The Striking Post

Hey dedicated and much appreciated reader!

2011-03-08T09:06:00.000-08:00

This website has moved to: http://www.martial-secrets.com/category/blog-posts/

The Striking Post is no more, it is now, Martial Secrets, the blog.

Inconvenient, yeah kinda, but I hope you enjoy the improvements.

Be well -

Kris +

The Old Guys

2011-02-28T21:57:00.000-08:00

You know what I like, I like the old guys, the old karate-ka, the old judo-ka. Nothing to prove, smile easily, and just all around pleasant.

Let me tell you this story to illustrate my point. I was at a tournament and the guy running the show was in his eighties, looked sixty and smiled easily. He made decisions easily, no drama if something happened that was out of the ordinary, well he just fixed it. He didn't deal with it, he fixed it, a big difference in my book.

Then of course there was the other guy that glowered sternly at everybody with his best sensei eyes. This guy would do a Lee Majors imitation by lifting one eyebrow in the direction he looked and pause with that, “I am sizing you up, baby” look.

At the end of the day, the old guy went around and shook hands, thanked people for their participation, smiled a lot, smiled some more, and said, “Hope to see you next time.” The other guy, cornered me (I was just the guy in proximity) reached into the back pocket of his gi and pulled a photo out of his wallet.

“You know who that is?” “Uh, that is you right.” I guessed. “Yeah but, next to me, who's that.” I looked for a moment at the bent picture, “I, gotta say, I don't know.” His finger pointed to the picture again. “That is me, me and Joe Lewis.” To make this more awkward, we have seen each other around but never really spoken, he just bushwhacks me on the way out the door to show me his picture of him and Joe Lewis, like I said proximity.

One guy, with nothing to prove, the other guy still needed to add more to who he was.

I like the old guys, easy, smiling, nothing to prove.

And thanks for taking the time to read this little observational ramble, I know I feel better.

They hid it, but not in the form.

2011-02-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Yeah I think that martial artists of yesteryear hid their art. Teachers hid it from others so that they would have an advantage, one up, on a potential attacker.

The American Military has on occasion blown up it's own downed aircraft. They make sure the pilot(s) are clear of the wreckage, they lock in on the aircraft, swoop in and, boom! disintegrated. This ensures that the technology doesn't fall into the enemies hands. The technology is the edge that makes the difference. That technology means the we win, you lose.

However, the American Military didn't hide how to use the aircraft from the pilot. I am confident that this conversation between the engineers and the instructors never took place. “Hey Chet, let's make this Stealth Fighter hard to fly and then hide some of the skills needed to fly it from the pilot! No, no, no, wait, wait, aaaaannd we'll teach some of the skills backward, yeah! That's it, brilliant, done and done.”

It makes no sense at all. So if we take this real-world example to the world of kata it makes no sense to hide, obfuscate, or try to bury a technique to be found out after years of hard study.

I would go on to point out that way back in yester-lore, people didn't have as much free time, so the time allotted to martial arts was the purview of the military, the rich, and those few dedicated people that fall into the remaining categories of society.

So not much free time means I want to be able to apply my self-defense skills as fast as possible and do it well, hiding my skill from the bad guy until I need to show it, yeah that makes sense. Taking time away from making food and shelter and spending on some mind game...not so much.

So hiding from the bad guys, yes absolutely. Hiding from the end user, no, not at all.

This Conclusion Comes with Clarity

2011-02-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

If you open up the Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵) you will find a comment somewhere in the pages that a person should be familiar will all arts. Musashi also goes on to make the distinction between being familiar and understanding other arts, he is not suggesting that you master every art, just know about them.

Here is a quick list of where I have spent time, Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Hung-gar, Modern Arnis, Goju-Ryu, Judo, Aikido, Brazilian Jujitsu, Kenpo, Tai Chi and wrestling. You know what this experience has given me? A certainty. A certainty that what I am training now is right for me. This conclusion comes with clarity because I have had and still have the intellectual curiosity to explore other arts. A curiosity fostered by my parents, by my teachers and some of my martial arts instructors.

Now obviously I can not, nor could I try every art that is out there, that is impossible, however, a sampling allows you to “be familiar” as Musashi puts it. I liken it to a child that is resistant to trying a new food. They do not want to try it because they are confident that they know what it tastes like, and in a fit of immaturity turn up their nose to something that they have never tasted.

Some of my students have gone off to other arts, leaving the school permanently. Other students have returned after knocking around the martial arts world a bit. Other students have found something that lights them up more than karate. My comment to both of those paths is, “cool.”

I say get out there. There are more diverse opportunities in the martial arts than we have ever known in the history of man. Get out there try something new, you do not have to marry it, you can just date, it's OK....Guh a head, it's OK.

Filthy Fingers

2011-02-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

I had a professor at college that announced one day that, “You should never trust a man with perfect finger nails.” with that statement I became a fan of his classes of which I think I took three. My background was from a farm, an agricultural community. Our community was so dependent on agriculture that we closed school for two weeks in the fall so the kids could help with the harvest.

When a kid took school off for harvest and didn't work that placed them in a different category, they where seen as somebody that didn't know how to work. What my professor validated was, don't trust anybody that doesn't do. The implication is that they don't understand.

For those of you that have degrees and are using those degrees today, when did you learn the most about what you do for a living? Did you learn more in the classroom or the first year or two out in the field plying your skills? So it has been stated many times before, differently, and most likely better, but when it comes to the martial arts, don't have perfect finger nails, get dirty, get slivers, get them smashed, get some dirt under the nails.

Reading a book, watching a DVD, or Youtube are great means of broadening your horizons. Using any available means to increase your knowledge and skills are great, but don't forget to get your fingers nails dirty. If you don't you may be like kids that never worked harvest, they never had filthy fingers.

Helping Karate-Ka Reach Their Goals

2011-01-31T23:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, yeah sounds all nice, fuzzy and easy to say. For somebody that teaches martial arts, it is not as easy as just showing up and gently shoving in the general direction of somebodies expressed goal. That is not successful over the long run. Success, here, is defined as a long and enjoyable training in the martial arts.

Aiding somebody in reaching their goals is a wild mix of the students needs, wants, and desires, plus your agenda as a teacher. Now let's complicate it by making it a moving target. Did your goals change as you progresses through he ranks, did you as a person morph, change and grow? Of course the answer is yes. The question is who is responsible for that transformation? Are you, the teacher responsible for the transformation, the other people in the school, a combination?

So helping others reach their goals is not a static target and yet we would hope that our discipline as a teacher will provide the laser like focus, the target that is needed to reach the goal. I would suggest to you that as an instructor that the target is not a target, but a path (although students still see it as a target). For students, know this, you will start with a target, but you and the target are going to change. Your goal will become a path if you stay long enough.

So let me get all Philosophy 101 here. For the students, the target forms the path and often you don't know you are on the path for focus on the target. Instructors have had targets, but are on a path.

So helping somebody reach their goal is more complicated than just putting them through the paces, targets move, appear and disappear, agendas change, and when a good path rises, it should be chosen.

Do you have a place that you can point to where the target fell away and the path appeared? I would love to hear about it.

There ya go, a big cup of deep thought tea.

Nothing says loser...

2011-01-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

"Nothing says loser like 'I was kicked out of a cult.'" - Blind Date

Recently I have had an intermittent flurry of conversations with martial artists regarding instructors and instructor behavior. The conversation always comes down to a few points.

1. My instructor says I am not committed enough to X art

2. The instructors definition of commitment is, physically or mentally, unhealthy

3. My choice is to submit to the definition, or leave

4. I don't want to leave, and I don't care to by into the program as presented

The biggest issue is the sense of guilt that the person feels, the guilt that they have not worked hard enough, that they have lost something, that they have failed, plus a pile of other emotions.

Let's get this straight. It is your training, if you don't enjoy it, if it is causing you some form of consternation, you should stop.

The world is a tough place and it doesn't give a flying rip about how you feel. We all get kicked around every day; traffic, bills, work, difficult responsibilities, hard choices, sickness, and I am confident you can add more to the list.

So you are going to go take guff from your martial arts teacher? I don't mean challenging you to be better, but poorly constructed, lousy coach behavior. Yeah go pay for that with the money you earned, and further invest more of your time!? Pppppffft. I think not.

I suggest that if you are not having fun and learning you should leave.

You have a right to your life, and how you choose to spend that life. I am talking about the sanctity of the individual. So I am here to let you know that you are not necessary involved in a cult, but getting kicked out of a club, can make you feel like a loser. Well let's see what that illustrious philosopher and social scientist Marx had to say, of course I mean Groucho Marx; “I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.”

These are of course extreme statements, but you get the idea, so here is the middle ground quote from one of my old instructors, “Karate is fun, when it stops being fun, you should stop.

Stupid, Simple is the way to keep it.

2011-01-19T05:12:00.000-08:00

Stupid, simple is the way to keep it.

Yeah a reversal of the old acronym, Kiss, Keep It Simple Stupid, but you want some creativity in the title, right?

Keeping it simple is a phrase that is pitched around may schools, many adhere to it, other schools not so much. I for one really try to winnow things down and keep it simple. I have spoken to it before, and with some depth in a set of previous posts called Smith's Rules of Design, they are listed below:

Smith's Rules of Design #1

Smith's Rules of Design #2

Smith's Rules of Design #3

Smith's Rules of Design #4

But the other day a cryptic message came in from a guy that I really like, we have traveled to a couple of counties together and have trained with and around many of the same people. He is always looking at the world and his art with a thoughtful internal dialogue. And he makes me laugh hard with throw away lines that he just tosses out at any moment, and often recklessly, you have to respect that.

His mail in total is attached below:

as I've said before, I really like essentialism (in martial arts, and other things)

This nails it

There ya go. Simple direct and really effective. Heck even his e-mail was simple.

I have some serious pruning to do to catch up with him. Soooo...I should stop writing now.

Street Kids & The Dojo

2011-01-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

A phone call came in a while back from a friendly guy named Scott. Scott works with a group called New Horizon Ministries, these folks work with street kids. Scott wanted to know if I would do a class or two with the street kids. Of course, the answer was yes. These kids show up and pile out of the van. They dive right in loud and full of grins.. Shoes and socks come off. I watch them cram unwashed socks into boots and shoes. “Hand-up, your coats,” I say. Dirty coats get put away removing the protective sealant that contains their, what could be best called, hobo funk.

As the class develops these kids start to exhibit some impressive skills of observation, mimicry and an impressive array of knowledge crossing many disinclines. These kids are impressive, street wise, quick, direct, and bold in their opinions, they know how to take a conversation and make it theirs, make it useful to them. Their naivate is also blinding. Their lives are all about experience and resource there is little thought beyond the immediate future.

One kid says, “I like this, how much does it cost to train here?”

“More than you have, let's just work on this now.” I reply.

“Oh I got ways to get money.” He says.

“You can't do weed, or sell weed and train here, no drugs”

“Oh..” he says, and slowly re-enters the ongoing drill

That conversation ends.

“Come over here,” I say and I start calling out sizes and handing out karate shirts to the kids. Their response was not, “Cool!” as I expected, there was not one “Thank you.” However, one kid said it all, “Nice, I'll be warm tonight.” Like I said resource.

They pile out of the dojo, filthy socks, dirty necks, and coats that protect them from the cold and the rest of us from their body odor.

The world has put tremendous dents into the psyche of these kids. I wish them well, and hope that eventually they will take their skills of cleverness and smarts and brig them to bear on the programs that are available to them to get their lives back together.

As I tuned to the mirror, I saw some smears of street filth on my gi as we had rolled a bit. They left a little more than that on me. I hope I was able to leave a little something for them.

You never know what is going to take root.

Tell Bruce Lee Not All is Lost

2011-01-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

There is just a large metaphorical canyon in today’s world. This canyon has a rapid laden river, craggy canyon walls, poisonous snakes, carnivores of all sizes and strong winds that separate the sides.

On one side of the above described canyon are the folks that are declaring their infirmities, and finding their power via a codification.

On the other side of this canyon are a different species of person, yeah I use the word species because they are not the same. These people have crossed the canyon and are pushing onward.

There are many that have pushed on to the other side of the canyon. And several have passed though the door of my dojo. I have one guy that comes into the dojo that can't eat solid food, oh and he has MS, I like this guy a lot, and his demeanor bellies the struggles that he goes through, he has a steadiness that I am not sure under the same situation, I could muster.

I have another student that has cerebral palsy, another needs special hearing aides, he is six. And then still another that is legally blind without his glasses.

And one of my students, was killed by his disease. He would sleep during the day so he could save his energy for class. He did this until his liver actually disintegrated, falling apart inside his own body and bleeding him to death.

These folks, are examples for us, and they stupefy me.

Did you know:

Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf
Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Woodrow Wilson (U.S. President), all where Dyslexic
Stephen Hawking, is addled by Lou Gehrig's Disease
John F. Kennedy had Addison's Disease, an adrenal insufficiency
Sir Winston Churchill, Clara Barton, and Carly Simon, all stutters
Homer, the Greek Poet, he was blind

Some people just blow me away, with the way they can will the disparate aspects of their lives into one cohesive focus... and I am fortunate, and blessed, to come into contact with them.

So go tell Bruce Lee that not all is lost. However he needs to know there are two types of people in the world. One group stands on the canyon edge looking at the insurmountable obstacles that block their path. The others have crossed and are pushing on to their future.

Oh, and did you know that one of Bruce Lee's legs was shorter then the other? And it didn't stop him.

Did you know we all have one leg shorter than the other?

It is all in how you measure, how you choose to see yourself in the world.

And now for the kicker...

The picture used in the installment of, “The Striking Post” is of the knees of a guy that rode his bike to the dojo and joined the Judo class, at fifty-nine years of age.

Hey Bruce, not all is lost!

Tell Bruce Lee it happened...

2011-01-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

I recall that Bruce Lee said something of the sense that he didn't want to live to be an old man.

Now I paraphrase what he said, the quote is not perfect, but I am more interested in the idea of what he meant than the exact words.

