Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Master, The Disciple, and banging the stupid out of each other.

The last blog was basically me thinking out loud about how to generate more students.  Not so much to make tons of cash (which would be nice) but more so to have people to train with.

While I am still working on how to do that, I have decided that as long as one person is willing to show up and train, I will be willing to teach just one person.

That is great on paper, but working a 2 hour lesson plan you developed for a class of 10 – 20 students with just 1 student basically turns into 2 guys beating the hell out of each other for 2 hours.  I decided that if I want to be able to walk the next day, I better come up with alternate lesson plans.

History, literature, and cinema are all filled with stories of the “Master” training the “disciple”



I wonder if I can talk Lise into letting me shoot arrows at her?
I wonder if the Karate school’s insurance would cover it?

I have found that re-examining the fundamentals from a different perspective can be very successful in one on one training.  Working the heavy bag hard, then the practical application with me, or working counter ambush tactics on a wing chung dummy, then using those same tactics to defend against live attacks helps make connections between Bunkai (internal mechanics) and Oyo (application) making both stronger (and its fun).




One of the best ways I have found to teach just one student, is working the fundamentals of Kenjutsu and their relationship to Taijustu.

Doing 100 shomenuchi strikes re-enforces the mechanics of weight transfer, structure, and motion also needed in modern close quarter combatives.  It is hard work, but far easier on your body than say taking 100 falls from Osoto Otoshi, or tapping out from 100 Hadaka Jime’s



As much as I love Kenjutsu, it hasn’t been a “live” art in over 100 years.  That’s a lot of time for bullshit to creep in.  However, one on one training can be a great opportunity cut the bullshit back out.  Or as Rory wrote about - Getting out the stupid

On Saturday Chad and I were working on Hiraki (opening) motion.  This motion is used in Batto Jutsu to move off line and draw into a perry in on motion (very cool counter ambush training).  In kata form it works against shomenuchi (linear over head strike) every time.  Shomenuchi and Yokomen Uchi (circular strike) start exactly the same way.  When Chad and I moved away from kata training and more into live training the Hiraki rising block was not near strong enough to perry / deflect a circular strike (see 100 years of Dojo vs. real sword fighting).

“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear”
 - Thomas Jefferson

Better to pressure test techniques in the Dojo than place blind faith in something that may get you killed.

So we decided to bang it out.  In order to kill each other (with out actually killing each other) we had to swap out our oak bokkens for different training tools I used a Batto bokken




Chad used an action Action Flex bokken

Now armed with the Action Flex Chad could go balls out trying to “cut” me with out having to worry about cracking my skull.

We discovered that the core Hiraki motion still works very well.  The key difference being instead of trying to draw and perry in one motion, I would pull the entire saya (sword sheath) out of my belt to deflect the force of the strike (creating solid structure between you and danger = good J).  After that I could draw and cut in one motion (solid Batto Jutsu) or use the hilt to end the confrontation (over in 3)

Granted it is very unlikely I’ll ever walk down the street with a sword in my belt.  Even less so that at that very moment another guy in America in the 21st century will jump out and attack me with a sword of his own.  That doesn’t mean we should train “unrealistic” situations in unrealistic ways.  If you are going to do it (train Koryu / Old school) do it as if your life depended on it.  

The lessons we learned from the sword that lonely Saturday will have direct benefit to our empty hand modern close quarter combatives training.

It changed the way I teach Kenjutsu, which was a direct benefit for me.  So if one student is willing to train it is defiantly in the Teachers best interest to be there to teach


Train hard, train smart, be safe
You posse the power of the glow, the glow, the glow….




Thursday, July 7, 2011

Budo Business Blog


Moore Sensei, my first Aikido Instructor told me, “Never trust anyone who teaches martial arts to pay their bills.”  I have seen a lot of truth in that statement over the years.  Now don’t get me wrong I’m a devout capitalist.  I begrudge no one who makes a profit from the fruit of their labor.  But I have noticed that the Instructors I admire and seek out are not commercially successful, and the Instructors that are commercially successful, I wouldn’t even bother to walk across the street to train with.



I wonder why that is?  I have been thinking about this for awhile.  And while I have yet to find the answers (If I did I would be running multiple 500 student Dojos and making it rain) I think I have begun to see the root of the problem.

