Thank You

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all the readers of this blog.  The fact that you take time out of each busy week to see what we have to say on the subject of self-protection/self-defense is extremely flattering, to say the least.  We just try to talk about things as we see them, and we enjoy all your feedback and thoughtful commentary.  We appreciate you stopping by!

“Vigilance”, by Steven Mosley

The following excerpt is from the introduction of Steven Mosley’s book, Combat Hard Self Defense.  I think it is very appropriate on a solemn day of remembrance, like today.

 

We live in a free society. Our freedom has been earned by those who have gone before us.  In order to maintain our freedom, we must continue to think and act like a successful captor.  We must be vigilant! To be vigilant is to be alert.  Alertness is the state of paying close and continuous attention. Being curious is a good thing. Maintaining a mental state of condition yellow or 360 degree awareness as explained by the late great firearms instructor Colonel Jeff Cooper is paramount. 

The painting above is of a red-shouldered hawk.  It was painted by Holly Byram and is a reminder to all of the warriors that “Vigilance” must be maintained.  The caption on the painting states “With a watchful eye, the successful captor is ever vigilant.” Each year as we get further and further away from the events of September 11, 2001, as many people have stated, we must not only remember, we must never forget. However, to ensure that our society is never thrust into chaos as it was on that day, we must all pay attention to our surroundings. 

The Vigiles, or more properly the Vigiles Urbani (”watchmen of the City”), were the firefighters and police of Ancient Rome.  Each of us is now society’s new Vigile.  The security and wellbeing of our society as a whole and of each of us individually is in all our hands.  When you see something that seems wrong, report it to your local authorities.  If you are one of the local authorities, investigate it.  Gavin de Becker explains in his book The Gift of Fear that violent acts are predictable and preceded by clear warning signs.  We need only to be alert to these pre-incident indicators and take appropriate action when they are presented to us. 

We must maintain our freedom so that our way of life that we so cherish survives.  We will do this by achieving victory against all of those that seek to harm us or our loved ones.  As stated by Sir Winston Churchill,” Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.”  Victory is achieved through “Vigilance.”

 

“Vigilance”, the print, is available through this website: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30190027

Local Crime Stories

 

Yesterday I was talking with the proprietor of a local Thai restaurant that I frequent.  While I was eating, a repairman was replacing the glass in the side door and cleaning up shattered glass on the floor.  Being the terminally curious person that I am, I decided to inquire about it.  The owner told me that the restaurant had been burglarized the night before.  This was the second of two incidents in which the same door was hit and cash was stolen.  She expressed her worry over feeling unsafe, and despite slow business in recent months, she was closing early on some nights because she felt unsafe.  She also described incidents experienced by other businesses in the area, including one restaurant owner being followed home from work and mugged at gunpoint in his driveway.

 

Today I was talking with the owner of my local print shop.  His business is located directly across the street from the Thai restaurant.  We were also discussing the local crime, and I listened to several stories from another patron who recently moved away from a nearby neighborhood.  I’ve known several people who lived in this large, well-kept subdivision, and there is a surprising amount of ongoing criminal activity there.  The customer talked about the dangers of living close to Atlanta, and how one real estate agent was giving six months of neighborhood watch patrol as a property closing gift.  Then he talked about his wife’s misfortune; she had left her purse in an unlocked vehicle in the driveway (her regular habit—yikes!  Can you say condition white?  I knew that you could.).  Amazingly enough. . .it was stolen. . .by kids. . .and sold. . .to thugs.  She did eventually find her expensive purse, discarded, missing all of its contents, of course.