The point of Lee's comment was that he didn't want to live a diminished life. I think Lee was saying that he wanted to live life on his terms and not be a burden or to be dependent on others. Now we can discuss what he meant by his comment, parse out the nuance, or change the context but just bear with me now and let us take it for what it looks like on the surface. Because taking what Lee said at face value brings us to the question of, "When it happened?"

When did the zeitgeist of our culture change from, “Can do!” and ready for risk to, “I am owed (insert something here)?" When did people decide that it was better to live a much longer, yet unchallenged life? When did people decide that there is no need to get up and get it done.

I have an acquaintance that I am required to come into contact with often. This man announces, and I mean he doesn't work it into the conversation, he announces he is, “On disability.” in every conversation. This is not just one man either. It is as if people are seeking distinct classifications via their diminished capacities – and they are rewarded.

So here is Bruce Lee saying that he doesn't want to be a burden. Lee wanted to live life on his terms verses an whole strata of our society who seek a sense of themselves and a trivial bounty, from the powers that be, for actually eking out an existence of a demised life.

Stay tuned folks, next – “Tell Bruce Lee Not All Is Lost.”

A Drift of Sorts

2010-12-29T22:43:00.000-08:00

I try to keep the post on this site in and around martial arts, sometimes I drift.

This post is a drift of sorts.

Over the last week of December, I spend some time fixing things at the dojo, general repair and deep cleaning. So I am pushing a carpet cleaner and listening to my iPod and the door opens. In comes a grandfather of one of my students. He is a good guy and he works with his grandson outside of class to get better at karate.

Of course I stop my work and we chat for awhile. I knew he was a Vietnam vet, but I didn't know he was a sniper. Well it is just the two of us and a few more things come out, not too much, nothing that specific. However, what comes out is this guy, to this day, is troubled. He is not so troubled with what he did in the course of his duty, but some of the things that he saw that where out of his control, the craziness of war I suppose, that seems to be an issue.

The conversation took me back to about ten years ago when I met fourteen Vietnam veterans that had all been POW's and held at the Hanoi Hilton. I don't know that I will ever find a way to relate the gravity of that moment.

But, really what on Gods green Earth do I know about this subject? Nothing...I just stand silently and nod when these men speak.

Look, the more I meet these men, some of them old, and some of them younger, All I say is thank you. And that is hardly enough, but it is all I have.

So when I become President, I am going to make it that when you muster out with an honorable discharge you never pay income tax again. Huh, maybe that is an idea the will catch fire?

There are women vets out there who have given and sacrificed, no question. I just have not had any conversation of this kind with a female veteran. So don't take that as an oversight, it is simply not something with which I have experience.

Like I said a little diversion, a little drift from the usual subjects of this blog, not a crisp conclusion or pity punch at the end either, just a drift. A drift that bumps me up against something I never care to experience.

Purebred Dog, Purebred Martial Art

2010-12-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid our family lived on a farm. When you live on a farm, rarely is there something on the farm that is not useful. Everything has to contribute to the farm.

Our family car was a station wagon. A station wagon not only carried my parents and my brother, but it also carried feed, and animals when needed.

Dogs where an important part of farm life. Our two dogs served as guard dogs, keeping coyotes away from the chickens, serving as doorbells when somebody pulled into the driveway, and for me as a kid, they where great playmates. Neither of these dogs where purebred dogs, they where mutts, comprised of Beagle, Airedale, German Shepard, all swirled together with who knows what else.

When I asked my Dad one day why we didn't have purebreds, just mutts his answer was simple, “Purebred dogs have problems.” He went on about how some purebreds had hip problems, others digestive issues, and the behaviors that where bread into them wasn't always what was best for a good farm dog.

His point was the temperament and resiliency of the mutt dog was well suited for the farm, useful and low maintenance. Further they where nice dogs with good personalities, dependable, easy to acquire and cheap to maintain.

So here is your audit, is your martial art a mutt dog or a pure bread? Is your martial arts school the Westminster dog show, or is it a working farm?

I would submit to you that the purebred art is just like the purebred dog, looks great, not particularly durable and in the final conclusion not very useful.

That Tae Kwon Do Sucks!

2010-12-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

My first art was TKD (Tae Kwon Do), I started learning in a military armory back in the 70's – yes the 70's. TKD was different back then from what is taught today. Much of the TKD, not all, but much of it has taken a sport track similar to Judo. Ok.

Taking a sport angle is a terrific way to get a person off their couch and onto the floor. The issue is how these versions of TKD are measured. To measure these versions of TKD by only content and not context results in an over-generalization and that is a bad thing.

I look at it this way. The sport version of Tae Kwon Do is excellent for what it does, fight tournaments and win points. The Tae Kwon Do that I was taught back in the dark ages, was different. These Sa Bom Nim (Master Teachers) had come out of oppression and a civil war, their lives and attitudes where not directed at sport, oh no my friend no in the least. The stories we heard as kids about the ROK soldiers (Republic of Korea Marine Corps) are still legend in the dark corners of my mind.

Look, sport is a fantastic thing, I don't need to tell you that. Being involved in a battle for your country and your life...well that changes the context quite a bit.

Yeah, that Tae Kwon Do Sucks, if you are using a sport version for combat or a combat version for sport, yeah that leads to over-generalization and a loss of context.

Over-generalization is simply not a good thing, and I use the two worlds of Tae Kwon Do as an example of that, time, history, context all go in the mix when you talk about a martial art.

Oh yeah by the way my karate sucks; in a firefight. My Judo sucks; in a riot.

Context and a refusal to over-generalize, yeah good stuff.

Martial Arts Training Tip #62

2010-12-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

Actually I just made up the #62, but the behavior is not fictional.

The behavior is the internal voice that tells you that you will never be good at martial arts because you made a mistake. A great example of this behavior is the Chris Farley Show. (for those of you that don't recall, here is an example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNBIyGxV7Ek)

The negative thinking of, all or nothing, is an absolute killer. You will know this behavior by these words rattling around in your head, “Always, Never, Can't, Every Time.” All or nothing thinking is associated with negative thinking. “Oh, I always do that!” when you make a mistake, or “I'll never get that right.”

Here is a little reveal for you students out there, we instructors know that when you verbalize a comment like, “I'll never get it right.” You have said in your mind so many times during your internal dialogue that you are comfortable in verbalizing the thought. Saying such a thought means you believe it, and want us to believe it as well. When these words are uttered by you, you might notice by our slumped shoulders we know this thinking is now deeply embedded in your psyche.

So for those of you that use final, broad, and wildly inclusive words in your negative internal conversation, just stop it. You need to be relentless in driving those words out of your thought process. Hunt these words down, stalk them, kill them immediately, with no remorse. Here is the tip, do not use; Always, Never, Can't, or Every-time. Dig them out of your thinking. Replace them with phrases like: “This is difficult.” “I haven't succeeded yet.” or “I'll get this right soon enough.” You get the idea.

So there you are, Martial Arts Training Tip #62, the title is fake, the contents real.

Get Your Newsletter, Get it Here!

2010-11-30T07:53:00.000-08:00

Click here: http://westseattlekarate.com/resources/newsletter.html and get The Martial Minute.

The Martial Minute is a once a month newsletter that is exactly what it says it is, a useful newsletter that takes seconds to scan and minute to read the subject you want.

A blend of original content, a link or two, some recommendations, and something fun. The Martial Minute, easy to subscribe, and easy to opt out if you choose.

This month the topics are:

Children Don't See the World the Same Way
Who is Going to Kill You?
Whoa, Dude You are Going to Jail!
Murphy's Martial Arts Laws
Savage Tae Kwon Do Kick
As This Year Comes to a Close. Where is your list?
Five Things to Do to Improve Your Art
Give the Gift
True Power of Shaolin
Winston Churchhill
Finally

Get the Martial Minute here: http://westseattlekarate.com/resources/newsletter.html

Also, know that your email in never sold, or traded...ever.

Be well.

Kris +

Your Own Sense of Success

2010-11-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

In teaching karate for three decades, I have come in contact with a lot of people from all walks of life. The people that come into the dojo have ranged from work-a-day joe's, some executives, small business owners, teachers, and parents.

I have learned that none of these people where satisfied with their lives unless and until they had developed their own sense of success, an internal guidance system, based on their values.

If you are going to define your success externally, by how other people see you, you are never going to fill in that giant hole called; ultimate success. There is not enough dirt in the world to fill that hole.

When you define your own ways of success then what happens, is that you become a brand unto yourself. You are an individual and one of the greatest desires for man, and I do mean man is a race not as a gender, is to be what author Tom Wolfe called "A man in full."

Loren Christensen, Author, martial artist, and all around decent guy, once told me that his definition of success was, "Being able to come home from his job as a cop and watch Johnny Carson every night." He knew that he had a successful shift when he was in bed watching Johnny Carson. That was how Lauren measured success, simple, clean, and goal oriented.

So my question to you is, "When it comes to your martial arts do you make it personal?" Do you define what is a success or do you allow others to do it for you? Are you a brand to yourself, or are you a part of a brand?

This is how I define my success; when I go to bed at night I like to ask myself this question, "Did I learn something today?" That is how I define success. Loren wanted to watch Johnny Carson, I want a positive answer to a simple question.

How do you define success in your martial arts? Further are you a brand unto yourself with your own internal guidance system?

If not, why?

Beatin' The Boys

2010-11-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

Writing a blog about what we did at the dojo last night is about as exciting as an overcooked bowl of ramen, mushy, boring, and all wrapped up on itself.

So now I'll tell you what happened at the dojo last night, but it isn't boring.

Every month we have a special night, a guest instructor, a new experience, an exposure to another art. Last night was one of those nights and we set about to blow candles out with our punches. I am sure that if you have not done it yourself you have seen it done. The principal is simple, use the air form your punch to extinguish the candle flame.

Melissa, one of the brown belts, was showing a real skill and putting out candles. Melissa was putting candles out like Manny Pacquiao turning off the lights on a junior sparing partner. Pow, pow, easy and fast.

So in a few minutes she has three candles lined up and as she is readies her punch one of the black belts yells out a challenge, "Just put out the third one!"

She fires off a punch and, proof! One punch and the third candles is out.

"Ohhhh!" the dojo explodes in unison, "Ok, ok, now just the first one!" comes the charge. Poof, out goes the first candle with one of her punches. "Ohhhh" again comes the cry and then two punches later the middle candle is out.

Three candles, in line, extinguished with four punches. That is pretty darn good, but she did them in the order of 3, 1, and 2. And did it spontaneously as called out by the other members of the dojo.

Nobody was able to do what she did. Not one person.

The only woman in the dojo that night she smiled and said, on her way out the door, "I like beatin' the boys."

She sure did beat the boys, and I say Kudos to Melissa for an impressive display.

The “One Page”

2010-11-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

I heard a guy talking about one of his professors at college who complained to the students that their papers where full of fluff. That the students spent too much effort in just filling the mandated pages.

The human mind loves complexity, but is complexity necessary? Nature builds diversity from a series of simple commands - in fact what appears to be complex is really just a compounding of simple commands.

As you may already know from reading other posts I am not the biggest fan of complexity, and especially in the martial arts. I am pretty sure that much of the martial arts is just machinations designed to titillate the mind much like a bright fishing lure to a tout.

Frankly, simplicity and efficiency go hand-in-hand (see nature once again) and I am not incline to back off from that position. Complexity breaks down and I don’t need a fragile martial arts technique, I need a simple, vigorous, dependable, go to technique.

Now here is a proof point in the world of martial arts. World famous judo champion Yamashita was famous for using O-soto gari one of the first learned and most basic throws of Judo to win:

85 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
84 Olympic Games (Open) - Los Angles, CA, USA
84 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
83 World Championships (+95kg) - Moscow, Russia
83 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
82 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
81 World Championships (+95kg & Open) - Maastricht, Holland
81 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
80 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
79 World Championships (+95kg) - Paris, France
79 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
78 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan
77 All-Japan Championships - Tokyo, Japan

Thanks to Neil Ohlenkamp at http://judoinfo.com/yamashita.htm for the list of championships.

Simplicity, and efficiency, that is a great mantra. So here is your challenge until the new year, some 45 days. Choose a part of your art and dive down into that aspect and find the simple core.

______

And one last thing, please do me a favor...well two.

1^st If you are not a follower of the Striking Post, go to the “Followers” link and become one in the lower right side of the blog. By becoming a Follower, you will know immediately when a new blog is posted.

2^nd Send an e-mail to one of your martial arts friends and share the link. The Striking Post, has no commercials, and no adds. The value is in people like you that find the blog worth your time. -- So share the love.

Your good words are the best endorsement, period.

Thanks and be well.

K+

Food Allergies Make Kids a Target of Bullies

2010-11-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

The End...it is officially here.

This is what we have come too? Anderson Cooper doing a special section of Food Bullies, and CNN doing an article? Here are a couple of clips for the CNN article and I have included the link at the bottom of the page if you want to throw away a minute or two.

"He said [he was] scared, and 'sad that he would do that to me,' and 'mad that he would do that to me,' and worried that it's going to happen again," the boy's mother said.

“...doctors are becoming more conscious of a disturbing trend in children getting picked on for not being able to eat certain foods.”

"The school has to really address it. It's not the child's job to take care of this problem, because there is already an imbalance of power,"

What, the..?! That is what bullies do, they bully people! If you are different or weak, you are a target, it is that simple.

I don't care if the entire European Union, China and the Western Hemisphere craft an anti bully policy and have to tattooed on every child's forehead, Bullies will still exist. Bullies existed before this special group of food allergic kids became victims, and bullies they will exist after all of us are gone from this earth.

I will venture a guess that half of the readers here began the martial arts to deal with some bully issue, or a desire for more self esteem, and for those that stuck with it have benefited deeply.

Further I would say to those folks who's children are food allergy bully victims, get your kid into Martial Arts, or a sport, for that matter. Either of these two physical activity will create a sense of accomplishment and self-worth that can never be granted by decree.