Marc MacYoung and I have discussed this.  You can get some of his thoughts on the subject here
Big circle vs. little circle
and here
McDojo


Ok before we get much further let me define how I use a term I stole.  When I say commercialized school I mean a school with the primary purpose of making the owner rich.  The owner / operator / Instructor depends on the school’s income to make his house payments.

When I say Dojo I mean a school where the primary focus is improving the skills of the students, and passing information onto the next generation.

What I have noticed is that commercialized schools rely on advertising that appeals to base human wants.  Like any good business they see, or create a want and find a way to fill that want.

Examples of what people want out of training adjacent to actual martial art skill:                           
Ego boost                                                       
Self Worth                 
Coolness
Self identity
Socializing
Reconfirming your beliefs
Rewriting your history
Fear management
Titles
Pride
Confidence
Social status
Telling yourself you’re not afraid
General studlyness


What is needed for martial art skill
Training for application:
  • Bunkai (internal mechanics)
  • Ouyou (application) Also spelled oyo
  • Other (all the other things you have to know.  Practical information like use of force law)


Commercialized schools identify 5 income generators.  New student enrollment, “upgrade” programs / courses, testing fees, school events, and pro shop sales.

Commercialized schools focus on the wants to the determent or outright abandonment of the needs.

For example BJJ is cool.  It’s the current buzzword.  You run a Tae Kwon Do school which you call American Karate (because Karate already has brand recognition) and have absolutely no grappling knowledge or experience. 
There is no way you can provide Bunkai, Ouyou, or all the other stuff you need to know for the application of BJJ. 
A Commercialized school won’t let that stop them from making money off the cool factor of BJJ. 
They will start a special advanced American Karate BJJ class that meets the wants. (“upgrade” program only an extra $75 a month) 
Thrown on a BJJ instructional DVD, then do a bunch of push ups and cardio drills. 
After the students finish this special class they get an extra patch on their gi ($20 at the pro shop), a rank in American Karate BJJ ($100 for official certificate), and are eligible for their next test (only $75 testing fee). 

So the commercialized school just made nearly $300 per student with out any work.  You get 10 sucker…I mean students to fall for that and that goes a long way towards your mortgage payment.

Compare that to all the time, effort, money, blood-sweet-tears it takes to actually learn BJJ, apply BJJ and be able to teach it to others.  I believe the minimum time for most BJJ schools is 10 years to reach Black Belt.

By the time the students attracted to commercial schools are done (say a whooping 8 weeks) BJJ might not be so cool anymore because they already know everything from the DVD.  That’s fine because Krav Maga is super cool now.  Just in time for the new American Karate Krav Maga upgrade program. 
$$Cha-Chang!!!$$$


Students attracted to a commercialized school will never last more than 3 months at a Dojo

A Dojo Sensei will be morally and ethically repulsed by the practices that make commercialized schools so financially successful.

That is why some of the best martial arts Instructors in the world teach out of a YMCA, or a basement, or a barn.

My focus is practical application for Law Enforcement.  Not a huge market.  I could never teach in a commercial way, because if I did people who trusted me would die

It saddens me to see martial artists who have never controlled a violent person much less arrested an assaultive felon approach the small practical application for Law Enforcement market with commercialized school tactics.  Offering a one size fits all answer that fulfills all the wants but at best barely scratches the surface of the needs.

So how does a Dojo become commercially successful with becoming a commercialized school?

Hell I don’t know.  If I did I’d be on a beach somewhere smoking Cuban cigars and drinking 18 year old single malt scotch.

This whole blog started with the idea that I need some more students.  Not so much for the revenue (although that is awesome) but because we need more people to train with.

I read a magazine lying around the Dojo “United Professionals” a martial arts business magazine.  I figured they might have some insight I could use.  The whole magazine is one huge pyramid scheme bordering on cult indoctrination.

Not very helpful to me.

How do I attract students to train in Taiho Jutsu. Something they have never heard of.  Something that focuses solely on application.  Training that is hard work, hurts, and takes years.

