Sucker Punch is an ongoing series where East Bay Rats President, Trevor Latham and KESFITNESS owner Kewesi Simon talk explore their combined 35 years experience as bouncers in Oakland California, and the physical and psychological techniques used to keep themselves safe while guarding the bar, as well as, interviewing various bouncers in and around Oakland, CA.
Author: Garry Smith
Youtube Video of the Week – Improvised Weapons with Nick Hughes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrr7TWlUMJc&t=54s
FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION COMBATIVES Phase IX: Improvised Weapons with Nick Hughes a former member of the 2nd parachute regiment in the French Foreign Legion, Nick Hughes has built his combatives curriculum on his extensive martial arts background, including ju-jitsu, tae kwon do, and zen do kai.
During his five years with the Legion, Hughes sharpened his skills and learned combatives from some of the toughest instructors on earth. Later on, working in an executive protection detail, Hughes refined his curriculum into one of the world’s most unique combatives systems. The first six phases of the French Foreign Legion Combatives series laid the foundation for Hughes’ curriculum, reflecting how a fight progresses. With the next four phases, Hughes presents a more in-depth perspective of how a fight can be resolved quickly and effectively with the use of dirty fighting techniques, impact weapons, improvised weapons, or advanced gun combatives.
In Phase IX: Improvised Weapons, Hughes shows you how to train for and use improvised weapons in situations where you cannot carry a real weapon. But improvised weapons often have limitations that you must recognize and train for. The keys are to quickly recognize items that could be used as weapons if the need arises and to learn how to adapt them to your main set of self-defense skills and training. From projectile, flexible, and impact weapons to edged tools and long-range weapons, Hughes seamlessly covers the spectrum from less-lethal options to killing techniques. He concludes with the most sought-after part of his French Foreign Legion Combatives curriculum: the unique topic of “killing with coats,” which is derived from his French Foreign Legion training and his own experience as a bouncer. Have you always been intrigued by the French Foreign Legion? This is your chance to learn its fighting secrets without signing up for five years!
“We tried this technique in our Self Defence and training class yesterday after thinking through a scenario or two where we might use it, it works very quickly and the students loved it. As Mr Hughes says this takes people out quickly with an amount of ease, Go play people.” Garry Smith
Human Killing – Marc MacYoung
A study at a University of Granada found that when it comes to species who ‘murder’ their own, humans don’t even make the top 50. Meerkats top the list. However, primates DO dominate the killer list’s top 100. So while humans don’t do it as much, killing our own is kind of a family tradition.
Tribalism is an elephant in the room — especially when it comes to violence. But that elephant is the baby of another, bigger elephant in the room too. Namely that violence comes in many levels, has different goals and there are … well lacking a better terms… many flavors.
Things are far more complicated and involved than “Violence never solved anything” popular among moral narcissists. (I argue that’s an extremist, absolutist and completely unsupportable position and an attempt to keep the adults from talking about the subject).
Let’s take a walk through a few points about violence and killing. Having said that we aren’t very good murderers, humans ARE pack predators.
Also, as a species we’re the most effective predators on this planet. We have literally industrialized our preying on other animals for food. During a visit to the Spam museum at the Hormel factory (long story) I was told 18,000 pigs a day go in one door and come out another — as little cans of ‘spiced ham.’ This industrialization and sanitation of our killing habits removes the normal, modern person from the realities of our food supply. Ask yourself, “What does this disconnect from having to kill to eat, do to our thinking?”
Seriously it’s a simple question, but it gets real deep real quick. The more you gather information to make an informed answer, the more you realize why there is no simple answer, which is why we need to ask it. (An added benefit is when you hear someone who claims to have ‘THE ANSWER” you recognize the following: If you aren’t confused you don’t understand the problem.) The next step is how does that influence our understanding of violence?
I’m about to give you an important foundation, even though at first it won’t seem relevant. Scientists are studying oxytocin. You know that wonderful chemical inside humans that bonds mothers to their babies, is the biological basis for love and bonding? Yes, oxytocin, the stuff that makes us all warm and fuzzy to our fellows. When we’re dosed, we’re compassionate, concerned and giving, which really, really helps make us ‘better’ people.