You can read in its entirety here. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/28/food.allergy.bullying/?hpt=T2

Laws of Nature and The Crosswalk

2010-11-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

To follow-up on my previous blog regarding “Be Aware!” Pffft...useless.” I mentioned that I find myself ruminating at stop lights. As a result, I see some interesting things. I see people believing that, “I am safe when I am in this crosswalk”

Got news for you Padre, you are not safe.

As I sat at a stop light, I watched a young man with his i-pod, texting on his phone, never look up as he stepped into the cross walk. He just responded to the beeping of the cross walk signal while stepping on to the magical protective white paint of the cross walk.

This cross walk guy has all the rules, laws and rights on his side. Crosswalk guy is 100% justified in walking into that cross walk, heck the light changed. The laws of nature say that if I miss the light, for whatever reason, he is dead. I would say that the laws of nature trump the man made laws every time.

The point in my previous post was that I can't go around on alert all the time, not possible. However situational alertness is a darn good idea. So let's solve this problem with a quote from former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, “Trust but verify.”

This, “Trust but verify” is a great little maxim to use in the martial arts, and day-to-day living. You already use it on the mat or dojo floor already don't you? Don't you have a follow-up technique if you first technique fails? Don't you follow through on a throw?

Sure there are a lot of issues in this posting, but I would say, the primary message here is; Know that the laws of nature trump the laws any city council can make.

So I guess the maxim now reads; “Honor natures laws and look for abnormal behavior.”

Yeah, nice maxim that bookends the two extremes.

“Be Aware!” Pffft...useless.

2010-10-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

“Be Aware!” Pffft...useless.

I always think that first principle of self defense to be utterly useless, at least as presented.

A considerable amount of my time at stop lights has been spent pondering this idea. “What is awareness and how do I implement it in a manner useful to me?” Clearly I can not walk about like a crazed meth-head flinching at every moth that goes zig – zaggy past me on its way to the nearest light. Assuming that every person is a threat is not going to work either. I am not going to throw down on grandma on line at the Safeway pharmacy, no upside.

I am always seeking ways to condense, to distill, to a single statement, my methodologies. How do you assemble the idea of “Be Aware!”

Well I got that answered by a cop named Ivan that I met at Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO. Ivan said, “The cop has the job of investigating the unusual.” Now we do that all the time, but being aware that we are looking for the unusual is the kicker. Actually we unconsciously look for irregularities all the time. I am suggesting that being actively aware that you are looking for anomalies in pattern makes a tremendous difference in the identification and assessment.

Ask any person that does crowd control, works a door, bounces, or cops, they will tell you they look for the disturbances, the unusual in the patterns and once they find that disturbance then they identify why it is unusual.

Like I said I try to condense these ideas to a useful maxim and what I have here is; “Know you are looking for behavior on either side of normal from the baseline environment.”

Have a better version, a tighter expression of this idea? I am always open for comment.

Oh, and one last thing, those jobs I listed above, their job it go toward the disturbance. My job is to go the other way.

15 minutes and 30 years.

2010-10-22T09:45:00.001-07:00

I get my gi's from Kensho International. It is a company owned and run by Mike O'Donnell. Mike is one of the good guys. Mike teaches karate, is a small business man and makes some of the finest hand crafted kobudo weapons on the planet.

We talk about everything under the sun while we walk from room to room filling my order. Mike starts talking about this artist he saw that makes the most realistic water color painting he has ever seen. As we progressed to his office to do the paperwork Mike quips that the painting, “Aren't cheap either.” He went further, “I asked him (the artist) how long did take to make the painting?”

The artist replied, just as Mike suspected he would, and in a creative way, “15 minutes and 30 years.” he said smiling back at Mike.

I'll do the do the math....15 minutes, divided by $10,000 dollars equals $666.66 per minute. That is an outrageous amount!

If we measure it by the 30 years the cost of the picture now reads like this; 1 year = 525,948 minutes x 30 years = 15,778,400 minutes. $10,000 / 15,778,400 minutes = 0.00063 per minute. The result is an hourly wage even the most needy from the Indian caste system would refuse; 0.037 cents.

For the record Mike, as a master woodworker was in on the joke, he wanted to see how the watercolor artist expressed his value.

Years ago, I was in Shihan John Roseberry's dojo and on the wall was a quote from his teacher Seikichi Toguchi, “A teacher gives the student his life, the student gives the teacher his spare time.”

So there it is, a painter and a martial artist giving you two ways to express the value of what we do as martial artists. Count it one way and the arts are virtually worthless. Measure it another way and the value is extraordinary.

So how is your value measured and how do you measure the value of your teacher...15 minutes or 30 years?

Socrates, Rory Miller, & Earthworms

2010-10-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

My conversations with Rory Miller often are ones that leave me with points to ponder. During one conversation, I was lamenting on the issue of the moment, and Rory said something that set the wheels in my head to churning, he said, “Kris, life is easy I see stupid people do it all the time.”

After a little pondering, I realized he was right; an earthworm is not smart, but it does do life. Sure it is a simple life, but it does life and easily. So yeah, not that complicated, not that hard, bore holes in the earth, eat, reproduce.

Being creative, in my opinion is one of the things that changes life from being just an existence to an expression of life. Creativity leads you to examine your life. Some folks paint, sculpt, or they use some other external medium as their vehicle of expression. The mediums of the martial artist are the mind and body. As a result, of using our bodies and minds as a metaphorical canvas, we are transformed in a deliberate and creative manner.

I would submit that being a martial artist makes you examine your life and....well let Socrates say it, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

After throwing Rory Miller and Socrates in the blender, with a little lime and ice and you get; “Martial arts helps you to examine your life, to do more than just exist.”

So the question for you is, as a martial artist, When did you realize that your art had changed you? When was that precise moment you realized the artwork of your life changed? Feel free to chime in on the comments link below. I look forward hearing your thoughts.

"Not Me, not here!"

2010-10-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

Having taught woman's self-defense classes now and again over the last twenty five years, I have tried to convey that there is no magic technique for success. That when the attacker chooses you as their prey they are confident they can get what they want.

Several days ago a 55 year old woman in the Seattle area was viciously beaten by a potential rapist on her evening run. He knocked her down, brandished a knife and beating breaking her nose and fracturing her face. This indomitable woman did not use any special tactics that she learned in a woman's self-defense class. There was no well placed gouge in the eyes or keys used. She used her will to not be raped, to not die, she yelled out, “Not me, not here!” and fought back.

Now there is an opportunity for a lot of second guessing. Sure there is merit in the discussion of these issues but none of that is my point. The point is that her desire...her guts are what trumps any defensive tactic class she could have taken.

All I can say is, that is a gutsy, gutsy woman and well done. Well done on fighting off an attacker. Well done in getting a extensive description of her attacker for the police.

Thank you for the example that the will, the will to fight, to declare “Not me, not here!” is the deepest rooted part of any self defense.

From me and all that followers of this blog, a wish for a swift recovery, and lots of support from family and friends.

If you are interested in more information I have attached a link from Seattle Times staff reporter Sara Jean Green, where I first read about this attack.

Poetry and Teaching

2010-10-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

"Poetry is when you make new things familiar and familiar things new." ~ Rory Sutherland

This is attributed to ad man Rory Sutherland, and used in his TED lecture. His presentation was about the elevation of experience and what we value in life.

It hit me that that quote is actually a crystallization of what I try to do, after years of being on the floor teaching martial arts, this guy, Rory, just brought it all together. I strive to make the beginning classes accessible by using stories and apologies.

Sensei Jeff Stevens (an instructor at West Seattle Karate Academy) is known for saying, “You need to peel potatoes, you peel potatoes here.” and he pulls his hands inward, “Not out here.” As he extends his hands. His point is that you may recognize the concept of keeping your arms in, but you do know peeling potatoes. He takes new information and makes it familiar.

The other end of that concept, making the familiar new, is really for the black belts. How do you drive them deeper into their own research? How do you make the familiar new? One way I do it is what I call the breakdown, I take a small section of the art that we can dissect, exam, train it, then bring it back into the largess of the art.

So yeah, to get all houtie toiute I try and make each class a form of poetry, all William Shakespeare n' stuff.

Challenging Playgrounds

2010-10-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

The comedian Bill Cosby did a now-classic comedy bit years ago about how the playgrounds at parks were deliberately designed by adults to kill and maim children. Cosby then goes on to make fun of each one of the playground toys and demonstrate their manically ingenious design.

Now stay with me here because I am about to go off on a tangent. These playgrounds were challenging. The slide made of steel, was intensely hot in the summertime. The lesson here is; "Look before you leap." You only got on that slide once in your shorts. Heck, we used to pour water down the slide before we used it to cool the slide before we used it; that is ingenuity.

The Merry-Go-Round. What did we learn from the Merry-Go-Round? Going too fast will hurl you to the asphalt, and that hurts. Chalk that one up in the column of “Going too fast can get you hurt.” The monkey bars; oh the life lessons contained on the monkey bars. Like, “At the halfway point, you need to push on because trying to go backward is too hard and falling hurts.” Life lesson #16, “Failure hurts more than diligence.”

Today the slides are made of plastic. The Merry-Go-Round now has some sort of space age polymer bouncy stuff surrounding it. The Monkey Bars are now lowered so that most kids can just stand underneath and reach the bars, with no threat of the dreaded three foot drop.

What sorts of lessons are being learned? Where are the stitches and the scabs?

Look, I am not advocating the maiming of our youth, but the playground is a place where skills and life experiences are being honed. Look at nature; play among mammals is critical to maturation and skill development for adulthood.

For those of you that have been out there living a life, you know the world is full of hard, hot surfaces that will hurt you if you are not wary.

So to bring it back around I think the martial arts school should be a challenging playground where we smile, laugh, have fun, gain a little wisdom, and get a bruise or two.

A rant you say? Sure, call it a rant, but I feel better.

Bad Authority

2010-09-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

My frequent coauthor Lawrence Kane turned to one day and said, “You have a real problem with authority.” I replied, “No, I have a problem with bad authority” He smiled and gave his patented, “Heh” and nodded yes. It is true I have a problem with bad authority. How do I define bad authority? This way, “A slavish compliance to process to the exclusion of the actual goal.” We all have numerous examples of this bad bureaucracy in the lives we live, dealing with a bank, a state agency, etc.

Now you have gotten to this point in the article your questions is; “Kris, how does this apply to my martial arts?” Like this, what is your ultimate goal of your art? There are lots of supporting aspects of the art but at the end of the day, what is the one sentence mission statement? Your task is to carve, chip, and whittle down your mission statement, “The purpose of my martial arts is_______” Now reflecting on that mission statement see how it matches up with what you are doing every time you train.

Now some fun audio from a brilliant comedian Shelly Berman, who deftly and inadvertently demonstrates an inefficient bureaucracy is the equivalent of dealing with a child. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWwUgjkOHAA

Old Man Medichi

2010-09-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Medichi Family where the most influential family in Italy for some 400 years. The Medichi amassed great fortunes and wielded enormous power. How much power? Oh, enough to start a bank, and have one of the family become Pope, that kind of power.

Now they lived high, lives of the rich, multiple houses, servants, family portraits, just about what your mind can conceive of for that time. The first Medichi, Averardo de' Medici, is the one that is most interesting to me. Although wealthy he rode a donkey, and he dressed in average clothing when out doing his business of the day. I understand that Averardo's home had little outward markings of opulence and he suggested to his family do the same. The reason for this policy was simple he didn't want to be a target, a target for thieves, kidnappers, or other forms of criminals.

In Averardo's world he felt no need to be a peacock, it was safer for him to look like a common bird. Further Averardo wielded power quietly and without displays. Sometimes real power does not need to be flaunted, it needs to be held close to the vest until needed. I would suggest that the martial artist should be the same, follow Mr. de'Medichi example by living low. A modern example of this could be an Air Marshall. Every time I get on a jet there is an armed Air Marshall on that flight. I have yet to pick him, or her out, and I do try to find the Air Marshall. The Air Marshall is taking a page from the Alvarado de' Medici playbook to stay low, keep your skills hidden unless they are needed. Live simply in public, don't be a peacock, worked then and works today.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

2010-09-26T08:58:00.000-07:00

Years ago I was teaching karate at the YMCA. During that time the Billy Blanks Tae Bo fitness was all the rage. Before the karate class I was standing in a hallway window looking into a gym full of some 80 + people all doing Tae Bo. Everybody in the Tae Bo class where kicking and punching themselves into a great frenzy.

After the class broke-up a young gal came up to me and she says, “That's a great work out.” “Yeah it sure looks like it.” I reply as I cast a hand in her direction acknowledging her sweat. “It feels great to know that I can finally defend myself.” she says, and I don't say a word, just smile and nod. Internally I was stunned by the bold confidence of her declaration.

Guess what? Her comment, and sense of high ability, is called The Dunning-Kruger Effect. It reads this way; people reach false conclusions about their abilities based on how they feel, not facts. Further their inability to analyze their skill doesn’t allow them to see their lack of ability. This lack of internal analysis lets them believe that they are really on top of something, even to the point of rating themselves above other who are truly competent.

The Dunning-Kruger effect is actually a two edged sword in that it is based in an error about their own abilities and then it gets compounded by an internal knowledge that they are better than those that are truly competent. Wow, Dunning-Kruger, have to remember that.

There is a quote from Bertrand Russell, a British Philosopher and Mathematician amongst other things, about the confident it goes; “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”

So at the end of the day people who experience the The Dunning-Kruger Effect are happy people, just like that gal that felt the Tae Bo class finally gave her an understanding of physical self-defenses, as well as a set of skills. The rest of us will be over here going through our own happy, and slightly neurotic, never ending explorations of the arts.

Things Get Very Still

2010-09-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

Martin Scorsese, the director of, “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” and, “Good Fellas,” to name a few told Miguel Arteta the director of, “Youth in Revolt” that when you want to show the audience that violence is about to happen things get very still, don't move the camera.

Life is like that when somebody is about to get violent they will get very still and then explode into the violence. Violence can happen in a reverse of still to violent. The perpetrator can go from still to explosive, but the behavior we want to talk about is the calm to violent.

