Why Even A Little Fitness Counts

Mat Pull: The simple act of lying on flat on your stomach, reaching in front of you and pulling your self across the mat. This is one exercise that helps develop your muscles for grappling. We do these as a part of our warm up.

The other day, I was beginning to train a prospective student and when we got to mat pulls, this man does three of them and then pulls up lame. Still, not a problem, I am in the business of training people, as long as you have the desire and the will, I am going to help you. It’s my job. After that, the guy was barely useless for the rest of the hour class. He didn’t hit a pad since he was clutching his stomach the entire time. Still, no problem, I’ll train you if you want it.

I just received an email saying “The training was too combat oriented”. I don’t know what this means, it’s a martial art. It wouldn’t be so bad except, this person was a pretty beefy guy who claimed he worked out regularly and power lifted. Believe me, after his performance on the mat, I seriously question the validity of this statement.

Keep in mind, I am not trying to train an “uber-samurai”, I train children, teenagers, college and professional men and women, mothers of one, two or more, training with me from every conceivable background. All of them have one thing in common, the desire to improve. The class is rigorous, but you can participate at your own speed.

So how does this pertain to your training and life as we know it? First off, if you’re training for anything where the end result is contact with another human being you better be ready for this. You will get hurt. You will lesson the degree of which you will get hurt by how good of shape you are in and how hard you train. If you think you are going to get into a real fight without sustaining injury, you will be sadly, or gravely disappointed. If you think you will not get winded or exhausted in a few short moments, you are in for a world of hurt. You need to be in the best shape you can possibly be in period. Knowing what to do is only half of it. How to training it and keeping yourself in shape is the other. The better in shape you are in, the better you will perform. It’s like having a Ferrari Enzo and having no fuel and no insurance. It looks good and in theory, it will be the fastest thing on the road. The reality is, it’s a $1,000,000 paper weight that couldn’t beat a scooter.

Your method of self defense is only as good as the delivery system it comes in (that’s you). If you think that knowing something will save you, maybe under the optimum circumstances. Maybe if you can get a clean first shot off. Maybe if you get the drop on your target. Unfortunately this is rarely the case. Usually you don’t get the opportunity to pick the time and the place, your assailant does. Oh yeah, you may miss. People have a tendency to a …move. So you better be ready for the long haul. If you can end the fight before it starts, great. But plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Like my coach @ Lehigh, Thad Turner told me, “Any idiot can get in shape; you just want to do it”. Nothing worth anything comes fast, easy and without a price. Yes there are more efficient ways of getting the job done, but EASY is a relative term.

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Martial Arts’ Greatest Lesson

Success at home, work or on the mat is what drives all of us. Sooner or later, you’re going to want something more. It’s in our very nature to succeed. It is a primary survival instinct. The benefits of success are obvious. Sense of accomplishment, self worth and self-actualization are a few. Other, less obvious by-products are confidence and attitude.

While these feelings help to drive us and are our eventual goals and reasons to be successful, they do little in helping us become successful. They are psychological effects of accomplishment. The real technical growth, the real "nuts and bolts" lay in every setback and every failure.

Vince Lombardi said, "Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser" why correct in it’s spirit. There is far more to be gained from our losses than our triumphs. Every loss is a tool for improvement. Because it’s only when you fail, that you look inside yourself to determine what went wrong and how to correct it. With each failure you are forced to rally your courage and rise to the occasion.

After you win, you concentrate on the achievement of your goal rather than the mistakes you made. Your very nature allows you to enjoy the accomplishment and gain confidence and attitude. Which are extremely powerful tools, because BELIEVEING you can be successful is a lot more powerful than THINKNG you can be successful. But these don’t help you improve technically or spiritually.

Every loss, every injury, every defeat is an opportunity for growth. It’s easy to have fun when everything goes smoothly, but when does that ever happen? We think everyone has it easier than we do. This is obviously not the case. EVERYONE has the same issues that you do. It’s all relative to everyone: a hangnail seems like a big deal to someone who has never broken a finger. The difference is, some people deal with them and move forward, others rationalize their decision and go home.

Dealing with a setback forces you to be honest and critical with yourself. This isn’t an easy thing to do. But once you’ve abandoned the excuses and stopped pointing the finger, only then will you really grow and improve.

All natural ability aside, what separates the good from the not so good and the God-awful, is the ability to take a real long and hard look in the mirror and take stock. You will always hear excuses, we all have them. If you chose to stop at the excuse, you will remain there.; technically, mentally and physically. You will be forced to repeat the same failure over and over again. It’s a cycle of habit. Because if it’s not this, it will be something else and you will spend the rest of your life wondering "why they get all the brakes" or "why are they so lucky". Remember, "Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it". This habit of quitting when things get difficult is one you don’t want to develop.