It turns out there’s some fine print though. The fluffy stuff from oxytocin is reserved for those we consider our ‘tribe.’ The downside of this exclusivity is it’s perfectly okay for us to … well let’s see, ignore, neglect, screw over, oppress, rip off, abuse, attack and even kill those we deem ‘other.’ All the while priding ourselves for being such good people … because you know, what we do for our family and tribe.
Then you get into Jonathan Haidt’s work on Moral Foundation Theory and how our beliefs, bind us together, blind us and separate us form those ‘evil, rotten, selfish, haters and freakish’ groups. Groups we have deemed different than us.
People we have ‘othered’, you know the people that it’s okay to act against in moral certainty. That may sound like I’m condemning folks, but in fact, I’m not. It’s how we’re wired. A wiring that modern society not only insists we ignore, but pretends doesn’t exist in the push to everyone becoming a giant, kumbaya singing uber-tribe of humanity, a push that people are pushing back against and not even realizing it.
According to anthropologist Robin Dunbar the function numbers of our immediate ‘tribe’ ranges between 100 and 250 relationships. Knowing that, you begin to see where things start getting wobbly. To think of groups of more requires certain mental gymnastics — including identifying ourselves as part of a super tribe, (generally along political, racial, religious and sub-cultural lines). We don’t know them, but we’re a super-group. To be able to identify as a part of this super tribe, you have to adopt said tribe’s ‘thinking’ and standards. Like all tribal societies, there are established and perpetuated feuds and tensions between your super-tribe and those evil, rat bastards….
All that opens the door to what I want to talk about next, (I told you this subject gets deep.) When we become most dangerous to other humans is when things go tribal — and ‘othering’ occurs.
As an FYI, every time I talk about humans being such lousy killers of fellow humans, someone always asks, ‘What about war?” – or if not brings up genocide. Well, kiddies, here it is. Tribalism, pack predation and ‘othering’, that’s also where you see our tendency for industrialized killing.
But you don’t have to be in a war to encounter ‘othering’, all you have to be is in the wrong part of town and/or a stranger.
The kind of violence you’ll face in these circumstances is different than what happens between members of the same tribe. This kind of violence escalates faster and has a greater chance of injury. Because you’re an outsider — and especially if the group thinks you’ve done something wrong — they’re often trying to injure you. Maybe even kill you… because you’re not ‘one of them.’ Violence without the intent to injure is usually inside the group disputes or a professional standard (e.g., arrest and restraint).
This dynamic really kicks in when you’re facing multiples. That’s where the pack predators ‘switch’ get flipped, you too have to mentally shift gears.
However, there’s something that’s just as important. That is being able to explain WHY you knew you were in greater danger facing a group than an individual. See people don’t understand it these days, why? Because they’ve seen too many movies where the hero fights off multiple attackers.
Understanding this is a big part of explaining why you ‘reasonably believed’…
Bride of Frankenstein – Garry Smith
Anyone who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s will remember those old black and white Hammer Horror films, Dracula, Frankenstein and their spin offs, bride of, son of. Well this article is a spin off in that ilk, In my last article ‘Not my circus, not my monkeys’, I reassessed my opinion on the McDojo, this is not a part 2 but an exploration of something writing that article made me think about. Let me explain.
As I was writing I received an email from my friend and fellow instructor Bill Barrott containing a link to a Youtube video, the message read “Watch this video. It’s what I always do to anyone who even looks at me funny. This is the real deal!” Take a look.
OK so Bill was joking, we are used to his regular emails sharing all sorts of martial arts goodies and baddies. So I decided to take a look, the title screen drew a sardonic smile, ‘Kinje-Te, the forbidden fist of the ninja’. Here we go again. Sure enough it is Grandmaster Ashida Kim, and yes I have seen this before circulating on social media, usually being mocked in the same way we have all laughed at the no touch knockout merchants and the jedi jitsu brigade. I hit the pause button quickly.
Chuckling I replied to all, “I got 3 seconds in there, because I have seen it before. This has to be a spoof, IF this is for real may their poor dead souls rest in peace.” I thought I had the source of the inspirational Master Ken from whom we have all learned so much, but Bill assured me it was no spoof and sent me a link to a pdf book by said Grand-master Ashida Kim. Here it is, help yourself..
https://helixlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/2559866-ninja-hands-of-death-ashida-kim.pdf
I gave it a go, I got about 3 paragraphs into the first chapter before deciding I had better things to do. The cover picture and ‘Hands of Death’ were off putting but for me the opening paragraph echoed the Youtube clip.