Scorsese is a master of his craft, his movies and accolades clearly show that he knows how to touch us with his film making. The way he does it is he uses common experience, a common environment is not necessary, experience is necessary. Using fear, hatred, love, and betrayal, Scorsese has to reach out and meet us with these experiences to be good at what he does. This meeting of commonality allows him to bring us emotionally into a foreign environment, like that of a boxer or mobster.

So when you watch for violence, watch for what real life says, and listen to what one of the greatest film directors of all time pointed out...when violence is about to happen things get very still.

Now go and ponder some of the greatest violent scenes you have seen in film and you will see Scorsese is right. Oh and do not forget to review the violence you have seen or experienced in real life. You'll Scorsese is correct there as well.

Boundaries

2010-09-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

During the Crossing the Pond Martial Expo last month Al Peasland made an off the cuff comment to a group of participants. Al's comment made me think of a moment when my martial arts training changed. I paraphrase Al here; "Martial arts should be enjoyable and when it's not you shouldn't do it."

Sitting in the back of a car on a dim winter afternoon three of us were heading off to our once a month mandatory workout at the regional dojo.

These workouts had begun as a get together, work technique, standardize some things, and have fellowship. All of those things were good things but the tone had changed, the head instructor now called them, "Mandatory Meetings."

Leaning forward from the back seat I listened to the conversation from the two other black belts. I can't tell you the whole conversation, but one phrase absolutely gut punched me. The driver who I respect for his intelligence and insight said, "Mandatory, there's nothing mandatory when it comes to my karate. I do this because I like it not because I'm told to."

The metaphorical gut punch made me sit back into the darkness of the back seat. I wish I could say that, at that moment, I came to an epiphany but I didn't. All I had was the realization that I had given away my sovereignty.

I felt the fool.

I had considered myself to be in charge of my own destiny, however the realization that I had this enormous blind spot didn't sit well with my ego one bit.

Over the next couple of months I came to the conclusion that I was not going to give up my sovereignty anymore. I decided I would engage in the martial arts on my terms. I was going to say, "No thank you." more often. My training was now going to be totally my own I was going to be responsible for what I worked, what I studied, and let the chips fall where they may.

Call it boundaries if you like.

Perfect Light and Make-up

2010-09-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

Photoshop is a computer program used to change and edit pictures, and it is amazing what it can do. Photoshop removes bags from under celebrities eyes, crow's feet also disappear, and skin tone changes. The changes that can be made in Photoshop to a picture are virtually unlimited. Posing a model under the perfect soft artificial light makes a world of difference. Then having a professional doing the set-up and pulling the trigger on the camera means they bring their professional eye and experience to the equation, and you have another level of illusion.

Here, is a minute and a half video showing the power of make-up and Photoshop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U&feature=related

Oh and don't forget plastic surgery.

All of these items contribute to the whole illusion, and that is what it is, an illusion. You and I can say, “I know it isn't real” but your mind doesn't know it. It will accept much without question. Your mind doesn't audit the process initially it just makes an assessment, good, bad, threat, non-threat, that sort of thing. So when you see the illusion, you accept it with out critical assessment.

Go back and look at the :50 mark of the video, where the picture goes on a billboard. Look at her neck, it is elongated, but not so much as to be abnormal, just not real. Now you might also notice that you looked at the picture and you don't analyze it, you accepted it even knowing that her neck had been changed.

“OK,” you say, “Where is this going?” Well let me extend the Photoshop metaphor. Violence is ugly, it rarely goes as planned, and an elegant dojo solution is not likely to withstand the pressure of effective and swift violence.

I would suggest to you that if not careful a dojo can turn into a form of martial arts Photoshop, a room with perfect light, governed by a professional, in the robes of authority, dictating and guiding the process.

Look, I am not dissing the dojo experience, good grief I run a dojo! It takes effort, and a keen eye to ensure that the dojo retains the metaphorical crows feet and bags under the eyes, call it an attempt to keep it real ...while of course being safe.

X-PO Crossing the Pond - It's a Wrap

2010-08-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am back from Martial X-PO Crossing The Pond. The X-PO was fun but I have to say that I bit off a lot doing a seminar in Seattle and then the next weekend in Coventry England. There are some immutable rules of travel and jet lag, no mater how condescending I am of it, it always wins the battle.

A lot of things happened on the floor and during the down times too, and I want to tell you what my observations of the down time where.

First, all of the presenters had a terrific senses of humor, ranging from just stupid Three Stooges humor type to truly droll.

Second, each instructor, in quiet conversation, eluded to the point that they where far from satisfied with their technique.

A third commonality was they where all seekers, always asking about book titles, movies and experience, looking for that next thing that is going to add to their life experience. They where always, making physical or mental notes, almost shark like, but with the aforementioned humor.

I consider myself fortunate to have had a chance to make contact with and spend time with Al, Iain, Marc, Nicholas, (Rory in the states) and more importantly the folks that made the extraordinary efforts to travel to the X-PO as some of those folks came as far as New York, and Barcelona to name a few places.

You can read some other people blogs and thoughts on the event by clicking the links below.

Martial Development

On The Training Floor

NW Martial Arts

Chiron Training

I now bow to the harsh mistress that is jet lag, and take a nap.

Kris +

People Tire of Truth

2010-07-27T11:16:00.001-07:00

It is intriguing that when people tire of an experience, a story, or an event they have a tendency to dismiss it. The dismissal is applied across the board, almost universally to truth and falsehood alike.

When I used to work in politics, yes I was a political consultant back in the day, we knew that most unwholesome actions of a candidate would be forgiven... if people tired of it.

People would say phrases like, “I already know that, “or “Yeah, that is old news.” When we heard that coming from the voting population it was music to our ears because we knew we could get over, that the voters measured issues in regard to newness, and not credence.

The danger in this form of reasoning, or measurement, is that it dismisses truth and lies equally; they are not equal.

How does this affect us as martial artists? Generally, we as martial artists are self-starters, disciplined, focused and hopefully seek truth in our training. We should seek truth and hold on to it when we find it and not drop it in pursuit of the next shinny technique, truth does not get old and neither does a good technique. By tending to and focusing on truth in your training you allow it to mature. Chasing the next shinny techniques like a 64 oz. Pepsi charged five year old loose in a Chucky Cheese is not terribly attractive.

I think it was Bruce Lee who said, “Absorb what is useful.” I am adding, “…and never tire of the truth.”

Karate and the Beatles, Yes Beatles!

2010-07-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

In my book, “Sanchin Kata; The Application of Power.” I write about the history of the kata, and how it is likely that the origin of the kata will never be known.

I have read and seen evidence that sanchin kata was created and taught in China, and I have also listened to Okinawan karate-ka explain in supremely clear and valid ways that the sanchin kata originated in Okinawa. One point that I make in the book is that we just have a few pieces of history and because of that it is as difficult as trying to find the origin of the Nile River.

Now this can be a sticky subject, who said what, and who did what before whom, lots of rights and wrongs. (Like I am telling you something you have never heard before.)

As for me it is about form following function and the rest of it is entertaining, as I have always enjoyed history, but it is not as valuable as being able to do karate with energy and knowledge.

So here is a version, a historical interpretation, about the Beatles. Humorous and well done, you can see how all you have to do is insert a legend about karate and… well enjoy. "Beatles 1000 years later."

Also - Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO is less than 30 Days away from the first session in Seattle, the following week in Coventry. Click here for last minute details and easy, secure on line registration. Hope to see you Aug 14-15 in The U.S.A or Aug 21-22 in The U.K.

Lost Podcasts...

2010-07-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, I did a podcast called, "Martial Secrets." the server that I used was an excellent product, but they went out of business and that left me high and dry, with no easy way to Podcast. Frankly I find the mechanics of a podcast are a lot of work and the old company was so seamless in their operation nobody has yet to compare. I know you you technologically savvy people out there are saying, "All you have to do is..." but the bottom line is that I don't feel a need to battle technology; it works for me not the other way around.

Also doing a long-form interview format is difficult as it requires asking good questions, doing some research and knowing your subject, which is all time consuming, complex work.

Bottom line, technology, and the interviews consumed a lot of my time. However, going through some old files I found these interviews from several years ago and have posted them for you to hear. I hope to post more soon. In the meantime, enjoy these classic Martial Secrets.

By the way if you know someone you think might like this blog…pass on the link, your good words are the best endorsement anybody can have, I’d appreciate it.

As always, be well.

Oh… here is the link. Martial Secrets

"That's profiling Dad!"

2010-06-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

As we pulled into my parking space that weekday afternoon, in the alleyway two young men ambled. I said out loud, “They don’t belong here.” My son piped up, "That's profiling Dad, and that is sooooo wrong." These two young men in jeans, oversize T-shirts and red baseball caps cocked at a 45°…out of place and out of time. They dressed like punks, not full on gang. In the alley, not the sidewalk, to add to the formula they had no hurry in their step and a plastic bag hung form one of their hands. This might be trouble, nothing to act on, just enough of which to make note as daytime burglaries have been on the rise.

My son however, yells out the accusatory and pejorative; “Profiling!” What I heard was not, “That's profiling Dad..." what I heard was my son saying, "It’s wrong for you to make a threat assessment based on what you see."

A head shake joined my wide eyes as I began to channel the comedian Louis Black. I launched into my mini lecture on behaviors of the animal kingdom, common sense, how observing a potential threat is not a bad thing but in fact a very good thing!

My diatribe may not have completely washed away the slush of a notion from a society that teaches to not use your common sense, but I did make some headway.

Two days later, he said to me, "I saw those two guys again yesterday Dad, it looks like they're working on a house up the block and were just walking back from the minimart when we saw them."

Ah…lesson learned, lesson applied.

PS. Don’t forget to check out Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO - less then 2 months away.

It finally happened

2010-06-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

It finally happened.

Often I will grab somebody’s wrist at a seminar and boldly declare, “You ever seen a fight start this way?” Rarely does anybody say, “Yes.” My point is that other forms of attack are more common in today’s world and that a person should spend more of their limited time on other aspects of training, like a sucker punch, that sort of thing.

However today I have now seen it, an assault that not only involves a wrist grab but the even more exotic Cross Body Wrist Grab, long thought to be extinct and native to Japans feudal period, it is a rare sighting indeed. Watch as it is majestically employed in all its glory by Congressman Bob Etheridge.

Simply put a member of the U.S. Congress assaults a young student aping his best version of gorilla journalism. As a result we get a treat.

So - enjoy the rare and long thought extinct Cross Body Wrist Grab, and a little later in the video watch for the complete and utter dominance grab at the back of the neck, not as rare as the Cross Body Wrist Grab, but still used today by big cats and other members of the animal kingdom to delineate dominance.

Brilliant…

Drinking From a Fire Hose

2010-06-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

That is what one person called the Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO. Well maybe that is an exaggeration but what is not an exaggeration is the appreciation toward the number of people that have already signed up for the Crossing the pond Martial Expo, that is pretty darn cool.

As instructors we know what we are teaching, however some folks that have signed up early have piped up with a few suggestions on topics - and we are listening. Thanks much for your suggestions and early registration.

For those of you that are thinking about attending we will spare you the meaningless hyperbole - you know; “Limited Space!” “Don’t be left out!” “Sleep faster.” “Shatter space!” “Crush spleens with your fist!” or something like that.
Look, if you are thinking about don’t think too much about it, be one of the early registrants, and get on the mailing list.

You are going to be amazed by Al Peasland’s take on one-on-one combat. Iain Abernethy for the first time on U.S. soil - you’ve read the books, seen the videos, now work with the man for two days. Nicholas Yang, Yeah, Dr. Yang’s son. Nicholas has been training since he was eight years old. Nicholas is going to work Chinese Long fist and White Crane, heck I am looking forward to this part. As for Marc MacYoung, let's just say he is good at making social dysfunction functional, you know knives, fights, gangs, real situational stuff.

It might be kind of like drinking from a fire hose, but bring your note book, camcorder, cell phone, or whatever you need to capture as much information as you can.

The Crossing The Pond State side dates are August 14, 15. The U.K. dates are August 21, 22.

If you want the flyer for your school drop me a line on my personal email, you can’t get this flyer off the website: Kwilder@quidnunc.net

As always - be well.

Oh yeah the link…Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO

P.S. For those of you that dropped me a note, a good thought, or prayer for Lisa and her family, she is home healthy, weak, and well.

She woke-up...

2010-05-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

“She woke-up and asked for me, her mom and water.” Her husband said over his cell phone from the ICU. Lisa was awake. Now to everybody that took a moment, said a prayer, sent an intention, or a good thought…thank you.

Lisa will be out of the ICU later this week, the doctors are concerned and attentive to the possibility of pneumonia, but it looks good and soon she will be sporting a defibrillator. Eventually, not today, not tomorrow, but soon enough she will be back with her family, back to work, and back on the dojo floor. It all looks good from here.

God is good. You folks are good. It’s all good.

Thank you.

At a loss...

2010-05-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning the phone rings, “Hey Kris this is David, Lisa (his Wife and one of the black belts at the dojo) is in the hospital in an induced coma.” He says. He goes on to explain what had happened and how it all came to occur.

Shortly I stood in the critical care room with members of the family and other friends. I counted some twelve bags of fluids going into her arms and neck. The machines sounding off with pings, and the rhythmic respirator working diligently in the background gave credence to the seriousness of the moment. Will she be alright? I hope so, we all hope she will, and we all pray she will, we won’t know for sure for a few days. In the mean time everybody finds their own way in dealing with this.

Now, this is where this is supposed to be some pithy insight, to make this blog worth a read, tie it back to the martial arts, but I am at a loss for anything other than to string together a few tangential items and let you assemble them as you will.

Spending time on the dojo floor makes for a different and rich relationship with the others that chose this discipline…but hey, you knew that.

Seeing “One of the good people,” take a hit and out of the blue, is hard.

And when you are leaving the hospital and your teenage kid wants to put the car radio on his station and play it loud, the answer is, “Yeah, that's fine.”

In all of the years I have trained and taught I have taken less then ten people from white belt to black belt. Every student is special, they truly are, and some are also rare.

Now we wait. We wait for the doctors, the medicine, and the prayers. Hopefully the same diligence, and will that she has applied in the arts will hold her is good stead as this greatest test takes place.

