Sunday, February 21, 2010

I Found This Pretty Inspiring...

Getting motivated to actually return to lifting CONSISTENTLY has been a real battle for me since the auto accident back in 2008. Needing leg and hip strength to lift in good form... and needing to lift... in good form... in order to rebuild my hip and leg strength.

The squats have proved to be a wash for right now. Even after several months of attempting to fix the problem, I have been unable to get them evened out. Professor Steiner recommend switching to the dead-lift.

The dead-lift was my first POWER BUILDING lift. I was doing them years before I learned how to squat and after considering my development over several years, it was actually the dead-lift that developed the power that allowed me to squat strong later on.

So... here's Ed Coan. :)

Friday, February 19, 2010

Make YOURSELF "Safer" (Part 2)

Any of you residing in the Pacific Northwest have likely heard or read about the recent assault in the Metro bus tunnel in Seattle. Google "Metro tunnel assault video" and you'll find more than enough information on this incident. This particular attack... and the many similar ones that have occurred in this and other transit stations brings up some important points.

Firstly, there is no "safe" place. (I believe that they should call them TRANSIENT stations, since this is the type of feckless example of humanity which seems to lurk about, looking for targets.) The majority of abductions actually take place in suburban and rural areas, Not the cities. Violent street encounters appear to occur more in urban areas, though assaults have also been known to occur in mall and grocery store parking lots. You can take a look at the blotters from your local law enforcement precincts to get an idea of what kind of mischief is happening and where. Don't rely on these completely because anomalies do happen.

If you've managed to convince yourself that this will never happen to you, congratulations! You're in denial. You can now feel falsely secure relying the odds. You need to understand that the majority of victims of violent crime were thinking the same thing. So at least you won't be lonely. NOBODY ever thinks it can happen to them. I wonder if the animals at watering holes in those nature programs think the same thing.

That is point number one.

Point number two is this:

A violent assault is not a "fight". A "fight" is a social interaction between two individuals. It may certainly be antisocial, but it is social none-the-less. There is an attempt at communication, be it wit screaming, threats or fists. The two imbeciles involved are attempting to communicate with each other.

It is also a contest of sorts. When one individual, stops fighting, starts bleeding or goes down, the "contestants" cease. The fight is over with one being the "winner". It is likely that there have been at least some rules involved. Neither individual was trying to KILL the other. They were proving their point. If death occurs it is likely an accident.

An assault is NONE of these things. An assault is only over when either the assailant or the victim stops moving due to unconsciousness, crippling or death. There are no rules. Allow me to reiterate that last bit: THERE ARE NO RULES!!! In an asocial confrontation, there is no intent to communicate.

Last week I heard a local radio talk show host comment on this same bus tunnel attack. "When did this become acceptable? When did kicking and stomping someones head when they're on the ground become the way we fight?" I'll forgive him for leading such a sheltered life. For THAT you see... is the difference between a violent assault and the ridiculous and juvenile practice of "fighting".

Only a brainless ass AGREES to fight with anyone. If your manhood (or womanhood for that matter) and self-esteem are so fragile that you are incapable of ignoring verbal insults and the mild inconvenience, then you are a spoiled child. You shouldn't be allowed out in public where your sensibilities may be trampled by the adults.

Stomping and kicking the head and body are inevitably what will happen if you go to the ground should you be unlucky enough to be attacked. The puss pocket who attacks you is going to do whatever they have to to get what they want. Be it your wallet, watch, shoes... assault you sexually... or simply kick the crap out of you for the pure enjoyment. All the better if you drop to the concrete, making it easier for them to cave your skull in.

Yes. This does happen. In fact, it happens a hell of a lot more often than the city council or the police department is willing to tell you. The Tuba Man was beaten TO DEATH... at the base of Queen Anne HILL... as a lark... by a group of teenagers. The police have ruled it a robbery... but let's be honest here. How much cash could this poor man have possibly had on him. Any "robbery" was an afterthought.

If people had an idea how often innocent citizens were victimized in this crappy city there would probably be a rush for pistols ad carry permits at an unprecedented scale! That may not be a bad thing. I grew up in this city and have watched it turn from a beautiful place into a festering crap hole because of the tolerance shown to the putrid refuse allowed to walk about loose. But I digress.

An assault if a horrific thing to endure... if you manage to survive. (I've done it. It sucks being "that guy". The psychological toll alone is horrific.) It sucks much more so NOT to survive.

Most people who are assaulted have no idea what's happening... and sometimes die not knowing. Others waste valuable time trying to figure out "Why". Now tell me honestly, do you really give a damn WHY two or three thugs are kicking your ass while your in the middle of it? Do you really want to "understand" them? Is it of any significant importance AT THAT IMMEDIATE MOMENT? Wouldn't you truly... at that precise instance... simply NOT be having your ass kicked?

Professor Steiner has stated many times that "Self-defense is war in microcosm". His meaning is that self-defense is not about trading blows, fighting within a set of rules or showing your assailant mercy. It is quite literally WAR. Kill or be Killed. Do you think this is an exaggeration? Read a bit about the types of assaults I'm referencing. Unless you're a complete imbecile, you'll notice that most of the victims end up in the hospital and a large number of them take months or years to recover, if they ever fully recover.

Any of you who have been attacked know the feeling of helplessness and fear that hits you. As I said, I've been through it. It's almost dreamlike: as in a dream where you feel you are not in control of your facilities and can barely move.

This is a dysfunctional reaction to the "Fight-or-flight" response. In this scenario you are doing neither. The adrenaline dump, combined with the fear reaction has made you freeze. Don't worry... this is a LEARNED RESPONSE... and you can train it right back out of you! Interestingly, this same response in certain people will also manifest itself while driving. People who collide in an accident that others easily manage to avoid. It's not only attention deficit. It's also that dysfunction of allowing fear to lock up control of your physical and psychological mechanisms.

I'll cover more on the "fear factor"in part 3 when I wrap this up.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

“Always Trust Your Gut!”

© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – February 2010 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

American Combato
Seattle Combatives


WHEN we were nineteen years of age we became enamored of Ayn Rand and her brilliant philosophy, Objectivism. We proceeded to acquire, read, reread and study just about everything she wrote, and to take a course titled The Basic Principles of Objectivism, given by her then top protégé, Nathaniel Branden. In the years following we came pretty far away from Rand‘s orthodoxy, retaining — as we do retain to this day — full agreement only with her political and economic thinking. We also appreciate and agree significantly and substantially — though not totally — with her esthetics, but we reject her atheism and we have come to see her "knowledge of human psychology" as being pretty one-dimensional, unsophisticated, and — frankly — inconsistent with what the medical discipline of psychiatry, and that which the field of psychology, have concluded and teach us about the mind, emotions, and behavior of man.

Make no mistake about this: We have enormous respect and admiration for Ayn Rand‘s achievements, and we regard her as one of the greatest defenders of man‘s rights, liberty, and the America that we knew and loved when we were growing up, in history. We recommend her books — which we once suggested to the late Dr. Mortimer J. Adler be included in his and in Dr. Robert M. Hutchins‘ list of The Great Books of Western Civilization — to every thinking individual. One does not need to agree completely with anyone, in order to see great value in their work, and — often — very specifically in elements of that work, which one finds that one can in fact agree with completely.