Entitled KATA DAN’TE – Dance of the Deadly Hands, the book opens with, “Ninjitsu has been called the most savage and terrifying martial art known to man. The Ninja, practitioners of this unholy science, are, without doubt, the most effective and ruthless fighters the world has ever known. Much of this reputation is based on their skill in battle and espionage.”
Now I am going to be clear here, this is not lets slag off Ashida Kim time, but ripping off ears and testicles, tearing off faces etc with our bare hands is all a bit far fetched for me. The thing is if you put yourself out there in film and print you invite comments both positive and negative, mine are merely my opinion on how I perceive things. I like martial arts in general, I like the diversity, some stuff looks great other stuff less so. I hear claims like deadliest art known to man, savage and terrifying techniques and begin to switch off. Likewise when I hear Steve the plumber from Oldham, fictitious by the way, referring to himself as a warrior because he trains Shotokan twice a week, I switch off there too.
For the record, I am a 4th dan in Ju Jitsu, no stranger to getting into fights in the past either, I am not, never have been and never will be a warrior, I will never be a master or a grandmaster either (1). We now live in a world where biological gender and identity are becoming confused in ways none of us could have imagined even a few years back, where a white women was running a black rights group because she relates to being black so she ‘self defines’ as black, some identify as transpecies and these do not have to be real species either, they can be alien species or mythological species, You think I am kidding?
“Riviera identifies as a dragon. He decided this 15 years ago after having what he describes as prophetic dreams of a past life. As an “otherkin,” he is one of the hundreds of Australians who identify as another species—whether from Earth or myth.”https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/what-does-it-mean-to-be-trans-species
And if that is not enough what about those who define themselves as transable? Becoming disabled by choice, not chance: ‘Transabled’ people feel like impostors in their fully working bodies, like this guy.
“When he cut off his right arm with a “very sharp power tool,” a man who now calls himself One Hand Jason let everyone believe it was an accident.
But he had for months tried different means of cutting and crushing the limb that never quite felt like his own, training himself on first aid so he wouldn’t bleed to death, even practicing on animal parts sourced from a butcher.
“My goal was to get the job done with no hope of reconstruction or re-attachment, and I wanted some method that I could actually bring myself to do,” http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/becoming-disabled-by-choice-not-chance-transabled-people-feel-like-impostors-in-their-fully-working-bodies
I could go on, and on, I personally feel that I am a rich person born into a poor person’s body.
I have written before in Conflict Manager about identity and the presentation of self. It is very simple to label those who present differently to the world as oddballs, loonies even, and that way we make a clear distinction between them and us. Personally I think there are many in today’s society that are very troubled, confused, ill, attention seeking even.
The phenomena of trans whatever’s has probably been with us for a very long time. What has changed is access to audiences is now in the hands of anyone with a phone. But back to my world of martial arts and self defence. Like the McDojo the ninja, the warrior, the jedi jitsu have a right to exist, indeed I can argue that the world is a better place for them and not a worse one.
They are only problematic when they use their kung fooey powers to exploit the gullible and vulnerable. Just like the McDojo. Everyone has their right to an opinion, everyone has the right to be a ninja if they wish, to stride around like a warrior, when not plumbing of course Steve.
As children we learn by experimenting with other roles through play, being mummy and daddy, a racing car driver, a soldier or a nurse, anyone remember playing doctors and nurses?
Why do we have to stop playing as adults if it gives us pleasure? Think about that for a moment, are we all not playing nicely when we step into the dojo?
The more disturbing question is when imagination morphs into mental illness. For me, this is just my opinion backed by science, there are two genders. Gender confusion is a mental condition not genetic as are many of the other confusions noted above including our Ninja friends. You are not alien you are screwed up, if you want to disfigure yourself then so are you, I will stop there. Gender identity politics, whatever is fueling this nonsense is stupid and if we play stupid games we win stupid prizes, well you play, I opt out. But hey ho live and let live, you have the right to be who or what you want to be, and I reserve the right to my opinion that you are a loon.
