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Martial Arts and Self-Defense Blog by Wim Demeere | Techniques, Books, Podcasts

So you want to be a writer, Part 6

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In this series on how to become a writer, I wanted to get the views of some experienced and successful authors. So it’s with great pleasure that I can present this interview with Barry Eisler to you. Barry is a bestselling author, best known for his John Rain series, featuring a hit man specializing in natural causes. His latest book Fault Line starts another series and I’m looking forward to see how it evolves. As you’ll be able to tell from some ot the answers, Barry’s a friend of mine and he has a wicked sense of humor.

Don’t forget to check out his site for some more resources for writers and a great forum.

Q: How did you start out writing your first book?
A: I have a long-standing interest in what I like to think of as “forbidden knowledge:”  methods of unarmed killing, lock picking, breaking and entry, spy stuff, and other things that the government wants only a few select individuals to know.  When I was a kid I read a biography of Harry Houdini, and in the book a cop was quoted as saying, “It’s fortunate that Houdini never turned to a life a crime, because if he had he would have been difficult to catch and impossible to hold.”  I remember thinking how cool it was that this man knew things that people weren’t supposed to know, things that gave him special power.  Anyway, since then I’ve amassed a small and unusual library on some of the foregoing and on other esoteric subjects, I spent three years in the CIA, I got pretty into a variety of martial arts…

And then I moved to Tokyo to train in judo.  I think all the other stuff must have been building up in my mind like dry tinder, waiting for the spark which life in Tokyo came to provide.  Because while I was there commuting to work one morning, a vivid image came to me of two men following another man down Dogenzaka street in Shibuya.  I still don’t know where the image came from, but I started thinking about it.  Who are these men?  Why are they following that other guy?  Then answers started to come:  They’re assassins.  They’re going to kill him.  But these answers just let to more questions:  why are they going to kill him?  What did he do?  Who do they work for?  It felt like a story, somehow, so I started writing, and that was the birth of John Rain and Rain Fall.

Barry working on his ground game with Dave Camarillo
Barry working on his ground game with Dave Camarillo

Q: When did you decide to write full-time and how did you reach that decision?
A: You remind me of that joke about why dogs lick their genitals… (oops, did I say that out loud)?
I love writing, and had for a long time thought that getting paid to do full time what I love would be wonderful.  So as soon as I got my first check, from Sony’s Village Books imprint for the Japanese rights, I left my day job and started concentrating full time on writing.  That was in 2001, and it’s been a dream come true ever since. [Read more…]

So you want to be a writer, Part 5

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After yesterday’s interview, here’s another one. This one fits into the series I did on “So you want to be a writer.” I figured it would be helpful to ask one of the most successful writers in martial arts and self defense for his take on the craft. So here’s the interview with Loren W. Christensen.  Enjoy!

Q: How did you start out writing your first book?

A: The year was 1976 and I was on leave from the PD because I had broken my knee in a martial arts sparring match. I had been thinking about writing a book on police defensive tactics because at that time there were only two on the market. Part of my desire was to write about DT and the other part was that I just wanted to write a book.

During my three years in the Army I had taken a writing course and had sold a small piece to Reader’s Digest. Five years later I received a check from them (not all publishers are this slow), which was the same week I decided to write the DT book. I took the payment, bought a cheap typewriter and a year later my first book was born.

For the next several years I wrote only magazine pieces, focusing on the martial arts, survival, bodybuilding, nutrition, and police techniques. Ten years later in 1987, I wrote another book and then another and another. Today, I’ve had over 40 books published by five publishers and I’ve written dozens of magazine articles.

I would suggest that new writers begin with magazine pieces and stories for their community newspapers. It’s better to get experience writing smaller pieces first than trying a book. When you jump in hard and fast with a huge writing project, you’re more likely to crash, burn and give up discouraged. Instead, take your time to learn and practice, and things will naturally fall into place for you.

Loren choking out his partner
Loren choking out his partner

Q: When did you decide to write full-time and how did you reach that decision?

A: Because of some incorrect information I’d received, I thought I could retire from the PD after 20 years. When I had about 18 years on, I began planning a full-time writing career, with a side gig of teaching martial arts privately. At 19 years on the job, I was told I couldn’t retire until I had 25 years in. Six more years! [Read more…]

Interview with Mark Mireles

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Here’s another interview, this time with Mark Mireles. Mark is one of the most decorated police officers in the history of the LAPD and also has extensive martial arts training. He’s written a couple books on street-grappling with Loren W. Christensen and you can find out more about him here.  Enjoy the interview.