Every career, every life, is replete with failure and setbacks. It’s up to you to work through them and force yourself to develop the habit of getting up again and again and again.

Everything that happens in the Dojo is symbolic of life. That’s way Dojo literally means "WAY PLACE". It’s the place to study THE WAY. Simply put, the way of everything, the way of life. When you miss a technique or have difficulty learning a skill, you train to improve and become competent at that skill. When you are injured you train yourself to work with your injury.

What’s the difference between an injured shoulder, a bad back or a broken hand than someone who is short, slow and slight of build? Should those people not even try? Maybe we should tell everyone under 5’5" and 120 pounds, "Don’t Bother".

Last week we concluded a five-week training course with a group of people with a wide variety of disabilities from slight learning problems to severe physical issues. All of these people, everyday learned to adapt and over come themselves and their environment. They developed the skill of overcoming obstacles. They came to the same conclusion that this is my life and like the man says, "Get busy living or get busy dying". This is the real reason you study bushido.

Skills are habits, habits, and both good and bad are learned behaviors. On the mat you learn how to overcome set backs and adversity. Listen, you will never be 100%. You will never be perfect. There will always be something wrong. It’s how you handle your setbacks and obstacles that make you who you are. Martial Arts are about overcoming adversity. It allows you to practice these habits in a "controlled" environment. It teaches you to develop these habits. These habits are imprinted on you and become a part of your behavior. These behaviors are what make the difference between a life lived and living a life.

The more and more I study; the more I realize what a genius Kano was. He developed Judo to articulate the real benefits of bushido. He developed a way to train life’s most important skills: appreciation and respect of one another, efficiency or best use of resources, and purpose.

Enjoy your setbacks, learn from them, because after you accomplish your goal, they are what you will remember and they will matter most

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Womens Self Defense

Can Anyone Defend Themselves? Of course the answer is "Yes", but each person has different circumstances. A 300-pound football player is going to have a different skill set than a 130-pound mother of two.

The biggest misconception in the martial arts is that a technique or a strategy will work the same for everybody, every time. Unfortunately, most martial arts preach this notion. They teach the same thing to everyone with little thought as to the capability of the student. Instructors have been trying to fit the square peg in the round hole for as long as I can remember.

For example, the other day, I received a call a woman who has a 3-year-old child and was expecting another. Naturally, she was concerned about her safety a pregnant woman with children is an easy mark. Well, this woman thought she would have no problem using empty hand techniques to fend off would-be assailants. She was convinced that she could “Jackie Chan” a slew of muggers, rapists and thieves with one child in her arms and another strapped to her back!

After a few moments I told her that was all well and good, but before she unleashes her drunken monkey kung fu, she should probably take a few steps to prepare her self a lot better by decreasing her exposure. And if it came down to a physical threat, there are a few things she can do to put the odds back in her favor and increase her chances of survival.

Remember there are 3 things all criminals don’t want to happen:

Get Arrested
Get Identified
Get Injured
Keeping this in mind, the first thing I told her was the life she used to enjoy has now changed. A woman, preoccupied with the safety and care of two children, let alone one child, is a prime target for the skels who earn their living preying on the weak and the helpless. She should only go to very public, very safe places that are mother and child friendly. The days of going to malls in the evening or quickly running into the Laundromat leaving the kids in the car are over.

Another step to ensure your family’s safety is to schedule a day to run errands childfree. Or choose services that offer delivery. Now if you can’t afford certain things, well you need to do with out or get your imagination working to come up with a better solution.

Now if you are going out, you have to have a few simple items handy. They are ranked in importance form the perspective of escape and avoidance. This list considers range, commitment and lethal effects.

Personal Alarm (Training Minimal)
Pepper Spray (Training Minimal)
Edged Weapons (Training Moderate to Heavy)
Impact Weapons (Training Moderate to Heavy)
Empty Hand (Training Heavy)
*Note Firearm has been deliberately left off the list.

Both the pepper spray and personal alarm are used to cause a distraction without getting tangled up in your opponent. A hesitation in your assailant’s assault will allow you the opportunity to escape and get to safety.

Next come edged weapons (Push Daggers and Knives with Finger-Holes). They require a lot less power and are a lot more effective than impact weapons. The push daggers and finger-hole knives give you two advantages: a specific way to grab it and are extremely difficult to drop. And in the course of a fight for your life, the less you need to think about, the better. The downside of course is the close proximity you need to be to use the weapon.

