One of the most poignant questions being:
What sets me apart?
Recently I was discussing this question, and my answer with Dillon
{For those of you that don't know Dillon Beyer is my good buddy and teaches the Karate and Boxing at the Keishoukan}
{For those of you that don't know Dillon Beyer is my good buddy and teaches the Karate and Boxing at the Keishoukan}
I told him I need a more eloquent way to briefly describe blah blah... I want on for like 10 minutes.
The next day Dillon posted this on the Keishoukan facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/keishoukan
https://www.facebook.com/keishoukan
"I regard functional self-protection skills as a
base-level entry requirement for any system"
- Iain Abernethy
At the Keishoukan Dojo, we agree. All of the personal mastery, friendships, character development, and sense of fulfillment that the martial arts can offer is of no use if you aren't safe and in good enough health to train.
Our Foundations class is designed to develop survival skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible, so that you have the rest of your life to develop your skills to the level of mastery
Sums it up nicely. It is good to have smart friends. I'd go so far as to say if you are the smartest of your peer group, you need to find better friends.
Back to the question, what sets me, or better us (The Keishoukan) apart?
There are plenty of Judo / Jujitsu / Wrestling schools out there. There are also tons of places you can learn Karate, or Boxing.
Despite advertising claims, there are very few places that focus on functional self protection.
Sure, every strip mall McDojo has the words self defense painted on their window, but let me ask a hard question?
How many years of regular training in (insert name of martial art here) would it take to be proficient enough in that art to survive a close quarter assault?
If your answer is anything over a few months, there is a distinct problem.
What if your life depended on it?
Would your prioritize making sure your foot is at an exact 35' angle when you move into stance over how block a punch? Is the time you spend learning how to bow on and off the mat, how to sit in seiza, or fold your gi properly going to help you in any way when you are getting curb stomped?
There is a time and place for everything.
I, in no way want this to turn into a Product A martial art is better for self defense than Brand X martial art rant or debate. Mostly because that whole discussion is largely bullshit and played out.
The point I am making is martial art is not self defense.
And that is what sets the Keishoukan apart.
Self Defense is the priority, and a prerequisite before you are allowed to participate in any martial arts training.
"I regard functional self-protection skills as a base-level entry requirement for any system"
- Iain Abernethy
There are plenty of Judo / Jujitsu / Wrestling schools out there. There also tons of places you can learn Karate, or Boxing.
There are very few that focus on functional self protection. Of those few many are taught by martial artists with no professional use of force background, or by use of force professionals with no instructor development training beyond a 35 hour intstriuctor school.
Narrowing the field further, of those remaining, (to the best of my knowledge) there are no other schools run by the training coordinator of a major metropolitan SWAT team.
A major component of my day job is training elite law enforcement tactical team personnel.
Their lives and the lives of others depend on gaining and maintaining high end skills.
My job is to ingrain those skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible.
So, of course that training and experience is going to bleed over to my side job running a school.
That bleed over became the Foundations class. The fundamental skills everyone needs in order to make any other training they may have functional to survive a close quarter assault.
Back to that hard question, and I'll even throw in a dig at me fellow Aikidoka (Randy, an Aikidoka is someone that practices Aikido)
How many years of regular training in Aikido would it take to be proficient enough to survive a close quarter assault?
{Richard Dawson Voice}The top three answers are on the board3-5 years
20 years
We asked 100 Aikidoka and the number one answer is....
A lifetime
A point that was beat into me at Sniper school
Question: How long do you have to get off that follow up shot?
Answer: The rest of your life
The implication being that if your location is made and you don't finish the threat, that now knows where you are the "rest of your life" is not going to be all that long.
So Aikido is not great for self defense.
But it was never supposed to be
Aikido was a finishing school. To go from proficiency to mastery. To be able to do the "magic" looking stuff.
Back in the day, before you could train at Ueshiba's school you had to have at least a 3rd black belt (or equivalent Koryu certification) in Judo or Kendo.
That is a solid foundation. You could fight. On top of that foundation you can enjoy pushing past proficiency to mastery. You could pull fancy "magic" Aiki moves against someone intently trying to hurt you.