In any case, we were in our adolescence and young adulthood once pretty close to being a fairly consistent "Objectivist".

One of the most detrimental things that Objectivism taught us was to minimize the significance of our emotional reactions and our feelings. This, according to that which we understood from Rand, was necessary whenever one‘s "reason" and one‘s "feelings" were in conflict. “Emotions,” Rand pronounced, “are not tools of cognition.” And because of this, reason and only reason could possibly be man‘s proper guide to knowledge and to an accurate understanding of reality. As our deeper studies in psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, and especially hypnosis would teach us, one must be very, very careful in how one accepts, interprets, and uses Rand’s admonitions in this regard. Otherwise, one will be literally sabotaging one‘s ability to protect oneself (not just physically, but in all ways), and to live with genuine rationality and happiness.

What we learned in our years of studies since having been immersed in the works of Ayn Rand — most especially during our study of hypnosis — is that insofar as immediate perceptions and intuitive, short-term evaluations are concerned, there are times when our SUBCONSCIOUS assessment may be entirely accurate and correct, when in fact our “rational” and conscious perception and assessment may be entirely inaccurate! Thus, as far as trusting our “immediate gut reactions to persons and to events” is concerned, it is absolutely dangerous and self-sabotaging to dismiss “gut feelings” or intuitive “hunches”, etc.

Since this is not a dissertation on the nature of the subconscious, on hypnosis, on psychiatry or on anything save SELF-DEFENSE and CLOSE COMBAT, we shall now simply cut to the chase and tell our readers:

Your feelings, your intuition, your emotions, your GUT (or whatever anyone wishes to call it) is a critically important instrument of survival and personal defense. You must, regardless of what truth there may be to the premise that validating the ultimate truth or falsehood of anything is a responsibility that must be left, not to one’s feelings, but to one’s reason, take your “gut reactions” and your inner “sense” about anyone and about any potentially threatening situation with DEADLY SERIOUSNESS.
Your gut may be wrong. But then again, IT MAY BE RIGHT.

When dealing with random encounters with strangers one does not have the time or (usually) the inclination to get to know anything at all about those strangers. In most cases, a stranger is not going to initiate violence or even behave poorly. His approach to you is almost always motivated by some reasonable, or at least harmless, purpose. But because he is a stranger, you cannot, and must never assume to be certain of his “innocent intentions”.

The lifesaving caution is: TRUST YOUR GUT! Whenever you are in any situation, whenever you encounter anyone you do not know personally, and whenever you feel — for whatever as yet undetermined reason — that “something is just not right”, TREAT THAT FEELING SERIOUSLY. RESPECT IT. AND, IN SITUATIONS WHERE THERE WILL BE NO LONG-TERM OPPORTUNITIES TO SAFELY RECONSIDER, EVALUATE, AND REASSESS YOUR INITIAL IMPRESSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS, GO WITH THAT “GUT FEELING” JUST IN CASE!

Could your "gut feeling" be wrong? Absolutely. So we would, insofar as self-defense and personal security is concerned, add this caveat: Do NOT trust your gut feeling about a stranger or unusual situation if that gut feeling is a POSITIVE feeling! Impose caution — serious caution — whenever you feel "trust", "respect", "safety", or "friendliness", etc. without apparent reason, but simply on the basis of some unknown subconscious assessment that may or may not be correct.

During the so-called "Cold War" American and British intelligence found that operating inside Moscow, Russia was just about the single most difficult arena in which to work. The then KGB (today, SVRR) had quite probably the single most effective counterintelligence and counterespionage capability of the world‘s secret services. In response to the daunting task that confronted operatives of the free world‘s intelligence services in penetrating/eluding/defeating Moscow security, a set of "Moscow Rules" was compiled. These rules were also employed in East Germany and in Cuba, but they were originally created and presented to those secret servants whose mission was working in that most denied of the earth‘s areas:
Moscow, Russia.

One of the “Moscow Rules” was: ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT.

Speaking personally we will say that during the last quarter century we learned without exception to "trust our gut". Whereas we once would have rejected any odd or suspicious feelings about persons with whom we dealt (in any context, not speaking now of work in any intelligence capacity, alone), we learned to USE THIS PRINCIPLE ACROSS THE BOARD. We are, putting it mildly, absolutely delighted that we made this decision!

Yes, indeed, we perhaps have dismissed from our life one or two individuals who we incorrectly assessed as being questionable. But we know this much for certain: We disengaged from and completely discarded a huge amount of human debris, as well: and by our rigorous attention to “WARINESS AS LIFESTYLE”, made our self quite difficult to con or to manipulate in any fashion.

Previously (as a youth) we "gave the benefit of the doubt". As a result, one individual in a hundred proved ultimately to justify our benevolence; while 99 proved that we should have paid attention to our original “feeling” when we first encountered or dealt with the person. We have no problem living with the present reversal of that statistic, which we enjoy, thanks to our dismissal of such infantile thinking as we had at one time been guided by! C’est la vie!

Whether our readers elect to accept that which is our personal philosophy and — as we put it — our “wariness lifestyle” — must remain their choice. But we certainly urge strongly that anyone wishing to improve his self-defense capabilities and his personal security accept our advice to always trust his gut in any encounter with unknown persons, and casual acquaintances — anywhere.

Such an attitude pays.

Bradley J. Steiner

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Make YOURSELF "Safer" (Part 1)

The recent murder or 23-year old Alissa Branton by her 61-year old stalker Roger Troy has been called a tragedy. Certainly, it is a tragedy for those who lost a loved one and most assuredly for the husband of this unfortunate young lady. But it is also a heinous act perpetrated by a twisted, homicidal mental case who would have done the world and this society a GREAT SERVICE had he chosen to end his own worthless existence before causing pain to an innocent party. I extend my most sincere condolences to her family.

Details on the case may be found here...

There are some basic lessons to be learned here in regards to personal security. We now know that Mrs. Brandon had applied for an order of protection against Troy. We know that the injunction was awaiting a court date - a necessary step in the process - and since no physical threats had been made by Troy, the judge would not issue an injunction without said court date. I'm not willing to argue this point as we must follow the process, providing evidence for such documents when it is necessary. Sometimes such accusations have been made under false pretences.

The facts would show however, that an Order of Protection or restraining order is really no protection at all. It is at best, a deterrent to individuals who were not a significant threat to begin with. It is at worst, proof that a homicidal maniac was allowed to prey upon an innocent victim and that they harbored complete and utter disregard for such authority. These documents have actually been found in the hands or near the body of the victims of such animals. A piece of paper will not stop a bullet or the blade of a knife.

Many individuals, on various firearms and self-defense forums have stated that "she should have obtained" a weapon (or carry permit). Not bad advice that. However, as I have stated far too many times... a weapon (a gun) does NOT hold mystical powers! It is only useful in the hands of someone who has the where-with-all to USE IT! (The majority of people who think that they do, do not!)

In this specific case, it is unlikely that this young woman would have had the opportunity to use such an implement if she had been carrying one. The attacker acted quickly and it is not indicated that she had adequate warning of his presence or intent. It was in effect, an ambush. The average person doesn't prepare themselves for such things.

"How can someone possibly be expected to defend against something like this?"

