INJURY IS THE ONLY GOAL OF VIOLENCE
In a violent 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 […]
TARGET FOCUS TRAINING PRINCIPLES IN A NUTSHELL
Last night, during our monthly conference call between Master Instructors and Mastery Program members, a question about our Target Focus Training principles came up: “How do I tell someone about what we do in such a way that it doesn’t sound crazy?” We have no shortage of material that talks (and shows) all about what […]
IS LETHAL FORCE SELF-DEFENSE USEFUL IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE?
I would hope lethal force self-defense isn’t useful in your everyday life… As we say at our courses, we sincerely hope you never have to use what we’re teaching. But like a fire extinguisher or handgun, when you need it, nothing else will do. You don’t buy one looking forward to the opportunity to use […]
ACCESS THE MEAT: CHOOSING THE LEVEL OF INTERACTION IN VIOLENT CONFLICT
One of the key features of the sociopath is that he sees everyone as essentially the same–a piece of meat to be butchered. Sociopaths look at everyone this way, regardless of personality, skill, or ability. A big strong guy with a black belt looks the same to him as a sleeping little girl. The sociopath […]
SOCIAL OR ASOCIAL VIOLENCE – WHY BOTHER?
The question between social and asocial violence is a great conundrum, and one that I get asked frequently. We spend a good chunk of our non-mat time trying to educate people in how to tell the difference between appropriate and inappropriate uses of the tool of violence. After more than 20 years of doing this […]
UNDERSTANDING VIOLENCE: FOUR LEVELS OF HUMAN INTERACTION
When it comes to understanding violence and normal human behavior, there are four general ways in which human beings interact with one another: As a person – social This is trying to change behavior, mood, or motivation. This is where most people would like to keep the situation. As a skill-set — anti-social This is […]
SURVIVING THE AFTERMATH OF SELF-DEFENSE
The following question is why we go to such great lengths to educate our self-defense clients about the realities of breaking the physical plane. Anonymous writes: “Denver Colorado, three years ago. A friend of mine (we were both Rangers in Vietnam) was out for his 60th birthday celebration with friends. They all decided to leave […]
LEARN SELF DEFENSE: THE DEFINITION OF VIOLENCE
This may sound obvious, but when it comes time to learn self defense, you’ll need to understand that there a lot of things violence is not. It is not a particularly rough cage-match; it is not a bar fight where everyone’s sharing beers ten minutes later; it’s not getting your nose bloodied. Many people who […]
WINNING VIOLENCE: WOULD IT MATTER TO A SERIAL KILLER?
The title of this article about winning violence refers to the way I like to answer questions that have nothing to do with the needs of violence—questions about legality, appropriateness, blocking, defending against this or that attack, “but what if he,” etc. The worst among us are the best at winning violence. They are feared […]
BODY MANEUVERS FOR BUSINESSMEN
Most days Tareq Sholi spends his time sifting through numbers as an accountant at mining giant Rio Tinto. But today Sholi, 30, is simulating punches to his sparring partner’s neck, chest and groin. It’s all part of a two-day crash-course aimed at making businessman like Sholi as versatile in self-defense as they are in cutting…