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…]

Rory Miller is a former corrections officer and author of the acclaimed book “Meditations on Violence”. In it he explains his views on violence and training to prepare for it in detail. It’s a great read, packed with solid information and on my review list. I finished preparing the interview with Rory yesterday and here’s part 1. I’ll put part 2 on line later this week. Enjoy!

Q: Can you give a little background on your martial arts and self-defence training?

A: Sure. I started in judo in 1981 and loved it. Judo was my baseline for a long time but I dabbled in everything I could- karate, TKD, eclectic stuff, collegiate fencing, medieval European weapons. About 1987 I had just moved to Portland and was looking for a judo dojo and stumbled into Dave Sumner’s Sosuishitsu-ryu jiujitsu dojo. I was hooked. He was an amazing teacher and the ryu was simply the most brutal system I had ever seen. I stuck with Dave until he retired. [Read more…]