The problem comes from trying to pull fancy "magic" Aiki moves without that solid foundation.
That is why we have a class called Foundations.
The purpose as Dillon so eloquently wrote is to develop survival skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible, so that you have the rest of your life to develop your skills to the level of mastery.
Aikido on top of that foundation allows you to use Aikido for self defense. Aikido (the way it is most often taught) with out that foundation is a beautiful art. Just remember despite advertising claims martial art is not self defense (or professional use of force)
Foundations is a 12 week program.
That 12 week process also allows us to see if you are the type of person we would like to continue training with. For the higher end force on force training used in the other classes you have to be able to trust your partners and egos have to be left outside.
If we feel you are not capable of that you will not be invited to continue.
If you are capable of that you can come and learn Judo and Karate if you'd like.
The Judo and Karate that we do require that foundation.
You can also (and it is highly suggested) continue in the Foundations class along with your martial arts training or as a stand alone program.
Kind of like Top Gun once you graduate you are always welcome back.
There are few schools that offer continuing personal protection training.
Folks have been fighting each other since Cain and Abel, there is really nothing new under the sun. As such the few schools that offer continuing personal protection training have common basic traits.
See if this sounds familiar
Guy likes to wrestle and box. He is really good. Circumstances around him cause him to use those skills for personal protection, and then even combat. As time passes and field experience develops he adds elements of Aikido and Judo to his Boxing and Wrestling background. Realistic fight training with focus on real-world situations is implemented to prepare students for conditions they are likely to face.
This guy was Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler as a means of defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in the mid-to-late 1930s.
You may know him better as the founder of Krav Maga
Boxing and Wrestling, as formidable as they are, are not personal protection, or professional use of force. A combative foundation had to be laid to make Boxing and Wrestling functional for those purposes.
OK, back to the question
What sets us apart?
Law Enforcement / SWAT background
Foundations class as a base-level entry requirement for the system
What makes our martial arts different?
• Time Tested
• Pressure Tested
The focus of training is on personal protection and professional use of force using time tested and proven strategies.
For those that choose to, we also employ modern sporting methods that provide an opportunity to train at full force against a resistive opponent in a safe and friendly environment.
As a SWAT training coordinator you have to expose your guys to the situations they will be called upon to face and train them to deal with it in the most realistic manner safely possible.
You don't rise to the occasion you fall to your level of training...in an adrenalized body
How does this relate to martial art?
To quote fight club
"One your first night at fight club...you have to fight"
From the Katamedo Jujitsu Manual
Statement of Purpose:
To support a style of JuJitsu that is based in sound educational, philosophical, scientific and technical competence. The directors agree that Katamedo represents an evolving art form that incorporates techniques grounded in traditional Japanese JuJitsu but builds on these with advanced techniques developed and proven in the modern mixed martial arts setting. The Katamedo style of JuJitsu has been developed from the years of practical experience and application of fighting and sporting principles that spring from Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian and Western grappling philosophies. Practitioners are champions of judo, karate, freestyle, mixed martial arts and jujitsu, and expert instructors. The Board of Directors seeks the highest levels of accreditation, registration and instruction available.
A practitioner of Katamedo JuJitsu will be able to compete equally in any grappling or mixed martial arts setting. Katamedo stresses that the principles of grappling are constant, as are the skills involved; it is the techniques of applying these skills that holds the potential for the progressive evolution of the sport. A great freestyle wrestler will be able to adapt to sport judo, jujitsu, sambo, capoeira or Greco-Roman wrestling, and vice versa. The principles of the arts are common, only the rules differ. As such, a JuJitsuka must also learn the principles and tenets of atemi waza, or striking, which are common to many traditional arts such as Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Tae Kwon Do, and Tang Soo Do. The most confident fighter is one who can compete on equal ground no matter what the rules.
For personal protection and professional use of force you have to be able to compete on equal ground no matter what the rules. Confidence in this is built through competence. Using modern sporting methods to expose our guys to the situations they will be called upon to face and train them to deal with it in the most realistic manner safely possible.
What sets me apart?
Law Enforcement / SWAT background
Foundations class as a base-level entry requirement for the system
You have to fight
Our classes are different in that they are all interrelated.