So if you believe you are a Ninja, a warrior, an ‘otherling’ or even the Bride of Frankenstein remember it is all in your imagination. I am pretty sure nobody reading this in Conflict Manager Magazine is one of the above but we work in an industry within a society where the frequency of imaginary identities appears to be growing so should not be surprised that these imagineers are within the industry itself.
These are my opinions, my thoughts, please tell me yours. Oh one last one, what about the guy who is now the new Hitler, yep, you got that, take a look.
editor@conflictresearchgroupintl.com
- When I took over the running of what was previously Abbeydale Ju JItsu Club, I created a management triad including Jayne and Bill, We reviewed how we operated then consulted with all the black belts, we held a big black belt breakfast meeting when we discussed and agreed the changes we wanted to make.
A couple of these changes were important for me and it was great the others agreed. We got rid of the use of the title Sensei, students call us by our first names now. We stopped standing in ranks, we bow on and off in a circle now with everyone facing everyone. We just do a standing bow now, no kneeling and prostrating ourselves.
Respect is gained by behaving properly and acting correctly.
You Are a Hunter-Predator – Mark Hatmaker
We are all hunters, predators, warriors. Everyone of us. I do not care whether you are a card-carrying member of PETA, a strict vegetarian, an avowed pacifist, or have never laid a finger on a hunting rifle or compound bow let alone fired a bullet or bolt into an animal.
We are all hunters by the sheer dint of historical and biological forces. We are all the offspring of forebears that hunted for millennia and thrived because of that evolved prowess for hunting.
Let’s toss all the contemporary arguments pro or con hunting aside, the titled observation is not telling anyone to abandon whatever moral precepts they possess regarding hunting, animals, and any perceived cruelty to animals.
To declare human beings as a hunting species is not a value judgment but a statement of fact.
Evolutionary biologists, paleo-ethologists, and anthropologists from Robert Ardrey to Richard Wrangham have gone so far as to say that what makes the human species so distinctly different from its simian brethren is this very penchant, this evolved drive to hunt.
Other animals can and do hunt, some solitary and some in packs, but no animal exceeds the human animal in applying technology to the solo hunt or the exceeding depths of cooperation in the human-pack hunt.
Dolphins may work together to “bubble-net” a school of fish but this is in no way a match for the hauls fishermen made off the coasts of New Foundland even 400 years ago. Wolves may hunt in families [the pack idea is a bit of a myth] and bring down prey larger than themselves, but the wolf is still no match for our forebears who brought down mammoths and other gargantuan prey that we just may have hunted to extinction.
There are many authorities in the field of human development who surmise that our ability to communicate and cooperate so successfully was borne out of this evolutionary group-hunting path. There is also some very convincing evidence [from Dr. Richard Wrangham particularly] that the combination of meat and fire, i.e., cooked meat, is what led to the relatively sudden growth spurt in the neo-cortex. Robert Ardrey surmises that the birth of the individual began with the mastery of the bow and arrow, hunting technology, that allowed individuals to break free of the pack.
Now, whether we hunt or not in our own personal lives matters not a whit to the fact that you, me, every human you meet is here because ancestors who put millennia into developing the skills and attributes that make a good hunter survived and passed along some of those successful hunting attributes to you.
The human brain is wired to be alert to patterns, to clues, to solving. Why? To better track prey. To better understand whether this sign means good foraging or that sign means “Uh-oh!”
Our modern hunting selves have little need to hunt or forage for ourselves anymore, we allow the market to provide but that does not mean that these hunting bits of our selves lie fallow.
It has been surmised that this inherent “solving” is part of the reason we enjoy puzzles, mystery films, suspense television, thriller novels to the degree we do. We are looking for clues, paths, tracks. It is also the reason we abhor spoilers, our intellect craves the hunt, the tracking and even this weak tea of trying to out-guess the third act of “Law & Order” fulfils some inherent need.
Is there any danger to being a hunting species that perhaps never hunts?
Possibly.
Consider this, hunting animals are keen and alert to their surrounding environment. This is, of course, necessity. Flagging attention may mean missing a meal, or missing the signal that a larger or smaller but venomous predator has you in its sites.
Flagging of attention is not rewarded with full bellies or long lives, let alone the passing along of your unsuccessful hunter genes.
Hunting animals must be reflective animals, that is reflecting and adapting to the external environment they are currently in.