I have some ideas, some irons in the fire if you will.  If they pan out I’ll share them with you here

If any of you have ideas you would like to share / suggest please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Or if you know a Dojo Sensei (not a d-bag sell out) that has a successful business model please let me know.

Train hard, train smart, be safe

Thursday, June 30, 2011

VIOLENCE DYNAMICS SEMINAR INFORMATION

VIOLENCE DYNAMICS
Violence happens by surprise - closer, harder, and faster than in most martial arts training.

The VIOLENCE DYNAMICS seminar bridges that gap and prepares martial artists to prevail against the realities of violence.
About the Instructors

Marc MacYoung
Marc MacYoung grew up in situational poverty in the gang-infested streets of Los Angeles. Before turning his life around, he freely admits he was 'part of the problem.' As well as living in some of the most violent and crime-infested areas of LA, he's worked as a body guard, bouncer and director of a correctional center. He's taught de-escalation and defensive tactics to police from nine different countries. He's the author of 21 books and videos on subjects ranging from crime avoidance to professional use of force to street knife violence and street survival.





Rory Miller
Rory Miller spent more than 17 years in a metropolitan jail system as a line officer and supervisor, investigator, tactical team leader and mental health specialist. He also spent a year teaching Iraqis how to run humane and effective prisons. He is the author of several books including; "Meditations on Violence", “Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected”, and Drills: Training for Sudden Violence




Kasey Keckeisen

Kasey Keckeisen is an experienced Police Officer, SWAT team leader, and SWAT training coordinator.  Keckeisen has taught Control Tactics to Universities, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Special Operations Teams across Minnesota.

 


VIOLENCE DYNAMICS SEMINAR SERIES
9/25 Sunday
Buki Waza (Weapons Techniques)
9/26 Monday
Conflict Communications (A.M. Law Enforcement)
Conflict Communications (P.M. Civilians)

9/27 Tuesday
Force Physics (A.M. Law Enforcement)
Martial Mechanics (P.M. Civilians)
9/28 Wednesday
Practical Applications of Defensive Tactics
Day 1: Low Level (restraint) Force
9/29 Thursday
Practical Applications of Defensive Tactics
Day 2: Higher Level Force
9/30 Friday (Evening)
Martial Mechanics
10/01 Saturday (Morning)
Introduction to violence
10/01 Saturday (Afternoon)
Edged Weapons
10/02 Sunday (Morning)
Scenario Training
$75 for each class Or $250 for the entire seminar

CONFLICT COMMUNICATION (Marc MacYoung and Rory Miller)
How often do martial arts instructors advise their students to avoid violence?  But do they ever teach how?

Martial Arts training has an emphasis on punching and kicking. But how much practice time do students get identifying when they are on the road to violence or how to get off that road without using physical force?

Conflict Communications provides that training.

The purpose of Conflict Communications is to teach you how to prevent conflict whenever possible and to minimize its impact when unavoidable.

Conflict Communication improves understanding of violence, and interpersonal communications.

Conflict Communication increases verbal skills and helps to make use of force less necessary (lessens the need)

If you're emotional and caught up in the default human conflict behaviors, the best de-escalation training in the world (Verbal Judo, C.I.T., etc) is of no use to you. You're not going to be able to do it.

The essential message of Conflict Communications is -

De-escalation starts with you.

Most conflicts can be successfully controlled by using the principles of this system. This is not specialized education only a select few can master. The program is designed so anyone can use it to prevent a conflict.  This is done by teaching you to de-escalate yourself first.

Originally designed for law enforcement to be used when confronting violent felons, the principles of this program also works in business, social and familial situations

By understanding how and why confrontation occurs, Conflict Communications will show you conflict management, de-escalation, situation resolution and, if necessary, articulation of why action was both necessary and reasonable.


Martial Mechanics (Marc MacYoung)
Martial arts evolved in very dangerous times to deal with dangerous situations.  In the modern era, where armed bandits and invading Mongols are rare, some of the hard-earned lessons of the past are easily missed.

"Almost every technique in the Martial Arts works," says Rory Miller, "If you know when and where to use it."

If you've spent years practicing your responses to violent situations, you owe it to yourself to spend two days studying violent situations.  How do criminals attack?  Why?  How can I see it coming?  Which of my skills evolved from dueling and which from ambush survival?  What is the law on self-defense?

