Strong Roots - Useful Fruits

Hey everybody welcome back to the Budo Blog and thanks for reading.

Couple things bouncing around the old noggin recently

• Roots
• Expansion and contraction
• Obtaining knowledge, refining that knowledge to its base principles

The purpose of Operational Disciplines Training (ODIN) is to get a trainee to an effective level of proficiency in the practical application of personal protection as efficiently (see also quickly) as possible.

From zero training and experience to competency in 9 to 10 weeks

Or from Dojo / Dojang training to practical application (not nearly the same thing) in 9-10 weeks

To do this I have drawn heavily on the WWII Combatives training methods / protocols.

20 hours of training is more than WWII ear Operatives / Commandos received

Their training was refined down to the most efficient means to accomplish the tasks required of them in the environment those skills would be used.

I have been having a lot of fun developing the ODIN program, and seeing people learning through play.

The process of developing a program has forced me to grow as a teacher.  If I am honest with myself I have neglected many aspects of running a school (paper work, tracking students’ progress, monitoring enrollment, and drop out of students) to focus on what I find important, and what I enjoy doing,

In organizing ODIN and with advice from Randy King I have come to realize that if I am going to attain the success I want I can no longer ignore those aspects of running a school.

To help get my poop in a group I have been working with my friend Omar Ahmad and the USMAA

[Side note – shameless self plug, if after reading this blog you would like to experience the type of training I am describing I will be teaching at the USMAA national training camp in St. Louis this July
Check out this link for more details - http://stltkd.com/usmaa.htm ]

Cool thing about the brain, taking information you know and organizing it in other ways creates more and deeper pathways to that information.

Knowing it is one thing

Being able to teach it is another

Being able to write about it - teach with out being with the student is another
Teaching others to teach others is yet another.

As such organizing what I know into a logical system that other people can follow and teach got me thinking.

I had been training in martial arts for nearly 20 years before I started refining what I had learned down to what is most needed, what can be readily taught to and retained by the student, and focusing on the principles that makes those things work.

If we make an analogy of the end product of that refinement as the fruit, then we must acknowledge that the fruit could have never have bloomed without strong roots.

I am proud of the ODIN project and I have seen students make great strides.  However, I have also noticed that the students that pick it up the fastest also have strong roots in traditional martial arts.  If those roots have ingrained skills with out building blinders.

Those students  are able to make bridges to previous learning and more easily understand the core principle or concept that make 1000’s of techniques work (as opposed to memorizing another 1000 techniques)

This observation along with several conversations continued the thinking that knowledge organization started, and when I think I blog.

I can’t be all things to all people all the time.

If I try it will be to the detriment of all – “The hunter, who chases two rabbits, catches neither one.”

ODIN is for quickly achieving proficiency.  I must fully embrace this and market it as such. 

Budo is for surpassing proficiency and attaining mastery.  It is as necessary and can be as fun as ODIN.  It simply has a different delivery system and target demographic.

How can both be done without being detrimental to each other?

Different strokes for different folks and a solid Venn diagram.

What do I mean by that?  Let me start with a story.

Funny thing happened to me on the way home from the Dojo…

Last Tuesday’s ODIN training was on asocial violence and counter ambush tactics.  We discussed the “interview” and how a predator will use social skills to set up a predatory ambush.

The interview is a term to describe how  predators get close to you and determine how easily you will give up what they want, and if it is worth the risk. 

What the predator wants:

• ·         Proximity
• ·         Knowledge of you as a victim
• ·         Distraction
• ·         No Witnesses

Be aware of anyone trying to get TOO close.

People get close to you all the time. 

• ·         On a bus,
• ·         Busy streets,
• ·         Crowded restaurant. 

That is a fact of life and is unavoidable. What you need to notice are patterns. 

Everybody crowds everybody in a busy bar.  People don’t crowd at an ATM at night.  If someone is trying to get close to you but isolate you from others (wean you from the heard) be cautious

Knowledge of you as a victim

• ·         Testing how you control your space. 
• ·         How do you send the signal that your space has been invaded?

If you pretend not to notice if you shrink you are sending the message that you are a good choice as a victim. 

Meek and silent may prevent social violence, but it will encourage asocial violence. 

Hence important to know the difference and make the distinction quickly.