There are several steps she could have and should have taken to prepare for this. When one is placed in a threat situation - assuming, as in this case, that they are AWARE of the threat ahead of time - there are things that one can do to at least lesson their vulnerability.

This particular threat was known to the victim. The severity was such that she felt it a viable option to seek protection. That should be the FIRST STEP, not the ONLY STEP! There are things that each person can do to mitigate or at least lesson the likelihood that they will be caught in such an ambush. While all of these things may appear to be incredibly intrusive, we're making the assumption here that this is a temporary condition. However, one should actually implement as much of this as possible as the normal regimen they follow. This alone can alleviate a lot of the potential for problems down the road.

1) Take ANY threat to your life SERIOUSLY! This is number one FOR A REASON! A significant number of stalking victims didn't bother to take the threats or bizarre behavior of their assailant seriously. They "blew it off". They died or were maimed physically or emotionally as a result. This is not to say that one should seek an order of protection or file a police report every time they encounter someone who may appear "a bit odd". A onetime meeting may be an anomaly. Repeated contacts may signal something more. Train yourself to recognize the signs. Do the research. You may not be right every time... but for your own sake, you should be thinking about this like an adult, not like a child.

2) Avoid activities, hobbies, jobs etc., that MAKE YOU a likely target. Obviously, for many people, their careers or interests are going to put them in the preview of some... weirdo's. Cocktail waitresses, bar tenders, models, news anchors... or anyone else whose vocation or activity takes them into the public eye is going to be far more likely to encounter the typical sociopath who attaches themselves to celebrity. Ordinary people fall into this category as well however. A person with a membership at a local gym or health club may find that they are attracting the wrong kind of attention from others. Make yourself aware of it. As I said, every contact is probably not worth sounding the alarm for. Learn to recognize the signs.

3) Notify your friends and your employer of the situation! These people may be your first line of support and protection. If your company has a dedicated security department or contracted service, notify them as well. They should be provided with the name and photograph of the individual if the circumstances warrant it and if the law allows it. (Some jurisdictions may not permit the posting of this information before an order has been signed by a judge. A potential victim can STILL make their office and security department aware of this situation and advise, request or DEMAND that security and \ or reception not admit this individual or give out the victim’s location within the facility. This isn't being paranoid. It's being SMART! Strangers shouldn't be getting this information anyhow.)

4) Do not leave your place of employment for "lunch" or other activities during the day. Stay within that controlled environment as much as possible. It may not be a fortress... but it will certainly require the stalker to enter the premises and seek you out. It's made much more difficult in a building with several floors and hundreds of employees. Yes... this might appear to be a "hassle". However, isn't it far more of a "hassle" to be shot or stabbed to death in the parking lot of your place of employment? If your life has been threatened or you feel that you may be in danger... then adjust your thinking to compensate for this inconvenience. Death is a more serious alteration of your habits than eating lunch out of a brown paper bag. If you must go out... don't go alone. If you "must" go alone notify your employer where you are going, how you are getting to and from and when you expect to be back! Send such notifications as an e-mail where possible and prudent. (Don't trust the receptionist to remember or follow through conveying this information to your supervisor, family or the police).

5) Vary your routes to work, home and to your other activities as much as possible. This can be difficult to different degrees. The closer you get to your destination, the fewer options you may have on your choice of routes.

6) Vary your time lines. This follows the same basic rule as number five. It also has the same problems. You may not be able to control what time you need to be at work, the gym, your classes etc. However, you should work to control this YOURSELF as much as possible. If it means being early on occasion, combining trips or being late once in a while... then make the decision.

Neither the police, your loved ones nor that piece of paper issued by the court is going to stop someone who is ABSOLUTELY DETERMINED to do you harm. Nothing is! The steps that I've mentioned aren't "magical" either. They'll give you more control than you had previously and hopefully discourage or at least inconvenience the nut case who's after you. Ultimately, you're going to have to depend on your own wits, the skills you develop and your own mindset to make this work. You're going to need to be aware and not drop your guard to the point where you're on auto-pilot during the day. Again, all of this will seem like a hassle... until it pays off and you're still alive.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Check Around For “Weapons”

© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – February 2010 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

American Combato
Seattle Combatives

WHEREVER you work, live, play, visit, shop, or stroll, it is almost certain that you will be able to discover many available objects and implements that, in a crisis, can serve as deadly weapons to assist you in defending yourself. You should always use something to assist you in defending your life and well being, rather than your bare hands and feet, except in situations where the only things available to you are your bare hands and feet.

Never fight fair.

Never think that it would be wrong to use a stick, a rock, a bottle, or anything as a weapon to help you defend yourself — even if your attacker is seemingly unarmed when he attacks you. It is a certainty that a violent offender possesses weapons, even when he does not bring them into play at his initial approach. Besides, no one who initiates violence or provokes trouble deserves the benefit of ethical consideration or sporting conduct from his intended victim.

No student of close combat and self-defense is properly preparing for the "real thing" unless he is aware of the plethora of improvised weapons that are ever-present in almost any and every normal environment, and unless he is ready, willing, and able to make ferocious, immediate, and effective use of those "weapons".

As his thesis for Black Belt, 1st degree in American Combato Greg Anderson wrote so excellent a work that we encouraged him to publish it as a book. He did. WEAPONS AT HAND is available directly from him. A copy costs $25. plus $3. postage and handling.

Order from:
Team Intensity, NW
P.O. Box 77636
Seattle, WA. 98177

You can use your credit card to purchase. Just telephone (206)-364-9944 to place your order.

Always remember that all personal weapons — manufactured or improvised — should be thought of and trained with as extensions of your body and will. The idea that a weapon is, by itself, going to offer you protection is a very wrong and potentially dangerous concept.

Check around wherever you are and wherever you go. There are plenty of objects and items that, in an emergency, you can seize immediately and use to attack a dangerous adversary.

You can get a bit elaborate (for instance, dropping a salt and pepper shaker into the center of a cloth dinner napkin and folding the ends over to make a formidable blackjack, or folding and breaking a credit card in half to produce two lethally sharp edged weapons, etc. However you'll need time and a bit of secrecy to do this. Grabbing a can off a store shelf and bashing an attacker in the face with it, can be done instantly, when you‘re assaulted in a grocery store.

Got an umbrella? Use Fairbairn‘s stick technique with it (see Get Tough!) or simply grab it securely with both hands — each one about four inches from each end — and drive the end into your attacker as if you were using a bayonet. Go for the throat or face.

We've trained individuals in the past, when working on "hostage survival" and "escape" techniques which they might have needed, to remember that broken glass makes a great knife. Go into any lavatory and break the mirror. Take a nice shard of glass and rp a piece of clothing off your shirt. Wrap the cloth around one end of the glass shard and use that as a grip. Use the pointed end of the shard to rip open the hostage-taker‘s throat, or to sever his carotid artery, stab him in the eye, etc. A toothbrush can be sharpened on any concrete or stone ledge, window sill, or step available. Hold the brush end and sharpen the plastic. You now have a pike or dagger.

Towel racks offer possible club weapons. So do chair legs. So do heavy branches.

Do what a merchant mariner acquaintance of ours once told us he did, so as to be "armed" when in port: Take a hefty lead fishing sinker and wrap it in a handkerchief. Use a rubber band to secure the handkerchief around the sinker. You now have a great blackjack, or — by holding the item firmly and letting the end of the covered sinker protrude from the clenched hand — a terrific "yawara stick" jabbing implement.

