“The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword”
-Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The above quote is often used by men of ideas and throughout history many ideas drafted by the pen have, eventually, triumphed. But many of the original drafters of those ideas paid for their writings with their lives. That is a fact often left out by many who use the above quote.

In the past 20 or so years that I’ve been training men and women of ideas I see it as my job to remind them that we, in fact, live in a physical world. Many of my clients are extremely successful industry leaders whose sharp minds have helped them to achieve great things in their lives.

The human mind is capable of bringing out the best in society but it is equally capable of destroying lives using the crude fact that we live in a physical world. Military and Law Enforcement operators that I train are well versed in this very real fact and need little reminding of its existence.

But my civilian clients often need to be shocked into this reality. I usually do this via a short multimedia presentation that shows video of random acts of violence. Quickly it sinks in that violence cuts across all socioeconomic lines and should you find yourself faced with such a threat it requires a response that is in the realm of our physical world.

As I write this newsletter I know that should someone crash through the door and attack I will not rely on all of the ideas about self defense that I’ve learned and written about over the years. No, rather it will be the thousands of hours of physical training I’ve put in that I’ll draw from to take the other guy out.

It is my actual time of physically being out on the mat (or other training environments) working against other human bodies that allows me to respond with principles and methods that will best serve me in such an instance.

I’ve found that many of my clients enjoy reading about the self defense principles and methods I write about but are slow to actually get out on the mat and do it. The excuses I hear are numerous and clever but ultimately it will be a miserable failure for them if they haven’t got out on the mat and moved their bodies against another human.

Intellectually learning how to swim via books and videos without you actually jumping in the water and physically learning how to swim is a dangerous gamble against drowning. Even more true when it comes to self defense training; you need to actually get out there and do it.

Fortunately for my clients I’ve gone out of my way to make it easy to get moving. Whether you attend a live training or opt for home study I’ve got you covered so you see step by step how to get out with another human and physically learn this vitally important information.

Because the sad fact is that living a great life and pursuing your dreams can be suddenly interrupted by a random act of violence. If you merely stay a man or woman of ideas and demand the world should be a certain way then you are a perfect target for the physical thugs of this world.

Whereas if you stolidly ground yourself in the physical realities of asocial criminal violence and put the time in to physically train your body to deal with it you then can pursue your goals in your world of ideas. If violence should enter your life you are not shocked by it and in fact have planned and trained for just such an event.

All the best,

Tim Larkin
Founder, Master Instructor
Target Focus Training

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