Thanks for the patience and the read.

Karate Puritans

2010-05-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

About every other month, I get a phone call or an e-mail from a prospective student. These folks are what I call the Karate Puritans. The Puritans came from England to America (circa 16th and 17th century); they advocated more “purity of worship” and doctrine. When the Karate Puritans make contact, they start with a menu of, “Do you...?” You can append that with anything you would like at this point, because the testing has begun. After an indeterminate time of questioning they will find an issue of divergence, a possible deal breaker, and purity test.

By this point, it is clear that they are seeking something: a re-creation of what they once had, or maybe the purity of the one true way? I call them Karate Puritans but you get the point. The dojo has to be just so and the instruction should be just the way they have envisioned. At the end of the day, the Karate Puritans, while their cup is not empty, it is not full of technique or experience either. Instead, their cup is full of expectations, goals, and preconceptions of what should be. My experience is that often the Karate Puritans use the pattern to not train, to not get on the floor, to not apply themselves. They suffer from analysis paralysis.

Now some of the Karate Puritans have shown up at my dojo; sometimes they just watch, other times they train for awhile, but none of them stay for any amount of time. In fact, I cannot remember one ever staying and training for any significant amount of time. It is because they are busy finding a reason not to stay...and at the end of the day, that is OK.

I had quit drinking my coffee

2010-05-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

I had quit drinking my coffee; I just sat silently, listening to each part of the story as it unfolded. She and her husband had been the subject of a home invasion robbery.

Two men knocked on the door of their duplex and once they opened their door the two men burst in, one with a gun. The homeowners – one a priest and the other an attorney – found them at gun point and shouted at to “Give us the drugs!” while the other assailant ransacked the apartment.

More questions followed – something about a baby (yes, apparently the drug dealers they were seeking had a baby) and the names didn’t match. The criminals figured it out…they had the wrong duplex; they meant to go next door. And this is where the story really gave me chills. “They taped us up in our chairs so they could rob the duplex next door.” She said.

This scenario illustrates one of my personal “non-negotiables”—as a result, as she went on to tell the story, I found it hard to listen because of the adrenaline rush it produced in me just thinking about it. I had long ago decided that faced with such a situation, I would never allow myself to be tied up, and I was never going to allow myself to be transported. I would fight with all I had to not let these two things happen because they mean you are going to be executed.

It turned out, of course, that she was successful in her strategy of compliance and getting to know the attackers; it worked, she was here to tell me about it. After talking with her more, I think – and it is only an opinion – that this scenario was not the assailants’ intent, and this is why. The gun man stood close to them and he talked with them. The gun is a weapon of distance. Demanding no communication with the victim allows for objectification, which makes it psychologically easier to use the weapon to kill. That was not the pattern here, so it appears they had no intent to kill anybody, only threaten.

Now this event could have gone in any direction really fast, and there is a lot of information to plumb here. But my point is, my prior decision-making had kicked in (the adrenalin surge) even sitting over a cup of coffee and only listening to an event that happened to somebody else.

So, do you have a policy or two of action if such an event happened to you? What about an earthquake or flood, or even a car accident? A little preparation can go a long way.

The Process Should Not Be the Product

2010-04-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

The library is one of my favorite places and it is a wild contrast in what is possesses and how it provides it. Think of it this way. You can go to the library and get information on just about anything. My latest two requests have been “The Buck Owens Collection” and a book called “The HeartMath Solution.” The information is beyond imagination. However, the folks that work at the library, spare a few are dour, process-driven robototrons. The contrast is not lost on me. On the one hand, you have a rainbow of information: magazines, DVD, CD’s, VHS, Classics, Sci-Fi, you name it. A treasure trove of wonderful things to explore! But the people behind the counter have none of the joy that comes with learning and sharing information with others. I watch them take their smoke breaks on the mark; there is one woman, I am sure if she smiled it would break her face! I have gone out of my way as a personal challenge to get to her smile; two months, no success yet.

Everybody leaves work on the button and does not arrive one second early. They are all about process, “Place the book here, enter your code, and please leave the book in place until the computer tells you to remove it.” They are sapped of all creativity and enjoyment of life; they have just become the process.

If I ever become the process, in my life or my martial art pull me from my La-Z-Boy chair, drag me to the street and beat me until I snap out of it.

Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO

2010-04-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO - 5 Instructors 2 Cities, 2 Continents

Iain Abernethy, Marc “Animal” MacYoung, Al Peasland, Kris Wilder, and Nicholas Yang come together for one seminar to be held both in the U.K. and the U.S. The first annual “Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO” features the Chinese Arts, Okinawan Karate, Street Fighting, Self Defense and Applied Karate all on one floor for two days.

The U.S. event will be taking pace on the 14th and 15th of August and the U.K. event a week later on the 21st and 22nd of August.

You expect great information and training and we are going to give it to you.

This seminar is open to all adult martial artists - regardless of background, style and level of ability - who wish to develop competence in a wide range of martial skills. The training will be a combination of the physical and the theoretical (including short lectures and presentations). A certificate of attendance - signed and stamped by the instructors - will be issued to all participants.

Click HERE for background on all the instructors

Alan Peasland Video Preview: Click Here
Iain Abernethy Video Preview: Click Here
Kris Wilder Audio Introduction: Click Here

This unique, not-to-be-missed seminar is expected to fill up very quickly. I could go on and on but for a lot more information just visit the “CROSSING THE POND" WEBSITE (this is also Iain Abernethy’s first time in the States - so don’t miss that).

So, if you are looking for that one seminar this year the gives you the most bang for your buck, Crossing the Pond Martial X-PO is the one.

3 Principals

2010-04-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your support. Many of you have already signed up. To continue to get notices regarding this this blog, you will need to sign-up under "Followers" in the lower right hand corner of this blog - it is easy to do and keeps you in the loop. - Kris+

I am a big fan of Rene Descartes, I have read much of his work (not all of it do I understand…yet) and his biography. Further I have written about him before. Descartes said something that really applies to the martial arts, and I paraphrase, “The best government has few rules and those rules are strictly enforced.” Wow that is some tight and deep thinking. And it absolutely applies to the martial arts; the best martial arts have few rules and those are strictly followed.” would be one way to put it. So here is the challenge to you. Find, three and no more than three guiding principals that guide your art. More than three is too much - if you get it to two that is good. However three is the number needed to create a pattern so three is the magic number.

Examples might be, “Defang the Snake” as the Pilipino arts might say, or Judo might say, “Create imbalance.” Aikido, “Keep the center.” And there are more for each of those and more for other arts. So as Descartes might ask, “What are your three guiding principals that you must have to execute your art and how are they rigidly enforced?”

Smith’s Rules of Design #4

2010-04-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

This is number four of four blogs based on “Smith’s Rules of Design” from the August 2008 issue of “Popular Mechanics”:

4. Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication

Nature builds complexity out of simple commands. Flowers, bugs and you, all made up of simple commands, repetitive, simple commands. The biggest rock in the world is in Australia. Uluru, also referred to as Ayers Rock, has outlasted everything man has ever built, and likely will ever build. Simple, elegant, exactly what it is supposed to be, the world’s biggest rock.

The old saying goes, “Dumb as a rock.” However, when it comes to the simplicity of being what it is supposed to be (built out of simple commands) Uluru has us all beat. To put it in today’s vernacular, (K.I.S.S.) Keep It Simple Stupid.

It is important, in my opinion, that your martial arts reflect this understanding that “Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.”

HOUSEKEEPING: Many of you have already signed up, but do remember I am changing programs soon. To continue to get this blog, you will need to sign-up under "Followers" in the lower right hand corner of this blog - it is easy to do and keeps you in the loop. Thanks for your support- Kris

Smith’s Rules of Design #3

2010-04-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Continuing the theme from the last two weeks, this is #3 in a series of four articles based “Smith’s Rules of Design” from the August 2008 issue of “Popular Mechanics”:

3. Transferring Technology is Good; Transferring the Skill to Improve the Technology is Better.

If you are an instructor you have the responsibility to transfer the skill of improving technique to your students. If you are not, you are remiss in your duty to your students. You know that old saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime?” Well this is the same. You as a teacher must have the desire and the vision to teach your students the skills of discernment and exploration.

By discernment, I mean the ability of the student to understand what is going on and to use good judgment. And to follow along that line, exploration is defined in terms of seeking the next horizon. These two make a potent combination. Instilling these two skills means that you students can venture and learn anywhere and will know the difference between, the good and the garbage.

HOUSEKEEPING: Remember I am changing programs soon. To continue to get this blog, you will need to sign-up under "Followers" in the lower right hand corner of this blog - it is easy to do and keeps you in the loop. Thanks for your support- Kris

Smith’s Rules of Design #2

2010-03-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

As I noted last week, while in the doctor’s office I came across an article in the August 2008 issue of “Popular Mechanics” titled, “Smith’s Rules of Design." Because the rules apply so well to the martial arts, I wanted to write about each of them separately.

This is number two in a series of four.

2. Study the Problem

The Scientific Method of studying a problem reads this way:

1. Define the question
2. Gather information and resources (observe)
3. Form hypothesis
4. Perform experiment and collect data
5. Analyze data
6. Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis

The Scientific Method has gotten the modern world very far and is the standard of research, good stuff, imperial evidence, and reductive thinking. If you use these six points in trying to discern your art, you will go very far.

However, the greatest martial artists we have seen have been, as the title implies, artists. They have, or have had, the ability to take a situation and intuit, or sense, the situation without much reasoning. They have, through hours of practice, studied the problem. And after some time they have blended the scientific with the art and solved the problem.

Smith’s Rules of Design #1

2010-03-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

While in the doctor’s office I came across an article in the August 2008 issue of “Popular Mechanics” titled, “Smith’s Rules of Design." Because the rules apply so well to the martial arts, over the next four blogs I am going to address each of them separately.

1.” If You Want to Make Something 10x Cheaper, Remove 90% of the Material.”

That is clear, clean stuff. I interpreted it to have two possible meanings: 1) cheaper means faster to make and get it in operation, or 2) whatever is made is not going to last. A one-day self-defense seminar is 10x cheaper because 90% of the material has been removed. There is no history, tradition, discipline, dedication, self-exploration, and several other items. Now the other thing is that cheaper is frequently associated with poor quality and that is not often true. If you define the item by its use then maybe it is not cheap? If my goal is to build ships that move troops quickly and are designed just for that, then is the troop transport cheap, or efficient, or both?

So the question is, what is over-engineered in our lives? After a little audit on my part, I threw out three bags of meaningless garbage, gave some stuff away, and streamlined some training at the dojo. And it was all done right away.

Here is an example of Smith’s Rules of Designs #1 applied to a wind generator - brilliant.

"I got a good fight for you!"

2010-03-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

So one of my brown belts comes to class and says, “I have good fight story for you!” Randy is a plumber and on the job site tempers can flare as the days get long; and, well, they definitely did that day.

Two of Randy’s co-workers had decided to settle their differences with a little fisticuffs. The morning had started poorly and by the afternoon the little verbal barbs had escalated into full-on “F-bombs” going both ways. It had become personal and the fight was on. In one part of the client’s back yard the two squared off; on one side of the small patch of lawn there was Ed, a fifty-year-old U.S. Navy veteran, and on the other side, Don, a twenty-one-year-old buck just ready to go.

Randy said they squared off fists up like boxers and Ed threw the first blow: a steel-toed construction boot kick to Don’s right shin. Don went down as Ed just stood there and let the twenty-one-year-old get back to his feet. “That’s not fair! We’re boxing!” yelled Don. “OK,” said Ed, “We’ll just box now.” They squared up again, hands held up ready to box. Pow! Ed delivered the first strike again: another steel-toed boot to Don’s same shin. Don went down and didn’t get back up to continue the fight.

Ed, the fifty-year-old U.S. Navy man could have jumped on Don when he was on the ground, but he didn’t. There was no point in doing that; Ed had made his point and order was restored on the job site.

Ed had lied to Don, and Don foolishly believed him.

Rules…yeah.

My Friend and his Phone Number

2010-03-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

Way back when I used to judge the importance of a friend by one simple test, did I know their phone number? Not stored in my phone, or written down, but in my head. This leads me to this simple statement. We don’t store information in ourselves anymore, and that is bad for martial arts skills. Yup, seen it on Youtube, did it once, seen it…sure, but can you do it?

Having run into this a couple of times while working some seminars it started to become a little more frequent in, say the last year, now I not getting all judgmental here, just observational. I think information is good, especially when it is transferred into wisdom. But just having information, just having seen it, just being familiar with it is not the same as ingraining it into your fiber.

Ask any person who ever wrestled, “Did you ever drill sprawls?” and the answer is going to be some form of, “Yes” follows by a grin, moan, or eye roll. But follow-up with the next question, “It worked for you right?” And the answer is, “Yes” again. They didn’t just look at the sprawl and say, “Ok, got it” coach made sure they worked it, over and over. Ask any judoka about uchikomi, ask a karateka about kihon ido. It is all the same.

So the question this, do you know the phone number of your best technique, or is it stored elsewhere.

The Internets

2010-03-02T05:33:00.001-08:00

The other day I bought a record album off the Internet for the first time (look at me… “record album”!). It wasn’t too hard; within thirty seconds I had a fresh digitally downloaded copy of Johnny Adams sings Doc Pomus.

The other day I had a parent ask me, “How much longer until my kid gets a black belt?” These two instances are very different and yet identical. The commonality is immediacy. A generation ago that would have been unthinkable. Well, to be honest, in my youthful ignorance and impatient attitude I did ask once…, but, oooohh. I didn’t do that again. It was just not done.

But today I have to handle those sorts of , “When is my next test?” questions differently than my instructor did back then. The reason is that most people buy a song off the web just like I did the other day. They used a fast pass to pay the toll on the bridge, not stopping, just whizzing by. They used a bus pass they renewed off the web. Heck, nobody waits in line for concert tickets anymore. So in a world where many needs are almost met instantly, why would the martial arts be any different?

