Whenever I talk about ongoing training, I like to bring up the idea of such work as being a lifelong process. Now, I often say this with a dreamy, faraway look in my eyes, as it's one of the top three best things about doing this work -- the idea that I can continue to learn, refine, and build the skill for as long as I draw breath.

Not everyone hears it this way. Some people think I mean that it actually takes a lifetime to master -- and I'm the first to admit that's not such a hot idea. Who's got the time, right? (Well, by definition, you do -- you got the rest of your life coming to you... but I digress.) You are right to be suspicious of anything that takes a lifetime -- outside of growing a family & accumulating wisdom.

The use of violence is the very definition of a NOW tool. It's silly to have something that you could very well need for survival in the next half-hour require a lifetime to be of any use to you. Good luck surviving long enough to master that!

When I say 'lifelong,' I mean that you could potentially spend the rest of your life working on it, constantly increasing and never get bored. How many avocations can you say that about? Music... maybe. This simple fact gets me excited about hitting the mats -- in fact, just thinking about it makes me wish I was there right now in a good, solid tussle with high throws and contorted limbs, everything pushed to the edge in a rush of blood and total domination.

Back in the days of my martial arts training, I was resigned to having to spend the rest of my life studying as many arts as I could cram into my lifetime -- not to mention having to manufacture my own coupling devices to get them to work together. What I really wanted to know is what you all have at your disposal, but it didn't exist in a format like this. So, as I neared my Tae Kwon Do black belt test, I was getting my head screwed on at the right angle to put on a white belt again and study Aikido... Judo... Jiu-Jitsu... Kung Fu... Chin Na... Muy Thai... and on and on and on. Because, quite frankly, I wanted to know it all. And it was obviously going to take me the rest of my life to get there.

I wasn't happy about it -- it didn't feel like opportunity, just a whole hell of a lot of work, much of it spent slogging through hierarchies and physical fitness challenges. And making Aikido work with Karate is tougher than you think -- especially when the instructors find out you're not just attending another school, but (gasp!) another system!

What I really needed were the base principles that underlie all violence -- the common elements between striking, joint breaking and throwing; multiman and knife, stick, and gun; and a way to tie all those elements together between the pendulum swing of structure and motion.

This is why I get the Homer-drool look in my eyes. I don't have to spend a lifetime to learn all of those things, one at a time, and then try to stitch them together through trial and (possibly fatal) error. I have the base principles, and like knowing the rules of chess I can play every game that's ever been -- or every will be -- played. I can spend my life running as many permutations as I like, confident in the knowledge that it'll never be the same twice.

And if every iteration is novel, that means I get to learn something new every time.

The principles of violence are easily grasped in less than three days of training. Everything after that is just rearrangement & recombination. It's you, training your mind to wield your body. Sharpening that sword. But really, you're done after that first live training. In that seminar we teach everyone how to:

1. Seriously injure a man
2. Drop him to the ground
3. And kill him, should that prove necessary.
   

So don't sweat that bit. Lifelong training isn't a 'have-to' -- it's a 'get-to.' It doesn't take a lifetime to master; you don't have to be a Trained Fighter, or an Instructor, or a Master to be able to use the skill to shut off another human being.

BUT

If this information lights a fire in you, like it did in me, well, we got plenty for you to work on. To play with. No matter how good you get, we can give you material to challenge your abilities, to push your farther, to make you that much better. Better than you can imagine.

So relax, absorb, enjoy. I'm not going anywhere.

Labels: Distance Learning, Judo, karate, Kung Fu, lethal force self defense, Muy Thai, San Diego Training

I've received a lot of questions asking what I think about the History Channel's "Human Weapon" Series so here's my take:

I think the History Channel's "Human Weapon" is a great way for people to get a good look at a lot of the more popular martial arts like: Karate, Judo, Silat, Escrima, Muy Thai, Kung Fu as well as some of the lesser known arts like: Pankration, Savate, Bokador, and Sambo. The series also covers Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training as well as military hand to hand combat systems like Israel's Krav Maga and the US Marine Corps Martial Art Program.

The series is ambitious in its coverage of the history of these martial arts and fighting systems while giving the viewer a good grounding on the unique training approaches each discipline brings to the table.

The hosts, Jason Chambers and Bill Duff, are good sports as they attempt to digest one Martial Art/Combat Sport after another and subject themselves good naturedly to each unique training protocol the martial art/combat sport utilizes to prepare for competition.

Most entertaining is the end of each segment when one of these poor bastards subjects himself to a match with that discipline's competition champion. So far in the series the guys have fared better than you'd think in these matches.

So for the above reasons alone I'd recommend the series be watched by those interested in Martial Arts, Self Defense, or Combat Sports in general.

If you watch it with a discriminating eye towards effective use of violence you'll gather a tremendous amount of information about the limiting aspects of these martial arts/fighting systems have when it comes to learning effective methods and principles for dealing with real violence on the street.

The episodes show how most of the training favors the bigger/faster/stronger approach to dealing with self defense. The physics and physiology discussed in the explanation portion of the instruction is often either wrong or misguided. Most times sheer aggression is favored over a clear explanation for the techniques shown in the series.

The result of that approach is that more often than not the hosts don't "get it". This is not because the guys are inept but because the instruction is incomplete. A great instructor should be able to show strikes, throws, and joint breaks that have clear explanations any student can replicate.

That doesn't mean the student can do it right away but it does mean that they understand exactly what they need to do to accomplish the technique shown. I find this to be the most intriguing "back story" of the series. That is that most of the "experts" in these arts and sports fail to give clear explanations of what they are trying to accomplish with each technique.

As far as good targeting of the human body -- there is little of it anywhere in the series. Backing up the little targeting of the human body (that they do show) with real physics and physiology would be helpful but that is also missing (even though they have cool graphics and animations of such subjects).

These elements are not so important when competition is the goal because these oversights are neutered with rules, weight classes, and conditioning methods. But when your life is on the line and you have no referee, no weight classes, and no rules it is absolutely essential you go into your violent confrontation armed with this critical information --- that is, if you want to survive and take out the bigger/faster/stronger threat (and the "friends" he brings with him).

So I'd strongly recommend you check out the History Channel's Human Weapon series, just watch it two different ways. The first is for the entertainment provided by the great hosts and history of each martial art or combat sport. The second is to look for the gaps these martial arts and combat sports have when placed against the standard of what works in the world of real violence.

So that's all for now,

Tim Larkin
http://www.targetfocustraining.com/

Labels: combat sports, Escrima, Human Weapon, Judo, karate, Krav Maga, Kung Fu, mixed martial arts, MMA, Muy Thai, self defense, Silat