It is one thing to train in Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Judo on Saturdays.
It is another thing entirely to train at different combat ranges in a manner specifically designed to enhance your ability to transition from one to the other.
"The best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt on any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man, and punches too good for a Judo man."
- Bruce Lee
Foundation
Clearly sets the foundation. Developing survival skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible, so that you have the rest of your life to develop your skills to the level of mastery
Building on the foundation the next range of combat is striking skills.
Personal self protection, and professional use of force are incomplete without the ability to strike and defend against being struck.
This class is rooted in full contact Kyokushin Karate and includes the fundamentals of Bare Knuckle Boxing.
Kyokushin is well known for its disciplined and rigorous training
The Keishoukan Dojo is the only school that provides training in Kyokushin Karate in Minnesota.
"Judo is the study of techniques with which you may kill if you wish to kill, injure if you wish to injure, subdue if you wish to subdue, and, when attacked, defend yourself."
"Do not abandon the warrior arts of the past. Absorb venerable traditions of the old ways into this art by clothing them with fresh garments, and building on the classic styles to create better forms"
- Morihei Ueshiba (Founder of Aikido)
Each class is different. However, if you choose to train in all three, it is no longer three different classes, the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts
Taiho Jutsu translates as Tai: Body – Ho: Control – Jutsu: Techniques.
That is why I use the KTC logo
When I am teaching cops it is Keickeisen Training & Consulting
When I am training martial arts it is Keishoukan Taihojutsu Club
Wow, I wrote a lot. This blog kind of morphed into a brain dump for me,
So if you stuck with it and read this far, thanks.
Let's wrap it up
What sets me (my school) apart?
If that sounds good come join us
http://specialoperationscontroltactics.com/judomn-org-payment/
If you'd like to place that foundation under the skills you already have contact us
judomn.org
Or come to the Operational Foundations Clinic featuring Rory Miller and Marc MacYoung this November.
Train hard, train smart, be safe
- Iain Abernethy
At the Keishoukan Dojo, we agree. All of the personal mastery, friendships, character development, and sense of fulfillment that the martial arts can offer is of no use if you aren't safe and in good enough health to train.
Our Foundations class is designed to develop survival skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible, so that you have the rest of your life to develop your skills to the level of mastery
Sums it up nicely. It is good to have smart friends. I'd go so far as to say if you are the smartest of your peer group, you need to find better friends.
Back to the question, what sets me, or better us (The Keishoukan) apart?
There are plenty of Judo / Jujitsu / Wrestling schools out there. There are also tons of places you can learn Karate, or Boxing.
Despite advertising claims, there are very few places that focus on functional self protection.
Sure, every strip mall McDojo has the words self defense painted on their window, but let me ask a hard question?
How many years of regular training in (insert name of martial art here) would it take to be proficient enough in that art to survive a close quarter assault?
If your answer is anything over a few months, there is a distinct problem.
What if your life depended on it?
Would your prioritize making sure your foot is at an exact 35' angle when you move into stance over how block a punch? Is the time you spend learning how to bow on and off the mat, how to sit in seiza, or fold your gi properly going to help you in any way when you are getting curb stomped?
There is a time and place for everything.
I, in no way want this to turn into a Product A martial art is better for self defense than Brand X martial art rant or debate. Mostly because that whole discussion is largely bullshit and played out.
The point I am making is martial art is not self defense.
And that is what sets the Keishoukan apart.
Self Defense is the priority, and a prerequisite before you are allowed to participate in any martial arts training.
"I regard functional self-protection skills as a base-level entry requirement for any system"
- Iain Abernethy
There are plenty of Judo / Jujitsu / Wrestling schools out there. There also tons of places you can learn Karate, or Boxing.
There are very few that focus on functional self protection. Of those few many are taught by martial artists with no professional use of force background, or by use of force professionals with no instructor development training beyond a 35 hour intstriuctor school.
Narrowing the field further, of those remaining, (to the best of my knowledge) there are no other schools run by the training coordinator of a major metropolitan SWAT team.
A major component of my day job is training elite law enforcement tactical team personnel.
