :
Shake your enemy‘s head violently, while digging both thumbs deeper into his eyes and gouging outward toward his temples.
After either simply gouging the adversary‘s once after grabbing him or after shaking his head violently, viciously thrust both thumbs forward with the weight and strength of your body behind the action. (This will send your man flying — down stairs, into traffic, out a window, onto his back on the pavement, etc. — and leave him completely helpless to prevent your escape from the area).
#6: AFTER THE THUMB ATTACK AND HEAD GRIP JUST DESCRIBED ABOVE (WHICH WE CALL THE “CAT’S GRAB ATTACK”) DRIVE A KNEE TO YOUR ENEMY’S TESTICLES
The knee blow will cause your opponent to lurch forward, deepening the thumb gouge instantly.
#7: ANY ATTACK TO AN ENEMY’S EYES WILL SET HIM UP INSTANTLY FOR A KICK TO HIS TESTICLES OR TO A KNEE — AND THAT IN TURN WILL BRING HIS HEAD FORWARD AND LEAVE HIM OPEN TO ANYTHING YOU CHOOSE TO DO
Remember our rule: “Whenever you attack high, you create an opening low; whenever you attack low, you create an opening high.”
#8: ELBOW, KNEE, FIST, HEEL OF THE HAND, AND SOMETIMES EVEN FINGERTIPS JABS TO THE SOLAR PLEXUS BRINGS THE RECIPIENT’S HEAD FORWARD
Knee his face.
Box his ears (something like playing the cymbals, whenever your opponent is in a bent over position, thusly!).
Chop his brainstem with a vertical handaxe blow.
Use any combination of the above.
If your man has not collapsed completely by the time you‘ve pummeled him, you need only seize his shoulders and push them downward toward his feet, to send him flying to the deck. Then stomp him.
#9: WHENEVER A KNEE TO THE TESTICLES HAS DOUBLED YOUR ADVERSARY OVER, A SECOND FAST KNEE BLOW TO HIS FACE IS AN EXCELLENT FOLLOWUP
Remember also that, while kicking a man in the head is most normally reserved for times when he is on the ground, if a powerful front kick to his testicles doubles him over in agony, a second front kick (using the same leg) can provide a kick to his face forthwith, almost certainly concluding the encounter.
#10: WHEN CLOSE IN AND SLIGHTLY TO AN ENEMY’S SIDE, A LATERAL HANDAXE CHOP TO HIS CAROTID ARTERY WILL PLACE THE CHOPPING HAND AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE STRIKE IN A PERFECT POSITION TO APPLY A THROAT LOCK (IF THE ENEMY HAS NOT BEEN LITERALLY KNOCKED DOWN AND OUT BY THE CHOP)
#11: A FORWARD HEAD BUTT “WINDS YOU UP” FOR A BACKWARD HEAD BUTT — USEFUL WHEN TWO MEN APPROACH FROM BEHIND AND IN FRONT, APPLY A GRAB, AND PERHAPS ATTEMPT TO ROB YOU
This is really a variation of the basic action we teach against an unarmed controlling hold from behind from one man, as a second attacker approaches from the front. Here — when there is distance — a front kick converts instantly after delivery to a back kick, utilizing the momentum of the retracting leg to apply maximum force to the kick delivered to the attacker holding you.
Simply ask yourself when analyzing all situations, "What has this particular blow 'wound me up for‘ and 'how can I deliver a followup blow naturally and with no added movement, immediately following impact?‘"
Those examples and suggestions are easy to understand and, with a little thought and practice, very easy to apply. They will also lead you to grasp the principle of perpetual followup, and that is the point.
Be realistic when you train for self-defense. Be ready to go "full steam ahead" and not stop until anyone who has chosen to attack you or to attack a member of your family, etc. is absolutely, positively, completely, and reliably neutralized.
The tide of Tyranny...
Yes. I edited the title. Upon further thought, it occurred to me that oen of the first sings that a society has resigned itself from reason and liberty and begun to accept the absurd and dangerous dogma of the radicalized statist elite is the loss of the right to self-defense. This is... tyranny.
This would almost... almost be comical if it were not so painfully TRAGIC and OFFENSIVE! When I read this type of article, I must admit to be completely baffled as to what in the holy hell the lawmakers must be "thinking". It would appear that the state prefers deceased victims to independent citizens willing to and capable of defend themselves. I cannot see any other explanation. And there is NO rational explanation as to why an entire society would endure this nonsense at their own risk.
Honestly. What in the HELL would possess people to tolerate the regimentation of political correctness to the point where they are not even allowed to deter a robbery, assault or home invasion due to concerns over the well being of the sub-human scum that perpetrates such crimes? In my world... she'd have been given an award (and a free firearm) for her actions. Additional points if she had actually USED the knife on one of these feckless, walking accidents. The key to the city if she castrates one or both of them!
Get it through your heads NOW! The "state" is not going to protect you! YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!
This would almost... almost be comical if it were not so painfully TRAGIC and OFFENSIVE! When I read this type of article, I must admit to be completely baffled as to what in the holy hell the lawmakers must be "thinking". It would appear that the state prefers deceased victims to independent citizens willing to and capable of defend themselves. I cannot see any other explanation. And there is NO rational explanation as to why an entire society would endure this nonsense at their own risk.
Honestly. What in the HELL would possess people to tolerate the regimentation of political correctness to the point where they are not even allowed to deter a robbery, assault or home invasion due to concerns over the well being of the sub-human scum that perpetrates such crimes? In my world... she'd have been given an award (and a free firearm) for her actions. Additional points if she had actually USED the knife on one of these feckless, walking accidents. The key to the city if she castrates one or both of them!
Get it through your heads NOW! The "state" is not going to protect you! YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/6957682/Myleene-Klass-warned-by-police-after-scaring-off-intruders-with-knife.html
Myleene Klass warned by police after scaring off intruders with knife
Myleene Klass, the broadcaster and model, brandished a knife at youths who broke into her garden – but has been warned by police that she may have acted illegally.
Miss Klass, a model for Marks & Spencer and a former singer with the pop group Hear'Say, was in her kitchen in the early hours of Friday when she saw two teenagers behaving suspiciously in her garden.
The youths approached the kitchen window, before attempting to break into her garden shed, prompting Miss Klass to wave a kitchen knife to scare them away.
Miss Klass, 31, who was alone in her house in Potters Bar, Herts, with her two-year-old daughter, Ava, called the police. When they arrived at her house they informed her that she should not have used a knife to scare off the youths because carrying an "offensive weapon" – even in her own home – was illegal.
Jonathan Shalit, Miss Klass's agent, said that had been "shaken and utterly terrified" by the incident and was stepping up security at the house she shares with her fiancé, Graham Quinn, who was away on business at the time.
He said: "Myleene was aghast when she was told that the law did not allow her to defend herself in her own home. All she did was scream loudly and wave the knife to try and frighten them off.
"She is not looking to be a vigilante, and has the utmost respect for the law, but when the police explained to her that even if you're at home alone and you have an intruder, you are not allowed to protect yourself, she was bemused.
"Her questions going forward are: what are my rights, and what are you actually allowed to do to defend yourself in your own house?"
The Sunday Telegraph's Right to Defend Yourself campaign is seeking a change in the law to provide greater rights and immunity from prosecution for householders in dealing with intruders.
Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said: "This incident just shows why things are still very confused on this issue and why we need a change in the law."
A spokesman for Hertfordshire Police said: "We got a call at 12.45am on Saturday to reports of the owner of the property hearing noises outside their address.
"Officers were in attendance and checked the property.
"There was no one around although they could see footprints in the snow. No property had been taken and there were no intruders. It was treated as a trespass incident.
"Words of advice were given in relation to ensuring suspicious behaviour is reported immediately."
Friday, January 8, 2010
Moving the Force-Time Curve to the Left
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com
Twenty years ago, strength training was considered taboo for martial artists.
Today, it is gaining in popularity, despite the fact that it is rarely carried out in a rational manner. Due to strong influences from the world of bodybuilding, most martial artists are only getting half the potential benefit that strength training has to offer.
Specificity and Strength Training
Virtually all martial arts depend upon the ability to develop force very rapidly. Technically, the rapid execution of a technique results in more damage to the target. Tactically, rapidly executed techniques have a greater chance of landing, since they are more difficult to defend against than slower movements. From a defensive point of view, rapidly performed blocks and parries, as well as defensive footwork, are made more effective if executed rapidly.
Strength training for sports normally progresses through three phases: hypertrophy (muscle mass), absolute strength (the most force that can be produced irregardless of time required), and finally, speed strength (the ability to develop force rapidly). In the case of the martial arts, most athletes spend most or all of their time developing hypertrophy. A few progress to methods designed to develop absolute strength. Fewer still venture into speed-strength territory.
Critical to this article is the concept that the ability to develop high levels of force (such as displayed during a 400 pound bench press) is not as important as the ability to develop a high level of force within a very short (less than a second) period of time. The development of muscle mass and absolute strength are important because they form the foundation for speed-strength, but by themselves, they are next to worthless.