Distraction

• ·         What time is it (gets you to look at watch)
• ·         You got a light (ties up one hand in your pocket)
• ·         How do I get to…(engages your brain in a cognitive process)

I made the point that someone holding a map and asking for directions has the perfect set up to close distance and distract you.

A student asked something along the lines of  - “Are you saying we should never help anyone”

I replied that you have to assess the situation and trust your intuition.

I’d be much more inclined to help Lise than I would to help Clint

That is Lise ( The one with less facial hair)

That is Clint.  Clint gives Bane nightmares.

But even if Lise was giving me the creeps I have to allow myself to be rude.  Lise can slip a knife in my ribs just as easily as Clint.  Even easier if you underestimate her.

Anyway...

Thursday night we had a proto type run of the Budo class I will describe later (Thursday’s class focused on Aikido and it’s Daito Ryu and Kenjutsu roots – it was a blast)

My girls love coming to the Dojo, and because my subterranean semisecret training facility is hidden underneath a bar, and because they didn’t have school the next day I treated them to popcorn and chocolate milk after class. (In the bar because I'm classy like that)

Ironically enough as I am packing 3 little girls into my truck in a now all but abandoned parking lot outside a bar (Avoid places where violence is likely to happen)  I see a big bald tatted out guy approaching us.  

We make eye contact and he keeps coming.

{If someone is trying to get close to you but isolate you from others (wean you from the heard) be cautious}

I think no fucking way is this really happening, am I going to have a great story next week on how I justifiably used force on a criminal that happened to hunt in an apex predator’s back yard?

When Neck Tats (that is the name I gave him in my head) got to the line I mentally drew in the sand,  I hopped out of my truck and asked him what he was he was doing.

{How do you control your space?}

He asked if he could borrow my phone

I simply told him no

{How do you send the signal that your space has been invaded?}

He asked if they (The Legion) was still open

I told him yes and they even have a public phone he could use.

Was this an interview precursor to an ambush?  The world will never know, because there was no way I was going to let that guy close to me or my little girls.

I often say that anytime you allow things to get physical there is the potential for things to go lethal.  So don’t fight over anything you are not willing to kill or die for.

Nearly everything in the world I am willing to kill for was in my truck (My daughters not my comics) so fuck yeah I was willing to go physical.  However in calmly showing that I have seen this guy, recognized what he might have been doing, and confidently using social skills to deter potential asocial violence I sent subtle but real not to be fucked with signals to Neck Tats that precluded the need for any physical confrontation.

Whoopty f’n doo  - what is the point of this story, what does it have to do with this blog?

I faced a potential violent confrontation after class in the Dojo parking lot.

If someone with absolutely no training came to an ODIN class and gods forbid needed to protect themselves on the way home from that first class, I want them to be able to pull off whatever they were taught.

It doesn’t take much training or skill to punch a guy in the dick, but it sure works well

To get to proficiency that quickly many things from traditional martial arts training must be stripped away.  There is simply not enough time, and people interested solely in self protection have no interest in those aspects anyway.

(Different strokes for different folks)

Some of the things that I am capable of doing, some of the things that I do instinctively (and therefore sometimes forget to teach) are only possible because I have been training in Japanese martial arts for 22 years.

There is a product I can provide for those interested in traditional martial arts training.

An organization, defined requirements, skills testing, rank.

All of that, but more importantly martial art for the simple pleasure of martial art.  Being able to do certain things (difficult things) with your body that others without training are incapable of doing.  Just for the fun of it.  As I mentioned previously Thursday’s class was a blast.

How can both be done without being detrimental to each other?

ODIN training is based on fundamental principles without the trappings of martial arts

Budo is traditional martial arts training, with the caveat that it cannot ingrain bad habits or sport mentalities that would be detrimental to practical application.

Just as I want ODIN students to be able to use their skills that very day.

I want all of my Budo students to be able walk into any Judo, any Yoshinkan Aikido, any Kyokushin Karate, and / or any Kenjutsu Dojo in the world and hold their own, know their shit, handle their business. 

To do this I have borrowed heavily form a variety of sources but two in particular.

1) Mixed Martial Arts.

Anyone who trains in "just" MMA generally sucks at MMA.