In order to defend yourself you need to not merely "get tough", you need to think tough; to think about "what if", and to plan for every eventuality. Take advantage of every edge you can give yourself in any dangerous emergency.

We have taught our students how to use even the "harmless" plastic type "knives" that the airlines now provide, as deadly weapons, in an emergency.

Your primary weapon is, as General George Patton so aptly pointed out, your MIND. However, your secondary weapons are not merely your hands and feet and any manufactured weapons that you may be fortunate enough to have when trouble strikes — they are anything and everything that you can seize at the moment, IF you‘ll start to realize that fact.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

To Serve Man

There's an urban legend, Internet rumor, SPAM marketing scheme regarding auto thieves using a vehicles VIN number to obtain keys to the vehicle. While Snopes and other sources have, at least partially repudiated this misinformation (the methods described are not nearly as easy or effective as some would have use believe), there are some issues one should be concerned with regarding VIN access and just what amount and what type of information is available via the VIN number.

There are worse things than having your vehicle stolen. The owners name and address are retained with the registration and title and thus available from accessing the VIN records. There are software programs... and even an iPhone application that individuals can use to access this data. Not all of the resources make it a point to secure the data. Some methods of security are better than others. So... obscuring the VIN with a piece of tape is not a bad idea. If a police officer or tow truck driver needs the number... they can pull the tape off.

Another issue that people should be aware of is how much personal information they themselves provide to every stranger they cross paths with throughout the day. Stickers, passes and logos from schools, gyms, organization and employers all give the local dirt bag of where you work, where you train, where you or your children go to school.

If your employer or organization requires you to display a parking pass, see if you can place it on a card that you can set on the dash while at work. Then remove it and place it in the glove box or console when you leave.

Yes... this stuff sounds ridiculous... to anyone living in the seemingly "safe" haven of the western world. Spend some time in a 3rd world crap hole, where kidnapping is a major business (like Mexico, whose capitol city currently LEADS THE WORLD in kidnappings) and see how things work. It's doubtful that you'll see the local executive driving about in their Mercedes with a bumper sticker that reads "My kid is an honor student at ABC academy." They don't want people to know where their kids attend school... and you shouldn't either! If one applies some forethought... and "common" sense this is actually a VERY arrogant and idiotic thing to do.

1) Most rational people don't give a damn where you child, grand child or dog goes to school. What possesses a sane person to plaster such unwanted information on their vehicle?

2) Those that do care are most likely either the other drivers you've cut off in traffic who now wish to do you bodily harm... or the pervert who catches a glimpse of you precious cargo through a rear or side window.

The same is true for those ridiculous "Baby On Board" signs. As if displaying such an item is going to make the driver behind you behave less like an ass and more like an adult. None of the road signs have done the trick and traffic laws are backed up with a cop and a gun. Your crummy paper sign is a futile cry for attention... and whoa be to you if you actually manage to get it.

Some rapists, stalkers and home invaders have picked their victims by recording the phone numbers shown on FOR SALE signs taped inside of vehicle windows. This is a popular trick for burglars to figure out if an individual is at home or not. "What should I do in a situation where I NEED to post a phone number?! What's you answer to that, smart guy?! You're being ridiculous!" Spend the $15 on a disposable cell phone, moron! List THAT as the contact phone number!

Of course many of you "don't like to think about this" or are of the opinion that you are immune and such horrific things will never happen to you. How many people who have been victims of violent crimes had the same misconception? It's likely that most of them did because you rarely hear of anyone who PREPARED THEMSELVES being a victim. It's nearly always the ones who didn't see it coming and obviously thought that it would never happen to them.

Take a look at the statistics for child abductions some time. These grabs take place in predominantly rural and suburban locations. The same is true for home invasion attacks. This is because there are more viable targets available and the "hunting ground" is relatively secluded. Victims project an attitude of innocence and naivete`. It's also easier for attackers and kidnappers to egress from such areas than from an inner city grid. Lastly, most kids who grow up in an urban environment aren't stupid when it comes to what's going on in their own neighborhoods. This is quite different from the apparent brain dead routine followed by the coddled suburbanite.

A youth who is born and raised in a "crappy neighborhood" KNOWS that he lives in a crappy neighborhood. This may be the one saving grace of coming from an economically challenged theater. Those people probably know not to trust strangers... and even more importantly... what CONSTITUTES a stranger. (Of course, the alternative side of that is that many of these kids become predators themselves.)

People who normally reside in the Hinterlands are unfamiliar with such threats and thus better "game" for the violent predator. They're conditioned to blithely go about their daily drill: taking kids to school and other activities, grocery shopping, dog walking, jogging and whatever else their lives entail.

In recent years however, we have seen a softening of urbanites. I personally attribute it to the influx of outsiders into the urban communities in search of employment. That and the fact that the state and the media have (whether intentionally or accidentally... the former is my own suspicion) "civilized" the population to the point where not only are they utterly incapable of defending themselves, they find the very suggestion that they do so abhorrent.

Many people of late, myself being one of them, have used the example of the Eloi and the Morlock from the HG Wells classic The Time Machine. I will not go into detail at this point but suffice it to say that if you wish to get the future of the human species, these characters provide an excellent example in my opinion. The most frustrating aspect of this is that the Eloi are quite often arrogant and elitist in their imbecilic positions on self-defense and preparedness. Victimhood has been escalate to near-godliness... but only so long as they REMAIN A VICTIM. Choose to fight back and you probably be shunned. Yes, even among your family members, who may comment "I'm glad your okay." but recoil when you exclaim "Let's see the worthless bastard try that again... from his new wheelchair!"

Many times I have heard such individuals claim that they would not resist even of their own life or the lives of their loved ones were directly threatened. Fine for you. Please don't project your pathological and baneful values on me or mine. Honestly, anyone espousing that type of psychotic tripe DESERVES to be victimized as an example for people who still have the capacity to think for themselves.

And of course we have the social web content... of which I myself am guilty of participating. Give out as little information as possible here. Don't post anything that you don't want made available to EVERYONE. Even locking down your information to "just friends" doesn't keep you photograph from being turned searchable under your user name... which should be an alias if possible.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Stop All Of That Punching!

© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – February 2010 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

American Combato
Seattle Combatives


THE normal, properly clenched fist is certainly a viable weapon. In fact, when that fist belongs to a professional boxer it is regarded under the law as a "deadly weapon". Whether this should or should not be the case is arguable; but unless we‘re talking about someone on the order of the late Mas Oyama, or Hidetaka Nishiyama, etc., please believe us, the fist is only accidentally a "deadly weapon" if it belongs to the statistically average karate exponent. Or to a ju-jutsu man, etc.

And if the exponent happens to be a female, or if the ju-jutsu "man" happens to be a woman”, then the use of the fist, per se by that person in a seriously dangerous emergency is SUICIDAL.

We are all too well aware that there will be numerous individuals who will disagree with us, and certainly that is their privilege. However, we stand by our assertion, and we hope that our readers will at least reconsider their clenched fist punching in the dojo, and factor in the experiences of war, and of actual, real world close combat on the mean streets of the world’s cities.