Hypertrophy Training
Sometimes called "the bodybuilding method," hypertrophy training involves the use of moderate (between 70 and 85 percent of maximum) loads for sets of between 5 and 10 repetitions. Such loads provoke an increase in protein synthesis within the muscle cells, leading to an enlargement of the existing muscle tissue.
This enlargement is the first step in developing speedstrength, since increases in muscle cross-section are highly correlated to increases in absolute strength. An athlete stays in the hypertrophy phase for as long as is necessary and/or appropriate— while hypertrophy is a necessary first step, too much of it can be counter-productive (i.e., growing out of your weight class, or developing flexibility deficits, etc.). When the desired level of hypertrophy is developed, the athlete moves on to absolute strength training methods. Note: Athletes should increase protein intake while in this phase to help the body resynthesize muscle tissue.
Training for Absolute Strength
Absolute strength is developed through the use of high (85+ percent of maximum) loads. Repetitions range from 1 to 4. Such training improves neurological efficiency, or the ability to recruit higher percentages of existing muscle fibers. Fast twitch muscle is preferentially recruited over slow twitch fibers at this intensity range. The development of absolute strength is considered to be a prerequisite to speed-strength, but this training method should only be attempted by mature, experienced athletes, due to the high loads involved.
Developing Speed-strength: Moving the Time-force Curve to the Left
Once absolute strength is brought to a high level, the next task is to move the force time curve over to the left. Several methods can be used for this purpose: plyometrics, the use of modified Olympic lifts, and the lifting of submaximal (70 to 80 percent of maximum) weights at a high rate of speed. The emphasis is on improving the rate of force development (R.O.F.D.).
During the period of time devoted to speed-strength work, one can expect gains in hypertrophy and absolute strength to degrade to a certain degree. For this reason, a rationally designed training program will constantly alternate between phases devoted to hypertrophy, absolute strength, and speedstrength, in that order.
For mature athletes who already have sufficient muscle mass, the hypertrophy phase will be greatly abbreviated, however. For competitive martial artists, training cycles are planned so that the speedstrength phase coincides with the competitive season. In this way, sport-specific strength is brought to a peak when it is needed most.
Strength as a Means to an End
I caution the reader to remember that strength, as a component of physical preparation, is not an end but a means to an end. It simply allows the martial artist to achieve high results on the technical and tactical levels of preparation, and thus, to a high level of psychological preparedness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About The Author
Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
Click here to visit Charles' site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with "Escalating Density Training," Charles' revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.
http://www.staleytrainingprograms.com
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com
Twenty years ago, strength training was considered taboo for martial artists.
Today, it is gaining in popularity, despite the fact that it is rarely carried out in a rational manner. Due to strong influences from the world of bodybuilding, most martial artists are only getting half the potential benefit that strength training has to offer.
Specificity and Strength Training
Virtually all martial arts depend upon the ability to develop force very rapidly. Technically, the rapid execution of a technique results in more damage to the target. Tactically, rapidly executed techniques have a greater chance of landing, since they are more difficult to defend against than slower movements. From a defensive point of view, rapidly performed blocks and parries, as well as defensive footwork, are made more effective if executed rapidly.
Strength training for sports normally progresses through three phases: hypertrophy (muscle mass), absolute strength (the most force that can be produced irregardless of time required), and finally, speed strength (the ability to develop force rapidly). In the case of the martial arts, most athletes spend most or all of their time developing hypertrophy. A few progress to methods designed to develop absolute strength. Fewer still venture into speed-strength territory.
Critical to this article is the concept that the ability to develop high levels of force (such as displayed during a 400 pound bench press) is not as important as the ability to develop a high level of force within a very short (less than a second) period of time. The development of muscle mass and absolute strength are important because they form the foundation for speed-strength, but by themselves, they are next to worthless.
Hypertrophy Training
Sometimes called "the bodybuilding method," hypertrophy training involves the use of moderate (between 70 and 85 percent of maximum) loads for sets of between 5 and 10 repetitions. Such loads provoke an increase in protein synthesis within the muscle cells, leading to an enlargement of the existing muscle tissue.
This enlargement is the first step in developing speedstrength, since increases in muscle cross-section are highly correlated to increases in absolute strength. An athlete stays in the hypertrophy phase for as long as is necessary and/or appropriate— while hypertrophy is a necessary first step, too much of it can be counter-productive (i.e., growing out of your weight class, or developing flexibility deficits, etc.). When the desired level of hypertrophy is developed, the athlete moves on to absolute strength training methods. Note: Athletes should increase protein intake while in this phase to help the body resynthesize muscle tissue.
Training for Absolute Strength
Absolute strength is developed through the use of high (85+ percent of maximum) loads. Repetitions range from 1 to 4. Such training improves neurological efficiency, or the ability to recruit higher percentages of existing muscle fibers. Fast twitch muscle is preferentially recruited over slow twitch fibers at this intensity range. The development of absolute strength is considered to be a prerequisite to speed-strength, but this training method should only be attempted by mature, experienced athletes, due to the high loads involved.
Developing Speed-strength: Moving the Time-force Curve to the Left
Once absolute strength is brought to a high level, the next task is to move the force time curve over to the left. Several methods can be used for this purpose: plyometrics, the use of modified Olympic lifts, and the lifting of submaximal (70 to 80 percent of maximum) weights at a high rate of speed. The emphasis is on improving the rate of force development (R.O.F.D.).
During the period of time devoted to speed-strength work, one can expect gains in hypertrophy and absolute strength to degrade to a certain degree. For this reason, a rationally designed training program will constantly alternate between phases devoted to hypertrophy, absolute strength, and speedstrength, in that order.
For mature athletes who already have sufficient muscle mass, the hypertrophy phase will be greatly abbreviated, however. For competitive martial artists, training cycles are planned so that the speedstrength phase coincides with the competitive season. In this way, sport-specific strength is brought to a peak when it is needed most.
Strength as a Means to an End
I caution the reader to remember that strength, as a component of physical preparation, is not an end but a means to an end. It simply allows the martial artist to achieve high results on the technical and tactical levels of preparation, and thus, to a high level of psychological preparedness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About The Author
Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
Click here to visit Charles' site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with "Escalating Density Training," Charles' revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.
http://www.staleytrainingprograms.com
Thank GOD!
It's Friday!!! One more week of this fippen' nonsense & I'm a free man! After hearing about yesterdays meeting I'm almost regretting missing it. Almost. The Project Manager had no idea about the empty tester positions not being filled. Hmmm... "I've been trying to keep a "hands off" policy going." Well... you're now going to see how well that worked out. Good grief!
The work load is going to bury whomever remains there. I would actually advise people to begin looking elsewhere. I 'm not sure how much others are earning (I'm probably one of th e lowest paid testers in the group now) but they cannot be paying enough to endure this type of idiocy.
I honestly do not know what these people are thinking. Eventually the test load will be aroud 700... all expected to be completed within the same three-day period. It's physically IMPOSSIBLE to do!
The work load is going to bury whomever remains there. I would actually advise people to begin looking elsewhere. I 'm not sure how much others are earning (I'm probably one of th e lowest paid testers in the group now) but they cannot be paying enough to endure this type of idiocy.
I honestly do not know what these people are thinking. Eventually the test load will be aroud 700... all expected to be completed within the same three-day period. It's physically IMPOSSIBLE to do!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A Note About Work...
The end of my current contract comes up on January 18th. I can taste it! It's not that I'm anxious to be unemployed; although I keep hearing all about how the economy is "turning around" (360 degrees?)I still suspect that while job losses may be slowing, hiring has not yet picked up. The fact is that the management of this team seems ot have degraded to a point where it's practically nonexistant.
Over a month ago, we lost one tester. They do not intend on replacing him. I shall be departing in less than two weeks. They also do not plan on replacing me. Nor do they plan on replacing the young woman who will be following me out six weeks later. This effectively eliminates 30% of their testing team... and 60% of those who do the device-based testing.
Yet they are adding tests; both manual and semi-automated. Today they added over 40 and the official count will be in excess of 140. These will have been added and approved by the end of January. It makes no sense whatsoever to me to decrease manpower and increase the workload. It is NOT astable business model.
Things are already to a point where we are unable to meet the current deadlines for weekly test pass completion. They should be well aware of this fact, given that they have adequate records of the hours we're spending each day on the seperate tasks. Yet the more closely they monitor performance and throughput, the less realistic the demands becomes.
Since we have not been allowed to work overtime, except in extremely rare instances, I have been stacking my hours at the beginning of the week to facilitate completion of the manual test pass.
The test passes normally begin on Fridays... but by that time I'm already at the end of a full 40-hour work week and cannot add additional time. This actually puts me nearly a full day behind in completing my portion of the test pass.