The difference is this. To buy a really good musical instrument, say, a guitar, you go shopping. You need to go feel it; you might do some research, but the purchase of an expensive musical instrument takes time and actual physical contact. It is something you can’t get on the web or with a fast pass for tolls. You have to spend time and feel the art. And just like a good musician meld with the great instrument. you need to meld yourself with the techniques of your art.

The one thing that can’t be compressed and e-mailed is the dojo floor.

Chicken Wire, Black Paint and Neon, Oh, My!

2010-02-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I took part in a seminar with Rory Miller, the author of, “Meditations on Violence.” Instead of the usual training hall-type environment, however, the seminar was held at a night club in down town Seattle called Motor, owned by one of my students, Travis.

What an environment: chicken wire, tables, chairs, black paint and neon!

Rory takes people places they have never been when it comes to scenarios, not because they don’t want to go, but because the scenarios he presents, and the potential aftermath of the decisions made at the moment of such, have never occurred to them.

Without going into specifics, Rory took the group through one scenario that involved a shooting and in two short sentences took a person to a point where they broke one of the primary tenets of their professional training and put their life at risk. The section wasn’t about right or wrong, it was about knowing your own internal rules and how that affects your decision making.

The club made a big difference when it came to the hands-on aspect of the seminar – people going hand-to-hand and rolling underneath the bar, others going stand up in the middle of the dance floor, and someone choking another with a the rope line normally used for crowd control. It was all well managed, good practice, educational and a heck a lot of fun.

It was fantastic, and truly eye opening…a real channel changer.

Again, big thanks to Travis for opening his club, Motor, for us to use for the Rory Miller Seminar. And an even bigger thanks to the participants – smart, fun, educated, and controlled people with tons of experience of their own, willing to suck up every bit of information possible.

If you are not familiar with Rory Miller find out more here: Rory Miller Link

Teenage Girl Gets Beat Down

2010-02-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

OK, a teenage girl gets beat down, savagely, in a Metro Bus tunnel by another teen. And it all happens in front of paid, contracted security. Everybody is pulling their hair out over this. All the radio talk shows are going off, some calling out the manliness of the guards, companies defending the security guards, governments calling for reviews, and politicians outraged.

Everybody is in a dust up, screaming that something should have, could have, and would have been done. Me, I am going to blow right past that folderol and say this: Violence happens; there are bad people out there, intent on doing you harm. There always have been and will be.

This girl that kicked the other girl in the head; she is one of the bad people.
Now for what is the crux of this event.

What would you expect from a society that teaches compliance? From an early age, children are taught to not take matters into their own hands, to instead seek out an authority figure that has the right and the power to make things right. Further, as a kid you are taught that the defender often gets the same punishment as the offender. For example, a common policy in schools today is that both kids get expelled for fighting. So, in the Bus Tunnel incident you have security guards that likely have been taught that there is no reward for intervention,only punishment.

Now, before you go off and suggest that I think fighting resolves issues, no, my track record is pretty clear. What I am saying is you have a right to defend yourself.

The more you pull on this thread the more aspects of this event unravel, but I want to stick to this narrow point.

We now have:

1. A strata of society that follows the rules they have established for reasonable and safe interaction

2. The bad people intuitively understand that all those other people are an easy resource

These bad people know that the others will seek authority and that takes time and further that authority, often, is a paper tiger.

After review, the policies will be found to be in order; however, they will be changed a little. The guards will keep their jobs because they followed polices (and if terminated will have grounds for a lawsuit for wrongful termination). The girl that got beaten down will have a pile of medical bills and possible long- term injury. The bad girl that kicked the bejesus out of the other one will wind up in court and placed on some form of parole. And the rest of the people will avoid the bus tunnel because bad things happen there.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Also if you need more information on violence get it here: Rory Miller, the Author of Meditations on Violence, at West Seattle Karate Academy, Sat, Feb 20th. More Info

Here is the security camera footage for your review.

A Couple of Days Ago

2010-02-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I got an e-mail from a guy, Maj. Boone, regarding one of our books, The Way of Kata. Not unusual; I field e-mails daily, but this one just hit me in a way that I was not expecting.

This might sound self congratulatory, but if you have read this blog for any amount of time you know that deflection is a part of my nature. In fact, the deflection has become a joke with my frequent co-author Lawrence Kane in that he has called me Eeyore after the dour old donkey from Winnie the Pooh.

So when I get a picture like this one of our book, The Way of Kata, I am sheepishly proud that our book has made it into the hands of those who serve. Now Maj. Boone is not the first person in uniform to read the book, but he sent this picture and frankly I just can’t resist a picture of him holding our book somewhere far, far away from where I live.

So, far from being Eeyore at this moment, I feel pretty puffed up that a guy with many, many years of karate experience and a pile of real-world experience finds value in our work.

Thanks for the indulgence.

Obsession in the Pursuit

2010-01-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

Often I have said to people that, “I will watch a blacksmith work, if they are good.” Fever, a deep desire, not only discipline but great skill, and, nay I say – art. It intrigues me, art does, and it is not hard to find art in the martial arts, and art at all levels. When I go to tournaments and watch kata I often am not looking for perfection, I am looking for understanding and then an expression of that understanding.

But this little blog is about what happens before the understanding and the expression. It is what comes from the desire, the discipline, and then the explosion of creativity, personalization and, well, beauty.

It is the discipline that borders on obsession. In watching the documentary, “It Might Get Loud,” my son and I listened to Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Jack White of The White Stripes and The Edge from U2 talk about the formation of their art…fascinating. Jack White took his bed out of his room to make room for musical equipment. Jimmy Page left a well-paying studio job because it stifled his creativity to the point of deep frustration. The Edge realized that it was about the attitude and the emotion for him. Jack White challenges himself today by having instruments a little out of place on stage, just a step too far from where it aught to be just just add a sense of urgency . All three of these men pushed into the unknown in pursuit of their art.

Kata should be approach as art on one level, and the pursuit of the kata should, in my opinion, have all of the elements that I touched on: a fever, desire, even obsession. The pursuit of kata should involve the desire the desire to achieve more that skill, but become art. . And let me be clear the word obsession, it teeters on imbalance. Hmmmm… teetering on the edge of imbalance – where the action is in pursuit of art.

One Who Reflects Upon

2010-01-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Recently a museum in the U.S. state of Ohio was disappointed to find that the lock of Amelia Earhart’s hair they sent to a DNA lab turned out not to be a lock of hair, but instead a piece thread.

The moral of the story is that you should question, and questions a lot – especially when it comes to the martial arts, boxing wrestling, or what have you. Now I am not talking about militant rejections and the assumption that everything you run into might be false, just metered skepticism.

And let me be clear: I mean skepticism in the terms of its original usage rooted in the Greek word “skeptikos” – one who reflects upon something.

Many folks reflect on the micro aspect of their training, what is this movement for? How is it applied? I would submit that you should also be reflecting upon the purpose of your training. I recently asked every student in the beginning adults class one night, “Why are you training here?” What I got back was enlightening. I got immediate answers like; “To get tougher,” “To learn an art”, and “To get exercise and learn something too.” And a few people stuttered as they had not really thought too much about what they were doing and why; they just felt the draw to come to a dojo.

As with the museum, it was assumed that the thread was Amelia Earhart’s hair, and it was only thread. You martial arts is assumed to be something, but is it? Have you really sat down and reflected on the reason why you are doing what you are doing? I did, and after a long internal conversation I began to pare it down, to chip away at the words, reducing the paragraph to a couple of sentences and reducing that even more. Finally I got it down to one word. And that was it: the reason that I train.

So I recommend that you take the time and reflect on your art, relax, take time and be brutal in your editing until you get to the core and know if you are looking at a thread or a hair.

I thought I would have a dojo of fire eaters…

2010-01-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

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Upon opening my first dojo in 1984, I had many ideas of what it would be like. And over the course of the years my idea of what my dojo should be like and what attributes it should have have changed.

The core is still there; the ideas that I started with are still present. I really wanted my dojo to be a place where people achieved; grew in their martial skills; and, frankly, became really proficient at karate. I hope that those goals are still being met, I believe they are being met, and yet sometimes things take on a flavor I hadn’t expected.

The dojo has turned into a place where some people that I would say have been dealt a less-than- perfect set of cards in life are able to participate – a safe place for them to challenge themselves and to find a little something new inside their self concept that they may not have known about prior to walking into the dojo.

Tim came to the dojo with some training under his belt. He came from a life that was way below the poverty line; he had lived there his entire existence, and, further, had dropped out of high school. As his story became known around the dojo, there were no shaming whispers among the members. Instead what he got was encouragement – encouragement that he could find a better life than the one he had known.

Soon after joining the dojo Tim went to work to get his GED, an equivalent high school degree. He worked during the day and went to school at night, putting his karate training aside for his education. He then turned his sights on the Army; he saw potential to make a career of the military, passed the exams and off he went.

I like to think that the support he received from the people at the dojo made the difference – helping him realize what he could achieve and that he was not bound by the proverbial cards he was dealt.

Tim showed potential, desire, and commitment, and those happen to be the kind of attributes a dojo wants to foster.

So in the end maybe my goals for the dojo have not changed that much but instead are able to come to bear in the right place and the right way.

Thank You

2010-01-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend something really special happened to my frequent co-author, Lawrence Kane, and me. Our newest book, “The Little Black Book of Violence,” was at #128 on Amazon.com, and that was over all... yeah in every category they have.

It was #1 in martial arts and violence and society as well. When Lawrence called and told me about it my initial reaction was that there was a computer error. However it wasn’t.

To put this ranking on Amazon.com in perspective, the last book with such a specific focus that I think got this close was Gavin DeBeker’s, “The Gift of Fear.” In our opinion that is some pretty special atmosphere.

What we want to say is, thank you. Thank you for finding value in the work we do. Thank you for choosing to spend your money on our books, and we hope that our future works continue to meet your standards.

Thank you,

Lawrence and Kris

Enter the Dragon

2009-12-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

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If you are not familiar with Rory Miller you will want to be after you read this post. Here are some contact points you will want to come back to after you read this blog.

Rory Miller
Blog: Chiron Training Blog
Website: Chiron Training
Books: YMAA

Enter the Dragon

You have three minds. Depending on how you look at it, you may have more and in the end you only have one brain… but for our purposes you have three.

Your human mind is thoughtful and aware, reasonable if not always purely logical. You are not in this mode nearly as often as you think you are. When you are, you weigh the costs and do the right thing regardless. You live up to your highest ideals.

Your animal mind, your lizard brain, is older. It is concerned with you as a physical animal- it deals with danger and hunger and movement. When you are in your animal mind, you move like an animal, like an athlete. It is pure. It can be vicious and it is ruthless. It is older than human concerns like justice or mercy…

In the middle is your monkey mind. We evolved from social primates- animals that lived in tight groups completely dependent on the group for survival. Our interdependence drove an evolution toward social skills and social strategies to deal with conflict. Your monkey mind is concerned, always and obsessively, with what other people will think about you.

You are rarely in just your lizard mind. When absolute terror kicks in and you break out of fight-flight-freeze and just act, it is an animal thing. Sometimes a few feel it when they have trained for a long time and hit the zone, a mushin where they can act with absolute grace and without conscious thought. Many, today, only hit this zone playing video games, where they have trained to reflex on the controls and can play without registering what exactly they are pretending to do or caring who might see.

It is just as rare to be in your human mind. When you have done the right thing even though people you care about will be angry; when you have stood by the facts even though everyone said it was wrong… When Galileo recanted the truth out of fear of the church, he gave up his human mind and did what a monkey would do.

As much as we are ever just in one of these minds, it is the monkey. Obsessed with the tribe, with others: Angsting over how other people really feel, worrying whether someone really likes you, following celebrity gossip (on what world is it important who Angelina and Brad even are?) concerns about whether you blend in enough or stand out too much… This is monkey stuff. The insecurity of an animal who needs a community because it knows it is too weak to survive in the wild on its own.

The monkey mind interacts with the other two obsessively. When a gunshot goes off and people start looking around to see what other people are doing, that’s the monkey mind. When you don’t duck or hit the dirt because you are afraid of what people will think, that’s the monkey mind. And when your first instinct is to slam the door in a stranger’s face and you don’t because ‘that would be rude’ that is the monkey mind. In all of those cases, people have died or been raped because they were worried about what others would think.

It interferes with the human mind as well. Writers struggle constantly with the ‘inner critic’- the voice constantly whispering to them to give up, that they aren’t good enough, don’t know enough. The monkey mind is just as concerned with being too special, too successful, as it is with being rude or looking silly. Being too good can also push you out of the tribe. Monkeys die if they are alone.

Same with every incident of hiding the truth or ass-covering or sucking up: the monkey wants to belong, and that need to belong is more important than the truth or, often, even survival.

And that is huge, because the monkey mind doesn’t distinguish between physical death and humiliation or isolation. Any profound change in you, even learning a new skill, might terrify the monkey. It sees change as what some call “ego death”. Your monkey mind constantly fights to keep you in your comfort zone, where nothing changes. No matter how much that comfort zone sucks to your human mind (when you don’t live up to your potential; when you feel the shame of taking the easy way instead of the right way) or your lizard mind (and so people die rather than take the chance that fighting might be rude or running might seem cowardly). Your own monkey brain will fight you if what you need to do to survive might impact social standing.

This impacts martial artists profoundly. When training becomes a hierarchical series of ritual it recreates the monkey tribe. Socially secure, everyone knows their places and what to do… but that’s not really what martial arts is about. Is it?

When students are afraid to ask why or how something works, or when students continue to practice flawed technique because even though they can’t make it work it looks right, then the monkey has won.

Martial arts should be about the human mind and the lizard mind. Developing an ethical understanding of force and violence and educating and training an animal body to new levels of efficiency. Martial arts should be, fundamentally, about empowering students.

When the training caters to the monkey mind, it robs the students of power. It cripples students who may, some day, need to do the right thing (human brain) with absolute efficiency (lizard brain) to survive. The monkey has no place here.