Those who are most successfull have a day of:

Muay Thai

Wrestling

Jui Jitsu (Yes I misspelled it, that is the way MMA guys spell it)

And then a day of MMA to work all aspects together

2) The Air Force Combative Measures Instructor Course (From 1959 until 1966)

The 155 hours course consisted of the following:

·         36 hours fundamental Judo

·         12 hours Aikido

·         12 hours Karate

·         12 hours Air Police techniques

·         12 hours air crew self-defense

·         18 hours Judo tournament procedures

·         5 hours Code of Conduct

·         48 hours training methods.

There was also a 20 hour combative measures course and a 12 hour combative survival course for air crew members.

In order to deliver the best quality product to interested demographics I have adopted the following training format.

Monday:

Kyokushin Karate

Tuesday:

10 weeks of the year ODIN – Violence Dynamics / Permit to carry

The rest of the year Keishoukan Budo (how all these aspects work together)

Wednesday:

ODIN – Super Hero Training

Thursday:

Keishoukan Budo (Traditional Roots Training)

·         1 week Judo

·         1 week Aikido and Kenjutsu

·         1 week Karate

Saturday.

1 week ODIN – Violence Dynamics / Permit to carry

1 week Judo

1 week Aikido and Kenjutsu

1 week Karate

I run 10 week Quarters.  Like the Air Force Combative Measures Instructor Course that should give students the following :

ODIN    

[Things your Sensei never taught you] – 18 to 20 hours

Understanding use of force law

Force Articulation

How your brain works – this is your brain

How your brain reacts to stress caused by conflict – this is your brain on violence

Social Violence

Asocial Violence

Conflict Strategy – Avoidance

Conflict Strategy – Escape and evade

Verbal Skills  - Deescalating social violence

Verbal Skills  - Deterring asocial violence

Logic of violence - Understanding criminal behavior

Threat assessment

Reading terrain

After

·         Self care

·         Talking to the police

·         Psychology of survival                                                        

Scenario Training

Firearms Training

BUDO

Judo – 18 to 20 hours

Keishoukan Budo – 36 hours

Yoshinkan Aikido – 18 to 20 hours

Kyokushin Karate – 36 hours

I have had a lot of fun organizing things this way and rediscovering aspects of my training I haven’t played with for a while.

The traditional roots Thursday class follows a format:

30 min warm up.  That warm up has to cover specific basics and skill sets required for that art.

That leaves 90 minutes to be broken into 6 -15 minute training blocks.

Limiting the teaching to 6 topics forces you to prioritize and value asses training.

What is the essence of the art you are teaching?  How do assure that if your student visited another Dojo that teacher would be impressed with their skills?

I can’t teach 1000’s of techniques, so I am forced to focus on the principles, that once mastered allow students to understand every technique.

ODIN is for proficiency

Budo, beyond the fun of martial arts training is for surpassing proficiency and obtaining mastery.

If you have no interest in martial art ODIN training is complete and sufficient in and of itself

If you are only interested in martial art Keishoukan Budo can provide a quality product.

The Venn diagram -

If you are interested in both, the Keishoukan Dojo is uniquely equipped to provide training that provides functional personal protection skills first and foremost, and also provides an outlet for a lifelong study of the martial arts.

In a way I’ve come full circle

I’ve spent years gaining knowledge, then refining that knowledge down.

Now I’ve come to see that, that refined product can be enhanced by reviewing the previous training with new eyes.

Keeping with the ODIN vibe let’s look at the Norse tree of life

Full circle

Strong roots - Traditional Training

Trunk - Fundamental Principles

Branches / fruit – what you can / choose to do with those principles

Circle – return to the source seeing the roots with new perspective after having used them in application

And it all starts again, but now you know which roots when tended to yield the best fruit.

With that tree of life cycle in mind , what I am excited about, the experiment I will be conducting is…

Can I use this training methodology to surpass my teachers?

How fast can I get a brand new student to proficiency?

How fast can I get a student to with previous other martial arts training proficient in practical application?

How fast can I get either of those students past proficiency to mastery?

How fast can I get them to surpass me?

So I can't and won't be all things to all people all of the time.

I will provide ODIN for those interested in Personal Protection
I will provide Budo training for those interested in Martial Arts Training

I will also encourage those interested in either to eventually cross train in the other for the betterment of both

Full circle

Train hard, Train smart, Be safe