This week I elected to put an end to this practice. It became obvious that doing this made it difficult to apply enough hours to investigate issues with other tests I am responsible for running. In addition to this... the practice was FUTILE! With the additional tests being added both to the manual test pass as well as the End-to-End tests that I run daily, there simply are not enough hours within the week to do proper follow up, bug investigation and reproduction steps.
At this point I realized it was rather pointless to rob myself of work hours from one day in a forlorn endeavor to accomplish the impossible. This... not so much because I have such a short time remaining... but because as my time winds down, the stress of this battle has made me reassess the relationship between we testers and our employer.
The uninspired, doing the unappreciated for the ungrateful.
I think I've ranted a few times about the attitudes of some of the more obtuse individuals that we're forced to deal with. It's getting worse. As the pressure mounts to solve critical bug and break issues, certain personnel on the development side are becomming more difficult to tolerate. Their abusive and disrespectful behavior is childish and shows me just how pathetic the average clown in this industry truly is.
I hate it more every day I'm here. True, I'll be gone soon and I have no interest in coming back. Still, though I have such a low level of esteem for the majority of these people and their pointless creations, I'm still committed to doing what is expected of me... to a point. That point... is 40-hours per week, at 8-hours per day. Not a minute more or less.
I can hardly be expected to singlehandedly churn out 500+ tests (though it's becomming obvious that I was getting the largest share of tests assigned as well as completed) and if by my not being present, the entire prospect becomes hopeless... then they aren't paying me enough.
No... I'm not going to rob my own, proivate schedule any longer ot meet their ridiculous demands. I'm not responsible for thier lack of capacity to manage their personnel. People earning three to four times what I do are... screwing the pooch and I do not intend on paying the consequences.
Over a month ago, we lost one tester. They do not intend on replacing him. I shall be departing in less than two weeks. They also do not plan on replacing me. Nor do they plan on replacing the young woman who will be following me out six weeks later. This effectively eliminates 30% of their testing team... and 60% of those who do the device-based testing.
Yet they are adding tests; both manual and semi-automated. Today they added over 40 and the official count will be in excess of 140. These will have been added and approved by the end of January. It makes no sense whatsoever to me to decrease manpower and increase the workload. It is NOT astable business model.
Things are already to a point where we are unable to meet the current deadlines for weekly test pass completion. They should be well aware of this fact, given that they have adequate records of the hours we're spending each day on the seperate tasks. Yet the more closely they monitor performance and throughput, the less realistic the demands becomes.
Since we have not been allowed to work overtime, except in extremely rare instances, I have been stacking my hours at the beginning of the week to facilitate completion of the manual test pass.
By "stacking" I'm working longer shifts: 10 to 12 hours per day on Mondays and Tuesdays in order to provide sufficient time to complete the tests by EOD Tuesday.
The test passes normally begin on Fridays... but by that time I'm already at the end of a full 40-hour work week and cannot add additional time. This actually puts me nearly a full day behind in completing my portion of the test pass.
This week I elected to put an end to this practice. It became obvious that doing this made it difficult to apply enough hours to investigate issues with other tests I am responsible for running. In addition to this... the practice was FUTILE! With the additional tests being added both to the manual test pass as well as the End-to-End tests that I run daily, there simply are not enough hours within the week to do proper follow up, bug investigation and reproduction steps.
At this point I realized it was rather pointless to rob myself of work hours from one day in a forlorn endeavor to accomplish the impossible. This... not so much because I have such a short time remaining... but because as my time winds down, the stress of this battle has made me reassess the relationship between we testers and our employer.
The uninspired, doing the unappreciated for the ungrateful.
I think I've ranted a few times about the attitudes of some of the more obtuse individuals that we're forced to deal with. It's getting worse. As the pressure mounts to solve critical bug and break issues, certain personnel on the development side are becomming more difficult to tolerate. Their abusive and disrespectful behavior is childish and shows me just how pathetic the average clown in this industry truly is.
I hate it more every day I'm here. True, I'll be gone soon and I have no interest in coming back. Still, though I have such a low level of esteem for the majority of these people and their pointless creations, I'm still committed to doing what is expected of me... to a point. That point... is 40-hours per week, at 8-hours per day. Not a minute more or less.
I can hardly be expected to singlehandedly churn out 500+ tests (though it's becomming obvious that I was getting the largest share of tests assigned as well as completed) and if by my not being present, the entire prospect becomes hopeless... then they aren't paying me enough.
No... I'm not going to rob my own, proivate schedule any longer ot meet their ridiculous demands. I'm not responsible for thier lack of capacity to manage their personnel. People earning three to four times what I do are... screwing the pooch and I do not intend on paying the consequences.
AS TIMES GET TOUGH, YOU HAD BETTER GET TOUGH, TOO!
© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
WE have said this before, and it bears repeating. As times become more and more difficult, trying, and — yes — dangerous, it is crucial that decent, civilized people become more aware of the absolute need to acquire and develop the knowledge, skills, and practical capability of taking care of themselves. Nothing will pay you back more lavishly for your time, energy, thought, and money spent than will taking quality training in the art of close combat and self-defense. Anyone looking objectively at the deterioration of our inner cities, at the proliferation of mindless gang and random thug violence and violation, even (and this is, perhaps, more of a direct threat to some than it is to others) terrorism, will appreciate that being able to handle dangerous violence — and possessing the great blessing of that self-confidence that enables you to feel inside that you CAN defend and protect yourself and your loved ones if ever you find that you must — has become a “necessity” for modern living.
There was a time of course in the history of the United States of America when self-reliance and self-confidence, which were born in the rugged frontier and so-called "wild West" experience of our people, were attributes that were taken for granted. Dodge City and Tombstone had no strip mall karate studios, and the terms "judo", "ju-jutsu", and "kung fu" were — literally — foreign words that practically no one on this continent had ever heard before, let alone knew the meaning of. Yet, the typical American male of the era was probably twice as tough and ten times better able to handle himself in a fight (with or without weapons!) than today‘s statistically average "martial arts black belt holder".
Not only our Country, but all of civilized Western society has lost a great deal insofar as the basic, manly virtues are concerned. We speak directly about America only because we are an American, we live here, and we know more about our Country than we do about any other.
One of our beloved teachers, the late Charlie Nelson, was fond of saying that "When they cleaned up the Indians, men didn‘t think they needed to be men anymore!" Well, obviously Charlie did not mean that as a slam on Native Americans, per se . . . he was speaking only in terms that many post-WWII citizens of New York City could relate to at the time (1950‘s). Urbanized kids such as ourself had grown up as little children watching cowboy and indian battles on TV, and watching westerns in which strong, tough MEN actually fought with and beat "bad guys". The old cliché about "white hats vs. black hats" — symbolizing good in the former, and evil in the latter — however trite, at least kept matters clear. To a boy growing up when we did, it was self-evident that thrashing — or even killing — the bad guy was not only "allowable", but actually necessary. or bad guys would get away with their deeds. And, at least in the America of the 1950‘s, that was unthinkable.
As America matured, so did her concept of the "good guy". Eventually, the good guy wore black. Paladin (“Have Gun - Will Travel) epitomized the more sophisticated, educated, yet tough-as-nails hero in the TV western of the late 1950‘s/early 60‘s. Paladin spoke articulately, behaved with impeccable manners, and was as comfortable in a San Francisco drawing room as he was in a tough border town, drawing on hardened gunslingers. One might say that Paladin was a kind of "cowboy version of James Bond".
Today — in the first decade of the 21st century — the entire culture of America, and of Western civilization, has been turned on its head. Whereas, in the America of the 1950‘s kids in the Bronx could bring their .22 rimfire target rifles to school to participate in the school‘s shooting club, in 2009 schools lock down and call for a SWAT team if a child brings so much as a toy GI Joe handgun to class, or — Heaven forbid! — if he draws a picture of a firearm, or points a finger in playful emulation of a handgun, at another child.
School bullies often got their comeuppance from their intended victims, because sooner or later each of those little bastards ran into the wrong kid to victimize; and after getting the you-know-what rightfully beaten the hell out of him, the teacher, school official, or other authority figure who appeared on the scene asked only, "Who started it?". When the facts were presented and it became evident that some lousy little trouble-making son-of-a-bitch had merely suffered the retaliatory violence of the child whom it was his intention to torment, the defender got an “ATTA BOY!” rather than that which the miserable cowards and negligent school officials impose upon a child who defends himself today: i.e. suspension. "It‘s just as wrong to fight in self-defense as it is to start a fight," is a philosophical concept that would — during the first half of America‘s 20th century — have elicited the response it deserves: absolute, utter, unforgiving CONTEMPT!
The "hero" of today‘s unfortunate child (and children ARE unfortunate to be saddled with the prospect of endeavoring to grow up healthfully in today’s climate) is a gender-challenged wimpoid who snickers and scowls, and has "conflicts" with his neighbors over the type of flower he keeps in the pot on his windowsill.
Disgusting.