Martial arts can be used for effective self-defense -- if you know the concepts necessary to restore lost aspects, repair corrupted information and analyze errors in whatever martial arts system you study.  Martial Mechanics focuses on those concepts.

Martial Mechanics is not a defensive tactics system or a “martial arts” style.
Martial Mechanics is a training method developed to enhance your ability to use the martial arts system you are trained in more efficiently.  Increasing your competence, and confidence in your existing training.

Martial mechanics not only teaches you how to use what you know successfully in a violent confrontation, it also helps you understand what you don’t know.  Martial mechanics teaches the physics that make martial arts work. 

Knowing those fundamentals allows:
  • Strikers to defend against throwers
  • Throwers to defend against strikers
  • Stand up artists  to move on the ground
  • Grapplers to move while standing

Martial Mechanics is an excellent opportunity to apply what you have spent years learning and know for sure that it is effective

Martial mechanics will not only make you better at applying force to a violent encounter, but will help you understand the fundamental principles that make the application of force possible.

Not only will martial mechanics make you better at your art, but will help better understand what makes your art work.  Making you a better teacher

Martial mechanics enhances your ability to successfully use martial arts to defend against an aggressive violent real world attack and keep you out of the morgue, the hospital, or jail.



Introduction to Violence (Rory Miller)

Violence happens by surprise - closer, harder, and faster than in most martial arts training

Introduction to Violence focuses on using your martial art skills to defend against real world violence

Rory Miller says, "Almost every technique in the Martial Arts works.  If you know when and where to use it."

Introduction to Violence focuses on when and where to use it.

Introduction to Violence teaches:
  • How to apply your martial art system in a dynamic situation.
  • How to choose, apply and justify an appropriate force response.

Introduction to Violence  a non-system specific way to train yourself to adapt to emergency applications of force
Topics covered will include:

  • Context of violence
  • Efficient movement and evaluating efficiency
  • Violence Dynamics (Types of violence)
  • Self-Defense law
  • Improvised weapons training
  • Use of environment / terrain
  • Force Articulation
  • Action Debrief
  • Peer feed back / counseling



Buki Waza (Weapons Techniques) (Kasey Keckeisen)

Buki Waza develops fundamental martial art principles through the use of traditional weapons training:
  • Kenjutsu (sword techniques)
  • Jojutsu (staff techniques)
  • Hanbo Jutsu (baton techniques)
  • Tanto Jutsu (knife techniques)

 Fundamental Principles
  • Structure
  • Power Generation
  • Avoiding / Receiving Force
  • Positional Relationship
  • Movement defeats strength

Buki waza focuses on the relationship between weapons techniques and empty hand techniques (Taijustu) strengthening both.

Topics covered include the relationship between weapons training and:
  • Atemi waza               (Striking Techniques)
  • Uke waza                  (Blocking / Receiving Techniques)
  • Kansetsu waza        (Joint Locking Techniques)
  • Nage waza                (Throwing Techniques)


Students will have an opportunity to apply the fundamental principles in a live environment through sport chanbara Tsukinami-shiai

Tsukinami-shiai or “in house” tournaments are fun safe and educational way to incorporate force on force weapons training.

“If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball” – If you can dodge a bokken you can avoid a punch J

This is an excellent way to introduce weapons training to your own school, plus whacking each other with training swords is just fun


Equipment will be provided but a large turn out is expected.  So if you have Chanbara or sparring equipment (head and face must be covered) please bring your own.






SEMINAR LOCATIONS

Mermaid Convention Center

2200 County Road
10, Mounds View MN, 55112

Keishoukan Dojo
2210 Silver lake Road, New Brighton MN, 55112

Scenario Training locations TBD









Registration form

Return Registration to: Keishoukan Dojo c/o Kasey Keckeisen
17712 Tyler St NW, Elk River MN, 55330

For More Information Contact Kasey Keckeisen: samurai2717@hotmail.com  or call 763 360 7200
______________________________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________________________________
City _________________________St. ____________Zip _______________________
E-mail ______________________________________________________________________
Participant _____________________________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian (if under 18) ______________________________________________________________________

I am participating in the following session(s): (Check the classes you wish to attend)