 

I was thinking just how close all of this crime is to my home.  Within just a few miles.  People seem to have this rosy view of the suburbs.  I guess this city is much better than where I used to live three years ago; lots and lots of drug activity–also in the suburbs.  The police presence in our little city is not all that prominent in recent years, and even if it were, officers cannot be everywhere at once.  There’s just too much to do.  Maybe there always was!  All the more reason to take my safety as my personal responsibility.  The Thai restaurant owner certainly isn’t taking any chances; if she feels unsafe, she leaves the area.  I remember she mentioned her relief that the crime had occurred while she was away from the restaurant.  She made it clear that her life was more important than making money.  I wonder how many other people feel this way, although it is not fair for us to have to choose between our lives and our livelihood.  Not in this instance, anyway.  It makes me very angry, and I have to fuel that powerful energy into my own mental and physical preparedness.  It is the only way I know to NOT live in fear. 

Byrnes Combatives Demo

 

Last Saturday we drove to Duncan, South Carolina to do a Combatives demo for Coach Mike Srock and his boys at Byrnes High School.  I am never disappointed by the enthusiasm of the kids and their reaction to this kind of training.  We break out the boxing timer, wraps, gloves, thai pads and focus mitts and give them simple drills to do for two and three-minute rounds.  They performed with a lot of spirit; especially considering our demo followed the legendary John Brookfield and his Battling Ropes.  In addition to the ropes, John had a few other interesting (and exhausting) tricks up his sleeve to show these young athletes.

 

There is no training quite like punching and kicking pads.  Most people are amazed at just how tiring it is.  The kids also drilled hitting and covering (feeder feeds hook with thai pad and tech defends with thai cover, then returns a combination).  They practiced the fight without the fight, which is excellent for their mental and physical conditioning.

 

Much thanks to Coach Srock, Marty Mitchell, and all the participants!

More RBT Thoughts, and. . .Welcome New Gutterfighters!

 

The Trunk

 

My mind is still swimming with thoughts and ideas on resistance bands after this past weekend’s seminar.  We talked a lot about the different planes of movement.  Martial arts requires that you be especially efficient in the transverse plane (think of rotational movement), because the hips are the powerhouse for punching, slapping, elbows, knees, kicking, etc..  This requires a strong trunk and a reactive trunk.  It needs to turn on for stabilization at the right time, without us having to think about it, of course.  Dave explained how typical abdominal exercises that most of us do, like sit-ups and crunches, just don’t cut it when it comes to making our trunks functional in the way they need to be to prevent injury.  He showed us many different exercises to train in this vein, including progressions for isometric planks—very challenging, to say the least.  I don’t have near the level of expertise he does to even explain all of it, though it does make complete sense when he lays it all out.  I can experiment with the exercises more to get a kinesthetic sense of what he is saying, just as I did during the seminar.  He talked about how teaching people to walk and run more efficiently, and training their bodies to move and react properly, will make every other movement involving the extremities that much better; all our movements, he says, are an extension of walking.  As better walkers and runners, we can certainly be better, more efficient martial artists.  I am excited about the implications of what we learned, and now it’s time to be my own guinea pig.

 

The New Kids

 

I wanted to welcome our new Gutterfighters who attended class Monday night.  We threw a lot of stuff at them and they did a great job!  Our head coach is full of surprises and there is never a dull moment around here.

Training With A Legend

 

Twice a year we attend seminar here in Atlanta with one of our instructors, Guro Dan Inosanto.  Seminars, and I’m specifically talking about fitness and martial arts seminars, are a dramatic spectacle to behold.  Lots of egos, hero worship (and sycophantic behavior that goes along with it), folks taking themselves way too seriously, and big showmanship by those stepping up to demo.  The rumor mill is hard at work, giving the political factions plenty of fodder to occupy their time.  When I began attending many years ago, it was a lot like drinking from the fire hose, to borrow a phrase from a former training mate.  Too much too much!  It is difficult to grasp, much less retain that much information crammed into your gray matter in the space of eight hours.  Nevertheless, it has gotten easier with repetition.  I began to realize that I have seen much of the material before at different intervals, and through no conscious effort, it has begun to jell. 