The clenched fist, in hand-to-hand combat and self-defense, should be restricted to soft body targets. The STERNUM, the SOLAR PLEXUS, the LIVER, the SPLEEN, the BLADDER and TESTICLES area, and the KIDNEYS. A quick jab with the fist into the nose may sometimes be a good setup shot; but one had better close in fast with some truly destructive action following such a punch, or a hardened, street fighter/violent criminal adversary will merely suck it up, and proceed to kill you.

Be realistic. Who among the readership of this Newsletter, for example, has not, in some fight at some time, been punched? Are you dead? Did it drop you instantly? Did you even notice it? Or — perhaps more to the point — have you, as a martial arts student, ever found yourself needing to defend yourself for real, and finding that your "lethal punches" (that cracked so easily through insentient pine boards) were not all that bothersome to your attacker?

Clenched fist punching requires more than "makiwara training" to make it effective. It demands the advantage, which few of us possess, of having been born with naturally heavy bones, large and strong hands, and a propensity for coordinated hitting. Boxing — not karate — teaches the right way to punch with the clenched fists. However, boxing is a sporting/competitive form of fighting; it is not "combat".

For combat the OPEN HAND is almost always preferable as a weapon.

These should be your primary, mainstay "natural hand weapons" if you are training for self-defense and unarmed close combat:

• The handaxe chop

• The chinjab smash

• The tiger‘s claw thrust

• The extended fingertips thrust

• The ear box

Those five natural hand weapons constitute the cream of the very finest and most reliable open hand blows upon which an individual ought to rely in actual individual combat. Notice, with great educational benefit, that NOT A SINGLE ONE of those blows is permissible in any sporting/competitive venue! (So much for "sporting competition" as preparation for close combat!)

That list of five basic blows by no means exhausts the options of "open hand" techniques that are eminently viable in serious combat. There are arm strikes, elbow smashes, reverse handblade strikes, fingertip jabs (in addition to thrusts), and all sorts of variants of heelpalm strikes, from different angles and positions, as well as finger strangulation methods, that have their place in an extensive, long-term curriculum and training program in comprehensive close combat and self-defense. However, anyone who will make it his business to MASTER those five simple blows, will be fifty times better prepared to stop a real world assailant thereby, than would a "competition champion" whose forte in hand blows was his clenched fist normal punching action.

It is not merely that the blows enumerated are more powerful than clenched fist punching. That they are, but they offer something of equal or often even greater importance and value to the combatant: Those blows better enable the body’s most vital target areas to be accessed and destroyed with focused precision, than clenched fist punching offers.

Do not be misled about this. There is no rational disputation of the fact that the open hand blows of unarmed combat are vastly more reliable for anyone to employ, than are the clenched fists, in actual combat. Period. One of the reasons why the clenched fists are universally utilized in virtually every sporting/competitive venue where percussionary skills are the mainstay is because clenched fist normal punching is only MINIMALLY harmful and likely to result in serious injury or death. In close combat the opposite standard must be our guide to technique selection — or we are preparing to die.

"But what if I like to emphasize punching when I train, and if I believe sincerely in my ability to make punching work for me?"

Years ago we had an aunt who (with the help of her less than honest husband — regrettably, an uncle of ours) convinced herself that, because she "liked to paint" she was, therefore, good at it.

She and her husband (quite possibly, only she) were the ONLY people on earth who truly in their heart-of-hearts saw the smudges and streaks that she ruined perfectly good blank canvasses with, as "art". "Garbage" was a better and much more accurate designation for the laughably ridiculous blotches of junk that more closely resembled a monkey‘s attempts at finger painting than they did anything intentionally produced by a human being using brushes and oil paints. But — doubtless right up to the time of her passing (with the enthusiastic support of her attorney-husband) — this desecrator of canvasses believed, because she wanted to believe, that she was "an artist". The obituary placed by our uncle that read: "______________ , artist, passed away on ________" approximated, in its logic and accuracy, placing an obituary for a gibbon that had been caged at the Bronx Zoo and had died, saying: "Gomer the gibbon, debonair gentleman/entertainer/noted avant garde philosopher, passed away on 10 November."

It doesn‘t matter what you subjectively feel. The facts are what matter. And, concerning the fact about what works best in hand-to-hand combat, the hands down TRUTH, whether anyone cares to accept it or not, is: open hand blows.

You really should discover and accept the facts before an emergency strikes. It may just be a "lesson" that costs you your life, if you insist upon waiting for the emergency.

Our aunt never sold one painting. She was supported and insulated from reality by the unconscionable shyster whom she had married. There may not be anything or anyone to support you in an emergency but your ability. And even if some deluded fool were to write of a "great warrior‘s passing" in your obituary, it would not bring you back to life.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Learn How To Act

© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – February 2010 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

American Combato
Seattle Combatives


“BY means of deception thou shalt do war." That saying is the motto of Israel‘s secret intelligence and covert action service, Mossad.

"All warfare is based on deception." That simple statement comes from the oldest book in history on the subject of war: The Art Of War, by Sun Tzu.

Deception like every other principle of all-out war is wholly applicable to individual combat (“war”).

One of the greatest tools in the combatant‘s bag of tricks is the ability to deceive his enemy by pretending the exact opposite of his true intentions, and then — after distracting and taking that enemy off guard — attacking with relentless fury and mercilessly destroying that enemy.

The ability to ACT is, for the self-defense and close combat student, as important as it is for the spy!

Misleading an adversary is a skill. For example, if we had a son who were attending school and he were to ask us for a technique by which he could protect himself from that sort of vicious little crapbag known as a bully, when the bully shook our son‘s hand and attempted to inflict severe pain by squeezing his hand powerfully, we would say:

"Immediately wince as the scumbag squeezes your hand. Make a face, double over and with your left hand hold onto the bully‘s hand as it squeezes your right hand, as though you were literally paralyzed with pain and submissive fear. This will probably cause the bully to laugh; but regardless of his immediate response to your feigned agony and physical debilitation, SUDDENLY SEIZE HIS HAND POWERFULLY WITH YOUR FREE HAND, GROWL LIKE AN INSANE ANIMAL, AND KICK HIM WITH EVERY OUNCE OF STRENGTH YOU CAN MUSTER, IN HIS TESTICLES." We‘d advocate kicking him perhaps three or four more times — if necessary — and seeing to it that he was so badly injured that he FEARED to bother or even approach our son again.

The use of deception enables an intended victim to turn the tables in many instances and deliver the surprise of a lifetime to any troublemaker.
Another example:

A couple of punks approach you. They block your path and say "We gotta talk to you, dude. You got some money for us?"

Two or more assailants is always a deadly attack. This is a multiple assailant holdup situation.

You react by meekly halting and saying timidly: "Hey, no problem guys. No problem. You can have my money, just please, no trouble, okay?" You, acting shaken and scared, reach for your wallet, mumbling "Here‘s my money guys, just please . . . no trouble." With your free hand, you suddenly spin without warning and chop the punk who you were not looking directly at across his throat or neck. You then kick the second lout in his knee or testicles, and — unless you can escape at that point, to safety — you proceed to smash and bash each of the two pieces of sewer garbage repeatedly until each is so damaged that he has lost the capacity to be of any danger to you thereafter. Then you escape.

