The current issue of Black Belt magazine has another Target Focus Training article (it’s our 3rd including the cover of the July 2006 issue).

Well, we decided to answer it once and for all.

In a violence conflict, the ONLY thing that means anything is… causing an INJURY!

Causing trauma puts you in control.

That is why injury is the most fundamental and important concept in violence. It is the common thread woven through the fabric of every violent encounter.

To be successful in violent conflict you need to focus entirely on causing injury–any technique, tactic, and/or tool you use needs to achieve this single goal. Anything that does not directly cause trauma is useless to you.

When you look at the vast breadth of people’s experiences from war, prison violence, street crime and terrorism, it seems like nothing but raw chaos. How could there possibly be one simple solution for surviving all of these different scenarios?

The answer lies in looking at what they have in common, instead of looking at each situation independently. One simple fact keeps coming up: in violence, there is always one person doing the injuring (i.e., stomping, stabbing, shooting), and one person getting injured. And the one doing the injuring is typically the one who gets to walk away.

The only thing that changes anything in violent conflict is injury.

It doesn’t matter who’s involved–professional or criminal, soldier or civilian. It doesn’t matter what tools are used–fists and boots, sticks and knives, firearms and explosives.

The person doing the violence–the person causing injury–is the one who prevails. The person having violence done to them–the person getting injured–is the one who fails. Whether it’s a ruptured eye, a blown-out knee, or a bullet in the brain, the final arbiter of success in violence is injury.

You must start with the desired result (injury) and make sure all of your efforts get you there.

This is the difference between training to focus on results rather than focusing on methods. A method, whether it’s a specific ‘style’ or technique or tool, is a solution in search of a problem; methods are often developed in a vacuum, apart from the realities of violence. The question must always be asked: “what is the goal—what is the desired result?”

Violence begins and ends with injury.

You have to start with the goal and work outwards.

When evaluating any technique or tool you have to ask, “Where is the injury?” If there is none, or if it’s merely insinuated, you can reject that approach out of hand. It is useless to you.

All for now,
Tim Larkin
http://targetfocustraining.com/

The entire content of this blog including images & text are copyright ©2007 by The TFT Group & Target Focus Training, all rights reserved.

Using violence to solve social problems is like using dynamite to open your car door. It’ll do the job, but it’ll cause a whole heap of other problems.

Violence has nothing to do with communication. It’s not part of the negotiations that form the vast bulk of personal interaction. It’s the last resort, when communication isn’t an option and it’s injure or be injured.

Violence is what you use the moment you feel threatened.

If you realize it’s possible to talk your way out of a difficult situation, that should probably be your first choice.

Often, an aggressive person will put on a show to dominate without actually resorting to violence. They’ll make themselves look bigger, scream obscenities or issue threats.

Sometimes, they’re just trying to intimidate in the hope that you’ll back down. Sometimes, they’re psyching themselves up for violence. You’ll have to decide and act if you feel there’s a real threat.

Once you decide to act, act immediately.

If you don’t believe a problem can be solved with language and diplomacy, say nothing. Don’t look them in the eye or engage in conversation. When you enter into a conversation with a threatening person, you enter a gray zone in which it’s much harder to disengage and strike the first blow.

Leave if you wish to and if you can.

Violence isn’t always the answer. In fact, it’s rarely the answer. But when it is the answer… it’s the only answer!

Use violence when you have no other choice.

And once you start, you’re not done until you finish it on your terms.

All for now,
Tim Larkin
http://targetfocustraining.com/

Violence is about injuring people. Period.

It isn’t pretty. In violent conflict there are no rules. No part of the body is out of bounds and there are no gloves to soften the blows. Violence isn’t like the choreographed dance moves you see on TV shows and movies. Each side doesn’t take turns to swing and parry. One side strikes and the other side gets injured. And usually, the side that causes the first serious injury wins.

When you know how to use violence as a survival tool, you’ll be the one doing the striking, the one causing the injuries.

There’s nothing artistic about violence; it’s an instinctive survival tool, like swimming. Once you’ve learned the basics, you’re set for life. You don’t walk around every day wondering what you’d do if you fell into a swimming pool: “Let’s see, first I’d tread water, then I’d follow that up with a couple of neat butterfly strokes…” You know that if you fall in, you’ll swim, and get out of the water.

An Olympic swimmer who trains every day will always be able to swim faster, further and with more grace than the average person who learned as a kid and only ever gets wet in the shower. But under normal conditions neither of them will drown. You swim so that you don’t die. Violence is the same – a simple, utilitarian life skill. And as in swimming, the only arbiter of success is survival. If you make it out alive, you did the right thing.

Serious violent conflict rarely lasts more than five seconds. It doesn’t take much to put even the biggest man down and five seconds is more than enough time to cause serious injury. On the other hand, that means you don’t have the luxury of time to think or take up a fancy kung-fu stance. You get time only to act, cause an effect and continue to act.

You don’t have time to be defensive in violence. If you’re backing off or trying to block blows, you’re not putting him down. If you’re on the defensive, you’re seconds from losing. And he’s free to put the knife in you again while you’re trying to block the previous stab.

In the end, you don’t “win” in violent conflict-you survive it. It’s not competition; it’s destruction. The survivor gets to walk away. The other guy doesn’t. And far more often than not, the one who’s walking away is the one who was doing the violence.

It’s only going to work out in your favor if you get in there and injure him. You have to put him down and keep him there. You have to throw out the rules and combine instinct with intellect.

Once you know how to use violence as a survival tool, you’re no longer afraid of being mugged or murdered. You’ll feel confident that if push comes to shove, you can put a man down and keep him there.

You’ll know to survive in violent situations, just like you know how to swim.

All for now,

Tim Larkin
http://targetfocustraining.com/

Welcome to the Target Focus Training Blog.

I’m Tim Larkin the Creator and Founder of Target Focus Training and I look forward to sharing some of the methods and priciples we feel are essential to effective self defense & personal protection.

Lets start with this concept: VIOLENCE AS A SURVIVAL TOOL

People have always used violence. They’ve fought over power, they’ve fought over resources, and sometimes they’ve fought over nothing at all. From the day humans learned that what they couldn’t gain through persuasion they could win through violence, the strong have tried to dominate the weak.

This is the way it’s been since time immemorial. And today, the strong and the violent still dominate.

The reason thugs are still using violence, and still winning, certainly isn’t that they’re smarter. It isn’t even that they’re stronger—many people who get beaten up and robbed on the streets every day are fitter and stronger than their drugged-up offenders. The reason muggers win is that they have power. They know what they want, and they know that if they use every violent means at their disposal, they’ll get it.

• They know that if they pull out a knife, you’re going to be scared.
• They know that if they put a gun to your head, you’re going to freeze.
• They know that if they threaten to kill you, you’ll give them everything they demand.
• They understand how to use violence in order to cause the effect they want to achieve.

Target Focus Training changes the balance of power.

When you are proficient in the use of this simple system, instead of a threat from a violent stranger causing you to suffer pain, loss or even death, you will be able to cause serious injury to the man, resulting in his complete incapacitation.

You’ll understand that if you injure a man in a certain way, you can precisely predict the result. Instead of doubt preventing you from taking action, you’ll have the confidence to make the split-second decisions you need to stay alive during the most critical 5 seconds of your life.

When you’ve undergone Target Focus Training, you’ll have the power – the power to protect yourself and those you love.

All for now,
Tim Larkin
http://targetfocustraining.com/