Then come impact weapons. They multiply the force you can exert, but they still require more strength, power and body weight.

And of course, empty hand techniques.
Remember, technology will ALWAYS trump hand to hand methods. ALL HAND-TO-HAND is a tactical last resort.


However training in empty hand techniques should be pursued vigorously. There is a great chance you will be taken by surprise and have to use hand to hand in order to get to your weapons.

Plus, it gives you something to fall back on in worst-case scenarios. It also gives you confidence and it awakens the part of you that doesn’t think tactically and defensively.

So all self-defense comes down to more than just techniques. It encompasses the key elements of Awareness, Strategy, Planning and Training.

Predators are banking on the fact you will play the odds and not do any of these.

And all you have to do is be in the wrong place at the wrong time. All you need is one meeting to go late, one thing in your routine to be disrupted and that once busy parking lock is now a barren wasteland. And there you are SOL.

Training for reality is about training your mind to find whatever solution you need to survive.

And that starts well before the fight is imminent. The person who doesn’t prepare for the absolute worst and thinks they are going to get by with just “empty hand” methods is very ignorant, very lucky or very dead.

PS. If you think women are weak, go check out Dr. Ruthle

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The Black Belt Myth

Every once in a while I get an email from some misguided and offended martial artist with his or her knickers in a twist telling me where I go wrong by saying “Martial Arts will Fail You Every time”. But facts are facts.

Just because you have a black belt doesn’t mean you can fight and just because you can fight, doesn’t mean you are a black belt.

Can martial artists, boxers, judo players, wrestlers, mixed martial artists bee good street fighters? Sure. But a fight is an entirely different proposition than combative sport or a hobby. The problem is that martial artists have propagated this “myth” about the black belt since they realized money could be made. To compound the problem, most instructors are true believers. Thinking that what they are saying is 100% true.

The techniques used by successful street fighters range from the simple and straight forward to brutal and down right nasty. Never underestimate the depths of human nature or the levels to which some people will go to impose their will over another human being.

The difference between a successful and unsuccessful street fighter is attitude and no hesitation. Contrary to the old school yard Marcus of Queensbury rules, who ever strikes first in a real fight usually wins. I’m not talking about people in the local pub having a shoving match. Leave the bar fight out of it. I am talking about a real street smart criminal. So you think that junkie is just trying to slap you- no he’s got razor blades between his fingers and he’s trying to slice your face open. (Thanks for the example Bill). If you wait for him to make his move, you’re done. If you pause, wait for them to “throw the first punch” you’ll lose. And before you question my motivation as one of those guys who never spent time in a real dojo or never received his black belt (I have 3 of them) go to www.zenshin.info. I am a real person and I can be found any day of the week working out at this location teaching none other than martial arts. But like my Sensei, I refuse to limit my self by the confines of my ego and insecurity. Because that’s what it all comes down to: ego. Hey, I know you have a lot of time an effort invested into your study and this is the last thing you want to hear, but earning a black belt doesn’t make you a superhero. Having a black belt does not give you the ability to take on all comers in all any and all situations.

A street fight or close quarters battle has entirely different dynamics than a competitive sport. In a competitive fight, the possibility of being seriously injured or killed is not a paramount concern. You have the normal injuries associated with contact sports, but if it were really lethal you would have people dying in the ring regularly. The combative sport is only SYMBOLIC of the real thing. This is where we all get confused. The term symbolic

So why bother getting a black belt or what does it mean to earn a black belt? This subject has been beaten to death and I offer my opinion only to ad some perspective. First of all, I hold a special place for those of you who have the determination to see your training through to the end and I hope those same people continue to study for an entire life time. It does set you above all others as having accomplished a great task that requires years of dedication and sacrifice. But learning to fight is only a small part

Do you think the night before your black belt exam you are immediately transformed in to the Ultimate Warrior. Martial Arts use fighting and combative skills to affect and overall change on the practitioner. If you study martial arts to learn how to fight, you will find your self very disappointed. Fighting is and should be a smaller percentage of why you study. If you study just to learn how to fight or just to learn how to compete you will not last very long. Because after your competitive career is over, now what? Once you start coaching, training and teaching you really begin to understand that competition is a useful tool, but it’s not what martial arts is about.

Street fighting is not about honor and fair play. That’s how you live your life, but when push comes to shove, knowing how to street fight requires very little skill, just a lot of attitude and nerve.

The Japanese words "Budo" and "Bujutsu" are used to describe this difference between combat and the way of combat.

