You said that in the days after the TFT course it would be natural to find ourselves thinking about what we have learned. You were right. I have written a few thoughts after taking my first TFT course on June 7, 8, 9. I hope you enjoy them.
“I have found my TFT training to be one of the most liberating and empowering experiences of my life. The instructors were obviously very intelligent, passionate and caring individuals. It is easy to see that you guys simply love what you are doing. You explained theory and techniques with sheer confidence, firmness and rationality, with a profound respect for reality and facts, not at all in some half-baked, obnoxious or belligerent way, which one might expect from people who are teaching people how to fight.
“My Philosophy of Self-Defense
“Men are alive on this earth, only because the imperative human desire is to attack the enemies of human life.” – Rose Wilder Lane
“At some point in the life of every person I have ever met, I can think of no exceptions, the question and the need for self-defense has come up sooner or later. I remember young girls on the school playground saying out loud in anger, “If I were a boy, I’d walk right over there and give that bully a taste of his own medicine!” or young boys picking themselves up from the ground after being shoved by a bully would say in defeat and frustration, something to the effect, “I wish I were bigger than that guy! I’d go over there and punch him in the nose.” Looking back, I see that these children, myself included, were expressing their vulnerabilities and frustrations, and doing so rationally. They didn’t know it at the time, but they were asking a legitimate question about a legitimate problem. They were asking, “How do I protect myself? What do I do when a bully approaches for the umpteenth time and wants to shove my face in the dirt?” TFT answers this, what remains a life long question for some, and fills the void within the individual, the painful, empty space inside oneself that asks the question: “What can I do about defending myself?”
“Not much has changed since my days on the playground. Grown men and women are still living in the void. They are still asking questions and contemplating and practicing far-out, infeasible notions and methods about self-defense in theory and technique. They say things like, “Yeah, I wish I knew some kind of self-defense, karate or boxing or something, at least enough to get me by in case of an emergency,” over and over again.
“The question, for me, first and foremost, is a philosophical one. For example, the late novelist/philosopher, Ayn Rand wrote:
“The necessary consequence of man’s right to life is his right to self-defense. In a civilized society, force may be used only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use. All the reasons, which make the initiation of physical force an evil, make the retaliatory use of physical force a moral imperative.
“If some “pacifist” society renounced the retaliatory use of force, it would be left helplessly at the mercy of the first thug who decided to be immoral. Such a society would achieve the opposite of its intention: instead of abolishing evil, it would encourage and reward it.”
“O.K., that’s great, Miss Rand, yourself, among others, have helped concretize my belief that self-defense is a value and that it is my right. But everyone already knows that self-defense is a value, right? Well… sort of. Most people I meet tell me they would agree that it is, and they usually puff out their chest and begin some heated discussion about what they think they would do if approached by an attacker. But what do most people do when approached by an attacker? Well, forget about that for a moment, I’ll take a step back and ask the question, what do most store clerks do when approached by an angry customer? Usually, they call security or a manager to handle the situation for them. While the angry customer is shouting the clerk goes straight to water. They might just stand there and mumble some gibberish in their defense and take whatever abuse the customer wants to give them until they are so frustrated they have to call for help. In a flash, they forgot all about staying calm and projecting confidence in the fact that the customer’s problem, no matter how bad it might be, can be solved. I don’t care what anyone says, the customer is not always right, especially the kind of customer who is going to attack with violence. My point is, most people go to pieces just finding themselves in a situation with an angry person who is merely shouting at them – how do such people propose to handle a situation in which actual physical violence is a factor? Answer: they don’t handle the situation – they become victims.
“To my mind, there are two kinds of people: there are those who would like to do something about violence, and there are those who do something about violence.
“Enter: TFT.
“TFT can answer, in about twenty four hours of training, the question most people ask their entire lives, “What can I do about self-defense?” Well, here’s what you can do about self-defense: Take the course.
“First of all, TFT instructors do not think in terms of “self-defense”, rather they think in terms of “fighting.” Practitioners are not defenders in TFT – rather they are fighters. When your partner approaches with a right hook and you strike it, you are not defending yourself – you are fighting. Find a target on your partner’s body and strike it. It’s that simple. In TFT, one does not waste his time fighting against something and merely hoping he will survive the situation, rather he spends his time in training focused on fighting (creating the destruction of his enemy), hitting targets (reaching goals), and getting what he wants out of life. More important than anything else, TFT addresses the mind of the individual, not just the body.
“Now, the challenge is to redefine my thinking, to rid myself of years of thinking in terms of “defense” – and to turn it all around to think positively, aggressively, proactively. Thinking positively and aggressively is a way of life; it does not apply only to fighting. The Positive Aggressive Mindset (Cause-State®) is the most valuable and exciting tool I have taken from my TFT.
“At times during my training, I found it very difficult to be serious. The training is addicting and downright FUN! I felt like the kid on the playground who finally beat the bully. There were times during my course when I felt like shouting to the class, “Hey folks, why don’t we just stop pretending this isn’t the fun that it is and just let ourselves go and have a ball!”
“If someone were to ask me if TFT is worth the money, the time and the effort, I would tell them that it most definitely is. Get this knowledge, get this training, learn it, know it, live it – you may not be able to remain alive without it, and the principles you learn in the course can change your entire life for the better.
“Thinking back, I recall you, Tim, thanking all of the participants for their sacrifice in coming to Las Vegas, taking time away from friends, family and work to participate in the class. I appreciate that thought, Tim – but I can assure you that taking your TFT course was no sacrifice. For every effort I put into the class I got more than my money’s worth. You guys are really great. Thank you, for this opportunity.
“I am now looking forward to taking more TFT courses in the future and training at home everyday.”
Ted Schaghy, Private Security
Las Vegas, NV