With precious few exceptions we have come to the point where the American male — once a right-thinking, tough, standup guy who used common sense, knew right from wrong, and was ready, willing, and able to fight and win when the need arose, and it became imperative to do battle against evil (instead of merely to talk about it, or to listen to political scum make speeches about it) — is rarely able to do more than simply shrink in the face of a threat, today. The Dalton gang was blasted out of their saddles by THE CITIZENS OF THE LAST TOWN THAT THEY ATTEMPTED TO RAID. What the hell is done when street gangs and ten-for-a-penny punk-scum undertake to extort, mug, invade the homes of, and otherwise terrorize American citizens today? Hell, even the police do little more than establish "gang units" where cops are expected to reason with, develop a rapport with, and (we‘d suppose) get in touch with the softer, gentler side of these predatory subhumans, instead of joining together with the citizens whom it is their sworn duty to protect and serve, and shooting these vicious monsters down! Make no mistake about this, either: There are still a lot of good cops in our Nation‘s departments who‘d love nothing better than to do exactly that which needs doing, but the “official policy” that guides them forbids it.
While it is not necessarily true that "violence begets violence", it certainly OUGHT to be true! It should be the case that anyone who unjustifiably offers violence to an innocent human being begets a whole hell of a lot more violence right back in his damn face and down his damn throat than he is able to cope with!!
Contrast the attitude and response of America when Pearl Harbor was attacked with the response of the citizenry when this Nation suffered an attack on 11 September 2001. We did not expect our soldiers, sailors, and marines to read zen classics and begin eating with chopsticks in the mess halls. We were aroused to a fighting pitch (as we should have been), and we were, AS A UNIFIED PEOPLE PROMPTED BY COMMON SENSE OUTRAGE , out for blood!
When we say that these tough times demand that you get tough in order to survive them, we do not mean that you should become belligerent, rude, aggressive, or antisocial. What we mean is that you need to become self-reliant, rugged, strong, competent, confident, and capable in regard to matters pertaining to the defense of yourself and those whom you love. You need to acquire physical and mental strength, to cultivate courage, and to acquire those skills that will insure that you will not be hopelessly terrified, paralyzed by panic, and unable to take necessary, decisive action if and when some dangerous emergency makes it necessary for YOU to take immediate action. Even insofar as mere psychological conflicts are concerned, there is nothing that will propel you further ahead toward the self-confidence, poise, and inner strength that you need in order to cope, than realistic training in close combat and self-defense, coupled with progressive, serious physical training.
In over 45 years of teaching self-defense and physical training we have had the great pleasure of seeing people we trained grow stronger, straighter, more confident, braver, and become infinitely better equipped to deal with all of life‘s trials and tribulations —not only emergency self-defense situations — as a result of their training with us. They became TOUGHER.
Today, it does not take a genius to see and feel that our entire social order and culture has changed, and changed for the worst. One person cannot alter the course that America or the world is on, but every individual has at least a fighting chance to improve his ability to deal with what is coming upon us, and to prepare himself to defend his person, his private interests, and those he loves.
A "fighting chance" is of course greatly enhanced when one acquires the mental, physical, tactical, and technical means of fighting. It should be a priority on your list of things to get started in, right away.
Make this New Year the year that you do something about becoming able to defend yourself. If you‘ve "always wanted to", then why haven't you? And what are you still waiting for?
No one can foretell what sudden emergency you may need to face in the months and years ahead. Get tough now, make sure that — whatever it may be — if it does come to you, you‘re ready.
----
Bradley J. Steiner
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
WE have said this before, and it bears repeating. As times become more and more difficult, trying, and — yes — dangerous, it is crucial that decent, civilized people become more aware of the absolute need to acquire and develop the knowledge, skills, and practical capability of taking care of themselves. Nothing will pay you back more lavishly for your time, energy, thought, and money spent than will taking quality training in the art of close combat and self-defense. Anyone looking objectively at the deterioration of our inner cities, at the proliferation of mindless gang and random thug violence and violation, even (and this is, perhaps, more of a direct threat to some than it is to others) terrorism, will appreciate that being able to handle dangerous violence — and possessing the great blessing of that self-confidence that enables you to feel inside that you CAN defend and protect yourself and your loved ones if ever you find that you must — has become a “necessity” for modern living.
There was a time of course in the history of the United States of America when self-reliance and self-confidence, which were born in the rugged frontier and so-called "wild West" experience of our people, were attributes that were taken for granted. Dodge City and Tombstone had no strip mall karate studios, and the terms "judo", "ju-jutsu", and "kung fu" were — literally — foreign words that practically no one on this continent had ever heard before, let alone knew the meaning of. Yet, the typical American male of the era was probably twice as tough and ten times better able to handle himself in a fight (with or without weapons!) than today‘s statistically average "martial arts black belt holder".
Not only our Country, but all of civilized Western society has lost a great deal insofar as the basic, manly virtues are concerned. We speak directly about America only because we are an American, we live here, and we know more about our Country than we do about any other.
One of our beloved teachers, the late Charlie Nelson, was fond of saying that "When they cleaned up the Indians, men didn‘t think they needed to be men anymore!" Well, obviously Charlie did not mean that as a slam on Native Americans, per se . . . he was speaking only in terms that many post-WWII citizens of New York City could relate to at the time (1950‘s). Urbanized kids such as ourself had grown up as little children watching cowboy and indian battles on TV, and watching westerns in which strong, tough MEN actually fought with and beat "bad guys". The old cliché about "white hats vs. black hats" — symbolizing good in the former, and evil in the latter — however trite, at least kept matters clear. To a boy growing up when we did, it was self-evident that thrashing — or even killing — the bad guy was not only "allowable", but actually necessary. or bad guys would get away with their deeds. And, at least in the America of the 1950‘s, that was unthinkable.
As America matured, so did her concept of the "good guy". Eventually, the good guy wore black. Paladin (“Have Gun - Will Travel) epitomized the more sophisticated, educated, yet tough-as-nails hero in the TV western of the late 1950‘s/early 60‘s. Paladin spoke articulately, behaved with impeccable manners, and was as comfortable in a San Francisco drawing room as he was in a tough border town, drawing on hardened gunslingers. One might say that Paladin was a kind of "cowboy version of James Bond".
Today — in the first decade of the 21st century — the entire culture of America, and of Western civilization, has been turned on its head. Whereas, in the America of the 1950‘s kids in the Bronx could bring their .22 rimfire target rifles to school to participate in the school‘s shooting club, in 2009 schools lock down and call for a SWAT team if a child brings so much as a toy GI Joe handgun to class, or — Heaven forbid! — if he draws a picture of a firearm, or points a finger in playful emulation of a handgun, at another child.
School bullies often got their comeuppance from their intended victims, because sooner or later each of those little bastards ran into the wrong kid to victimize; and after getting the you-know-what rightfully beaten the hell out of him, the teacher, school official, or other authority figure who appeared on the scene asked only, "Who started it?". When the facts were presented and it became evident that some lousy little trouble-making son-of-a-bitch had merely suffered the retaliatory violence of the child whom it was his intention to torment, the defender got an “ATTA BOY!” rather than that which the miserable cowards and negligent school officials impose upon a child who defends himself today: i.e. suspension. "It‘s just as wrong to fight in self-defense as it is to start a fight," is a philosophical concept that would — during the first half of America‘s 20th century — have elicited the response it deserves: absolute, utter, unforgiving CONTEMPT!
The "hero" of today‘s unfortunate child (and children ARE unfortunate to be saddled with the prospect of endeavoring to grow up healthfully in today’s climate) is a gender-challenged wimpoid who snickers and scowls, and has "conflicts" with his neighbors over the type of flower he keeps in the pot on his windowsill.
Disgusting.
With precious few exceptions we have come to the point where the American male — once a right-thinking, tough, standup guy who used common sense, knew right from wrong, and was ready, willing, and able to fight and win when the need arose, and it became imperative to do battle against evil (instead of merely to talk about it, or to listen to political scum make speeches about it) — is rarely able to do more than simply shrink in the face of a threat, today. The Dalton gang was blasted out of their saddles by THE CITIZENS OF THE LAST TOWN THAT THEY ATTEMPTED TO RAID. What the hell is done when street gangs and ten-for-a-penny punk-scum undertake to extort, mug, invade the homes of, and otherwise terrorize American citizens today? Hell, even the police do little more than establish "gang units" where cops are expected to reason with, develop a rapport with, and (we‘d suppose) get in touch with the softer, gentler side of these predatory subhumans, instead of joining together with the citizens whom it is their sworn duty to protect and serve, and shooting these vicious monsters down! Make no mistake about this, either: There are still a lot of good cops in our Nation‘s departments who‘d love nothing better than to do exactly that which needs doing, but the “official policy” that guides them forbids it.
While it is not necessarily true that "violence begets violence", it certainly OUGHT to be true! It should be the case that anyone who unjustifiably offers violence to an innocent human being begets a whole hell of a lot more violence right back in his damn face and down his damn throat than he is able to cope with!!
