I can’t tell you how much Tim & I are looking forward to the Weapons Course in November.

We do a pretty thorough rundown of knife, stick and gun in the basic course–what the tools for violence do and don’t do, how to use them to your advantage, and how to take out the armed man. The only issue there is how much time we have to spend on getting people up to speed with violence–defining it, getting you to go where a sociopath would go, training you to destroy targets… much of the basic course gets spent disabusing people of the social niceties and into tearing apart another man.

The topics covered in a typical 2-Day course include:

• Intro to Violence
• Target Assembly (identifying and destroying targets)
• Free Practice (how to take it to nonfunctional)
• Striking Assembly (how to break things with your mass)
• Grabs, Holds & Chokes
• Social-Antisocial-Asocial (when violence is, and is not, appropriate)
• Knife
• Stick
• Gun
• Multiple Attackers

Across two days, I figure we get to spend maybe four hours, or 1/4 of the total course on weapons.

At the upcoming Advanced Weapons Course, we’re going to spend the entire 16 hours on that topic.

That’s four times as much as the basic course!

And because we don’t have to spend any time on the how or why of base violence, we can literally hit the ground running and explore as many aspects of the use of tools as we can cram into those two days. And we’re planning on cramming in a lot.

We’ve got tons of information that we usually don’t have time to get into in the basic course… and even then, it’s only really useful to someone who has the basic knowledge and hands-on skill that comes from completing either the 2-Day or even the $99 Half-Day training. Either qualifies you to attend this one.

It’s going to be an absolute pleasure working with people who know what’s going on, how to get it done, and want to know more.

Did I mention I’m looking forward to this? Tim got into town last night & it’s all we talked about, so, yeah, I can’t wait.

See you in Vegas,

Chris Ranck-Buhr
Master Instructor

Tim Larkin’s Target Focus Training Combat Training Principles

“Secrets For Staying Alive When ‘Rules’ Don’t Apply”

The Mindset To Survive And The Will To Win

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“A man who waits to believe in action before acting is anything you like, but he’s not a man of action. You must act as you breathe.” – Georges Clemenceau
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So what was lacking in the training of the 3 survivors mentioned in my newsletter titled, When Surviving Isn’t Enough: The Critical Reason Why You Can’t Just Survive An Attack — You Must Win?

To refresh your memory we had a seasoned martial artist, a woman who attended numerous self defense workshops, and a 10 year veteran police officer with extensive defensive tactics training.

Each survived their violent encounter but none of them survived and won. My question to you was what was lacking in the training of each of the survivors?

Well according to the literally thousands of responses you readers gave me, here are the top 2:

1. Mindset
2. Will

Mindset by far was the most popular response. Often it was coupled with another term like “aggressive-mindset.” Most who responded with this answer felt the survivors’ training failed to develop the proper mindset to survive and win these encounters.

Those that offered “will” as the lacking ingredient usually stated that the training of the 3 survivors failed to provide them the “will” to use violence.

Some of you provided some very well thought out responses and your efforts are much appreciated. This exercise helped me to confirm that most people are being led off track by buzz words and tough talk favored by many chest-thumpers in the self protection industry.

All the talk about ‘mindset’ in this industry makes everyone sound the same. Most people still believe you need to be in a certain ’state’ to be able to respond to violence. Color charts are drafted and everyone feels good about how to get ready to ‘kick some ass.’

And then there’s ‘will’.

Some people stated that the 3 survivors lacked the will to do injury and this was a failure of their training. But how do you train will? Think about how useful will is when it comes to things like losing weight or working out.

Believe me, many in this industry will tell you that’s exactly what to do. They’ll lecture you on mindset and come up with numerous drills to ‘install the will-to-kill.’

But neither mindset nor will is what lacked in any of the survivors training.

Large amounts of the training in all 3 of the survivors’ cases were devoted to proper mindset and will. Yet, as properly noted by you, it was not there when they needed it.

That is because mindset and will are NOT training objectives.

Proper training develops everything needed to survive and win. The problem is there is very little proper training offered to the general public.

Here’s an example:

We just got word from a TFT instructor traveling through Europe who saw an old training partner. This training partner was short and obese and had not trained in years yet recently he survived, and won, a violent encounter with 2 thugs.

When asked what happened he said he was in the city walking home one night when these 2 thugs, much bigger than he, jumped him.

The instructor asked what happened next.

The training partner said, “I knocked out the first guy and ran after the second but I got too tired and couldn’t keep up, so I just walked home.”

The instructor asked if there was any more to the story and he said “No.” He’d just been attacked by 2 thugs and he pretty much treated it as no big deal, even though this was his first encounter with real violence outside of ‘training.’

The fact that he was trained properly provided this man with the ability to survive and win a nasty criminal encounter against 2 bigger, stronger and faster thugs.

Here’s the thing. He wasn’t concerned about mindset nor did he have to rely on will to take action.