The trick is to be CONVINCING when you utilize this type of "psychological camouflage". Remember, street smart sewage is very aware of how subterfuge may be employed, and they are not stupid or naive regarding good combat tactics. However, if you are a good enough actor to make these bacteria specimens believe that you are a terrified, meek, compliant victim, and that you are all-too-eager to give them exactly that which they have demanded, you WILL be able to take them by complete surprise. Once that tactical imperative has been achieved, victory will almost certainly be yours PROVIDING YOU ATTACK WITHOUT MERCY OR SCRUPLES AND PROCEED TO DO THE ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM OF DAMAGE YOU ARE CAPABLE OF DOING — RIGHT AWAY.

Good tactics will avail you little benefit unless back up with decisive techniques!
During WWII the famous USMC Second Raider Battalion (led by Evans Carlson) had, in addition to its well-known motto, "Gung Ho!", another tactical motto. It was: “Always do the unexpected!”

Good acting better enables anyone to "do the unexpected" by enabling him to lead his enemy to expect the exact opposite of that which he intends to do.

Self-defense is WAR. It is neither sport nor aesthetic/classical personal cultivation training. War demands brutal, savage tactics, unfair and unscrupulous approaches to winning, and a foul, gutter attitude toward the opposition. CRUSH HIM NOW! BUT FIRST LET HIM BELIEVE THAT YOU’RE NO THREAT, WHATEVER.

Get a troublemaker sufficiently distracted by a good performance that convinces him you are no threat, and you will likely be able to untie his shoelaces before he realized that you are about to tear his larynx out!

Here is a crucial tip that you should bear in mind when training to react to an armed kidnap attempt: If your attacker orders you to "get in the car" or to "get down on the ground", etc., be convincing and always react in a shaky voice expressing fear and compliance as you turn your head in the direction that you have been ordered to go. Human beings first look where they are about to go. Before you get down on the ground, for example, you will look at the ground. Before you go into that vehicle, you will look in the direction of that vehicle. Etcetera.

As your attacker "registers" that you are complying, SUDDENLY SHOUT AS LOUDLY AND FIERCELY AS YOU ARE ABLE, WHILE SMASHING ASIDE HIS WEAPON (IF HE IS OBVIOUSLY ARMED) AND GOING AFTER HIM WITH FORCE TO KILL.

Unpleasant? "Un-martial-artsy"? Too dirty? TOO DAMN BAD! This is the stuff that works, that saves lives, that you and that nearly anyone can effectively employ when the chips are down, to stand an excellent chance of getting the enemy before he gets you!

Although our students are nearly entirely male, we occasionally get one or two female students. One of the tactics we teach them is to feign compliance, cooperation, and even enthusiastic arousal when threatened by some predatory male. "Smile softly, move in close to him,gently embrace his face with your hands, and even kiss him," we advise. Then, DRIVE BOTH THUMBS VICIOUSLY INTO HIS EYES, AND PLANT YOUR MIDDLE FINGERS IN HIS EARS, THUS LOCKING ONTO HIM IN A BLINDING ATTACK. NOW DRIVE YOUR KNEE REPEATEDLY INTO HIS TESTICLES WHILE GOUGING DEEPLY UNTIL YOU’VE RIPPED HIS EYES OUT OF HIS HEAD. ALTERNATIVELY — OR ADDITIONALLY — SINK YOUR TEETH INTO HIS FACE AND BITE A PIECE OF HIS FACE OFF WHILE GOUGING AND KNEEING LIKE A WILD ANIMAL.

No dangerous male is going to be even slightly discouraged by some female‘s "bold, assertive" voice, and her "demand" that he "back off, or else . . .". In fact, such conduct will almost certainly cause her attacker to become more ferocious, dangerous, and violent. However, if a female ACTS compliant, her tormentor has no reason to hit her or otherwise feel concern, and he is SET UP for a powerful, decisive counterattack.

Women, by and large, do not like to hear that which we tell them, or to practice that which we advocate they make their own. That‘s too bad. They only cheat themselves. Their "female self-defense courses", in which they learn how to die, teach them what they WANT, and tell them that which they LIKE to hear; but as is always the case, the measure of that which is true is not to be gauged by the degree to which one finds it "palatable".

Cé la vie.

Self-defense situations are not, in our opinion, paralleled by "cage fighting", MMA, or UFC. Let those who enjoy these events continue to do so. Same thing goes for those (in our opinion much saner) people who gravitate toward judo, karate, kick boxing, etc. Do what you like. We couldn‘t care less. However. . . if you want to really be able to defend yourself, handle a dangerous attack by one or more savages, and deal with unprovoked violence at the hands of troublemakers and other examples of human debris that unfortunately pollute our society today, then cultivate those combat skills that have been proven to work in war, and master those tactics (like acting and the use of deceit and deception) that enable you to take another by complete surprise, and disable, maim, or kill him, before he can do that to you or to someone you love.

Here are some suggestions to guide your utilization of the suggestions we are making here:—

• Develop the ability to feign illness (dizziness, a need to take medicine, etc.) — then attack like a wild animal

• Learn some phrases in some obscure foreign language (cynics might suggest that English is a good choice) and speak them — looking completely puzzled — at the troublemaker‘s approach — then kick him in the testicles as he attempts to reply

• Plead with a troublemaker about just having had surgery and being completely unable to stand any violence — then drive into him like a madman, screaming at the top of your lungs

• Look at the troublemaker and smile. Say "Hey, man, don‘t you remember me?" in the most sincerely friendly tone and with the most cordial expression imaginable. When he begins to reply (no matter what he says) lash out with a side kick and break his leg, or smash into his throat, gouge his eyes, etc.

• When confronted by a punk who intends trouble, face him meekly and throw a quick glance behind him, then return your attention to his face. Say nothing. Let him wonder if you saw someone approaching him from behind. Then tell him: "Gee, I really don‘t want any trouble." Then ATTACK!

• Get creative! Come up with your own little "skits" and "performances". Build strategies for all sorts of situations, and master a convincing delivery.

* To master expressions and convincing gestures, practice in front of a mirror. Get feedback from training partners. If it looks really — really real — to a practice partner, it will fool a criminal.

Re-evaluating the Practice of "Training to Failure"

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
http://www.staleytraining.com

The notion of "training to failure" is perhaps one of the most revered practices in the modern bodybuilder's "toolbox." But interestingly, this training method seems unique to bodybuilding.

In other iron sports, such as Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, and throwing, athletes develop enormous levels of muscle mass without training to failure, at least not in the way that most bodybuilders would define it.

This observation, coupled with the fact that many elite-level bodybuilders do not embrace this practice, warrants a second look at this concept.

Birth of a Paradigm

Many credit Arthur Jones (the inventor of Nautilus equipment) with developing and popularizing the "one set to failure" paradigm. Jones argued that bodybuilders should work to the point of momentary failure, using one set per exercise/per session, rather than using multiple sets of multiple exercises.

But Jone's commercial success may been potentiated by a long-standing tradition among young trainees (particularly men) who, in the absence of qualified supervision, regularly trained to failure as an intuitive way of obtaining objective feedback about their progress. Whenever an additional rep could be performed with a given weight, the trainee was psychologically reinforced, which further entrenched this "habit."

