Back From the Dead

Hey guys sorry for the delay.....I have been working on new material ...no point in posting crap just to post.... I feel if you have nothing to say then don't try and find something to say....It will find you anyway back this week With Are you too tactical? and  The endless search.

An Ode To My Attacker....

An Ode to My Attacker......

I don't need to be the strongest, just strong enough. I don't need to be the fastest just fast enough. I don't need to be the toughest just tough enough. I don't need to be the most skilled just skilled enough. So when you come for me and want to play rough. I will have what it takes to hurt you enough!



"Real Violence Needs Real Solutions" 
M.U.C.T

Shock and Awe...Pain Saves Lives

Go and get punched in the face...you heard me! Go get punched, kicked, slammed, choked, smacked, kneed and elbowed. Pain is an important part of martial arts training. Knowing and dealing with pain is even more important than knowing how to dish it out. Without ever experiencing pain you can't learn to fight through it! As your experience with pain increases your sensitivity to it will decrease. The end goal is to be able to turn off the pain, to power through it.

Unexpected pain or the fear of pain can cause a person to freeze. Freezing is what will lead to more pain, to loss, to death. The fear can be paralyzing. Learning to except pain and even relish it, is the only way to overcome the fear of pain. Once you except that pain is inevitable in a physical confrontation, and that pain can't and won't kill you only sub-coming to  it can. Once you realize that pain is learned and can be controlled and over come, then fear and shock can be bypassed. It is important to understand pain and the realization of pain. Think about how many times you cut yourself and don't realize until you see blood, your brain doesn't register the pain until you see the wound. Because pain is something that we learn at a young age it is almost impossible to unlearn but can be put out of the brain, turned off. Turning off the pain, moving past it is something that takes practice and focus, there are many systems, ideas and studies to accomplishing this task  but the first thing is to experience what it is that you need to overcome. So go and get hurt, get beaten, get thrown around it could save your life! Remember if you wanna stay clean you gotta fight dirty.

"Real Violence Needs Real Solutions"

M.U.C.T 

The Tactical Short Staff (Jo Staff)...

If you could learn only how to use one weapon, what would that weapon be? Before you answer that question, I want you to think long and hard about a few factors first abundance, second force multiplication ability and thirdly ease of use. Now please take a second and be realistic in your thinking, don't pick the weapon that you like the most or think is the coolest. If you picked the short staff also known as the quarter staff or jo staff then you can pass go and collect your $200.

90 x 90....The 90% Rule For Pressure Testing Your Techniques

90 x 90 is something that I have developed and implemented into my teaching as well as my thought process. I use 90 x 90 when teaching new students or giving seminars, but it is also something I use for myself when pressure testing a technique.  What 90 x 90 means is that a technique should work 90% of the time, and be able to be performed by 90% of the people it is taught too (i.e. you don't have to be Bruce Lee to jam a finger in someones eye or to strike their groin) or  it should work on 90% of attackers. Does this mean that more advanced or complex techniques won't work? Absolutely not it is just a matter of practicing them until you can do them under extreme stress and get them to work 90% of the time on 90% of your attackers....you see 90 x 90! Remember that, simplicity  and ease of use is ideal for stressful situations, we want to use gross motor skills not fine motor skills. Really it goes back to Hicks law which states that fewer choices and  less thinking equates to a faster reaction time, which is  ideal for stressful situations and instant decision making. That's it!!! Simple easy and practical and as always "If You Want To Stay Clean You Gotta Fight Dirty" 






 Real Violence Needs Real Solutions
M.U.C.T       

The Self Defense Golden Ratio 10:5:3:2

Often times martial arts systems become cluttered and confusing. What I mean is  that a system may have 20,30 or more techniques for 1 type of attack. While I believe in being absolutely thorough it has been thought that by studying so many techniques, it may cause a person to falter when it is needed most i.e. I am getting attacked what technique should I use. As well as being overloaded  with techniques, the techniques themselves are often very intricate and involved. Techniques need to be simple, effective, easy to remember and train and even easier to deploy under duress. Through research, study and practice I have come to the conclusion that my "golden ration" is a good measuring stick to use when studying, teaching or training. The ratio 10:5:3:2 is as follows;

Fighting From the Flinch...

That's right you read correctly flinch not clinch. Reality based martial arts needs to be just that reality based (no brainer right). Now I want you to think about two things first how do you normally stand and walk and second how do the techniques that you teach or learn start (from what position)? Now let me ask you a question how often do you walk around in a fighting stance? Answer never,

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.

Why We Train!

Sometimes I feel it is important to remember why we train, why we spend hours Upon hours and years upon years training. It is why we do thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of repetitions. Why we run and lift weights, why we really dedicate our lives to this thing we call the martial arts. Now I don't train because I want to be a champion, or to prove how tough I am. I don't want to be the next ultimate fighter, or K1 champion. So why do I train?

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.

Finding A Good Instructor....(The most important technique)

A good instructor is what will make or break your training. The instructor you choose is far more important than the art you pick, don't get me wrong the style you pick should suit your needs but a good instructor is what will make the style you choose understandable. So what makes a good instructor, what should you look for?

The Secret of Martial Arts!!!!!

Today is a short one but this doesn't need much saying. Lets talk about the "secret" you know the one I am talking about the thing that people look for the first time they walk into a martial arts school, the magic bullet. Well here it is the secret is that there is no secret....the way to become a "Master" is to master the basics. Fancy and flashy do not win fights. It is really a matter of repetitions, practice what will be important and discard all the rest of the crap. Do 1000 punches everyday, 1000 kicks everyday and 1000 blocks everyday, practice your techniques and train your body and mind to be strong and agile. When you can reach this level you will have learned the Secret. Now of course you can not just go out and do all of that non stop and even when you reach your goal you will still continue to improve, remember there are more than one kind of kick, punch and block. So train hard and be ready. Now that you have learned the "secret" share it with someone else.

Remember Real Violence Needs Real Solutions
M.U.C.T

The Tactical Fighting Umbrella....Say What??

Yup you read correctly the tactical fighting umbrella. The umbrella is a long used and oft forgotten self defense item. The umbrella has a long history of being used as a weapon in China (Wong Fei-hung for example was a big proponent of using and umbrella), many styles of Kung Fu actually have umbrella forms and sets in them. But using an umbrella as a weapon is not limited to only China (and Taiwan). The umbrella was also an often used and quite popular self defense  item durning the late Victorian era and early 20th century all over Europe but especially in England, France and America. It was a gentleman's weapon and was used interchangeably with the cane or walking stick. At that point in time the study of fisticuffs (arwrology) and boxing were quite popular as a past time among the higher classes.

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.

Happy Chinese New Year and Sorry For the delay...

Happy Chinese New year and Sorry for the delay Here in taipei we have been celebrating like Crazy.....Stay tuned for Part 2 this week thanks
M.U.C.T