External Reflection. This is key.
I repeat—This is key.
Why?
Philosopher John Gray [the real philosopher and not the “Men Are from Mars/Women Are from Venus” guy] states [and I simplify] that the human animal has gone from being a reflective being for the most part to a self-reflective one and this is the cause of many self-inflicted woes.
This is that key difference. Successful hunting animals are keen observers of their environment well aware of signs of prey, signs of good foraging ground, and also signs of potential upper-apex predators. Hunting animals must reflect on all that is before them, all the sights, sounds, scents, tastes on the air, the shift of wind signalled by the fluttering of the hairs on your arms.
As we progressed technologically, civilization was and is able to do more and more of our actual hunting and gathering for us, but this mere 40,000 year blip of agriculture is nothing in the scale of millennia when the hunting attributes were key. We can no more minus out the seeking and the solving of the hunter mindset than we can minus out familial affection. Hunting instincts are part and parcel of who we are as a species.
But, with the hunting prowess left with little to nothing to work on it has, in many cases, turned inward. Our powers of reflection have turned from reflections of the external/actual world, to self-reflection. We spend far more time pondering the fallible recreations of the real world inside our skulls than what goes on in the actual world. John Gray and others say that is a bit of a problem.
And we can’t turn that off. Reflection, that is.
If we do not reflect, we are no longer human. The key is whether we embrace the hunter’s reflection of the world, the external reflection that allows us to see and recognize patterns, tracks, make real associations, the day to day concrete observations that make up a sort of personal science, a pragmatic mechanistic understanding of the world comprised of the real and not the imagined.
Or, we mull and chew over only our own thoughts and the phantoms inside our skulls. Looking for dubious patterns and tracks in the words and acts, the perceived slights of others that may, in fact, be indicative of nothing.
All the while keeping in mind that being lost in thought also means being lost in the world.
It is inescapable that we will hunt and track whether self-reflective or outward reflective, this is a symptom of being a hunting being.
I wager that one form of reflection is of far more value than the other.
Book Review – Processing Under Pressure: Stress, Memory and Decision Making in Law Enforcement by Matthew J. Sharps
Life is a series of weird coincidences. A friend sent me a copy of Processing Under Pressure because the cover used the same stock photo as my book, Force Decisions. It was good for a laugh and it sat on my shelf for months. I finally picked it up for a read and tore through it in two days.
Professor Sharps teaches cognitive psychology in California. His wife is a practicing police psychologist. He has made a point of consulting with active officers in this book, and also in the experiments he has designed and published. As Sharps says, “… modern psychological science and modern law enforcement have a lot to say to each other… Both groups, the shrinks and the cops, are in possession of critically useful information, information that can enhance both fields.”
This short, readable book covers the effects of short- and long-term stress on the nervous systems; how stress affects perception, decision making, and memory; and gives practical, useful advice on constructing training and formatting information so that it is easier to access under extreme stress.
The writing style is comfortable, even conversational. There is a mix of science, statistics, documented laboratory studies and anecdotes the illustrate the main points clearly and effectively. The language was clear— you don’t need a background in neuroscience to follow along. If you are familiar with the world of risk management, you’ll find some interesting cross-overs, e.g. Gordon Graham’s concept of “discretionary time” fits very neatly with Professor Sharps’ Feature Intensive vs Gestalt continuum.
Reviewed by Rory Miller.
If you’ve read Laurence Gonzales’ Deep Survival and you want some of the scientific theory underlying Gonzales’ observations. Processing Under Pressure is a good start. I’ll be adding it to the recommended reading list at:
http://chirontraining.com/resources/reading.html
Math and Science in the Martial Arts – Tim Boehlert
The title alone could speak volumes if I knew more, and was any good at math. I don’t, and I’m not. Unfortunately the saying that ‘youth is wasted on the young’ is true here. I appreciate education now more than I ever did.
Over the last few years I have sought to bolster my library by exploring the more technical aspects of what we do as Martial Artists. It actually started with some materials that I bought from TFT (Target Focus Training, Tim Larkin) — which I sought out based on his marketing.
Back in 2008, when I had started my career as in Security, I’d also started my second journey in the Martial Arts at the age of 53. It was a necessary evil, but I gladly took it up because I needed fast and effective solutions to what I was about to face.