Unfortunately, it also reinforced poor exercise form and the tremendous frustration that set in when, after several months of monotonous training, the inevitable plateau set in. This frustration then paved the way for numerous ill-conceived commercialized training "systems" that emerged over the past several decades. The result is an endless cycle of unsupervised trainees switching from one miracle method to another, in an endless search for the "perfect program."

Before we criticize Jones or the authors of the many programs available today, it may be necessary to revise our expectations of what a training method should and shouldn't do. Remember that nearly any training method can be effective, at least temporarily, for the following reasons:

1) Beginners will make short-term progress with any training method, provided they aren't injured in the process.

2) Many people train in a very monotonous manner, rarely changing acute exercise variables such as choice of exercise, order of exercise, rest periods, and load (volume and intensity). When such a person changes programs, they will progress, at least temporarily.

Conversely, NO training program is perfect because:

1) Everyone is different. No two people respond exactly the same to a given program.
2) The body will eventually accommodate to any program, and when it does, you hit a plateau.

The conclusion that might be drawn from these points is that all methods can be viewed as "tools" which have a certain degree of utility when used in the proper proportion and in the right context. The problem is when a proclamation is made that "This is the perfect program for all people all of the time!"


DEFINITIONS

A significant impediment to discussing this issue is the lack of consistent
working definitions for several terms which are germane to the discussion at
hand:


What is "Training to Failure”?

The very definition of "training to failure" needs considerable clarification. Does it mean concentric failure? Eccentric failure? Inability to complete another repetition in good form? (and what is "good form?") Inability to maintain the desired tempo (speed of execution)? Are we referring to failure of the cellular, or neural system? Failure of the stabilizers, or prime movers?

For the purposes of this discussion, "training to failure" describes training in a manner where each set is continued to the point where further concentric repetitions "in good form" cannot be completed under the lifter's own volition. Second, the notion of failure is inexorably linked to the magnitude of effort and ability to withstand pain and fatigue— both of which are subjective qualities.


What is "Good Form?"

While the amount of resistance, number of sets and reps, etc., constitute the quantitative element of training, good form (or exercise technique) can be seen as the qualitative element. Exercise technique includes range of motion, tempo, and control over the resistance being lifted. For the sake of variation, bodybuilders should plan for regular variations in tempo and range of motion. Such variations help to break through strength and hypertrophy plateaus.

Control, however, should never be sacrificed, especially for the purpose of "eeking out" another repetition. For the sake of this discussion, "good form" will be defined as "exercise performance which is consistent with pre-determined objectives concerning range of motion, tempo, and control of the resistance."

Using this definition, it is not considered bad form to lift a weight through a partial range of motion, as long as you pre-determined that the repetitions would be performed in that manner. On the other hand, if you planned to do parallel squats, and start losing depth due to fatigue, this would be considered bad form. Similarly, if you plan for a certain tempo (duration of each repetition) or even rest period, it would be considered bad form to alter these parameters in the middle of a workout.


What is Intensity?

Sports scientists and bodybuilders often assign two very different meanings to this term. In the sports sciences, intensity is usually defined as the difficulty of the work performed, expressed as a percentage of 1RM (One repetition maximum), or an athlete's maximum poundage for a single repetition for any given lift. Using this definition, if an athlete has a 1RM of 400 pounds in the leg press, a set performed with 350 pounds is more "intense" than a lift performed with 300 pounds, regardless of how many reps were performed, how close the set came to failure, or how much mental effort was applied.

Most bodybuilders, on the other hand, define intensity as the magnitude of effort applied to a task. Using this definition, a leg press of 300 pounds might be more intense than a set with 350 pounds, if a greater effort was applied to that set.

For our purposes then,we will distinguish between "extrinsic" intensity (or, the magnitude of the external load) and "intrinsic" intensity (or, the magnitude of effort applied against that load). It's important to recognize that extrinsic intensity is objective, and intrinsic intensity is subjective. In other words, we can measure the weight on the bar as a percentage of maximum, but when someone claims that they "went to failure," we have to take his or her word for it.


Objectives and Methods of Training

For bodybuilders, the object of training is muscular hypertrophy. The methods used to accomplish this objective are dictated by various training principles, most notably the principle of progressive overload. Fatigue, and occasionally failure, are unavoidable by-products of these methods. Viewing fatigue and/or failure as an objective of training (as many bodybuilders do) is masochistic and counterproductive.

The hallmarks of successful training are long-term consistency and progression. But progression must be gradual— very gradual— if it is to be consistent. Many athletes insist on always taking a set to utter failure, even if it's not necessary to achieve a new personal record. But these same athletes neglect to project these gains into the future, which reveals the impossibility of continuing these gains.

As an example, if you manage to put 5 pounds a week on your squat, this equates to 20 pounds a month, and 240 pounds a year. If this could be continued for even three years, you would be a national level powerlifter, with size to go along with it! A better approach is to achieve very small increases in load on a regular basis, even though you won't reach failure. These smaller increases are easier for the body to adapt to, and recuperate from. Taking each and every set to complete failure is like trying to run a marathon at sprint speed— after a very short period of sprinting, you'll have to slow down considerably, if you expect to finish the race.


The Downside of One Set to Failure

As stated earlier, few training practices or techniques are good or bad in the absolute sense. Most often, it's a matter of application and context. Performing all sets to failure (or, trying to) is particularly problematic, for the following reasons:

1) Insufficient training volume for hypertrophy development

Many studies have confirmed that metabolic changes associated with muscular hypertrophy are best instigated through loading by high volumes, whereas neural adaptations are best brought about through high intensity loads. Training volume is calculated in pounds lifted per unit of time. If you plan to lift a certain weight for 5 sets of 5 reps, only the last set would approach concentric failure— if you went to failure on the first set, the subsequent sets would have to be performed with significantly less weight.

This decreases volume, which can negatively impact muscular hypertrophy. International strength coach Charles Poliquin observes that for any two athletes on the same basic program, the athlete who uses a higher volume will have greater hypertrophy [1]. This observation may be due in part to increased levels of anabolic hormones which are associated with multi-set (as opposed to single set) training [2].

A second factor to consider with respect to the training load is that there is a limit to how long you can achieve progressions in intensity, but increases in volume can be achieved for a much longer period. For example, after about 9-10 years of solid training experience, you'll arrive at (or very close to) your maximum lifts (1RM's). Past this point, it becomes nearly impossible to increase the training load through increases in intensity. It's much more feasible at this point to increase training volume (by adding reps and/or sets). In this way, you can continue to make gains in muscle mass.

2) Injury potential, both acute and chronic, increases


Noted exercise scientist Paul Ward warns that training to failure results in ischemic reperfusion, or oxygen deprivation, followed by oxygen perfusion. This results in massive free-radical damage to DNA and cell membranes. International Sports Sciences Association co-founder Dr. Sal Arria cautions that many soft tissue injuries occur when failure terminates a repetition in mid-stroke. "When the weight on the bar exceeds the muscle's ability to lift it, something has to give and usually, it's the musculotendinous junction" One of the most important functions of a spotter is to stay alert and keep the bar moving in order to avoid such injuries, according to Arria.

According, to powerlifting legend Fred Hatfield, if fatigue is so great that stabilizers and synergists (which typically tire faster than the prime movers) become too fatigued to allow maintenance of proper form, you're asking for trouble.

