The Multiple Attacker Equation Part 1

The idea of dealing with multiple attackers is an idea that many arts overlook. It is tough to teach, tough to learn, tough to deal with and an abstract concept to write about. But it is probably the single most important thing to learn and one of the most likely scenarios you will encounter in a real world situation (if no the most likely).  When facing multiple attackers it is likely that you will be facing a group or groups of 3 or more so we must start there training, dealing and discussing 3 attackers.

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.

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

Ranks, Titles, Bushido and Bullshit ( A Rant)

Recently, I have been getting more and more annoyed with the pompous self serving unrealistic bullshit going on in the martial arts world, you know what I am talking about. The "I'm an authority because" or "my kungfu is better than your kungfu" or worse still is " I can throw my chi but it only works on some people" so on and so fourth. People talking more about philosphy ( there is nothing wrong with philosophy I am a student myself) then martial art and explaining overly complicated and unsubstantiated theory and technique that has never even been pressure tested at 50%. People focus more on selling the sizzle, on the "way" or "path". It also occurs to me that people forget that the "Do" suffix was added during peace times when martial skills were becoming martial sport. There is nothing wrong with sport but tell your students and observers that it is such, I am reminded on something my grandfather said "don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining". Lets remember what martial art is, it is hurting the guy who is trying to hurt you or your loved one breaking it down into an even  simpler idea it's hurting the bad guy everything else is just fluff.

My big issue is that as time passed the traditional arts became more and more stylized, straying further and further from their original purpose, and people believe that this is "the traditional", "the source", when really it is quite the opposite. A good example of this was a quote from Kelly McCann "during World War 2 which was at the height of the whole Budo/ Bushido frenzy, a lot of hand to hand engagements were won by a 19 year old G.I. swinging an M1 Garand like a baseball bat"! People forget this instructors forget this! They forget that a real fight is dirty and nasty, it is fury and chaos in other words it's a cluster Fuck. So why are we saying one thing and doing another why are we concerned with how many stripes are on our belts and if a guys wrist is slightly out of position while performing a kendo kata, what should concern us is can you fight?

Can you really fight, or do you just talk about fighting like children talk about war, Bang Bang your dead I got you! I don't mean can you spar, I mean can you fight! Are you prepared to fight with no pads, no rules and no referee with no one to save you! Now I am not saying go out and pick a fight, or saying I am some tough guy killing machine. What I am saying is are you prepared to maim or kill to bleed and be covered with blood, is that what you train for? Are you ready for the worst? Or are you a dojo warrior? I have met far to many black belts that can tell me the rules or the philosophy but can't defend themselves or do a technique unless the attack is just so and the attacker doesn't react in any way to what they are doing. WHAT IS THAT? Wake up no one is going to just stand there while you beat on them. And you call yourself an "artist"! I am done with it, done with the labels. Done with people labeling themselves a martial artist, saying I am this style or that style martial artist. After almost 18 years and dedicating my whole life my entire being to the study of martial arts I am relinquishing the label of "Martial Artist" unfortunately it has been cheapened and no longer means what it used to. I am hence forth a "Defensive Combatant"! There is no need for a "Do" or "Way" if you study the warrior arts, if you study combat and combative techniques then that is the way! If you really want to follow the path of the warrior and live the warrior life style then all you need are these:

• Have a good moral compass.
• Be ready, willing and able to defend yourself, your loved ones or those weaker then you.
• Understand that if you fight you may have to maim or kill and that when violence is the answer it is the only answer.
• Be realistic in your training and study.
• Be true to and with yourself and your students.
• Don't focus on the minutia.
• Field test/pressure test your techniques and make them fail!
• Be a good training partner and fight back!
• Always train like your life depends on it because it DOES.
• Never train a technique at less then 60% power and speed.

That is it, that's the way. I often get questions from students and training partners about why I am so intense, and the answer is simple. I know what real violence looks like, I know what it is like to be a victim, to be beaten, bloodied, have bones broken be cut and stabbed, to have your skull cracked and jaw broken. I know what a broken nose, and broken eye sockets feel like, I know what it feels like to have your wrist broken and to be almost blinded (These are for the most part different occasions). When I tell them I know and want them to train so they never will then they understand. I would like to end this RANT with a quote from Dan Innosanto "take what is useful and throw the rest away". Remember if you want to stay clean you got to fight Dirty!

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 

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?

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       

Know Your Targets

In reality based combatives / martial arts, ones goal is to quickly and effectively stop your attacker or attackers.  We are not trying to score points, a submission or even a knockout. We are looking to incapacitate, we want to do as much damage as necessary as quickly and effectively as possible as to escape, stop the attack, or stop the attack long enough to escape to safety.

Optimally we are looking for economical efficiency in our techniques and approach to training. The best way to achieve this is to know and understand what the most effective targets are. Targets really fall into two categories, Primary and Secondary. Within Primary targets are a sub group that I refer to as "your soft targets".

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

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

Modern Weapons Training: Practicality and Translating your Traditional art to suit your modern needs

   Ok, so lets talk about weapons.... No not guns, although a well rounded martial artist even if they detest guns should be versed enough to be proficient in their use. Why you might ask? Well last time I checked that was the weapon of choice for most of the bad people in the world so if they are going to use them then I should to if I want to take them away. Think about it for a second You train to disarm a gun but do you know how to use it or unload it or even turn on the safety? Another thing to think about with guns is that if you are familiar with guns then you will have less of a fear, that being said you will also learn better how to disarm if you know how to arm. Ok done with the guns I said my piece.
But what about all the other weapons out there where do they come in are they obsolete....hell no. Ok reality time, the practices of some weapons and weapon arts should be put into the category of spiritual and or sport and not touted as practical. For example when was the last time you went to the grocery store and brought along your samurai sword, spear or halberd? Does this mean that it is worthless...no not at all but we need to train ourselves to think modern. Many of the practices and principles that we are taught for classic weapons can easily be translated to a modern equivalent ( right now your probably like what is the equivalent to a rope dart or three section staff, well hold on I'm getting there). Here are some examples of traditional weapons and weapons techniques that can be translated into use with modern and readily available items.

Multiple Attackers

          Okay so today lets talk about multiple attackers, possibly one of the most dangerous situations to be in. This topic is not only hotly debated among martial artists but is something that a lot of martial arts just don't deal with. So today I will give you some ideas of what to do when facing more than one attacker, please remember that all situations are different and if the opportunity to escape presents itself then by all means take it.

Mental Preparation

When people hear the term mental preparation they immediately think of not freezing or going blank under duress, and while that is what is usually meant people don't realize that they can mentally prepare for a situation in other ways. Martial arts practitioners need to realize that while being physically fit is important inorder to survive or "triumph" in a  real situation your going to depend on 70% to 80%  mental and only 20%- 30% physical.

Today I would like to talk about a few things that you can ponder on or meditate on (what ever terms float your boat). First, do you know your natural weapons? No, not your hands, feet, knees and elbows. Your height, weight, speed, reach and strength. Consider this, if you are a shorter person how practical is high kicking? Not practical at all if you spend your time learning high kicks even if you are awesome at it, if your opponent's head is higher than you can kick what would you do. If you are slow and you know it then maybe techniques designed for speed aren't going to work for you. If you are short assume all of your attackers or opponents are going to be taller than you and train accordingly.If your are really tall then assume that most of your opponents will be shorter than you, in this case maybe doing some higher kicking isn't such a bad idea (remember never sacrifice power or stability for height fancy doesn't equal effective). That is what I mean by know your natural weapons.