Contrast the attitude and response of America when Pearl Harbor was attacked with the response of the citizenry when this Nation suffered an attack on 11 September 2001. We did not expect our soldiers, sailors, and marines to read zen classics and begin eating with chopsticks in the mess halls. We were aroused to a fighting pitch (as we should have been), and we were, AS A UNIFIED PEOPLE PROMPTED BY COMMON SENSE OUTRAGE , out for blood!
When we say that these tough times demand that you get tough in order to survive them, we do not mean that you should become belligerent, rude, aggressive, or antisocial. What we mean is that you need to become self-reliant, rugged, strong, competent, confident, and capable in regard to matters pertaining to the defense of yourself and those whom you love. You need to acquire physical and mental strength, to cultivate courage, and to acquire those skills that will insure that you will not be hopelessly terrified, paralyzed by panic, and unable to take necessary, decisive action if and when some dangerous emergency makes it necessary for YOU to take immediate action. Even insofar as mere psychological conflicts are concerned, there is nothing that will propel you further ahead toward the self-confidence, poise, and inner strength that you need in order to cope, than realistic training in close combat and self-defense, coupled with progressive, serious physical training.
In over 45 years of teaching self-defense and physical training we have had the great pleasure of seeing people we trained grow stronger, straighter, more confident, braver, and become infinitely better equipped to deal with all of life‘s trials and tribulations —not only emergency self-defense situations — as a result of their training with us. They became TOUGHER.
Today, it does not take a genius to see and feel that our entire social order and culture has changed, and changed for the worst. One person cannot alter the course that America or the world is on, but every individual has at least a fighting chance to improve his ability to deal with what is coming upon us, and to prepare himself to defend his person, his private interests, and those he loves.
A "fighting chance" is of course greatly enhanced when one acquires the mental, physical, tactical, and technical means of fighting. It should be a priority on your list of things to get started in, right away.
Make this New Year the year that you do something about becoming able to defend yourself. If you‘ve "always wanted to", then why haven't you? And what are you still waiting for?
No one can foretell what sudden emergency you may need to face in the months and years ahead. Get tough now, make sure that — whatever it may be — if it does come to you, you‘re ready.
----
Bradley J. Steiner
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Involuntary Occurrences In Combat
© COPYRIGHT 2009 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – December 2009 Issue
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
A correspondent who is involved in combat handgun training wrote that he wanted to know the scoop on correct trigger control. He had been told by an instructor at a rather well-know shooting facility that "one must squeeze the trigger and achieve a 'surprise break‘ when engaging an enemy in combat". We must add that this was taught in conjunction with the idea that, while applying this trigger squeeze, he was also to keep his eye on the front sight.
Having been a personal, certified student of the late Jeff Cooper (who promulgated the ideas which this shooting school is touting) as well as a student of the late Col. Rex Applegate and a student of a man who had trained personally under William Fairbairn, during WWII, I know the fallacy inherent in what my correspondent was taught at the shooting school.
The method of handgun employment that Jeff Cooper promoted, and that is still in some circles being promoted, is a competition, sporting method. It was in fact DEVELOPED DIRECTLY AS A RESULT OF COMPETITIVE SHOOTING EXPERIENCE, NOT AS A RESULT OF STUDYING OR PARTICIPATING IN COMBAT. The method taught by Fairbairn and Applegate (which Applegate personally certified us to teach) WAS developed directly as a result of experiences in and studies of real world close combat handgun shooting.
In actual close combat one cannot "squeeze" a trigger, deliberately. One PULLS the trigger. One cannot "focus on the front sight", either. NOT AT CLOSE RANGES, WHERE ACTUAL ENCOUNTERS USING HANDGUNS OCCUR. Focusing on the sights and squeezing the trigger while breathing slowly is appropriate for deliberate aimed and sighted DISTANCE firing — of both handguns and shoulder weapons. But in combat at ranges of about 20 feet or less, one‘s organism functions in a manner that precludes certain actions from being employed. Competition shooting (just like competition unarmed sporting "combat") DOES NOT CORRELATE IN THE LEAST WITH ACTUAL COMBAT.
Professionals know this, and while others continue to believe that what one can do and accomplish on the mat or on the range is identical with that which is suitable to BATTLE, the truth remains true. You cannot function in close combat using fine motor articulations, elaborate and complex movements, or actions that assume conditions and circumstances that can only be assured in a sporting or in a competitive venue.
We do not now see, and have never seen, that any conflict need exist between sporting training and participation, and combat training. However, many continue to feel that it does. This misleads a lot of people who are led to accept that what they train in for competition (armed or/and unarmed) translates into what ought to be developed for close combat and self-defense.
Nothing could be further from the truth, and the widespread belief (encouraged, unfortunately, by the mainstream periodicals which exist solely to sell magazines and advertisers‘ products) that "competition" prepares one for "combat" remains NONSENSE.
Please remember when you train that the following occurs INVOLUNTARILY in a close combat situation. It does not occur until or unless the organism feels itself to be in imminent serious danger. And while in many instances no heed need be paid whatever to the following factors during controlled practice (unarmed and hand-to-hand work, or armed range firing or practice drill with knives and sticks, etc.) unless one accepts their reality when selecting which methods to train in, one will not be able to use those methods for real.
1. In any hand-to-hand and close combat situation one loses the ability to employ fine motor skills. Only gross body movements are possible.
2. One invariably locks on visually to an enemy in close combat. and can see nothing else. Psychologists call this the ―peripheral optic dysfunction phenomenon‖.
3. Adrenaline surges through one‘s system as one‘s blood pressure soars. This precludes doing ANYTHING complicated, but facilitates anything of a gross muscle nature being employed. Example: One would not be able to dial the phone for assistance while a home invader was charging one from a distance of three feet. But one WOULD be able to pick up the phone and smash it into the invader‘s face!
We always elaborate upon these and other factors when teaching, and the articles that we post on www.seattlecombatives.com emphasize these and other relevant points, constantly. For right now, PLEASE, just appreciate what we‘re saying. We speak not merely from our personal lifetime of study, training, and experience, but from and for that which hundreds of real world combatants (in military, law enforcement, protective service, and intelligence functions) have documented.
If, may God forbid, you ever find yourself embroiled in a life-threatening situation where you must employ close combat an self-defense skills to save yourself and perhaps a loved one, you will then know the truth of that about which we speak, teach, and write.
Please don‘t wait for that to happen.
Sword and Pen – December 2009 Issue
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
A correspondent who is involved in combat handgun training wrote that he wanted to know the scoop on correct trigger control. He had been told by an instructor at a rather well-know shooting facility that "one must squeeze the trigger and achieve a 'surprise break‘ when engaging an enemy in combat". We must add that this was taught in conjunction with the idea that, while applying this trigger squeeze, he was also to keep his eye on the front sight.
Having been a personal, certified student of the late Jeff Cooper (who promulgated the ideas which this shooting school is touting) as well as a student of the late Col. Rex Applegate and a student of a man who had trained personally under William Fairbairn, during WWII, I know the fallacy inherent in what my correspondent was taught at the shooting school.
The method of handgun employment that Jeff Cooper promoted, and that is still in some circles being promoted, is a competition, sporting method. It was in fact DEVELOPED DIRECTLY AS A RESULT OF COMPETITIVE SHOOTING EXPERIENCE, NOT AS A RESULT OF STUDYING OR PARTICIPATING IN COMBAT. The method taught by Fairbairn and Applegate (which Applegate personally certified us to teach) WAS developed directly as a result of experiences in and studies of real world close combat handgun shooting.
In actual close combat one cannot "squeeze" a trigger, deliberately. One PULLS the trigger. One cannot "focus on the front sight", either. NOT AT CLOSE RANGES, WHERE ACTUAL ENCOUNTERS USING HANDGUNS OCCUR. Focusing on the sights and squeezing the trigger while breathing slowly is appropriate for deliberate aimed and sighted DISTANCE firing — of both handguns and shoulder weapons. But in combat at ranges of about 20 feet or less, one‘s organism functions in a manner that precludes certain actions from being employed. Competition shooting (just like competition unarmed sporting "combat") DOES NOT CORRELATE IN THE LEAST WITH ACTUAL COMBAT.
Professionals know this, and while others continue to believe that what one can do and accomplish on the mat or on the range is identical with that which is suitable to BATTLE, the truth remains true. You cannot function in close combat using fine motor articulations, elaborate and complex movements, or actions that assume conditions and circumstances that can only be assured in a sporting or in a competitive venue.
We do not now see, and have never seen, that any conflict need exist between sporting training and participation, and combat training. However, many continue to feel that it does. This misleads a lot of people who are led to accept that what they train in for competition (armed or/and unarmed) translates into what ought to be developed for close combat and self-defense.
Nothing could be further from the truth, and the widespread belief (encouraged, unfortunately, by the mainstream periodicals which exist solely to sell magazines and advertisers‘ products) that "competition" prepares one for "combat" remains NONSENSE.