After reaching a mid-level Belt Rank in Kenpo I started to look for other ‘arts’ that might be a better fit for my specific needs. My son had a friend that suggested that I look at Krav Maga. Hell I couldn’t even pronounce that then! She knew what I did for a living, and thought it might have what I needed, but cautioned me “it’s very brutal!”
The macho side of me said ‘Hell Yeah!’, but the responsible side of me said – ‘stay away!’ Responsible went out the window. I got on-line and started looking around. I was looking for a package deal, an all-in-one solution, and I was new to this. I bought one of the more expensive packages that I could find, packaged as a 17 DVD disc set, it seemed like a good idea for the money. I placed an order direct for the Commando Krav Maga set, based on the marketing once again.
I started to watch once the package arrived and wow! I’d never seen things like this before. It was hosted by Moni Aizik. What I’d learned was that Moni was based (then) in Canada – just a few hours away. As I jumped ahead in his series of DVD’s, I came across one that may featured footage of a seminar that he’d given, and there I found Avi Nardia, my teacher. Avi and Moni are friends, both sharing some things in common – Martial Arts, Military Service, both exports from Israel to the United States, and both urged to do so by Jim Wagner. Fact check that, but I think that’s correct.
What I liked about Avi was his calm. Avi was taking the students to school, Avi style.
Avi is a well of information, deep and rich. He dissects everything with a very critical eye. Through him I have learned some of how to do the same.
Small-circle JuJitsu by Wally Jay may have been the earliest book that I bought that explained things in a mathematical or scientific way.
I found Tim Larkin on-line. Here’s a guy that has a specific niche, and with a very well planned-out course. In a nutshell it’s all about breaking people. This to takes some time to assimilate. You need to know the context, and I think once you get that, it makes sense. Again, not what I thought I needed. But….
… the information was good and relevant in some respects. Tim’s program is not Martial Arts, it’s intended for those who need self-defense, and in his product, it’s about efficient ways to shut your aggressor down. Period. Exclamation Point!
What I eventually found was the beginning of what this article is all about – math & science! In the Lethal Leverage series you will find a treasure-trove of information related to dealing with anyone who may seek to harm you.
The accompanying book is less than 100 pages, double-spaced text, and with some very good illustrations. Tim’s partner, Chris Ranck-Buhr, does a lot of the writing. This product is designed with your survival as it’s main goal. It’s not a sport-system.
Starting on page 31, you are introduced to three classes of levers. The purpose is to describe and understand what they are, how they work, and then how they are applied. We are introduced to new terminology and concepts that are key to understanding and using this material in the field.
On page 61, we are introduced to the joints of the body and what TFT describes as Base Leverages. There are six that you will need to understand. You learn about each joint, and how it works, and it’s limitations – known as it’s pathological limits.
Over the next 30 pages you will learn about each joint, and what, and how to break each and every one of them. This is not to say that you should, but if you found a need to do so, it’s here. For most of us, it will be good to know where the limits are but also how these wonderful things work. Only then can we use it to our advantage.
Think about a simple arm-bar. A typical arm-bar requires that you apply force to three joints in tandem and in succession, quickly – the wrist, the elbow and the shoulder. So, as an example, the wrist can be moved in six directions, anywhere from 20° to 90° before reaching it’s pathological limits, then the elbow rotates, and the shoulder is a ball-socket and thus has the largest range of motion available. When you learn about these ranges for each joint, the light bulb will go on, trust me.
Doesn’t everyone wonder why a throw works, and how? Well I used this information to learn more about Control & Constraint. Now I could understand how to make some of that work better for me.
I knew in my first year of Hospital Security that I was going to need to find other ‘solutions’ to my ‘problems.’ I knew that I couldn’t compete size for size or against muscle forever. Knowing and then admitting to that fact that led me to do this research.
I later found two books by Martina Sprague. Fighting Science is the first book. In a nutshell, it’s all about why things work or don’t and how to improve that ability in your techniques. Physics is the key here – Torque, Kinetic Energy, Power, Force, Momentum…. you get the idea? It’ about getting around size and strength, which is universal I think, right?
Martina’s next book, The Science of Takedowns, Throws… introduced things like timing and balance to her previous leverage and momentum studies. What this all really comes down to is not using muscle, but using what you have against what your adversary has, by using this knowledge to your.
