Combat and Chaos...Reality Based Drills Utilizing Chaos Theory

            Chaos theory  (also known as the butterfly effect) is the study of the confluence of seemingly random and unpredictable occurrences that result in a deterministic outcome. So what does that mean? Well, in combative terms it means "shit happens" and from all angles. It means that no matter how much you train and how many rehearsed moves and techniques you do you can never be fully prepared for any given situation that you might encounter. What we can do is incorporate chaos into our training regimen and drills.

Multiple Choice Martial Arts...Choose Your Weapons

When I was very young I noticed something, that something is that no two people are a like. People come is all sorts of shapes and sizes, tall and short, fat and thin, lanky and stubby etc. So it puzzles me when I see two people of differing dimensions and proportions executing the same technique in exactly the same manner. Further more it boggles my mind why some instructors insist on the rigidity of executing a certain technique a certain way. Are we all the same? Are we all fighting the same person?

I have come to understand that martial arts needs to be tailored  to fit the individuals needs. When an instructor tells you to step forward or back or side to side do they mean my step or their step. I as a man of 5'5" am not going to have nearly as long a stride as a man who is 6'5", so why on earth would we follow that stride with the same strike. Doesn't it make sense that he would be closer to the opponent then I would be, which would naturally imply that he should use a closer range weapon, say an elbow when I would use a punch. But so many stick to doctrine and try to fit the individual into the mold of the system as opposed to tailoring the system to fit the individual. I always tell my students and training partners that while the numbers may change (in this case reach and distance) the equation stays the same, it is just like doing math. Really martial arts and self defense is math, you have a problem that must be solved and you need to employ calculated movements and equations to solve this problem. You have to take into account all the factors and then plug them into the equation to reach a desired outcome which is your solution. So instead of teaching doctrine why don't we teach equations? Instead of set techniques why don't we teach theory and idea's?

Martial Arts and the Firearm

           People often overlook, combat shooting or discard it as not a martial arts or something that is separate from the martial arts. But the truth is that no only is it a martial art, it is an integral martial arts for the modern martial artist. Now I know a lot of martial artists that will tell me that shooting is not a martial art, or that they study because guns are tools for the unskilled blah blah blah...and a myriad of other excuses of false ideas. Many of these naysayers are the same people that expound the benefits of training with a sword. Now before you get your panties in a bunch let me say that there is NOTHING wrong with training with a sword, but please don't try and tell me that because you train with a sword that you don't need firearms training because you can use a sword or that training with a sword is reality training any other fantasy type statement like that. Unless you live in feudal Japan or medieval Europe you are not training for reality. Lets be real for a second, even if the gun is not your weapon of choice it will usually be the bad guys first choice.

The reality of Knife Defense...

I was a little reluctant to write this as it was similar to an earlier post that I had written but felt compelled after hearing a conversation today about "reality" training and viewing some reality JiuJitsu techniques. Now before I start and as someone who has studied JiuJitsu in the past I DO understand that not all techniques and teachers are equal and WOULD not label anyone style as deficient, it just happened that it was a JiuJitsu instructor teaching and he repeatedly called them jiujitsu techniques. The thing that was blatantly obvious when watching these techniques is that they were empty hand techniques, and NOT designed for a blade defense, as on more than one occasion had it been a real blade the instructor would have slit his own wrists. Again not saying anything bad about the system just the techniques that were being taught. OK now on with the show.

How Fit is Fight Fit?

      I really wonder sometimes when I go to a dojo or watch a training of some sort how people think that If they sweat for an hour or two a week that the are in shape, or fight fit. It's amazing how people think that studying martial arts is like a magic pill, that if you step into a dojo 2 hours a week not only are your "trained" but fit enough for a confrontation. And then there are the people who not only don't exercise but then abuse their body as well. So how fit does one have to be to defend themselves and what are some things we can do to be fight fit.