1. Nobody cares about who’s the better fighter it’s only about winning Gathering achievements in martial arts is an incredible feat. The discipline, mental toughness, and skills it takes to become a combat sports champion is amazing. That said, violent criminals don’t care and they’re going to do everything in their power to cheat to […]
1. Should you Intervene in a Situation? It’s inevitable you’ll witness someone in a distressful situation. You might witness a dispute, confrontation, robbery, kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, etc. This raises questions about what to do in such a situation. As close combat practitioners, there’s a tendency to want to jump in headfirst and show off […]
1. Always choose reality over tradition Martial arts has a rich history that should be studied and understood. Ultimately, I have respect for tradition and when put in their proper context many arts have valuable information. However, martial arts also teach a lot of BS frankly. Some practitioners know they’re teaching impractical techniques but to […]
1. Practice deception In self-defense classes, most teachers place emphasis on using deception and subterfuge to set-up your preemptive striking assault. However, it’s not enough to just know you should use deception before striking your assailant. You have to practice it in role-playing scenarios so you’ll do it under duress convincingly. Today, I’ll give you […]
1. Criminals use aggressive ploys to intimidate you In practical self-defense we spend considerable time training to deal with “interview scenarios”. These are confrontations that begin with a criminal attempting to distract you in some manner before attacking you. This distraction can be relaxed or exceedingly aggressive. Today, I want to discuss how to deal […]
1. Intro to Guided Chaos Cane-Fighting Recently, I returned home for a tune-up with Grandmaster John Perkins at the Elmsford headquarters in New York. These tune-ups are routine for me starting back when I entered college. My tuneups generally consist of training with Grandmaster Perkins and his instructors and getting my butt-kicked…a lot. In a […]
1.How criminals manipulate you When preparing people to defend themselves, the physical part of the training is one part of it. There are other aspects to the training that aren’t physical but are just as important. One of those aspects is understanding and having a strategy for dealing with manipulative behavior. Criminals are adept at […]
1. Conventional sparring isn’t the best preparation for self-defense Martial artists argue sparring is the best measure of a martial arts effectiveness in real-world self-defense. Allegedly, it provides the best reliable “evidence” we can use to ascertain what techniques work on a resisting opponent. To the extent they work on a resisting opponent we can […]
1. Bullying requires specific strategies to overcome it As a child who suffered from bullying in school, I know firsthand how difficult it is to deal with. I recall the feelings of humiliation and fear that I would experience as a result of being physically assaulted and taunted at school. It’s what drove me towards […]
1. Excessive nervousness, attempts to get close to you, and excessive eye contact Often I’m asked by students what’re important indicators you can notice to predict if someone will attack you. Upon first hearing this question you might believe it’s silly as nobody is a mind-reader. While this is true, there actually are behaviors that […]