3) Potential for overtraining increases

Louie Simmons, well-known coach to many elite-level powerlifters finds that taking sets to failure "has an ill-effect on the central nervous system," which delays recovery. Simmons is noted for producing scores of high-ranked lifters with relatively low-intensity training

4) Regular failed attempts lead to a reduction in a lowering of the Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO) excitation threshold [3].

Successful lifts which are above what the body is used to will raise the excitation threshold of the Golgi Tendon Organ, while failed attempts tend to lower it. What this means in bodybuilding parlance is that the more often you miss a lift, the more likely it is that you'll miss it again in the future.


Is Training to Failure Necessary?

Clearly, it is not. The overriding concept is that, like all training methods, training to failure is a tool. No tool should be used all the time for all applications. But used judiciously, it can be a useful training method. Any training program which plans for progressive resistance, consistency, and variation is likely to produce success.


Recommendations

1) Plan and document your training. If your best effort in the bench press is 225 for five sets of five repetitions, your goal should be to surpass that effort— either by getting five more pounds for 5x5, or by getting a greater volume with the same weight. When you do, you'll progress, even if you don't go to failure on each and every set. Keeping a training log is a must in order to know what barriers you're trying to surpass. Use one!

2) Use and apply strictly defined technique parameters for yourself. Cheating (by utilizing co-contraction from non-targeted muscles) only encourages inefficient movement patterns, poor posture, and potentially, injuries. Your technique on the last rep should be identical to the technique you use on the first repetition.

3) Progress is a function of gradually increasing your training load over time—not how "trashed" you feel after a workout.

4) Careful attention to acute program variables can have a big impact on how much volume you can comfortably tolerate. Here are two examples:

a) Muscles can be worked more thoroughly by first training in an unstable environment (i.e, free weights) which challenge the stabilizers, and then moving to a stable environment (i.e, machines) [4]. To test this for yourself, first do a set of dumbbell bench presses to fatigue. Next, load a barbell with the same weight, and immediately do a set.

You will find that you can lift this weight, despite failure on the DB bench. Next, go to a machine bench press, load it with the same weight, and you'll find that you can continue even further. This phenomenon is an example of "stabilizer failure," meaning that the motor cortex will limit neural drive to the prime movers when it senses that the body is unable to stabilize a load. This phenomenon has vast implications for the majority of trainees who primarily work prime movers through machine exercises only.

b) Because fatigue is specific [5], greater workloads are possible if sets of contrasting exercises are performed back to back, as opposed to finishing all sets for a particular exercise before proceeding to the next. As an example, if you plan to perform bench presses and lat pulldowns in the same session, sets 1,3,5, etc., would be bench presses, and sets 2,4,6, etc., would be lat pulldowns.

The more distant the two muscle groups are from one another, the greater the reduction in residual fatigue. Still another method of reducing fatigue is to alternate between low repetition sets, which fatigue primarily the nervous system, with high repetition sets, which fatigue primarily the metabolic system. The low repetition sets facilitate greater neural drive, which carries over to the high repetition set, allowing a greater overall workload to be performed.

c) Except for beginners, a linear progressions of training load, where the athlete attempts to add resistance each and every workout, result in early stagnation and loss of improvement. A more productive approach is a "three steps up, one step down approach" [6] which allows for periodic regeneration and continued improvement.

5) For hypertrophy development, remember that muscles consist of more than just contractile fibers. Use a variety of repetition ranges to stimulate all elements of the muscle cell— including sarcoplasmic volume, capillary density, and mitochondria proliferation. (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy)

6) It is especially important to recognize the qualitative components of a good set— elements such as the feel, control, and overall mastery of the movement. Over-reliance on achieving the maximum number of repetitions at any cost is an invitation to injury and long-standing technique errors. A useful guideline is "Once you find yourself cheating, you're already beyond failure!"

7) Stick to conventional or "basic" training methods until they no longer yield results. If your neuromuscular system experiences every strength training method known to science in your first year of training, what will you do when you hit a plateau? Save "advanced" methods, such as partial repetitions, eccentric training, and ballistic methods for later, when you're advanced.


Training to Failure: Traditional and Revised Definitions

The majority of trainees define training to failure as continuing a set of repetitions (including both the concentric and eccentric portions of the rep) until no further repetitions are possible without a considerable erosion of form, or assistance from a partner, or both. Frequently, after concentric failure is reached, the trainee will continue the set, either by cheating (utilizing co-contraction from additional muscle groups), or with the help of a partner by either 1) completing a certain number of eccentric-emphasized reps, 2) performing "forced reps" (ie., utilizing help on both the concentric and eccentric portions of the reps), or performing "strip sets," meaning, the partner continues to reduce the weight on the bar until no further repetitions can be completed.

Other authors have rightly pointed out the fact that failure is specific to fiber type. As an example, you may select a heavy weight, and reach failure after performing 3 repetitions. While no further repetitions are possible with this weight, it would still be possible to lower the weight (as in a strip-set) and continue even further.

Olympic lifters terminate their sets when the ideal tempo and/or coordination erodes beyond acceptable parameters. For this reason, Olympic lifters rarely if ever utilize spotters, even on their heaviest maximum attempts, since (at least in theory) the worst thing that can happen is that the last rep will be slower than desired.


Is One Set Really Enough?

Many proponents of the "one set to failure" method justify their claims by suggesting that one set is sufficient to recruit a maximal number of motor units. While this may be true (although there is little solid data to support this statement), this approach assumes that simply recruiting a motor unit once is sufficient to fatigue it, which is a prerequisite to hypertrophic adaptations.

For beginning trainees, it may be that single exposures to a training stimulus are sufficient to provoke an adaptation. But athletes with even moderate experience are likely to require multiple exposures (sets) in order to fatigue the target motor units9. Hypertrophy of other biological tissues is accomplished not by stressing the tissue close to its limits, but by applying a stress which is slightly beyond what it normally encounters. Bone, as an example, hypertrophies when a force equaling approximately one-tenth it's breaking point is applied. This example supports the contention that gradual progression is the ideal method for achieving muscular growth.


References:

1) Personal Communication, February, 1996.
2) "Growth Hormone Release Following Single Versus Multiple Sets of Back Squats". Bruce W Craig and Ho-Youl Kang at the Human Performance Laboratory, Ball State University. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 1994, 8(4), 270-275
3) Personal communication with Dr. Fred Hatfield, January, 1996.
4) Program Design Video Series, Paul Chek Center for Health & Performance, LaJolla, CA, 1996.
5) Zatsiorsky, V. M., Science and Practice of Strength Training, p.p. 111, Human Kinetics, Champaign, 1995.
6) Bompa, T.O., Periodization of Strength, Toronto, Veritas Publishing, 1993, p.p. 53.
7) Telle, J., Beyond 2001: New Approaches to Scientific Training for the Advanced Bodybuilder, EDICT, Denver, 1995.
8) Hatfield, F.C., Fitness: The Complete Guide, ISSA Publications, Santa Barbara, 1995.
9) Fleck, S.J., & Kraemer, W.J., Designing Resistance Training Programs, Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, 1987, p.p. 58.
10) Baechle, T.R., (Ed.) Essentials of Strength and Conditioning, Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, 1994.

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