Please remember when you train that the following occurs INVOLUNTARILY in a close combat situation. It does not occur until or unless the organism feels itself to be in imminent serious danger. And while in many instances no heed need be paid whatever to the following factors during controlled practice (unarmed and hand-to-hand work, or armed range firing or practice drill with knives and sticks, etc.) unless one accepts their reality when selecting which methods to train in, one will not be able to use those methods for real.
1. In any hand-to-hand and close combat situation one loses the ability to employ fine motor skills. Only gross body movements are possible.
2. One invariably locks on visually to an enemy in close combat. and can see nothing else. Psychologists call this the ―peripheral optic dysfunction phenomenon‖.
3. Adrenaline surges through one‘s system as one‘s blood pressure soars. This precludes doing ANYTHING complicated, but facilitates anything of a gross muscle nature being employed. Example: One would not be able to dial the phone for assistance while a home invader was charging one from a distance of three feet. But one WOULD be able to pick up the phone and smash it into the invader‘s face!
We always elaborate upon these and other factors when teaching, and the articles that we post on www.seattlecombatives.com emphasize these and other relevant points, constantly. For right now, PLEASE, just appreciate what we‘re saying. We speak not merely from our personal lifetime of study, training, and experience, but from and for that which hundreds of real world combatants (in military, law enforcement, protective service, and intelligence functions) have documented.
If, may God forbid, you ever find yourself embroiled in a life-threatening situation where you must employ close combat an self-defense skills to save yourself and perhaps a loved one, you will then know the truth of that about which we speak, teach, and write.
Please don‘t wait for that to happen.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Quick Review...
© COPYRIGHT 2009 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – December 2009 Issue
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
Quick Review Of The Way To
Attack A Dangerous Physical Assailant
THE truth cannot be stated or emphasized often enough. And the truth, as far as real world self-defense and close combat is concerned, is that —
a) If you are to be effective, then you must be OFFENSIVE. "Defense" is a proper motive, but "offense" is the most effective means.
b) If you wish to be equipped with the proper method by which your offensive would better be launched, then you need to train in the proven BLOWS (kicks, knee attacks, strikes, gouges, jabs, smashes, bites, and butts!) of unarmed close combat, and master them as individual and as sequential attack skills.
There‘s no secret or mystery here, and we surely did not invent all of that which works in close quarters hand-to-hand combat. It is true that there are different opinions on the matter of what truly constitute the best and most reliable techniques for individual combat. However, combat experts agree on the following fundamentals:
• Fully 95% of that which comprises serious, war-adequate technical doctrine in hand-to-hand combat consists of blows (using the widest possible definition of "blows", to include biting, butting, gouging, clawing, seizing, spitting, and fingertips jabbing, etc.)
• Single, "one blow stops" are unrealistic and must never be anticipated. This is one element of traditional karate that simply makes no real sense — especially for today‘s combatant in the modern setting.
• To be effective in self-defense OR in offense, you must be ATTACK MINDED. This is not a contradiction at all, as far as "self-defense" goes. Like we first said and wrote in the early 1970‘s: When you are attacked, you must attack your attacker!
• Competition has nothing to do with combat. There are no rules in combat; anything goes.
• Good tactics and sound mental conditioning are vital, and the specific kind of tactics and mental conditioning that are required in real combat bear no relation to those that enable a man to win in contest competition.
• There is never any guarantee that anything will work flawlessly, or that predictable outcomes are possible in close combat. LUCK is an important factor.
With all of that rather grim preliminary material understood, we can now proceed to explain some of the key actions that might save your life if, God forbid, you ever find yourself facing the prospect of death or disablement at the hands of one or more violent offenders.
THE SIDE KICK
This is the King of the Kicks for close combat. It is properly delivered low (never higher than the enemy‘s knee), and it is executed like a whiplash, driving the heel of the foot (preferably) or the bottom or the edge of the foot (perfectly acceptable if sturdy footwear is being worn) THROUGH — not "on" — the knee. The ideal combat side kick combines the lashing speed of the French savate kick with the driving power and destructive force of the taekwon-do side thrust kick. Unlike the customarily taught side kicks, however, the side kick in combat is NEVER directed higher than the knee. It is excellent against the shinbone, and — close-in — it will smash the instep bone of the foot by being driven downward into that vulnerable target.
In any difficult or dangerous situation when it is feasible to do so, THIS is the kick to use and to rely on! It would, literally, not be a bad idea for the student of unarmed close combat to practice several hundred side kicks whenever time and energy permit. The action of rendering this kick should become so automatic that, in a crisis, the user has lashed out and broken his assailant‘s leg before his foot sets down.
The knee is one of the most important attack points for self-defense. It is broken by 80 pounds of force counter to the joint (a measure of power that any healthy ten year old girl can learn to generate, with ease). Every assailant has TWO knees, and if he is to harm you, he must bring at least one of them into kicking range! The knees cannot be moved out of the way of a surprise kick with any amount of speed because the legs support the body. Also, the attacker is concentrating and thinking about moving in against YOU, not about the prospect of having his knee broken as he does so.
The side kick will make any wrist or arm grab (single or double) go away, pronto! In fact, when an attacker seizes your wrists or arms he is not only making himself an ideal target of the low stomping side kick, he is helping you to stay balanced and lash out by the very nature of his attack!
Every student of self-defense, whether one of our own, studying American Combato, or some other system or method, should prioritize mastery of the basic, simple, low side kick to the knee.
This is the single finest way to attack the vital knee targets, as well as the shin bones and insteps of the feet.
THE HANDAXE CHOP
While there is some controversy regarding whether the thumbs up and hand stiffened, or the more classical/traditional knifehand blow formation of the striking implement is best, there is no disputation regarding the supreme effectiveness of any form of this blow — except perhaps by individuals with no knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, hand-to-hand combat, and the history of this blow‘s value to men who do it for REAL.
The handaxe chop is the King of natural weapon strikes with the hand.
While virtually any target of the human body may be struck effectively with this blow, for serious emergencies we urge the emphasis and focus be on whipping the untelegraphed chop directly into the enemy‘s throat, neck, side of head, or face. "That‘s a pretty big target area, isn‘t it?" you might say. "You bet it is!" we‘d reply, "So have no fear of striking your man and having no effect!" In a dangerous emergency, when you know that serious injury is imminent at the hands of any troublemaker whom you are unable to avoid, GO FOR HIM WITH THAT WHIPPING HANDAXE CHOP! And keep on chopping!
The handaxe blow bears the same relation to the clenched fist that an F-22 Raptor bears to a piper cub!
One of the finest specific points to hit is the carotid artery — struck by slamming a sharp blow to either side of the windpipe, fairly close to the base of the neck. NO ONE can withstand a sharp, full power handaxe blow to the carotid artery; and this is an extremely dangerous strike. It is not always fatal, as a hard chop to the windpipe would be, but it certainly could be fatal. Our advice is: Hold this excellent technique — the handaxe chop to the facial/head/neck/throat area — in reserve for only the gravest of emergencies.
Some possible hit points, like the jaw hinge, point of chin, bridge of nose, or philtrum will probably not result in lethal injury; however the unpredictability that is inherent in all applications of serious combat moves makes it the wiser course of action to refrain from using potentially deadly strikes unless you believe that you are in a potentially deadly predicament.
THE HEEL OF HAND SMASH
The classic chinjab smash is of course a winner; however, it is not generally appreciated just how versatile and destructively practical variations of the heel of the hand blow are. We exploit every one of them in American Combato; and, for attacking certain vital target areas, we suggest that you do the same.
The basic chinjab is excellent. Use it to devastate the underside of the jaw, thus shocking (and perhaps breaking) the vertebrae in the neck, and knocking a few teeth out of the opponent‘s head while, with any luck, rendering him unconscious. Rule with the chinjab: Hit as directly UPWARD as possible, and as far and deeply UNDERNEATH the jaw as you can.
In boxing, the hook punch is very powerful and a reliable knockout shot when directed to an adversary‘s temple, or — in the ring — to the MENTAL FORAMEN nerve (which is located by placing a fingertip at the corner of the mouth and then drawing a short line straight down to the edge of the jaw). Take no risk of the almost inevitable injury to the hand that occurs when a normal fist is employed in delivering the hook, by using the HEEL of the hand as the impact point. This is a stronger and better weapon than the normal fist, and with practice provides a jarring bow that should knock most individuals senseless.
Short, driving jabs with the blow that we call the INVERTED HEELPALM STRIKE (fingers pointing downward or sideways) the liver, spleen, kidney, bladder, or pubic bones may be devastated. We have been teaching this blow for many years now and were pleased to see it demonstrated on that Fight Science show to which we alluded, earlier. These trip-hammer shots can catch an adversary quite off guard, and have the potential of dropping the biggest man like a sack of rocks!
The straight heelpalm thrust (which was a favorite "power strike" with our late friend, John McSweeney) offers another way to use the heel of the hand to good effect. While virtually any spot on the face will be effective in shocking, and usually stopping, just about anyone, we like using this blow to the EYE. Unlike a punch to the eye (that actually hits the brow and cheekbone, causing a "black eye"), the HEEL of the hand actually strikes the eyeball, itself. This is a serious and dangerous blow, and will instantly knock most men out. It also may damage the eye permanently.