 All Sessions $250*  Sunday 9/25 Session $75  Monday PM Session $75
 Tuesday PM Session $75  Friday Session $75  Saturday AM Session $75
 Saturday PM Session $75  Sunday 10/2 Session $75

Make checks payable to: No Nonsense Self Defense LLC


I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I AM AWARE OF, AND UNDERSTAND, ALL OF THE RISKS AND DANGERS INHERENT IN PARTICIPATING IN MARTIAL ARTS. I HEREBY AGREE NOT TO BRING A CLAIM AGAINST INVOLVED PARTIES.  I FREELY AND VOLUNTARILY ACCEPT ALL RISKS OF INJURY, DEATH OR PROPERTY DAMAGE AND AGREE FOR MYSELF AND MY HEIRS TO RELEASE, HOLD ARMLESS AND INDEMNIFY INVOLVED PARTIES OR AUTHORIZED GUESTS FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURY, INCLUDING DEATH, AND PROPERTY DAMAGE RESULTING FROM THIS TRAINING.

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

There is always someone bigger and badder than you out there

Between Rory’s “Nightmare” blog and my own “Does it work blog”, discussion has been generated about fighting much larger opponents.

The statement I really liked from Rory’s blog is:

“If you are teaching self-defense what you can do within your weight class doesn't mean anything. You need to teach people what works outmatched in strength, skill, experience and ferocity. How to deal when the assault is on before they are aware. And help them work out and overcome much of their social programming.

It can be done. It has been done. But not by staying in your comfort zone perspective.”

Fantastic point, however I think because of some of the terms used the point is being lost by those with a sport or weight class mentality.  Some of the feed back received was along the lines of this:

Comfort zone is key magical secret weapon that opens the door to mastery; women's class in bjj school is like a miracle. Guard's basically rape defense, nightmarish for a scared woman to practice with rough sweaty guys. With other women, not so bad. After a few weeks or months of rolling around with other women maybe try the small handsome nice-smelling married guy....

It's not like there's a shortcut*; you can't just skip to handling big strong tough guys before you can handle people your own size and conditioning, whatever that may be.


So what should be taught to female cops, only arrest women, children and small men?

*Well,okay; guns. Stun guns and pepper spray work on *people*, sure, but not attackers. Knives work but you have to be... harder in spirit, let us say... than a shooter. You can get good enough to kill efficiently with a handgun via video games, let alone paintball, Airsoft, squirt guns....

How do guns not work on attackers?, but I digress

Or

Comment - All things equal, skill wins a fight. I'm not there to make things equal. Meet me at the freeweights.

Rory Miller -- all things equal, anything unequal decides the fight. Then you have to consider how different assaults are from fights.

Comment - True enough. I've found that its hard to convince people into the gym and out of the dojo. I just had a jujitsu blackbelt at worlds take 7th when he should have taken top 3 from lack of stamina. I freely admit to winning many matches b/c of outlasting opponents.

Yes, you can outlast opponents in your weight class.  That is a great sport strategy.  The point being you don’t get to chose who attacks you and attackers rarely attack men larger and fitter then them selves.

Attacking is a predatory act.  Just as animals prey on smaller weaker creatures to eat so do human predators.

What you can do within your weight class doesn't mean anything.

It is easy for large male martial artists to get sucked into or stuck in that sport or weight class mentality.

I’m a huge advocate of making yourself as strong and fit as possible.  The Super Soldier project is all about that. 

Being strong and fit is great self defense in that you are a hard target and predators will look for easier prey.

You’ve all heard the line – There is always someone out there bigger or badder than you.
Some times it is hard for men to believe that.  “There ain't no one badder and I’ll catch up to those bigger by hitting the free weights”. 

That is a very male perspective, and one that is backed by experience.  Every summer high school boys are in the gym packing on muscle to get bigger for football, and it works.

But let’s take a different perspective.  Lise is just over 5’ and around 120 lbs.  I am ¼ of her height taller and over twice as heavy as she is.

That would be like me fighting someone 7’3” 500lbs.  No amount of strength training is going to make a difference against an EXPONENTIALLY larger attacker. 