Their lives and the lives of others depend on gaining and maintaining high end skills.
My job is to ingrain those skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible.
So, of course that training and experience is going to bleed over to my side job running a school.
That bleed over became the Foundations class. The fundamental skills everyone needs in order to make any other training they may have functional to survive a close quarter assault.
Back to that hard question, and I'll even throw in a dig at me fellow Aikidoka (Randy, an Aikidoka is someone that practices Aikido)
How many years of regular training in Aikido would it take to be proficient enough to survive a close quarter assault?
{Richard Dawson Voice}The top three answers are on the board3-5 years
20 years
We asked 100 Aikidoka and the number one answer is....
A lifetime
A point that was beat into me at Sniper school
Question: How long do you have to get off that follow up shot?
Answer: The rest of your life
The implication being that if your location is made and you don't finish the threat, that now knows where you are the "rest of your life" is not going to be all that long.
So Aikido is not great for self defense.
But it was never supposed to be
Aikido was a finishing school. To go from proficiency to mastery. To be able to do the "magic" looking stuff.
Back in the day, before you could train at Ueshiba's school you had to have at least a 3rd black belt (or equivalent Koryu certification) in Judo or Kendo.
That is a solid foundation. You could fight. On top of that foundation you can enjoy pushing past proficiency to mastery. You could pull fancy "magic" Aiki moves against someone intently trying to hurt you.
The problem comes from trying to pull fancy "magic" Aiki moves without that solid foundation.
That is why we have a class called Foundations.
The purpose as Dillon so eloquently wrote is to develop survival skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible, so that you have the rest of your life to develop your skills to the level of mastery.
Aikido on top of that foundation allows you to use Aikido for self defense. Aikido (the way it is most often taught) with out that foundation is a beautiful art. Just remember despite advertising claims martial art is not self defense (or professional use of force)
Foundations is a 12 week program.
That 12 week process also allows us to see if you are the type of person we would like to continue training with. For the higher end force on force training used in the other classes you have to be able to trust your partners and egos have to be left outside.
If we feel you are not capable of that you will not be invited to continue.
If you are capable of that you can come and learn Judo and Karate if you'd like.
The Judo and Karate that we do require that foundation.
You can also (and it is highly suggested) continue in the Foundations class along with your martial arts training or as a stand alone program.
Kind of like Top Gun once you graduate you are always welcome back.
There are few schools that offer continuing personal protection training.
Folks have been fighting each other since Cain and Abel, there is really nothing new under the sun. As such the few schools that offer continuing personal protection training have common basic traits.
See if this sounds familiar
Guy likes to wrestle and box. He is really good. Circumstances around him cause him to use those skills for personal protection, and then even combat. As time passes and field experience develops he adds elements of Aikido and Judo to his Boxing and Wrestling background. Realistic fight training with focus on real-world situations is implemented to prepare students for conditions they are likely to face.
This guy was Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler as a means of defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in the mid-to-late 1930s.
You may know him better as the founder of Krav Maga
Boxing and Wrestling, as formidable as they are, are not personal protection, or professional use of force. A combative foundation had to be laid to make Boxing and Wrestling functional for those purposes.
OK, back to the question
What sets us apart?
Law Enforcement / SWAT background
Foundations class as a base-level entry requirement for the system
What makes our martial arts different?
• Time Tested
• Pressure Tested
The focus of training is on personal protection and professional use of force using time tested and proven strategies.
For those that choose to, we also employ modern sporting methods that provide an opportunity to train at full force against a resistive opponent in a safe and friendly environment.
As a SWAT training coordinator you have to expose your guys to the situations they will be called upon to face and train them to deal with it in the most realistic manner safely possible.
You don't rise to the occasion you fall to your level of training...in an adrenalized body
How does this relate to martial art?
To quote fight club
"One your first night at fight club...you have to fight"
From the Katamedo Jujitsu Manual
Statement of Purpose:
To support a style of JuJitsu that is based in sound educational, philosophical, scientific and technical competence. The directors agree that Katamedo represents an evolving art form that incorporates techniques grounded in traditional Japanese JuJitsu but builds on these with advanced techniques developed and proven in the modern mixed martial arts setting. The Katamedo style of JuJitsu has been developed from the years of practical experience and application of fighting and sporting principles that spring from Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian and Western grappling philosophies. Practitioners are champions of judo, karate, freestyle, mixed martial arts and jujitsu, and expert instructors. The Board of Directors seeks the highest levels of accreditation, registration and instruction available.