Q: How did you get started in the martial arts? Was it a specific incident that drove you to them?

I can recall when I was 8 or 9 years old I began entertaining the thought of studying martial arts. I grew up in a suburb right outside of San Francisco and there was a large Chinese population in the city. That meant Kung Fu Theater on television every Saturday afternoon; Bruce Lee was on the silver screen, Game of Death had been released, and Chuck Norris was getting started with Good Guys Wear Black. The future was bright and Kung Fu seemed right for me.
There was a kung fu academy around the corner from my house and it had the look of what I thought a dojo should look like. I walked in for the free introduction lesson and learned the X-block in a nifty private room.  The whole studio was magnificent. There were pictures of dragons and tigers on the wall and the upper students were wearing black Gi’s.  This studio not only taught kung fu but it had also incorporated the word karate into the sign. With so much to offer, I could really see myself fitting into the world of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.  Looking back over the last 30 years, the term McDojo hadn’t been coined yet but this studio may have been the first of many.

Only one problem stymied my quest for kung fu greatness: no cold hard cash. I grew up with everything I needed but I certainly didn’t get everything I wanted.  Kung fu fell into the “everything I wanted” category.  The preferred method of fighting for my parents was a fighting art that was economic.  My dad was a master of the way of the intercepting wallet.  Sometimes life takes funny little turns.  You’ve heard the saying “be careful what you wish for because you may get it” well that wasn’t the case.  My circumstance was a twist that was beyond fate.  It was just being in the right place even though no one really knew what they were doing.  My dad selected the most economical marital art: Judo.

In the United States, Judo is taught in numerous Japanese-American cultural centers.  Judo is taught as part of the culture and not for commercial purposes.  That meant it fit my parents sole requirement.  The fees for learning Judo were nominal, a big hit with my folks.

What I learned quickly is that you paid in other ways.  Judo is physically demanding and taught in a very disciplined setting.  You paid with a little blood, a lot of sweat, and a few tears. Judo was fun, but it was also a lot of work and required dedication and reverence even at a young age. [Read more…]

Q&A with Loren W. Christensen on “Fighting in the Clinch”

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I reviewed Loren Christensen’s book Fighting in the Clinch here and he graciously agreed to do a quick follow up interview. Here it is:

Q: “Fighting in the Clinch” came out a little while ago. How has the feedback from readers been?

A: All positive – so far. But there is always someone in the martial arts community who feels compelled to say, “Well, your heel is up in that photo,” or “A better way to do that move is…” But so far everyone likes how we laid out the book with Mark Mireles showing his grappling moves for half of it and me doing my tearing, clawing and ripping techniques for half. Mark is an amazing grappler with over 30 years experience training and 20 years using his stuff in the street as an LAPD cop.

Q: For which audience did you write the book? The average martial artist? Grapplers? LEOs?

A: We wrote it for everyone because it’s been our experience – we have 50 years of police street experience between us – that there is a moment in most (not all) physical encounters where there’s clinching. I’m not talking about a nice Gracie jujitsu type clinch, although that does happen, but rather a desperate moment where both fighters are trying to dominate the other as they clash body-to-body. A broad definition of clinching includes grabbing/holding/clinching the side of the body, grabbing from the back, grabbing in the classic bear hug, tackling around the waist and tackling around the chest.

Loren calls this the "Mike Tyson technique" to use against clinchers. Chomp deep into the gristle and shake your head like a dog does with a rabbit.
Loren calls this the "Mike Tyson technique" to use against clinchers. Chomp deep into the gristle and shake your head like a dog does with a rabbit.

[Read more…]

Interview with Bob Orlando, Part Two

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Here’s part 2 of the interview I did with Bob Orlando on his latest DVD, “The Fighting Forms of Kuntao-Silat.”

Q: Why did you choose these particular forms for the DVD over other ones?
A: The reason we chose those two was primarily because they are our school’s favorites–yes, our school’s favorites. Across the board, everyone loves them the best.

Elbow Exercise is a short pentjak silat form developed by George Morin, a dear friend and fellow student of Willem de Thouars. We use it to introduce the student to movement-based training and study. Much like learning the alphabet and grammar, the movements and motion in the form are much more important than the techniques we use to demonstrate them. Techniques are necessary to teach this form, but only as tools to help the student understand the underlying principles of movement.

[Read more…]

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