Hey everyone,
I know that fitness is a common theme here so I thought I would post an article that I came across that I thought was very good!
Are you as fit as a WW2 GI? Find out!
http://www.itstactical.com/fitcom/functional-strength-fitcom/are-you-as-fit-as-a-world-war-ii-gi/
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
A story from France
"I walked onto the University of Minnesota Football Team my Freshman year. Just showed up for tryouts, and they let me play. You remember __(Famous Uof M alumni pro football player)___? Well, his Sr. year was the season I played. Before he went to the NFL, he played in NFL Europe. We visited him, and we went to a bar in Versailles. He was about 235 lbs, and in the peak of his conditioning. He started running his mouth to some French-guy. The French-guy was about 150, maybe 160 lbs. I don't really know how the fight started, but the French-guy fired a single kick into the thigh of my teammate. He went down like a sack of bricks. Long story short, he ended up having so many broken blood vessels from that single kick, that it turned into a clot. The clot calcified, and ended up taking him out for half a season. We went to France not knowing what the word Savate meant, but that scrawny French-guy taught us."
The above story was told to me by a friend of mine. It's not EXACTLY word for word, but it's damn close. What's the moral of the story?
1. Just because someone isn't carrying a weapon, doesn't mean that they don't have a hidden way of busting you up.
2. Respect all type of attacks. Just because you don't understand someone's fighting style, doesn't protect you from it.
3. Size matters, but it's not everything.
4. Every fight avoided, is a fight won.
5. Notice how the Frenchman never got his ass kicked by all the meat-heads from the USA? He ran. That's a good idea.
The above story was told to me by a friend of mine. It's not EXACTLY word for word, but it's damn close. What's the moral of the story?
1. Just because someone isn't carrying a weapon, doesn't mean that they don't have a hidden way of busting you up.
2. Respect all type of attacks. Just because you don't understand someone's fighting style, doesn't protect you from it.
3. Size matters, but it's not everything.
4. Every fight avoided, is a fight won.
5. Notice how the Frenchman never got his ass kicked by all the meat-heads from the USA? He ran. That's a good idea.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
At What Point?
Just saw this video posted and it contains some interesting items. Although poor quality, I think it shows some excellent behavior indicators we talk about.
http://broadbandsports.com/node/29230
The question which is the title of this post is: At what point do you, the target, decide it's 'Go time'? The guy in the white shirt starts showing predatory and aggressive body language almost right from the start. No need to listen to words spoken (the video doesn't pick them up anyway), just look at what his whole body is saying.
Say you are the guy in the red shorts. Do you decide when he is tracking and stalking you that this guy is a real threat? Do you do it when he raises what appears to be a weapon and puts it in your face? I have a hard time telling, but it could be a small pistol or an object which looks like one. Do you wait to find out for sure? Do you take action when the thug grabs or shoves you?
The target decides to wait until later, and gets the better of his attacker but take notice of the situation. He shifts momentum in his favor not by skill or swift action, but because he has the time to do it. It also appears the aggressor was more bark than bite. Perhaps he felt being big and having a weapon was enough to not worry about his target fighting back. Also notice the victim had friends around and the thug didn't.
My guess is that if the guy in the white shirt was a gang member or just a self-appointed street tough, he was probably a noob who learned a couple of big lessons from that engagement. More than likely, he won't need to learn them twice. He may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but he probably will be quick to make sure next time that he has more friends on hand than his target and will be taking the first shot.
I digress a bit. What stood out to me so clearly was the stalking, tracking, puffing up, and (evidently) weapon display which made it clear he meant trouble. From the target's perspective, notice the fence he kept putting up and the aggressor moved through. I'm quite certain none of us would wait around as long as red trunks guy did to change the aggressor's mind about pushing the issue.
It is a good thing when these behaviors are known and understood so we can spot them and, should we need to, articulate them.
The other thing I noticed is how long the big fella keeps grasping on. There are several points he could allow red shorts guy to disengage, but he keeps holding on. Perhaps he realizes if he lets go he might get the soccer treatment. Lesson for my mind: Be ready to keep 'guns on' until it is over and the dust has started to settle. It ain't over 'till it's over.
http://broadbandsports.com/node/29230
The question which is the title of this post is: At what point do you, the target, decide it's 'Go time'? The guy in the white shirt starts showing predatory and aggressive body language almost right from the start. No need to listen to words spoken (the video doesn't pick them up anyway), just look at what his whole body is saying.
Say you are the guy in the red shorts. Do you decide when he is tracking and stalking you that this guy is a real threat? Do you do it when he raises what appears to be a weapon and puts it in your face? I have a hard time telling, but it could be a small pistol or an object which looks like one. Do you wait to find out for sure? Do you take action when the thug grabs or shoves you?
The target decides to wait until later, and gets the better of his attacker but take notice of the situation. He shifts momentum in his favor not by skill or swift action, but because he has the time to do it. It also appears the aggressor was more bark than bite. Perhaps he felt being big and having a weapon was enough to not worry about his target fighting back. Also notice the victim had friends around and the thug didn't.
My guess is that if the guy in the white shirt was a gang member or just a self-appointed street tough, he was probably a noob who learned a couple of big lessons from that engagement. More than likely, he won't need to learn them twice. He may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but he probably will be quick to make sure next time that he has more friends on hand than his target and will be taking the first shot.
I digress a bit. What stood out to me so clearly was the stalking, tracking, puffing up, and (evidently) weapon display which made it clear he meant trouble. From the target's perspective, notice the fence he kept putting up and the aggressor moved through. I'm quite certain none of us would wait around as long as red trunks guy did to change the aggressor's mind about pushing the issue.
It is a good thing when these behaviors are known and understood so we can spot them and, should we need to, articulate them.
The other thing I noticed is how long the big fella keeps grasping on. There are several points he could allow red shorts guy to disengage, but he keeps holding on. Perhaps he realizes if he lets go he might get the soccer treatment. Lesson for my mind: Be ready to keep 'guns on' until it is over and the dust has started to settle. It ain't over 'till it's over.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Intel Skills and Knowledge
We talk about observation, awareness, and intelligence in class from time to time. It is difficult to feel like we are making the most of mat time by sharing information like this instead of doing reps. The reps are crucial and I wouldn't want our sessions to be gabfests.
However, I feel the stuff this article brings up is just as critical for our survival as having our motions down pat and probably even more so. Read and consider for yourself.
http://personalliberty.com/2012/04/02/intelligence-gathering-for-personal-safety/?eiid=
However, I feel the stuff this article brings up is just as critical for our survival as having our motions down pat and probably even more so. Read and consider for yourself.
http://personalliberty.com/2012/04/02/intelligence-gathering-for-personal-safety/?eiid=
This sentence really stood out to me:
"Every single attack you avoid is a battle won."
While we train diligently to act correctly when we do not or cannot avoid the attack, this concept is a key to the art of self-protection. I encourage you to pass this article along to others who may not have the interest or availability to train in the art of self-defense, because reading stuff like this and knowing it is better than nothing.
As for us, we must keep up the training and make sure we do what we can to not use it unless absolutely necessary.
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