Martial Arts, Self Defense and a Whole Lot More.
Check out the cover of Loren’s latest book. Pretty cool one!
This is going to be another great addition to your library because it covers how to deal with your worst nightmare: an attacker who doesn’t feel pain. It comes out in December and I’ll give a head’s up when it goes on sale. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Here’s a sneak preview of some of the content of Fighting the pain resistant attacker.
I hadn’t really intended to write a second part to this “MMA sucks!” post but the amount of reactions I’ve received pushed me to it; so it’s all your own fault!
Seriously, I seem to have given the impression that I dislike MMA. Despite having clearly stated otherwise, this is still the response I got the most. So I’ll repeat it: I have nothing against MMA, at all. On the contrary, if I had more time, I’d resume my shootfighting training because I enjoyed it immensely. What’s more, I have tremendous respect for everybody who steps into the ring, cage or onto a lei tai. Those who haven’t fought full contact (I don’t care which rules, it all hurts) don’t know what they’re talking about and should at the very least respect the courage these athletes show. Which brings us to my first point:
Pressure testing
Over at Neil’s blog, somebody commented on his MMA post and said this: [Read more…]
The title covers a typical exchange between the MMA and traditional martial art crowds when they start arguing. Usually, the arguments are something like this:
Now at face value, all of these points are valid. There’s something to be said for each of them and to a degree, you can’t really fault the logic behind. There’s only one thing: they’re all totally missing the point. As in, missed it by a mile. More on that later.
It reminds me of the old arguments of judo vs wrestling or boxing about 50-60 years ago. Later on karate hit the scene and it was compared to those too. This happened with every “new” martial art or combat sport to hit the big time over the decades. Just page through a few MA rags of 20-30 years ago and read the articles. You’ll find it’s all there.
With the rise of the Internet, it got worse. I’m old enough to have been training in the arts before there were chat rooms and bulletin boards. If you are too, you know what I mean. If you’re not, here’s some perspective: It used to be a big ass argument about who would beat the other in a real fight: Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris. We all know what happened on film at the Colosseum but what if they’d have gone at it for real?
You got long winding arguments that Chuck had fought in and won dozens of tournaments where Bruce never competed in anything so he sucked. The kung fu lovers would counter that Chuck only fought within rules where as Bruce had plenty of street fighting experience where anything goes. These are just two of the arguments and there were many, many more.
Here’s another look at an older review: “Put ‘em down, Take ‘em out ! Knife fighting techniques from Folsom prison” by Don Pentecost. I re-read this book and only slightly added things to the review.
Knife fighting has been a topic of debate for a long time. Many people, especially in the Martial arts, claim to teach techniques that work against the blade. Unfortunately, few instructors seem to have ever been in a knife fight. As a result, their techniques are sometimes very peculiar. I was intrigued by the book title, as the author seemed to offer experience from a place where cutting and stabbing is part of daily life. So it was with high interest that I read this book.
Mr. Pentecost starts his book by making some clear comments : Determination is more important than technique, be in the right mind set and learn to control adrenaline and fear. As a starting point on knife fighting, there are worse things to be said.
He goes on to kill off some popular myths concerning the use of knives in real encounters: Leading with the knife, facing off, the paralyzed arm, etc. All of these points are very important and the author explains clearly why these are myths. Pointing this out might seem useless to more experienced practitioners, but keep in mind that most people get their information on violence through television and movies. Unfortunately, these media offer a distorted view of reality and the repetitive effect of it will only reinforce this information on those who don’t have real fighting experience.
[Read more…]
Here’s the second part of the interview with Rory Miller. Enjoy!
Q: You worked as a corrections officer for a long time. Why did you decide to take on that job?
A: Uh, just married and a baby on the way and I desperately needed a real job. It turned out to be one of the best jobs ever. There is nothing else that takes everything you have- every shred of knowledge, every iota of communication skill and psychology and sometimes fighting and lays it on the line like Corrections.
Here’s the basic job for a rookie: you are unarmed, just a set of keys and a radio. No armor, no partner. You will be locked in a room of 32 very bad guys (murderers, some multiple, rapists, serious multiple assaults) or 75 bad guys (assaults and rapes, some murders, drug dealers with gang ties….) or 190 not-so-bad-guys (drunk drivers, minor assaults, drug dealers and burglars). [Read more…]