Directed to the sternum, this blow was dubbed the "rock crusher" during WWII by Fairbairn. It‘s a good blow, but will only work for people with wrists that are flexible enough to permit the heel to be projected forward for impact, when the blow is delivered.
THE HAMMERFIST SMASH
The properly clenched fist can be used with greatest destructive effect when employed in a hammering as opposed to a "punching" fashion. The hammerfist smash utilizes the little finger side of the clenched fist, and the blow that is struck with this weapon is struck in a manner similar to the way in which a hammer is employed. The Japanese and Okinawans dubbed their karate version of this blow the "iron hammer" (tetsui) strike.
In unarmed combat this blow is excellent when employed in a sharp, elliptical snapping-type of smash into the bridge of the nose, temple, side of the jaw or jaw hinge, or into the kidney or brain stem (when an enemy is doubled over).
A speedy, untelegraphed snapping blow directly forward into the sternum from a nonchalant ready stance is very effective. When the opportunity and position permit, smashing the hammerfist to the bladder, pubic bones, groin, or solar plexus is good.
THE CUPPED PALMS “EAR BOX”
We have loved this blow since the first time we were introduced to it as a boy, through a copy of GET TOUGH! This is one of the most excellent basic attack methods there is. Interesting enough, the Fight Science Show had a demonstration of this blow.
The double ear box may be applied any time an attacker attempts to grab you under the arms, or pulls you in close, by the lapels. This makes for a most powerful and decisive counterattack action. The ears are the only targets for this blow.
It should always be born in mind that an attacker who has been disconcerted by any blow that causes his arms to drop and/or his head to come forward, is wide open for this strike. Also — a preemptive attack using the double ear box is excellent, but the double ear box must never, be done as the openingor first move in an attack — since it opens you up wide to action by your adversary. Once slammed in the face or throat with a handaxe chop, however, or jabbed smartly in the solar plexus by a punch, the cupped palms blow should finish the encounter succinctly.
Although rarely acknowledged, a SINGLE hand ear box is a most effective and useful blow. If the arc of the attacking limb is kept to a tight elliptical path, then the single hand ear box may, on occasion, be the opening strike in a sequence.
When an adversary has been doubled over, using the ear box as musician smashes cymbals — right in front of you, in a clapping action — is excellent. Then, GRAB THE EARS, and using the same action you would in drawing a bow, rip them off the attacker‘s head.
Another great followup when the ear box lands against an upright enemy, is to bring both thumbs forward and jab them into the enemy‘s eyes, gouging deeply. (Note: A knee to the crotch at this point is almost too good to resist applying! It will drive the thumbs deeper into the enemy‘s eyes as he lurches forward from the knee‘s contact.)
THE TIGER’S CLAW
This blow is simplicity itself. The hand formed as for a chinjab, it is directed forward and like a boxer‘s jab, it thrusts into the enemy‘s face. The fingers hit the face, and the heelpalm "collapses" onto the face, adding a blow to the claw. Get your body behind this blow and do not telegraph prior to delivery. If the situation allows, GRAB HOLD OF THE ENEMY’S FACE as the blow lands, and go after him with continued kicks, and other blows.
THE FINGERTIPS THRUST
Obviously, the EYES are key targets in self-defense. One of the simplest and best ways to attack an attacker‘s eyes is with a quick, direct, extended fingertips thrust.
We find it fascinating that Pat O‘Neill (First Special Service Force hand-to-hand combat teacher, and originator of the "O‘Neill System") and Bruce Lee both came to advocate the almost identical "one-two attack" of thrusting to the eyes with the fingertips, and then whipping a side kick into the assailant‘s leg. Lee probably never heard of Pat O‘Neill, and there is no evidence that he was ever exposed to any aspect of the wartime O‘Neill System. O‘Neill certainly never knew Bruce Lee! And, again very interestingly, the martial arts backgrounds of each of these men differed radically. Yet, when considering what works best in COMBAT, both the "grappler" (O‘Neill was a staunch judo man) and the "hitter" (Lee was a ch‘uan fa ["kung fu"] man) arrived at BLOWS OF THE HANDS AND FEET as the way to go. And what‘s more, each concluded the same thing about the same techniques: i.e that eye thrusting and low kicking were key actions.
From an off-angled stance either the foremost or the rearmost hand can be employed to thrust the fingertips directly into an enemy‘s eyes. Do not telegraph!
In many situations where an attacker moves in and applies a grip or is about to strike, a fast fingertips thrust to the eyes will neutralize his action and enable you to either escape or followup with further action.
Keep fingers relatively RELAXED when thrusting. Tension weakens the thrust.
Restrict this move to the eyes only.
There are of course other ways to strike with the hands, arms, elbows, knees, feet, and head — but the methods listed are among the simplest and you should be able to acquire a pretty good level of practical proficiency by practicing daily for two months. Some people learn faster; others more slowly. But rest assured, the actions described work and are well worth devoting the ten to twenty minutes daily in practice that proficiency requires.
Remember: To stop a dangerous attacker attack him.
Sword and Pen – December 2009 Issue
[Reprinted With Permission]
American Combato
Seattle Combatives
Quick Review Of The Way To
Attack A Dangerous Physical Assailant
THE truth cannot be stated or emphasized often enough. And the truth, as far as real world self-defense and close combat is concerned, is that —
a) If you are to be effective, then you must be OFFENSIVE. "Defense" is a proper motive, but "offense" is the most effective means.
b) If you wish to be equipped with the proper method by which your offensive would better be launched, then you need to train in the proven BLOWS (kicks, knee attacks, strikes, gouges, jabs, smashes, bites, and butts!) of unarmed close combat, and master them as individual and as sequential attack skills.
There‘s no secret or mystery here, and we surely did not invent all of that which works in close quarters hand-to-hand combat. It is true that there are different opinions on the matter of what truly constitute the best and most reliable techniques for individual combat. However, combat experts agree on the following fundamentals:
• Fully 95% of that which comprises serious, war-adequate technical doctrine in hand-to-hand combat consists of blows (using the widest possible definition of "blows", to include biting, butting, gouging, clawing, seizing, spitting, and fingertips jabbing, etc.)
• Single, "one blow stops" are unrealistic and must never be anticipated. This is one element of traditional karate that simply makes no real sense — especially for today‘s combatant in the modern setting.
• To be effective in self-defense OR in offense, you must be ATTACK MINDED. This is not a contradiction at all, as far as "self-defense" goes. Like we first said and wrote in the early 1970‘s: When you are attacked, you must attack your attacker!
• Competition has nothing to do with combat. There are no rules in combat; anything goes.
• Good tactics and sound mental conditioning are vital, and the specific kind of tactics and mental conditioning that are required in real combat bear no relation to those that enable a man to win in contest competition.
• There is never any guarantee that anything will work flawlessly, or that predictable outcomes are possible in close combat. LUCK is an important factor.
With all of that rather grim preliminary material understood, we can now proceed to explain some of the key actions that might save your life if, God forbid, you ever find yourself facing the prospect of death or disablement at the hands of one or more violent offenders.
THE SIDE KICK
This is the King of the Kicks for close combat. It is properly delivered low (never higher than the enemy‘s knee), and it is executed like a whiplash, driving the heel of the foot (preferably) or the bottom or the edge of the foot (perfectly acceptable if sturdy footwear is being worn) THROUGH — not "on" — the knee. The ideal combat side kick combines the lashing speed of the French savate kick with the driving power and destructive force of the taekwon-do side thrust kick. Unlike the customarily taught side kicks, however, the side kick in combat is NEVER directed higher than the knee. It is excellent against the shinbone, and — close-in — it will smash the instep bone of the foot by being driven downward into that vulnerable target.
In any difficult or dangerous situation when it is feasible to do so, THIS is the kick to use and to rely on! It would, literally, not be a bad idea for the student of unarmed close combat to practice several hundred side kicks whenever time and energy permit. The action of rendering this kick should become so automatic that, in a crisis, the user has lashed out and broken his assailant‘s leg before his foot sets down.
The knee is one of the most important attack points for self-defense. It is broken by 80 pounds of force counter to the joint (a measure of power that any healthy ten year old girl can learn to generate, with ease). Every assailant has TWO knees, and if he is to harm you, he must bring at least one of them into kicking range! The knees cannot be moved out of the way of a surprise kick with any amount of speed because the legs support the body. Also, the attacker is concentrating and thinking about moving in against YOU, not about the prospect of having his knee broken as he does so.
The side kick will make any wrist or arm grab (single or double) go away, pronto! In fact, when an attacker seizes your wrists or arms he is not only making himself an ideal target of the low stomping side kick, he is helping you to stay balanced and lash out by the very nature of his attack!
