Do You Want To Protect Yourself – Or Win?
Combat Training Principles — Secrets For Staying Alive When
‘Rules’ Don’t Apply’
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"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do
evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."
-Albert Einstein
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It’s always great when you have readers who take the time to
respond to one of my newsletters. Tony wrote in to further
comment on another reader’s assertion that I should provide a
guide to determine whether or not an attacker is on drugs and
that my methods and principles may be too extreme since we are
not sure of the intent of the attacker. I answered this in
another newsletter but Tony has provided us with more
information:
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Tony starts out:
As always, thanks Tim.
I wanted to also address this guy’s email:
(this was a question from a previous newsletter)
"I would honestly respectfully suggest that your scenario on your
tape of a drugged out attacker likely to kill for money (vs. a
non homicidal robber) is more of a minority situation than a
majority situation, and suspect that this determination could be
narrowed down a bit via the observation of certain signs, which,
when in effect, would more easily justify the use of your lethal
methodology (like a throat strike) in the mind of the person
being attacked, which would make your tapes perhaps more
marketable and less likely to invite legal action if interpreted
incorrectly by potential viewers. Perhaps a discussion of drugs
or serious psychosis would be a good addition? You are doing
solid work, it would be a shame if some misinterpretation or
over-jealous lawyer were to destroy it for lack of disclaimers or
more in-depth discussion."
I found this with one quick search:
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/crime/
The annual Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS) asks victims of violent crimes who
reported seeing the offender whether they perceived the offender
to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. According to the
1998 survey, 30 percent of victims could not determine whether
the offender was under the influence of a substance. Of those who
could make a determination, about 31 percent reported that the
offender was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Arrestees frequently test positive for recent drug use
Data collected from male arrestees in 1998 in 35 cities showed
that the percentage testing positive for any drug ranged from
42.5 percent in Anchorage, Alaska, to 78.7 percent in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Conclusion:
The evidence indicates that drug users are more likely than
nonusers to commit crimes, that arrestees frequently were under
the influence of a drug at the time they committed their offense,
and that drugs generate violence.
Not to mention that under a violent assault most people wouldn’t
have the cognitive ability to "decide" if someone is high or
not…let alone be able to act on such a decision in a second or
two. Keep up the good work Tim.
Thanks,
Tony
***My Comments:
Thank you, Tony, and again, the whole idea that one can predict
what another human is going to do is a very dangerous assumption.
If you find yourself with a knife to your neck or a gun to your
head and think you can figure out some criminal’s intent you need
to ask yourself this question:
"When was the last time I put a knife to someone’s neck or a gun
to someone’s head and demanded their wallet?"
If the answer is never then you have little to reference in order
to make ANY type of valid assumption. Do I say you always need to
respond with violence?
NO! That will always be YOUR choice.
But I do point out that getting an injury on the other guy is the
only thing that changes things in your favor and allows you to
control the outcome.
Thanks again to Tony for the follow up!
###
Brian from Chile writes:
Mr. Larkin,
I would just like to congratulate you on your newsletter. I think
it really hits the mark on using violence as a survival tool. I
have yet to have the pleasure of experiencing some of your
products (for economic reasons), but I hope to rectify that soon.
I would like to briefly explain why I think the work you are
doing is so important. I was a wrestler for over 10 years and
have trained under many coaches and have been to many camps. On
one occasion a Japanese coach was visiting and he said something
that really opened my eyes. He said that pinning your opponent
was not achieved by how many moves you know or how strong you
are, but rather by pain and fear of death. He went on to explain
that it is very difficult to hold a person on their back against
their will. However, if they are in extreme pain or fear death,
they will pin themselves to make it stop.
In all the years and countless hours of practice learning "how"
to wrestle, this was the only time I can remember someone
teaching me how to "win". The distinction is enormous.
I noticed on some of your newsletters that you seem to be
fielding a lot of questions about martial arts. I believe the
distinction people are having trouble grasping is that any
martial art can teach you "how" to protect yourself, but I
believe that your system focuses on how to "win".
In a violent situation, this distinction can be the difference
between life and death.
Keep up the good work.
Brian Burkett
US Citizen living in Chile
***My Comments:
Brian, your coach was a smart man. Target Focus Training is
solely focused on teaching you how to win when faced with
unavoidable asocial violence. You absolutely need this intent to
come out on top and survive. That is why the prison population as
a whole is so effective at using violence. Their purpose is to
win and that alone is enough because few of that population have
ANY formal training in martial arts or combat sports. I’m glad
the newsletters are helping you in Chile and we hope to see you
soon in a live training!
###
Until next time,
Tim Larkin
Master Close-Combat Instructor,
Creator of Target Focus(TM) Training
PS. This reminds me of an article about TFT from Black Belt magazine.
Written by contributing editor Mark Cheng, it’s titled, "Target-
Focus Training: Does It Hit The Mark?"
I think Mark’s last paragraph pretty well sums up the article:
"For me, a veteran of the martial arts and a medical
professional, [the training] was just as spectacular. I heard
explanations that would befit a trauma specialist and learned
principals that most martial arts masters save for their advanced
black belts. Without cloaking techniques in mysticism, without
diluting the realities of combat in a sporting format and without
sacrificing safety for realism, Larkin and his men delivered an
uncompromising course on the intelligent and responsible use of
violence. TFT is right on target for anyone who’s serious about
survival."
To see what Mark is so excited about and to have that same
feeling yourself, head on over and register for one of our live
training sessions today. You can find the list of available dates
at http://targetfocustraining.com/livetraining.