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Traditional Karate Training

About four years ago we start using the Bogu during our kumite (sparring practice). This method was developed in Okinawa and then found its way into mainland Japan and eventually to the U.S. where only a few clubs still do this. And even in those clubs, only a few members do it. I know there is other equipment out there that looks similar and I have used most of what’s available. But it does not provide you with nearly the same overall effect that the bogu does. Rules in bogu training – Any punch, any kick, save foot stomps, a strike to the spine and to the back of the neck. Throws and leg kicking is certainly allowed. Use, dare I say, your commonsense.

What is the training like?

When you fight, you just go and beat the crap out of each other. This is the point. Sure, you look to get that “One Shot One Kill” but you have to train in a way that prepares you for reality. If you train to stop after that first shot- you are developing a habit that will come back to haunt you. You always train three techniques ahead.

Immediately, you will find out what works and what doesn’t work. Depending on the drill, sometimes we do rounds, sometimes 10 second bursts. There’s a little stalking- but when you go, it’s like two freight trains smashing into one another. You hit, you get hit, you lock up, you knee and you throw- great stuff. One of the first things you will notice is that when you punch or kick the hard surfaces of the bogu- it hurts. A body will feel like a feather bed compared to a bogu. But, after a while- it doesn’t hurt. Then you can start really throwing some lead!

You will also see what strikes have an effect and which ones do not. If you can back a guy up with the bogu on or ring his bell a bit- chances are it’s a good shot. If you graze him, he keeps coming and you have to keep fighting.

The bogu also teaches you to keep fighting! Lesser equipment will cause you to slow down and stop when things get critical. Or stop when one person scores the point. Scoring a point does not mean the fight has ended. It’s only a symbolic representation of it. It’s not literal.

Wearing the bogu allows you to take punishment without being seriously hurt- save the fat lip, sore legs, fingers, toes or sore jaw. You will get used to the shock of being hit. This will enable you to operate in that harsh environment of combat and it will allow you to absorb as much damage as possible. I have seen people develop other things that allow you to feel nothing. This isn’t really good either. It takes away the risk factor and all you have is two supermen running into one another with out any fear of pain. Plus it takes away the body conditioning element. As always, exercise caution and work at a level you can handle. When starting with people who haven’t done it before- take it a little easy so they can get used to it. After a couple times- then you can blast ‘em.

The MEN (Head Piece) of the bogu is extremely claustrophobic. This is an excellent way of replicating the effect of tunnel vision and frustration you feel when you are the hormonal stress of combat. Don’t talk to me about something for MACHO or even Shureido- unless it’s got the grill, it ain’t cutting it.

The head piece also provides neck and chin protection that modern head-gear do not. Again, the chest protector is HARD. This is important to develop power and condition your weapons.

Can you tell who wins and who loses? Well if the guy quits you win. If you quit, you loose. But that’s not the point. IT’S THE TRAINING. It’s the befit of fighting like this that you want; the overall training effect NOT winning a game. Sure there are tournament rules, but that will force you to stop when you should be fighting!! It’s the feeling of the fight, the punishment and the impact that counts. It’s dealing with the confines of the bogu. Just the simple fact that your training partner no longer has a face and is replaced by this samurai from hell is worth the price of admission.

Is it cheap, no- but do you value good training or do you want to used that foamed dipped crap. It’s up to you. This stuff will last you a life time. If you can sucker I mean convince some people to invest- take the plunge. Go to http://www.bogubag.com/Bogu/Karate_Bogu/karate_bogu.html. Get the traditional “Do” and “Tare”, a set of grappling gloves a good cup, knee pads, the good old white, cheap shin and instep pads and a hachi maki or a bandanna. You don’t need a mouth piece- the bogu will keep you mouth shut. I don’t think Bogu bag knows I am recommending the link- but, it’s good stuff.

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The Best Self Defense

You don’t have to be Mr. Miyagi to figure this one out. And it didn’t matter if I was on the Wrestling mat or the Judo tatami; I have heard this same answer over and over again from every level of world elite coach and athlete.

When ever someone showed a pin or a submission, someone in the crown would always ask “What’s the counter?” or “How do you get out of that?” to that the expert would reply %99 percent of the time with. Don’t get there! The other 1% of the time would be something you could do to either prolong the inevitable or worm your way to a better position. But there was never any magic pill or secret, ancient technique other than sheer guts and determination (with a lot of strength and endurance) to liberate yourself from a brutal hold.