 

I always enter a strange head space during and after the event.  Guro Dan makes me think about things differently, and I see in his words, actions and approach to martial arts a philosophy for everyday living.  He is a student of life, just as Bruce Lee was, and everything he learns in other areas adds to his purpose and his passion, which is martial arts.  Even at 70+ years young, he is expanding, honing, overcoming adversities, and generally absorbing what is useful.  He shows no indication of stopping any time soon, though he admits adapting to physical aging with each passing decade; it is a must for longevity, he posits.  He exposes his personal struggles in his stories; he is human, and a very humble one.  I think his warnings about pitfalls are just as much a reminder to himself as they are to his faithful students.  Some would love to elevate him to the status of a god, which is folly.  His is not THE way, but A way.  He encourages us all to find our own, as any great mentor would.  He has my greatest respect.

 

I walk away from seminar each time with similar thoughts in my mind.  One is that I can never stop learning.  Another is that I must be tested in order to approach mastery, and true mastery often requires teaching concepts to another.  It is so easy to become complacent in the idea of mastery, and I must humble myself continually by remaining a student in many disciplines with many instructors.  A third is that following a passion takes discipline.  Last and most important is this: I can just never stop.  Period.  The key to life is getting in motion and staying in motion.  Stopping is akin to dying.  I have heard Guro Dan say in the past that he would rather wear out than rust out, and I must agree.

http://inosanto.com/

Hard Work on Labor Day

 

I worked out with a personal training client today.  Afterward, I was thinking that most of what we do with our clients turns into Gutterfighting.  The focus might be more on conditioning when we are working with fitness clients, but it is nevertheless Gutterfighting.  J

 

Warm-Up

 

A combination of Parisi Speed School exercises (prisoner squats, jumping jacks, seal jumps, flings), Warrior Wellness joint mobility (arm circles, range of motion for the chest, torso twisting) and hip mobility exercises (fire hydrants, leg circles).

 

Circuit 1

 

We are usually still warming up with the first drills and circuits, so I kept the duration to two minutes, performing the drill twice with a minute break in between:

 

1.  Squat combined with torso rotations (holding a kettlebell at chest level) X 5

2.  Slam ball X 5

3.  Bent-over row with kettlebell while bearing weight on one parallette X 5 each side

4.  Russian twists with medicine ball X 5 (full twists)

5.  10 Kicks on BOB (round or Thai)

 

Circuit 2

 

This next circuit was performed twice for three minute intervals:

 

1.  One-armed kettlebell swings X 5 each arm

2.  Crush press with kettlebell X 5

3.  Push-ups X 5

4.  Split squats with kettlebell (again, chest level) X 5 each leg

5.  10 Kicks on BOB (round or Thai)

 

Circuit 3

 

We performed six rounds of 30 seconds work and 10 seconds rest (modified Tabata):

 

Punching on BOB and sprawls (usually 2 or 3 per interval)

 

Circuit 4

 

This circuit was performed twice for three minute intervals.  I thought this was a challenge because after I did walking swings back to the beginning, I had to begin walking right back over to BOB:

 

1.  Walking kettlebell swings down the mat

2.  Round or Thai kick and hammer fist on BOB

3.  Walking kettlebell swings back to the starting point

 

Modified Puke Drill

 

Nope.  Didn’t toss my cookies.  Neither did my client.  J  I cannot remember where the other Gutterfighting coach got the original drill, but it’s quite ugly.  There are no rest periods between exercises and the burpees are the icing on this three-minute cake.

 

1.  Criss Cross punches on BOB (30 seconds)

2.  Mountain Climbers (30 seconds)

3.  Skip Knees on BOB (30 seconds)

4.  Mountain Climbers (30 seconds)

5.  Kicks on BOB (30 seconds)

6.  Mountain Climbers (30 seconds)

7.  10 Burpees

 

Planks

 

We finished up with planks.  Two 30-second planks and two side planks for the same time.  These are hard to do when you’re already spent.