When you silence the chattering monkey (meditation works for some, simply recognizing it works for others) and get the human mind and lizard brain to work together*, you have something new. Something that uses the human abilities and virtues- thoughtfulness, righteousness, planning, goal setting and decision making- with the deep abilities of the ancient lizard- efficiency, ruthlessness and absolute focus.

Enter the Dragon.

I Hired a Judo-Ka

2009-12-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

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Yup, I did. Years ago I had a business that was expanding into the next city, and I needed somebody to run the store. My business partner and I had talked about some of the options: placing an ad, looking for a referral, that kind of thing; however, none of those had really worked for us in the past. So I thought, what are we really looking for? We want quality, dedication and a can-do attitude, but we also needed somebody that could deal with a potentially contentious public, somebody that could hold their own in any situation. I then remembered this guy, Byron, a judo-ka. He wasn’t in my division so I never fought him, but because his matches were always earlier in the day than mine I had watched him fight quite a bit. I called another judo friend Bob, and began to describe Byron to him as he most likely would know him and at the time I didn’t know his name. Bob did, and through him I was able to get in contact with Byron. Turns out, he was looking for work and was interested. After an interview with me and my business partner, we hired him. The point of the story is, he turned out to be everything we had hoped he would be; not to mention he had a great sense of humor as well. The martial arts showed his character on the mat; he never displayed a victory dance, he always bowed, and got along with others in his division. People liked him and respected him as a judo competitor and those things invariably translate to the “real world” as well. In a nutshell, he had the job before he ever opened his mouth.

Psy-ki-do - Gross motor skills and preparing the witnesses

2009-11-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

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Pat Parker here from Mokuren Dojo.

Kris has graciously agreed to let me guest post on this fabulous blog and look at the crazy article I sent him! This is the latest in a series of posts on what I'm calling "Psy-ki-do;" A set of psychological (or psychobabble) ideas on the combative arts. You can see the previous posts here on Dojo Rat's blog and here on Marks' Blog.
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Today I wanted to start by suggesting it as axiomatic that if your martial art features lots of super-effective, throat-punching, neck-wrenching, arm-mangling, face-smashing techniques as your first-line response to violence, then you might be setting yourself up for some legal issues if you ever have to use your martial art to defend yourself. I've mentioned this idea before in a post about a great lecture that I heard Nimr Hassan give.
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Sure, I've heard that old adage, "I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six," but I submit to you that if there is anyone in the world that can make you wish you were dead, it's probably a lawyer! Today's Psy-ki-do hint is intended to get you thinking about how you can learn to defend yourself against yourself.
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Aikido has an advantage in this realm of self-defense. Though the techniques of aikido have the potential to break and cripple and destroy, that is not their first mode-of-use. The aikido ideal is to avoid the aggression, control the aggressor if you have to, and only injure or destroy only if the aggressor forces the issue through imprudent action. This ideal is often put into practice by evasion and simple pushes - gross motor skills that are generally thought to be easier to learn and remember under stress anyway. See, it is much easier to justify something like this:
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"Yeah, this crazy guy jumped at me and I was scared to death so I got out of his way and pushed him off of me. I think he tripped and fell down when I pushed him."
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... than this...
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"Yeah, the guy swung a roundhouse punch at me, so I slipped it and gave him a swift hook to the ribs, bending him over and setting him up for this great neck crank my instructor showed me! Worked like a charm. Bastard really had it coming!"
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And here's the cool Psy-ki-do trick: Not only is evasion and pushing effective and probably easier to defend legally, but if you train yourself to start shouting something like, "Hey! Stop! Don't hurt me! Help! Get off me!" as you start your evasion and pushing techniques, then you are sending a message to any by-standers that you are clearly the defender and not the aggressor. If you are shouting this sort of thing as you are running away and pushing the attacker off of you then it will be very hard for any witnesses to identify what you are doing as a definite martial arts technique designed to cripple or kill - even if the bad guy does happen to fall and break himself when you push him off of you.
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So, two take-away points:

• Consider how you can use these two gross motor patterns (walk and push) effectively in all of your self defense techniques.

• Practice shouting for help as a way of preparing any witnesses to testify in your favor.

Tradition and Bunny Hops

2009-11-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

Bunny hops – putting your hands behind your head and hopping around the dojo floor – is bad for your knees. And several other exercises that don’t come to mind right now are in the same category of “seemed like a good idea sixty years ago” and today we know are not. We know much more about physiology, the functions of the human body and its parts, than we did half a century ago. Further, we live longer than we used to which means that the practice of maintaining the body is even more important. I mean where are you going to live for the rest of your life? In that vein I took a look at some of the exercises that we have and might use in the warm-up before class, and I have quietly dropped some of them.

I am not bound by tradition when empirical evidence proves that an exercise I was taught is not getting the job done, and, in fact, may be causing injury. Now that is an easy thing to do; drop or change an exercise because of evidence that it doesn’t work. The question is, why is that so hard when it is an interpretation of a technique?

Look at it this way: I will drop an exercise like a hot potato if evidence proves that it might injure me. Why, then, will I not do the same when the evidence proves a self-defense technique might get me seriously hurt? Here is the question for you: is the hesitancy to drop a known interpretation that will get you hurt because of an allegiance to the instructor? The system you bought into? Or is it just a lack of really taking a look at what is being done? So, what do you say it is?

Awareness

2009-10-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

Image by andreasnilsson1976 via Flickr

When I hear some martial artist saying, “The first step in self-defense is being aware,” I go into anaphylactic shock. That phrase is the martial arts equivalent of the pointy-haired boss from the Dilbert comic strip telling you to “Work smarter, not harder.”

Worthless…absolutely worthless.

But then it continues with. “You need to look both ways before you put your keys in the car,” and, “You need to have an escape route.” OK, all well and good, but I want to take you a little further. Gavin Debecker’s book, “The Gift of Fear” presents two key points:

1) Trust your gut reaction

2) Criminals are clever and very good at what they do

Then he dives into the breakdown of those two points, demonstrating the permutations of criminal behavior, and carefully outlines the types and actions they will take. He instructs readers how to recognize pattern and form to give their gut reaction credence.

The recognition of pattern is a form of wisdom.

Here is a drill you can do:

How many times have you been to an event (sports, and concerts are best) when you see or hear some yelling, and everybody looks and turns toward the disturbance? That is a disruption of pattern - get it? So, now you need to get better by watching for the small disturbance, and by that I mean what doesn’t fit, what is slightly out of place, and then put it in the context of the moment. You can ask yourself a lot of questions, but the best one to ask is what every method actor in the world has been trained to ask, “What is my motivation?” See the disturbance and find the motive. Could the motive be violence to another? Violence to protect themselves? Rage? Alcohol? Drugs?

Now, of course, this is a science and I can’t address the totality of it in a brief post, and there are numerous books and seminars on this as it is an art unto itself, but I feel better now having spouted off.

P.S. If you have not followed Debecker, or want a refresher here you are:

THE WUDAO (BUDO) SPIRIT

2009-10-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

If you don’t know who Phillip Starr is, well here is your chance. He is a great guy and has a ton of knowledge. You can find his books and more information on him and his art here: Amazon.com --- Kris

It was during my last year of high school back in 1967 that I decided to attend Tokyo University. I frankly didn't care one whit about which university I attended; I wanted to go to Japan and study the martial arts - especially karate. I wrote to Master Masutatsu ("Mas") Oyama, who was the founder of the Kyokushin style of karate. I held a black belt grade in his system and discovered that he allowed a certain number of foreigners to live in the honbu dojo (headquarters training hall) each year. I had visions of waking up, cleaning the dojo, working out for a short time before breakfast...what a life! Ah, but life had different plans for me.

I was accepted at Tokyo University and Mr. Oyama actually wrote me back and invited me to stay at his dojo...but try as I might, I couldn't get enough money put together to bring this dream into reality. I still have that letter that the legendary "god-hand' (Mr. Oyama) sent me. One of his statements stuck in my head and it's still there. For some years I couldn't figure out exactly what he meant but as I matured and kept training, I came to understand it. He wrote, "I always look forward to teaching my foreign students in Japan. The most important thing for them to learn while they are here is spirit..." He said that it was the most difficult thing to teach Westerners.

What Master Oyama was talking about has nothing to do with religion, ghosts, or any of that sort of thing. What he was referring to is the very glue that holds together each aspect of the martial ways of the East. It is very a very real, almost palpable thing although it cannot be weighed, measured, seen, heard, or tasted... But without it, there are no true martial arts - just exercise and dance routines. You cannot really understand this concept through intellectualizing about it. Talking or reading about it may help you acquire a basic grasp of its meaning but to truly know it you must experience it directly. It isn't something that you try to experience from time to time - it's something that has to be strengthened, refined, and lived every day. To find a simple definition of it is far from simple. It is a striving for perfection - perfection of technique, perfection of form, perfection of physical skill - and these lead to perfection of character, proper behavior, correct etiquette at all times, and consideration and respect for yourself and others.

You don't seek perfection only within the boundaries of your chosen martial art. At first, that seems to be the goal but with time, introspection, and incessant training, you seek perfection in everything you do. It begins with relentless training of the body, which leads to training and refinement of the mind. This means training daily. In the East, it's understood and accepted that training in any martial discipline is going to be painful and new students accept that (for the most part). In the West, things are very different. In our society, any form of discomfort is to be avoided.

If training in aikido or kendo or any other martial form results in bumps, bruises, sprains, strains, and other assorted "ouchies", we either discontinue practicing until we feel that we're properly healed up or we might quit altogether. In short, we're wimps. The find and develop this spirit, you must train daily even when you don't feel like it. You have to push yourself and find the strength to go on even when your body or mind feels like giving up. Now, I'm not encouraging you to practice when you have a serious injury or illness.

Spirited training doesn't mean that you should be foolish...but it does mean being mature, tough, and unwilling to accept anything short of perfection. It means that you're unwilling to accept any excuses that you make up for yourself as to why you just can't practice every day, why your punch, kick, iai kata, or whatever, just isn't up to snuff. No excuse is acceptable...to you. It means being a useful and productive member of your community and society. It means being sincere and honest, and it means being honorable and standing up for what is right. It's not something that you strive to develop and feel only when you don your practice uniform or attend your martial arts class. If that's what you're doing, then you're just playing "make believe" and your training will come to nothing. You either dive in head-first and immerse yourself in it or you stay out of it altogether. It's not something that you can do on a part-time basis.

You have to want to learn badly enough that you won't allow anything (I repeat...anything) to stand in your way. Words like "quit" are not a part of your vocabulary when speaking of your training or doing anything else that you set your hand and mind to do. To you, such ideas are shameful and unacceptable. This kind of constant training will reveal to you, as well as your teacher and many of your classmates, much about your personal makeup. All of the ugliness and flaws, as well as the beauty of your personality and spirit will be laid bare. Your true self will be unveiled. This can be more than a little unnerving but it is part and parcel of traveling the path of the martial ways. You must determine that even if your desire to learn should lead you to your own death, you'll do it. I know this probably sounds a bit melodramatic but that's how it truly is. The price for learning and acquiring a high level of skill in genuine martial arts can be very high and it involves much more than dollars and cents.

Contact Info: Email: pdstarr@cox.net

Black Eyes and Mat Rash

2009-10-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

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The other day I stood up off the mat and I knew that I was going to be sporting some bruises from the grabbing and twisting of my gi. The guy I got up off of was looking through a swollen eye, and we both had grins on our faces, because a quick cat and mouse game of ne-waza (ground work) had come to an end.

The next day his eye was a little swollen and my upper arms and chest had some nice purple discolorations and a few scratches. “Macho!,” you scream, “You idiots are doing nothing but macho head butts!” Well, I would have to disagree with your charge. Let me explain the difference. Nobody was hurt, we worked fast and strong, but nobody needed ice, or a wrap, or a doctor for that matter. And that is the difference. None of the minor rashes we had would stop us from competing that weekend - in any sport. Conversely if you are saying, “Yeah I would like to compete but I was training so hard that I separated my shoulder.” Then that is macho and it deserves to be called out.

Look, injuries, accidents, mishaps, happen but training to the point of consistent and constant injury – that is wrong. Does the National Football League train like that? Nope; in fact, I would like you to point to any professional sport that trains recklessly, because they don’t. Money is on the line with the pros and that - is - the - bottom - line. You should be just as smart. A black eye and some mat rash are part of fun training, true injury is not. Know the difference.

A Prophet in Your Own Land

2009-09-28T01:48:00.000-07:00

There is an old saying that a person cannot be a prophet in his or her own land. Moreover, it is actually quite true, and speaks to a very pervasive attitude that most of us, I will assume, have succumbed to at one time or another.

A personal example that comes to mind concerns a guy on my local sports radio station named Softy. I often listen to sports radio – even though my teams are terrible I cannot help myself.

So, one day I was in the dojo cleaning up and listening to Softy on the radio. It occurred to me, “I remember Softy when he was an intern, doing all the odd jobs, bad slots and fill in work that this station needed, and today he has a prime morning spot." At one point in the broadcast, I found myself disagreeing with what he had to say regarding one of the local sports teams. I said to myself, "I knew you when you were an intern, you don’t know what you are talking about!" Frankly, that was just wrong on my part. I was trying to force Softy back into a slot in time that he had long outgrown. Why? Because, if he was once just the intern, his position was not credible, you follow? I put him down, if only in my own head, to make him fit my line of thinking.

Often times, I think that we see martial artists in the same light. We say things like, “I remember training with him way back when he was 10 years old." That is true, but he has gotten older, better and probably is still in his prime. While hopefully you have gotten older, and better, but you might just have edged past your own prime.

I guess what I am really getting at is that instead of living in the past, and judging people on what they were doing, or were capable of, when you first met them, it is really important to accept them for who they are today, whether it be in the role of a young college student, a first-time parent, or somebody who's left the nest and started their own martial arts school.

By taking people at current value as well as in the context of how far they’ve come we get a far better picture of their worth. We may also find that this time around they may have something to teach us.

Guest Blog by Wim Demeere - Extreme Unsportsmanlike Behaviour!