You need to teach people what works outmatched in strength, skill, experience and ferocity.
There aren’t many 7’3” 500 pounders out there so men miss this point.  However, being outmatched in strength, skill, experience and ferocity is the starting point for Lise (and most women). 

In order to teach self defense we must break that large male sport martial artist mentality.

Teach what works for Lise against me. 
If nothing in your art would work for you against a 7’3” 500 pounder, then don’t teach your art as self defense.

BJJ guard is not rape defense!!!

Here is an example from the news right here in Ramsey County that demonstrates how much different violence is to martial sports


When a man dragged a 37-year-old woman into a St. Paul alley and tried to pull her shorts off, she fought back. She punched and kicked the man, and hit him in the face with a rock.
The man walked away, but left behind his keys, wallet and bicycle. Police tracked him through his Minnesota photo ID and arrested him hours later, according to a criminal complaint filed today.

The Ramsey County attorney's office charged Cha Yang, 29, of St. Paul with second-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping.

According to the complaint:
Police were called to the 300 block of
Sherburne Avenue
at about 12:15 a.m. Monday. The woman told police she was walking to a friend's house and saw a man locking his bike to a fence in an alley. He said something to her, but she didn't know what.

About five minutes later, when the woman was walking past an alley, the same man dragged her into the alley.

[The assault is on before they are aware.]

The man "had his forearm around her neck and was squeezing hard to prevent her from screaming for help," the complaint said. "He also covered her mouth with his hand. Once in the alley, he threw her to the ground, let go of her neck and attempted to pull her shorts off."

[Outmatched in strength, skill, experience and ferocity]

The woman said she immediately started screaming for help and fighting back. The man punched her several times on the side of her head.
After she punched and kicked him, the man left.
The woman's shorts had been pulled down to her ankles. The man hadn't said anything to her during the attack, she said. He had touched her breasts when dragging her and pulling on her shirt, but hadn't been able to touch her genitals.
When the man was gone, she realized he'd dropped his belongings and gave them to police. She pointed out where he'd been locking his bike and police found that one of the keys left behind unlocked it.

The photo ID listed him as Cha Yang and the woman told police, "That's definitely him, I'm sure that's him, just his hair is shorter now," the complaint said.

At about 6 a.m. Monday, police went to the Union Gospel Mission and saw Cha Yang in the parking lot. He tried to hide inside the mission, but officers went in and arrested him.
Police asked Cha Yang whether he had any identification with him. He said he did not because he'd left his wallet at a friend's house the night before.

Police tried to talk to Cha Yang, and he requested an attorney. He is being held in the Ramsey County jail and is to make a first court appearance this afternoon.

She didn’t pull guard or try for an uma platta.
[It's not like there's a shortcut*; you can't just skip to handling big strong tough guys before you can handle people your own size and conditioning, whatever that may be.] – Sport mentality

 She smashed that dude’s face with a rock and fought like hell. – Self Defense mentality

She made herself more trouble / work than it was worth and a larger stronger more ferocious predator ran away from her. - Overcoming social programing

That may not have won a Ju Jitsu world championship but it sure was a victory against a predatory assault.

And that is the point:
If you are teaching self-defense what you can do within your weight class doesn't mean anything. You need to teach people what works outmatched in strength, skill, experience and ferocity. How to deal when the assault is on before they are aware. And help them work out and overcome much of their social programming.
It can be done. It has been done. But not by staying in your comfort zone perspective.

Get out of your sport art comfort zone perspective.

Train hard, train smart, be safe

Monday, June 27, 2011

Does it work?

If you are teaching self-defense what you can do within your weight class doesn't mean anything. You need to teach people what works outmatched in strength, skill, experience and ferocity. How to deal when the assault is on before they are aware. And help them work out and overcome much of their social programming.


It can be done. It has been done. But not by staying in your comfort zone perspective.

-Rory Miller

If you are teaching martial art for self defense you need to have some kind of efficacy test / filter for the techniques and strategy you teach.  Unless the primary focus of your school is practical real world application, your self defense class should not look exactly like your regular class.  Putting on 5.11 pants and a polo shirt instead of a gi, and practicing the exact same techniques does not turn (insert name of any art here) into self defense.

A test  / filter I use at the Keishoukan Dojo is the "Jeff Test".  If it doesn't work on Jeff - IT DOESN'T WORK!!