If you really want or perhaps need to know more, I can recommend the following two books:
[1] Human Body Dynamics by Aydin Tozeren. If you want to study math as your primary goal to understanding the how and why of the body, this is likely a good choice. It’s about human movement and mechanics of how the body moves. You will learn about muscle and bone structure, joints, laws of motion, and all of the mathematical formulae associated with movement, etc… not for the weak of hea
[2] Biomechanics of Human Motion by Emeric Arus, PhD. This book was written with the Martial Artist in mind. You’re going to learn about such things as Kinematics, Kinesics, biomechanical and physiological human motion. Because this is more about how things work specifically in the Martial Arts, it’s a great reference, again laden with math formulae.
Here’s a few more to consider looking at:
[3] Fight Like a Physicist by Jason Thalken, PhD. Jason’s approach is to talk about fighting and the use of physics – to your advantage. Now thus far, all of these books have applicable information in them, and not just for Martial Arts, but also for Self Defense methods. You will have to explore, and perhaps you will discover that tiny missing piece that puts it all together for you. There is some really good fight info in this book – transfer of energy, efficiency, angular velocity, and yes even brain damage.
[4] The Anatomy of Martial Arts by Dr. Norman Link and Lily Chu discusses in how some of the techniques work – but specifically what muscle groups and bone structures support those movements. Good to know. By adding some of this knowledge, you may be able to start to see the connecting dots when it comes to understanding how to generate power for example.
[5] Book of Martial Power by Steven J. Pearlman. In this book you will find a set of basic fundamental principles. Complex force, economical motion, penetration, extension, and the dynamic sphere are introduced. Reading the back cover quotes, I’m now seeing the names of friends and mentors who’ve already beat me to finding this particular book – damn! I guess it comes highly recommended!
[6] The Principles of Unarmed Combat by Mark Jacobs – a book about empty-hand combat. More technique and insider information. Covers the gamut of strikes, throws, chokes, submission, and even sacrifices!
[7] Vital Point Strikes by Sang H. Kim. This book is about meridians, pressure points, targeting. Very well illustrated, and covers a lot of ground including training drills.
These are just a few examples from my personal library that may take years to get through and truly understand.
The more you know and understand, the more likely it is that you’ll make smarter/better choices when you need them, and perhaps with less effort – by using the math and science that you now know. It’s not the technique that is important, but in the knowing of what makes it work. If you understand how, you can design your own techniques and solu
Safety vs. Security – Erik Kondo
Understand the Difference Between Safety and Security, it Might Save Your Life.
It is common for people to want to increase security for themselves, their family, their neighborhood, their country, etc. In most cases, people think in terms of adding security measures in an existing security system. The basic thinking is that the current security system has a weakness that needs to be reinforced or a hole than needs to be filled.
For the sake of this writing, I am going to talk about security in terms of a security system and/or security measures while safety is the inverse of absolute risk from a harmful event. The lower the risk of a dangerous event occurring, the greater the safety. This relationship applies to both personal and public safety.
Security is some action or measure than is done to protect against a known risk. The simplest example is a home security system which is designed to help prevent home invasions and burglaries. Another example is carrying bear spray while walking in the woods. These are two means of raising the level of your security system.
Safety on the other hand is really a function of the overall ecosystem. Safety is determined by the result of the interconnected factors that make up the entire ecosystem. One of these factors is the security system. The level of a person’s safety is a function of his or her risk to danger. Public safety is determined by the public’s level of risk to danger.
For many, security is thought of as being like a fence. The fewer weaknesses/holes in the fence, the more effective the fence will be at keeping people out. The same thinking goes for personal safety. In this case, the person is the security system. By shoring up his or her weaknesses, his or her personal security system becomes more effective.
The preceding methodology seems to be common sense. But as compelling and as reasonable as it seems, it has a logical flaw. Measures that strengthen a security system don’t necessarily lead to greater actual safety in the real world. The reason for this is that actual safety is a function of the safety ecosystem in which the security system is just one of many interconnected elements. The strength of the security system is NOT the only factor that determines the overall safety of the ecosystem.