He was never told his obesity was a detriment to his ability to injure someone. He was given the skills necessary to get the job done using his human machine not by trying to look and move like some athletic instructor.

When the time came for him to use the skills, he was able to easily recognize the situation and apply his training. He didn’t need a color chart, to talk tough or to practice sticking his thumb into oranges to have the will to attack the eyes.

When his time came, his training worked seamlessly in the real world — something that didn’t happen for the 3 survivors in the last newsletter.

So be wary if you navigate the world of violence relying on mindset and will.

Neither of these, together or alone, provides you with the proper training. And it’s proper training that seamlessly gives you the necessary elements to survive and win, something many hope to tease out of the ‘mindset’ and ‘will’ debates.

So now the question becomes, “How do we know what proper training looks like?”

I’ve written about this in the past but as we dig deeper into the subject of “not just surviving but winning” I’d like to hear your take on what you think proper training is.

Use this link to send me your thoughts:http://www.askdatabase.com/campaigns/?af=36081

Until next time,

Tim Larkin
Master Close-Combat Instructor,
Creator of Target Focus Training

“When Violence Is The ONLY Answer”

PS. New self defense training class: Las Vegas March 7-9, 2008. This is where you learn to win… not just survive. And you do it in just 3 days. And it stays with you forever… even if you never practice again.

At first, it may be hard to wrap you mind around because it goes against everything you’ve ever been told or trained for or even believed. But it’s what people who win use. And when you understand it, you’ll know how to win too.

Las Vegas always fills quickly so don’t wait.

(c) Copyright 2007, The TFT Group

Tim Larkin’s Target Focus Training Combat Training Principles

“Secrets For Staying Alive When ‘Rules’ Don’t Apply”

When Surviving Isn’t Enough: The Critical Reason Why You Can’t Just Survive An Attack — You Must Win.

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“What can be successfully willed must first be seen and understood.”
-Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall
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70/30.

That’s the split.

Seventy percent of people I train come to me after the fact. They’re survivors.

But I’m here to tell you — today, surviving isn’t enough.

It’s not even close.

Jim is a survivor.

It was a crisp autumn night he stood frozen with fear as the meth-induced rage of a mugger worked into an unprovoked homicidal attack.

He was stabbed 3 times.

He’s still with us because his girlfriend attempted to stop the thug. She was stabbed twice in the neck and bled-out before the paramedics could arrive.

At 32, Jim had years of martial arts training but he lacked the one thing necessary to win.

John is a police officer with 12 years on the force and numerous defensive tactics courses under his belt. He’s a survivor.

On a bright August day he pulled over a ‘79 Chevy Camaro for a dangerous lane change while speeding.

As he approached, the 6′5″, 262lbs very drunk driver got out to contest John’s decision to stop him.

Before he finished the verbal warning he’d used a 1,000 times before, the driver bum-rushed John, lifted him off the deck and slammed him to the pavement.

Following the techniques he’s been drilled in, John fumbled for his pepper spray while the driver only laughed as he repeatedly pounded John’s head against the pavement.

John lost consciousness as kicks to the head and torso rained down from the alcohol-fueled rage.
He’s still on the force today but in an admin job. Nerve damage to his right side is pretty severe.

His facial reconstructive surgery went well and surgeons think he’ll regain 90% control of his facial muscles, eventually.

John’s defensive tactics training was extensive. The board that reviewed the video of the incident stated John responded exactly as he was trained.

The only problem was his training lacked the one thing necessary to win.

Jamie is a survivor, too.

She did everything the serial rapist asked.

But the self defense course she took never gave her a technique for the way this 234lbs brut held her on the floor of her apartment.

When she said she’d do whatever he wanted he responded by punching her face and breaking her jaw. From there it got worse.

After 3 reconstructive surgeries, she eventually recovered from the beating but not from being raped.

Her self defense training had great techniques and real life scenarios. Hell, it even had an instructor in a padded suit attacking them, one she could hit as hard as she wanted.

But it lacked the one thing necessary to win.

Now, rather than giving you the answer, I’d like to hear what you think was lacking in the training of these three survivors.

Send your thoughts to me at: http://www.askdatabase.com/campaigns/?af=35874

I’ll review them and discuss this further in my next newsletter.

Until then, ask yourself if you are training to survive or training to win.

And more importantly… do you truly know the difference?

Until next time,

Tim Larkin
Master Close-Combat Instructor,
Creator of Target Focus Training

PS. New self defense training class: Las Vegas March 7-9, 2008 .This is where you learn to win… not just survive. And you do it in just 3 days. And it stays with you forever… even if you never practice again.

At first, it may be hard to wrap you mind around because it goes against everything you’ve ever been told or trained for or even believed. But it’s what people who win use. And when you understand it, you’ll know how to win too.

“When Violence Is The Only Answer”
(c) Copyright 2007, The TFT Group