That is Jeff during a Kyu test.  That is me in the background doing my best hard ass Sensei is testing you impersonation.

Jeff is a big dude.  He is great to train with.  If your technique works on Jeff, your technique works.  My Judo Sensei is fantastic.  One of the highest ranked Judo instructors in the mid-west.  When he was in the Military his job was basically to go from base to base teaching "combat Judo" to Officers.  He has beautiful throws...most of which don't work against Jeff (outside of his weight class).

My point being.  Find out which of his throws do work against Jeff.  That is Judo for self defense.  Even if only 3 throws in the entire Gokyo no waza (traditional 40 throws of Judo) work against Jeff, Isn't it better to train 3 throws you know you can hit against anyone, under pressure, than to be ok at 37 throws you know will fail?

I'm sure part of you will say bump the player the record is stuck (Kids that was from before cd's and mp3's) but....
Violence happens by surprise,harder, faster, and closer than most dojo training.  It happens with out convenient uniforms, and the attacker stacks the deck (seeks out victims of much smaller weight class, chooses the when, where, and how of the attack)

Here is an example from the news:

Woman bites tongue of Stamford sex attacker
Police arrest man seeking medical treatment
Updated 02:15 p.m., Saturday, June 25, 2011


Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Woman-bites-tongue-of-Stamford-sex-attacker-1438659.php#ixzz1QTbLjkxL


STAMFORD -- A woman leaving a downtown church Thursday night repelled a sexual assault by biting nearly an inch off the assailant's tongue after he grabbed her and forced his tongue into her mouth, police said.
A Stamford man with a history of psychological problems was taken into custody at 11:30 a.m. Friday after seeking medical treatment for his tongue at a Bedford Street massage/ chiropractic clinic. Gerard Michael Landon, 46, of 40 Clinton Ave., was held by police after a foot pursuit to the Ridgeway Shopping Center and taken to Stamford Hospital for a psychological evaluation, said Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin.
Landon, a native of the Virgin Islands, was released to police and charged with criminal attempt at first-degree sexual assault, first-degree unlawful restraint and second-degree strangulation. Landon is being held on $500,000 bond and is expected to be arraigned in state Superior Court on Stamford on Monday.
According to police, the woman was approached by Landon as she was exiting the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist on Atlantic Street. In a pathway between the church and the rectory, Landon allegedly asked the woman, who is in her 50s, for a hug. When the woman refused, Landon grabbed her and while she screamed for help wrestled her to the ground in some bushes and flowers along the alleyway. While he was trying to sexually assault her, Landon kissed the woman and forced his tongue into her mouth. When the woman bit down on his tongue, the man stopped his attack and ran away, Conklin said.
"It was a substantial piece of his tongue," said Stamford Police Sgt. Paul Guzda. "About an inch worth."
 - That is my favorite part of this story-
Police recovered the readily identifiable piece of tongue at the scene of the attack between the stone church and clapboard rectory, Guzda said.
"We put a notice out to area hospitals," Guzda said.
A St. John's priest heard screams from the woman and looked out the window saw the man run away, Guzda said.
Prior to being taken into custody on Friday, Landon allegedly grabbed a woman's breasts and poked his umbrella at another woman near the Ridgeway Shopping Center, Conklin said.
The health receptionist at the Bedford Street clinic called police to report Landon after she read the story about the attempted attack on stamfordadvocate.com.

Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Woman-bites-tongue-of-Stamford-sex-attacker-1438659.php#ixzz1QTbYE4H1

Am I suggesting that we practice biting Jeff's tongue off?  No, but to reiterate:

If you are teaching self-defense what you can do within your weight class doesn't mean anything. You need to teach people what works outmatched in strength, skill, experience and ferocity. How to deal when the assault is on before they are aware. And help them work out and overcome much of their social programming.


It can be done. It has been done. But not by staying in your comfort zone perspective.

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION PLUG ALERT!!!
If you want to learn how this can be done, please come to the VIOLENCE DYNAMICS SEMINAR
September 26th through October 2nd.
For more information check out:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=203562699679613

Train hard, Train smart, Train outside your own comfort zone perspective, Be safe