An ecosystem is a complex network of interacting elements. A security system is one element of this ecosystem. Since all the elements are interconnected, changing one element has the potential of changing the other elements too. In other words, strengthening the security system may have the unintended effect of upsetting the balance of the overall safety ecosystem. In this case, the result may be an ecosystem that is less safe despite the presence of a stronger security system.
How can this be? For example, assume that you wear a padded vest as protection against being punched in the chest. It is an undeniable fact that if someone punches you in the chest, you will be more protected than without the vest. Therefore, you must be safer, correct? And if everything stayed the same, you would be safer. But everything doesn’t stay the same in an ecosystem. Its very nature is to be interconnected. Therefore, changing one element has the effect of changing some or all the other elements.
In this example, it is very possible that wearing a padded chest protector in public will influence some people to want to punch you since you now are a juicy target. Therefore, your risk of being punched in the chest has just gone up. And while you may be more protected from the chest punch, you may end up falling and hitting your head. You may end up getting into more fights then before you had the chest protector. The overall result is that your safety decreased even though your security system has increased.
Getting back to the fence example. Let’s assume that the fence surrounds an apple tree grove. The fence has the effect of keeping all but the most determined people out. These few people climb the fence and steal a few apples every day. Therefore, you decide to make the fence higher and top it with barbed wire. Now even the most determined thieves will not risk climbing the fence. Your security system is stronger.
But the safety of the apples depends upon the ecosystem in which they exist, not just the strength of the security system. Since the determined thieves can no longer climb the fence to get the apples, they change tactics and join with many others to ram a huge hole in the fence. The net result is a hoard of people who attack the fence, create a hole, and pillage the apple grove. The overall safety of the apple grove decreased despite the increase in the security system.
What this means is that the level of safety can go down as a result of the level of security going up. For some people, this is a mind-blowing concept. That is because they erroneously think that safety and security are the same concepts. And if there was no safety ecosystem, then the level of safety would be the same as the level of security.
In real life, there is always an ecosystem. Therefore,
Safety = Security System +/- (The effect of everything else in the ecosystem which changes as the Security System changes).
Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether increasing the strength of the security system will increase or decrease overall safety unless all the elements of the ecosystem are taken into consideration. Every person and every entity exists in a unique ecosystem with different factors to consider.
Let’s consider a few more examples.
- Carrying a knife is a security measure. Doing so increases the magnitude of the person’s security system. But whether it increases their safety depends upon the person’s unique ecosystem. If carrying a knife increases the possibility that it will be taken and used against them, then it lowers their safety. If it increases the possibility that they will be shot, then it lowers their safety. If it increases the chance that they will go to jail, then it lowers their safety. On the other hand, if it doesn’t do the above and increases the chance that they will be able to use it for self-protection, then it does increase their safety.
- Increased police firepower and body amour represent an increase in security. If this increase creates a deterrence from people committing crimes, then it increases public safety. If on the other hand, many members of the public see this increase police security methods as menacing and decide to retaliate by rioting and committing crimes, then public safety is reduced.
Don’t be fooled by those who think that safety is that is always the same as security. Or those who consider that increasing security measures is simply a matter of “common sense”. They don’t know any better.
You live in an ecosystem. Your family lives in an ecosystem. Your neighborhood and your country, both exist in ecosystems. Increasing your safety requires more than just adding or strengthening security measures. It requires understanding all the factors involved and taking into consideration how they interact.
Youtube Video of the Week – Randy King on Female Super-Powers
Randy teaches us about all the cool adrenaline super-powers that women get! 😀
Randy’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/KPCMarti…
Youtube Video of the Week – The Iceman Confesses
Richard Leonard Kuklinski (April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006) was an American contract killer who was convicted for five murders.
Kuklinski was given the nickname “Iceman” for his method of freezing a victim to mask the time of death. During his criminal career, fellow mobsters called Kuklinski “the one-man army” or “the devil himself” due to his fearsome reputation and imposing physique of 6’5″ (196 cm) and 270 pounds (122 kg). Kuklinski lived with his wife and children in the suburb of Dumont, New Jersey.
His family was apparently unaware of Kuklinski’s double life and crimes.
A New Jersey Police task force was formed after Kuklinski was suspected of two murders. An eighteen month long undercover investigation led to his arrest in 1986. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1988.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R0zCCZ_9gE