But the point every world champion and elite coach was trying to make is: a lot has happened PRIOR to this position and if you find yourself here a lot more as gone wrong! If there is a next time, you better take steps to ensure that you avoid this situation instead of thinking you could pull a technique out of thin air to save you. Because there’s no secret move or magic that will spring you from someone who knows how to really strangle or fight. Once they have the position, you can only HOPE that they mess up. And unlike sport, in the street, there is NO next time!!!

In your more advanced training you focus on the nuances of technique and position. The subtleties of a strangle or the rotation of a fist. And these are good when you’re studying an art. But don’t confuse the two. The chance that you may have to even worry about this under real combat conditions are slim at best; even if your vocation causes you to deal with violence on a daily basis. I guarantee you still won’t have the presence of mind to recall any of that unless you’ve trained it obsessively so it is instinctive and convulsive.

Training different methods and exploring new aspects of Martial Arts are great, and studying a martial art or sport is an EXTREMELY worthwhile endeavor, but make no mistake, if it looks pretty in the dojo, it won’t work in the real world. Believe me, I’ve spent the better part of a life training and looking for the thing that does. And no matter how hard something is trained, it still rehearsed and choreographed. So before you think about trying your new-found techniques on someone who really doesn’t care how many stripes you have on your belt. Listen to what many people a lot better than me have said so many times before… Keep It Simple Stupid!

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The Evolution of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

By Damian Ross and William Pehush of The Self Defense Company

Over a half a century ago Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) came into being. It appeared on the grand stage in the early 1990’s hen the Gracie family introduced it to the world. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu changed the face of martial arts forever, and brought the idea of mixed martial arts (MMA) to the mainstream. It is a sport of brutal grappling and ground fighting that is even used today by the United States Army for combat conditioning.

In 1917, Carlos and Hélio Gracie watched a series Vale Tudo matches that pitted wrestlers, boxers, and other martial artists compete against each other. Early mixed martial arts competitions were common in Brazil and there were no holds barred. The boys were always excited to see the local fighters. One day, the boys saw a visiting martial artist from Japan, Judo Master Mitsuyo Maeda defeat opponent after opponent in the ring. They were in awe, even though the local competition was tough, it wasn’t any match for the Japanese man who was using the relatively new martial art known as Judo or Kano Jiu-Jitsu. Repeatedly fighters were taken to the ground hard and submitted or simply knocked out cold. One fighter even pulled a weapon on Maeda. Without skipping a beat, took him on and didn’t even break a sweat. After seeing this demonstration the boys had to learn this new style, so their father made the arrangements and the birth of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu began

Mitsuyo Maeda was trained by Judo’s founder Kano Jigoro himself. Maeda had been sent aboard to promote Japanese culture and martial arts. Kano hoped through training in Judo a student would become a better person. Kano felt that the more people knew Judo, the better place the world would be. Maeda was a skilled instructor, but he only had so much time to teach the Gracie boys so he emphasized ground fighting in his lessons which was easier and faster to learn than the standing aspect of Judo. He also taught them how to strike which was part of Jujutsu and pre world war II Judo. The boys would combine what they new with local wrestling and gradually Brazilian Jiu Jitsu began to take shape.

If you’re to understand Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you must first understand where it came from. Japanese Jujutsu was originally develop by the samurai and traditionally included weapons training along with strikes, throws, joint locks, choking, and other submission moves. Unlike Jujutsu which is a hard style that let’s you achieve victory by beating down your opponent with brute force Judo is a soft style which has you use your attacker’s energy against them. Judo, which was created in Japan in 1892, is a form of Japanese wrestling that is similar to other styles of wrestling, but you wear a gi similar to a karate uniform and it includes many of the submissions, strangles and armlocks you see today.

In time Hélio began teaching his many brothers and friends what he had learned about martial arts. His teacher Maeda told him that a fighter should go with their strength whether it is striking, grappling, or standing, so naturally Gracies gravitated toward ground fighting because that is what he and his brothers new best. The Gracies may have intended for their new martial art to be for self defense, but over time it has developed into an incredible combat sport.

To look at a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu match where blood is spilled, strikes are allowed, and where submissions are common it is hard to believe that it is sport and not a combat martial art. Despite a reputation for being ultra violent, a competent Judo player can still hold their own against a BJJ practitioner and so can someone with a solid wrestling and boxing background. On the street grappling is that last thing you want to do in a real fight, but with BJJ that is what you're conditioned to do.

There is no denying the Gracie family has contributed a lot to martial arts. They gave Brazil a new national sport and literally launched mixed martial arts competitions like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Like many combat sports Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is and excellent foundation and just the beginning of your self defense education.

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