A practitioner of Katamedo JuJitsu will be able to compete equally in any grappling or mixed martial arts setting. Katamedo stresses that the principles of grappling are constant, as are the skills involved; it is the techniques of applying these skills that holds the potential for the progressive evolution of the sport. A great freestyle wrestler will be able to adapt to sport judo, jujitsu, sambo, capoeira or Greco-Roman wrestling, and vice versa. The principles of the arts are common, only the rules differ. As such, a JuJitsuka must also learn the principles and tenets of atemi waza, or striking, which are common to many traditional arts such as Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Tae Kwon Do, and Tang Soo Do. The most confident fighter is one who can compete on equal ground no matter what the rules.
For personal protection and professional use of force you have to be able to compete on equal ground no matter what the rules. Confidence in this is built through competence. Using modern sporting methods to expose our guys to the situations they will be called upon to face and train them to deal with it in the most realistic manner safely possible.
What sets me apart?
Law Enforcement / SWAT background
Foundations class as a base-level entry requirement for the system
You have to fight
Our classes are different in that they are all interrelated.
It is one thing to train in Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Judo on Saturdays.
It is another thing entirely to train at different combat ranges in a manner specifically designed to enhance your ability to transition from one to the other.
"The best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt on any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man, and punches too good for a Judo man."
- Bruce Lee
Foundation
Clearly sets the foundation. Developing survival skills to the level of proficiency as quickly as possible, so that you have the rest of your life to develop your skills to the level of mastery
Building on the foundation the next range of combat is striking skills.
Personal self protection, and professional use of force are incomplete without the ability to strike and defend against being struck.
This class is rooted in full contact Kyokushin Karate and includes the fundamentals of Bare Knuckle Boxing.
Kyokushin is well known for its disciplined and rigorous training
The Keishoukan Dojo is the only school that provides training in Kyokushin Karate in Minnesota.
The next range of combat is grappling.
Being able
to control another person is a vital skill for personal self protection, and
professional use of force. This class
focuses on enhancing practical grappling skills through Judo and Wrestling.
"Judo is the study of techniques with which you may kill if you wish to kill, injure if you wish to injure, subdue if you wish to subdue, and, when attacked, defend yourself."
- Jigoro Kano - (Founder of Kodokan Judo)
"Do not abandon the warrior arts of the past. Absorb venerable traditions of the old ways into this art by clothing them with fresh garments, and building on the classic styles to create better forms"
- Morihei Ueshiba (Founder of Aikido)
Each class is different. However, if you choose to train in all three, it is no longer three different classes, the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts
All of these classes combine to form Taiho Jutsu
Similar to how Krav Maga translates as contact combat
Taiho Jutsu translates as Tai: Body – Ho: Control – Jutsu: Techniques.
Taiho Jutsu is a system designed to maximize control. Control of yourself, control of situational
and environmental factors, and control of violent aggressors.
That is why I use the KTC logo
When I am teaching cops it is Keickeisen Training & Consulting
When I am training martial arts it is Keishoukan Taihojutsu Club
Wow, I wrote a lot. This blog kind of morphed into a brain dump for me,
So if you stuck with it and read this far, thanks.
Let's wrap it up
What sets me (my school) apart?
- There is a clear distinction between self protection and martial art.
- Law Enforcement / SWAT backgorund
- Foundations class is a base-level entry requirement into the martial arts classes
- Martial art classes that focus on pragmatic application.
- Using modern sporting methods to pressure test in the most realistic manner safely possible.
- Interrelated - The three classes offered, are greater than the sum of their parts
If that sounds good come join us
http://specialoperationscontroltactics.com/judomn-org-payment/
If you'd like to place that foundation under the skills you already have contact us
judomn.org
Or come to the Operational Foundations Clinic featuring Rory Miller and Marc MacYoung this November.
Train hard, train smart, be safe