Every student of self-defense, whether one of our own, studying American Combato, or some other system or method, should prioritize mastery of the basic, simple, low side kick to the knee.
This is the single finest way to attack the vital knee targets, as well as the shin bones and insteps of the feet.
THE HANDAXE CHOP
While there is some controversy regarding whether the thumbs up and hand stiffened, or the more classical/traditional knifehand blow formation of the striking implement is best, there is no disputation regarding the supreme effectiveness of any form of this blow — except perhaps by individuals with no knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, hand-to-hand combat, and the history of this blow‘s value to men who do it for REAL.
The handaxe chop is the King of natural weapon strikes with the hand.
While virtually any target of the human body may be struck effectively with this blow, for serious emergencies we urge the emphasis and focus be on whipping the untelegraphed chop directly into the enemy‘s throat, neck, side of head, or face. "That‘s a pretty big target area, isn‘t it?" you might say. "You bet it is!" we‘d reply, "So have no fear of striking your man and having no effect!" In a dangerous emergency, when you know that serious injury is imminent at the hands of any troublemaker whom you are unable to avoid, GO FOR HIM WITH THAT WHIPPING HANDAXE CHOP! And keep on chopping!
The handaxe blow bears the same relation to the clenched fist that an F-22 Raptor bears to a piper cub!
One of the finest specific points to hit is the carotid artery — struck by slamming a sharp blow to either side of the windpipe, fairly close to the base of the neck. NO ONE can withstand a sharp, full power handaxe blow to the carotid artery; and this is an extremely dangerous strike. It is not always fatal, as a hard chop to the windpipe would be, but it certainly could be fatal. Our advice is: Hold this excellent technique — the handaxe chop to the facial/head/neck/throat area — in reserve for only the gravest of emergencies.
Some possible hit points, like the jaw hinge, point of chin, bridge of nose, or philtrum will probably not result in lethal injury; however the unpredictability that is inherent in all applications of serious combat moves makes it the wiser course of action to refrain from using potentially deadly strikes unless you believe that you are in a potentially deadly predicament.
THE HEEL OF HAND SMASH
The classic chinjab smash is of course a winner; however, it is not generally appreciated just how versatile and destructively practical variations of the heel of the hand blow are. We exploit every one of them in American Combato; and, for attacking certain vital target areas, we suggest that you do the same.
The basic chinjab is excellent. Use it to devastate the underside of the jaw, thus shocking (and perhaps breaking) the vertebrae in the neck, and knocking a few teeth out of the opponent‘s head while, with any luck, rendering him unconscious. Rule with the chinjab: Hit as directly UPWARD as possible, and as far and deeply UNDERNEATH the jaw as you can.
In boxing, the hook punch is very powerful and a reliable knockout shot when directed to an adversary‘s temple, or — in the ring — to the MENTAL FORAMEN nerve (which is located by placing a fingertip at the corner of the mouth and then drawing a short line straight down to the edge of the jaw). Take no risk of the almost inevitable injury to the hand that occurs when a normal fist is employed in delivering the hook, by using the HEEL of the hand as the impact point. This is a stronger and better weapon than the normal fist, and with practice provides a jarring bow that should knock most individuals senseless.
Short, driving jabs with the blow that we call the INVERTED HEELPALM STRIKE (fingers pointing downward or sideways) the liver, spleen, kidney, bladder, or pubic bones may be devastated. We have been teaching this blow for many years now and were pleased to see it demonstrated on that Fight Science show to which we alluded, earlier. These trip-hammer shots can catch an adversary quite off guard, and have the potential of dropping the biggest man like a sack of rocks!
The straight heelpalm thrust (which was a favorite "power strike" with our late friend, John McSweeney) offers another way to use the heel of the hand to good effect. While virtually any spot on the face will be effective in shocking, and usually stopping, just about anyone, we like using this blow to the EYE. Unlike a punch to the eye (that actually hits the brow and cheekbone, causing a "black eye"), the HEEL of the hand actually strikes the eyeball, itself. This is a serious and dangerous blow, and will instantly knock most men out. It also may damage the eye permanently.
Directed to the sternum, this blow was dubbed the "rock crusher" during WWII by Fairbairn. It‘s a good blow, but will only work for people with wrists that are flexible enough to permit the heel to be projected forward for impact, when the blow is delivered.
THE HAMMERFIST SMASH
The properly clenched fist can be used with greatest destructive effect when employed in a hammering as opposed to a "punching" fashion. The hammerfist smash utilizes the little finger side of the clenched fist, and the blow that is struck with this weapon is struck in a manner similar to the way in which a hammer is employed. The Japanese and Okinawans dubbed their karate version of this blow the "iron hammer" (tetsui) strike.
In unarmed combat this blow is excellent when employed in a sharp, elliptical snapping-type of smash into the bridge of the nose, temple, side of the jaw or jaw hinge, or into the kidney or brain stem (when an enemy is doubled over).
A speedy, untelegraphed snapping blow directly forward into the sternum from a nonchalant ready stance is very effective. When the opportunity and position permit, smashing the hammerfist to the bladder, pubic bones, groin, or solar plexus is good.
THE CUPPED PALMS “EAR BOX”
We have loved this blow since the first time we were introduced to it as a boy, through a copy of GET TOUGH! This is one of the most excellent basic attack methods there is. Interesting enough, the Fight Science Show had a demonstration of this blow.
The double ear box may be applied any time an attacker attempts to grab you under the arms, or pulls you in close, by the lapels. This makes for a most powerful and decisive counterattack action. The ears are the only targets for this blow.
It should always be born in mind that an attacker who has been disconcerted by any blow that causes his arms to drop and/or his head to come forward, is wide open for this strike. Also — a preemptive attack using the double ear box is excellent, but the double ear box must never, be done as the openingor first move in an attack — since it opens you up wide to action by your adversary. Once slammed in the face or throat with a handaxe chop, however, or jabbed smartly in the solar plexus by a punch, the cupped palms blow should finish the encounter succinctly.
Although rarely acknowledged, a SINGLE hand ear box is a most effective and useful blow. If the arc of the attacking limb is kept to a tight elliptical path, then the single hand ear box may, on occasion, be the opening strike in a sequence.
When an adversary has been doubled over, using the ear box as musician smashes cymbals — right in front of you, in a clapping action — is excellent. Then, GRAB THE EARS, and using the same action you would in drawing a bow, rip them off the attacker‘s head.
Another great followup when the ear box lands against an upright enemy, is to bring both thumbs forward and jab them into the enemy‘s eyes, gouging deeply. (Note: A knee to the crotch at this point is almost too good to resist applying! It will drive the thumbs deeper into the enemy‘s eyes as he lurches forward from the knee‘s contact.)
THE TIGER’S CLAW
This blow is simplicity itself. The hand formed as for a chinjab, it is directed forward and like a boxer‘s jab, it thrusts into the enemy‘s face. The fingers hit the face, and the heelpalm "collapses" onto the face, adding a blow to the claw. Get your body behind this blow and do not telegraph prior to delivery. If the situation allows, GRAB HOLD OF THE ENEMY’S FACE as the blow lands, and go after him with continued kicks, and other blows.
THE FINGERTIPS THRUST
Obviously, the EYES are key targets in self-defense. One of the simplest and best ways to attack an attacker‘s eyes is with a quick, direct, extended fingertips thrust.
We find it fascinating that Pat O‘Neill (First Special Service Force hand-to-hand combat teacher, and originator of the "O‘Neill System") and Bruce Lee both came to advocate the almost identical "one-two attack" of thrusting to the eyes with the fingertips, and then whipping a side kick into the assailant‘s leg. Lee probably never heard of Pat O‘Neill, and there is no evidence that he was ever exposed to any aspect of the wartime O‘Neill System. O‘Neill certainly never knew Bruce Lee! And, again very interestingly, the martial arts backgrounds of each of these men differed radically. Yet, when considering what works best in COMBAT, both the "grappler" (O‘Neill was a staunch judo man) and the "hitter" (Lee was a ch‘uan fa ["kung fu"] man) arrived at BLOWS OF THE HANDS AND FEET as the way to go. And what‘s more, each concluded the same thing about the same techniques: i.e that eye thrusting and low kicking were key actions.
From an off-angled stance either the foremost or the rearmost hand can be employed to thrust the fingertips directly into an enemy‘s eyes. Do not telegraph!
In many situations where an attacker moves in and applies a grip or is about to strike, a fast fingertips thrust to the eyes will neutralize his action and enable you to either escape or followup with further action.
Keep fingers relatively RELAXED when thrusting. Tension weakens the thrust.
Restrict this move to the eyes only.
There are of course other ways to strike with the hands, arms, elbows, knees, feet, and head — but the methods listed are among the simplest and you should be able to acquire a pretty good level of practical proficiency by practicing daily for two months. Some people learn faster; others more slowly. But rest assured, the actions described work and are well worth devoting the ten to twenty minutes daily in practice that proficiency requires.
Remember: To stop a dangerous attacker attack him.
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