2009-09-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Image by sufw via Flickr

Some people say you know you’re getting older when you no longer understand the young people. Though I’m only ten years older than Serena Williams, I’m at a loss for her actions during Saturday’s semi-finals of the 2009 US Open. She displayed extreme unsportsmanlike behaviour. On top of that, she was incredibly rude and proved to be one of the things I hate the most, a bully: It’s just a bit too easy to take out your frustrations on somebody who isn’t allowed to talk back or do anything about your threats. That line judge is not allowed to do anything but stay quiet and run to the umpire to tell what happened and Serena full well knew it.
Imagine her cussing like that to a street thug in the bad part of town. Wait, you can’t because she wouldn’t do that. She’d know full well he’d not just sit there and take it like the line judge did. Like I said, a bully.

Since this happened, I’ve heard all sorts of arguments to defend Serena’s actions:
• It wasn’t a foot fault.
• Even if it was, calling one at match point in a semi-final is simply not done.
• The line judge is a racist.
• The Williams sisters are systematically boycotted by judges and umpires.

Now all of the above may be true but here’s what happened:
She threatened and cussed out the line judge like a sailor who just got told he can’t get shore leave after six months on ship.

Regardless of any mitigating circumstances (I know about what happened with her and Capriati) she crossed the line with her threats and verbal tirade. In any sporting event, you accept that there are referees and rules. If you have half a brain, you know that bad calls and decisions will happen. Sometimes they’re in your favour, other times not but they a part of the game. Go to any karate tournament or watch a boxing match and you’ll see truckloads of bad decisions by the referees. I’ve had my share too:
• In the first tournament I entered, I got to the finals and lost on points. Turned out the referee was my opponent’s coach. That probably explained why he got away with kneeing me in the groin with such enthusiasm.
• At the European cup in Moskou, I spent several minutes waiting for a decision by the judges after the last round. I won that one. But later I heard the officials were trying everything in their power to have me lose as my opponent was Russian and the world champion at that time.
• At the world championships the year after, that same Russian did an illegal armbar right in front of the judges and referee. They didn’t even give him a warning. I lost that fight; not because of the armbar but I still lost.

In all of these incidents, I kept my mouth shut and didn’t throw a temper tantrum at the judges. Simply because doing so would have had consequences. First of all, I’d have been disqualified. In almost all of the current martial arts competitions, you get penalized for just talking to the referee. I’ve yet to see a fighter cuss at the referee or judges like that but he’d get tossed out of the tournament in a heartbeat.
But more importantly, that’s not how a competitor and martial artist act. We’re supposed to display self control and good judgement. You disagree with a call? Go lodge a complaint via the established protocols. That’s what they’re there for.

Now before you get the wrong idea, martial artists are only human like everybody else. I’ve lost my temper with people before, sometimes in the worst way, and will probably make even more mistakes in the future. We’re all nothing but ordinary sinners in that regard. But I’ve always respected the judges, referees and my opponents in the ring and I teach my students the same thing:
• They have to salute their opponents, regardless of the outcome of the fight.
• The same goes for saluting the judges and referee.
• They don’t get to act like arrogant, show-off prima donnas. If they do anyway, they get one warning. Second offense means they get booted from my school.

A competition is a test of skill and will. It should be a celebration of the human spirit and a showcase of what our bodies are capable of with hard training. In martial arts, these competitions take on an extra dimension as your techniques can cause permanent injury or even death to your opponent. The only thing that differentiates you from a common thug is your behaviour and fair play. This is even more important if you make a living in the ring, the cage or on the mat.

What Serena Williams seems to have forgotten is that as a professional athlete, you’re in a privileged position: you get paid to do what you love most. In her case, the monetary rewards are astronomical. Perhaps her sportsmanship should then be at the same level.

Here is more information about Wim. He is pleasant, bright, and the real deal. If you are not following his work your missing out.

About Wim Demeere

Wim Demeere started his training in the martial arts at age 14 with the study of judo and ju jitsu. After a short while he switched to a traditional Chinese style called Hung Chia Pai... (more)

www.wimsblog.com
www.wimdemeere.com

Bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?

2009-09-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

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Sterling Hayden 1916 –1986 was an actor and author. At six feet five inches his forte in acting was the western, and many great film noir. He was in Dr. Strangelove , and The Godfather and many other films. Hayden, always considered acting a way financing his adventures. Read his words from his autobiography, “Wanderer.” and see if you have any resonance with his comments.

“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?”

Here is a short interview by a French company - stay with it it goes to English for those of you who don't speak French, (like me).

Leaving the Dojo

2009-08-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

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Well, the building that the West Seattle Karate Academy is located in has gone up for sale. That means that the dojo is moving…a whole three long blocks down the street.

The new space is a little bigger, a little nicer, and right next to my chiropractor, not bad. Standing in the dojo the other night, alone, I was taking account of what needed to be done to get the move going. And then the moment turned into a sentimental accounting.

Looking over to my right I saw the window that Ito threw Devin into and that spot is where Devin used duct tape and paper towels to stop the bleeding from the glass. “Oh yeah!”…I turned and looked at the other window Lawrence Kane broke. There is the cabinet that I kicked…”Mmm, never did replace that broken door. “ “Aahhh, the wall that Ito threw Tony into, man, that left a big hole.” I ran my hands over that back wall seeking any incongruence or bump; “Oh yeah that is where I punched through the wall.” My hand moved more; “Huh…I don’t remember that one…big, too.”

I stood up, nose to the air; I could smell the late-night cooking from the catering company next door. When we moved in almost a decade ago the catering company was a tattoo parlor, a tattoo parlor that sold weed out of the back. I remember having to close the back door on some summer nights to keep the ganja smoke from wafting into the dojo.

The area above the door where we store the mats, yeah, those mats cover the .22 caliber bullet hole in the window. Heading for the front door to leave I stopped to look at the floor; the wood floor we laid down almost nine years ago had held up well. I then started to recall the occasional throw-up and the getting down on the floor to bleach and scrub up the blood from lips, noses and cuts.

When I review what I have written it sounds like a horrible place, a place populated by irresponsible, macho jerks. But no, no it is not. If that were true then the dojo would be closed because nobody would train at the West Seattle Karate Academy. I would say instead that these stories are just a result of focused training and the, oh, let’s call it the “uneven character of the neighborhood.”

Well ,the new dojo is going to be great – a great facility and a great place for focused training. And, as always, if you are in Seattle, bring your dogi, you are always welcome.

“I might be off on a rant here…”

2009-08-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

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“I might be off on a rant here…”
- Dennis Miller

No “might” about it; I am off on a rant and it has little to do with the martial arts. However, I must rant, so hang on.

I have had many conversations with others about something called “The Drunken Monkey.” The Drunken Monkey sits in the middle of your mind, playing cymbals, wearing a fez and telling you that you are far less then you really are. But you know what is really more important than the false information he yells at you? It is the fact that he doesn’t let you have any silence. You know what comes in silence – inspiration. Edison used silence to help him create; he would sit quietly in a chair and get still, silent, and the inspiration would come. His contemporary and rival Nikola Tesla lived a Spartan existence and would feed the pigeons from a park bench – in silence.

Today The Drunken Monkey has moved outside of your head and lives in the web, the television, and the IPhone. These mechanisms have become tyrants of the mind…not just a funny monkey spewing gibberish, but a tyrant. A tyrant who demands that whatever you are doing is not as important as what might be available on my IPhone, or my twitter. Not only is twitter a faux relationship with others, but celebrities have other people twitter for them, making the twitter they send you not only meaningless, “I’m getting a fruit smoothie!,” but not even genuine.

Now if you think that I am on my high horse and all holy, I can literally reach six inches from my desk and touch this week’s “Entertainment Weekly” Magazine. Yeah, I’m guilty of being “Old School.” You know, print, with my meaningless content. However, I will give“Entertainment Weekly” credit that it doesn’t beep, ping, or ring at me demanding that I read with all immediacy about what Kevin Federaline is eating. And now, for a moment of silence.” You know, kinda like Edison and Tesla.

Decision Making

2009-07-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

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Deliberate Calm is a term used by pilots and astronauts, to describe the ability of the mind, through training, to override an emotional response to an intense moment. Cops feel it, fire fighters feel it and you have too when you have had to swerve to miss another car and you feel nothing but the moment while you drive, yet afterward you become a mess.

Simply put, this is what repetitive martial arts training attempts to bring to the practitioner.

Listen to this four-minute explanation by author Jonah Lehrer of How We Decide. I find his comments challenging and enlightening at the same time.

Stick Logic.

2009-07-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

You know what? I know many martial arts techniques, and I know many ways to expresses those techniques. I have a real large metaphorical toolbox of techniques. I can do this that way, or from this way or upside down for that matter. I can hit this way or that way, turn a fist here, or keep it that way; it does not really matter too much.

However, in my daily martial arts I really apply, “Stick Logic”. Paring my techniques down to a few that really work for me and I have success with, Stick Logic you say? Stick Logic comes from my youth on the farm. Not the name but the idea.

Stick logic reads this way, “I can do a lot with as strong stick.” If I have a strong stick, I can scratch out a water ditch for the garden – I do not need a hoe. If I have a strong stick, while building a fence I can stretch it to make it tighter – I do not have to have a winch. If I have strong stick I can poke, bend and pry, I do not have to have a specialized tool, and martial arts are the same way. It is nice to have specialized tool, it has its place but a strong stick gets you a long, long way. So learn everything you can, do not ever stop learning, fill your tool box with all sorts of special tools, but walk day-to-day with your stick, and apply Stick Logic when it comes to your martial arts techniques.

Here is a fascinating BBC clip of a tribe stick fighting, although a ceremonial fight, you will still see men using the sticks as walking sticks, and clearly it can be assumed as tools in everyday life.

I Was Changed By Martial Arts

2009-06-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

It is rare that you have a conversation with somebody that has been in the martial arts for any length of time and not in some way have them relate to you that they are better for having trained in the arts.

It really doesn’t make that much difference, I have found, what form they have trained in, good instructors, clear systems, and dedication are the corner stone’s to a quality experience.

However there is another side of this formula that often is not the most prominent, that is how the instructors are changed, and it makes sense when you think about the formula. A student sees one instructor; the instructor sees twenty, or whatever the class number is, students. In my instance I have been changed by almost every student I have ever had the opportunity to instruct.

I like what Carl Jung said, “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” As for me, I have had students die from terminal illnesses, have dysfunctional hip sockets, and even severe scoliosis, mentally I have looked into the eyes of the autistic, painfully bashful, dyslexic, and functional illiterate. These people, they are the ones that have left, and continue to leave, the biggest impressions. Oh do not take me wrong everybody usually has something to contribute in this realm. However the contrast between these folk’s maladies and their effort is most striking and often the gift they leave is far more profound than that of the natural athlete, the gifted martial artist, or flexibility of youth, has the capability to leave.

Paying it Forward

2009-06-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I jumped on a plane in Seattle at midnight and by 8 a.m. was in Independence, Missouri. Meeting up with Eric Parsons, the head instructor of the Blue River Martial Arts Club, we found ourselves at the business end of a couple of months of preparation.

Earlier in the year I had said that I felt the need to help others and offered to do a fundraising seminar to raise money for a good cause.

So Eric saw an opportunity and decided to respond to my offer. The college where he teaches math, Metropolitan Community College (MCC) has a “Single Parent Book Loan Program” designed to help single parents defer the cost of expensive books needed for their courses. This is truly a case of teaching somebody to fish rather than just giving them fish; or, more simply, helping people who are helping themselves. In a world rife with reasons not to do something, MCC saw the value to their students and cleared the way.

A few months earlier I had talked to my publisher YMAA about my idea and before I could finish the pitch of what I had in mind, David Ripianzi, YMAA’s owner, was saying, “Great, great, how do we get involved?” YMAA brought their publicist into the mix, the really fun and delightful Barbara, and sent several DVDs to be given out as door prizes. The event was also promoted on their website and through emails, and Barbara contacted local newspapers as well.

Saturday was a day of fun karate and fun people, and all directed towards helping others. I felt pretty good and blessed being associated with all these folks.

This was an easy thing to do for everyone. We all know someone that is in need, or a small, local organization that could use a little help and all it takes is a few friends sharing their talents and time to do something of real value. I invite you to think of you how you might share your own talents or time in a similar way.

Guest Blog: Lawrence Kane

2009-06-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last year I blogged about the killing of James Paroline by Brian Keith Brown. Now the court case is all over, sentencing done, and everybody has gone home. I asked Lawrence, my co-author of The Little Black Book of Violence: What Every Young Man Needs to Know About Fighting, to do a guest blog – kind of a wrap-up commentary.

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The traffic circle murder that Kris blogged about late last year is a prime example of what can happen whenever you engauge in violence (Read it here). In short, 60-year-old James Paroline was watering some flowers and three young ladies took umbrage. Name-calling reportedly escalated and the irate girls called their friend Brian Keith Brown, a 28-year-old at the time, who sucker-punched the older man. That single blow broke Paroline's nose and knocked him to the pavement where he died at the scene from blunt force trauma to the head.

Now that one flash of anger has resulted in an 11-year sentence for James Paroline's killer, yeah a strong word – killer.

Brown, the killer, filed a letter with King County Superior Court, stating that he felt sickened by what he had done, “I had no intention of causing the death of James Paroline but that I know that but for my actions he would be alive.” (Read more here).

In the heat of the moment it’s easy to throw a punch without considering the consequences. Brown’s case isn’t the only tragedy out there. Sadly, stuff like that happens all the time. It’s important to think, therefore, before you act.

What really is worth fighting for?

Is it worth spending the best years of your life behind bars? Getting crippled, maimed, or possibly even killed as a result of preventable violence? What about declaring bankruptcy after losing a civil lawsuit. Losing the respect of one’s friends and family (oddly however in some families a conviction could be distorted into a mark of valor), being fired from your job, or having to declare that you’re a convicted felon next time you apply for a place to live or try to find work?

The tougher you truly are the less you should feel a need to prove it. Sure, some social codes are inverted, like gang culture, however for most of us the question needs to be, “Is this really worth fighting for,” More often than not it ain't – walk away.