Wednesday, January 19, 2011
VIDEO-Close Combat Footwork with Damian Ross of the Self Defense Company
The boring, basic things are the usually the most important to learn. Everyone wants to learn a fancy, secret movie move, but the truth is: fundamentals will save your ass. In this clip, Damian Ross of the Self Defense Company shows you the real applications of the fundamental footwork from Module 1 of The Self Defense Training System. You never know where you will be attacked, snow, sand, street or your office. So instead of learning to move several different ways, the SDTS shows you one way to move for ANY TERRAIN. This common denominator approach is vital to the SDTS.
The biggest misconception in all of martial arts and combat sports is this: "the more moves you learn, the better you are." Your instinct is to try to cover your bases with tiny, technical details. At one point in my life I tried to practice and master hundreds of techniques, while in reality, I really only ever used 5 and probably needed 3.
All you need is only a handful of primary techniques coupled with sound tactics. Like good, convulsive, ground pounding footwork for example. This is in direct contrast to the sliding type motions taught by most traditional style martial arts. Over the years I've heard a variety of explanations for sliding foot work from the "understandable" to the downright ridiculous. One guy, who shall remain nameless, actually said "you should slide your feet in case you were fighting on the ledge of a building". My response was, "Should I shit myself, then slide my feet or slide my feet while shitting myself?" Seriously, who am I, Bruce Willis? If I'm fighting on a ledge, I've got way bigger problems...like falling to my death.
Yes, martial artists tend to make up a whole host of wild explanations. And I don't think it's malicious. It's just that for years we've been forced to learn superfluous techniques without any reason why. I remembered learning a "Mountain Block" in a Tae Kwon Do form. I tried finding an image but it was extremely difficult, so I'll describe it. You step into a horse stance (feet spread a shoulder and a half width apart, weight distribution is equal on both legs). When you step into the horse stance you bring both arms up at the same time until they are bent at 90 degrees. You end up looking like you're doing a double bicep pose. I was told this was to block two round kicks at your head simultaneously. Even though I was still sipping the Kool-Aide, I knew, in no way, that this was ever going to work in the real world...EVER.
So I digress, your footwork should be stomping and weight bearing. This will not only secure your footing on unfriendly terrain, but every stomp could scrap a shin or an instep.
If you don't have good footwork, you won't be standing very long. If you don't have good foot work, you won't be able to deliver power in your strikes. If you don't have good footwork, you're useless.
Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
VIDEO: Cold Weather Hand to Hand Combat Training with Damian Ross, The Self Def...
Gi or no gi...bullshit. It's cold, you wear clothes. Unless you get attacked at the beach or in you sleep in the buff and have to fight naked (this did happen to me once and I do not recommend it, that's a long story and even a longer post).
Even a t-shirt is enough to grab and manipulate. You train for where you live, you train in what you wear. This time of year the northeast US it's freezing. There's ice on the ground and we are wearing clothing that not only can be grabbed, but restricts movement as well. Logic dictates that if you're serious about self defense, you need to prepare for the likely event that you will be attacked, outside, in the cold on the ice and snow. This is featured in module 1 of the Self Defense Training System
You need to practice in what you wear and hit something when your hands are cold. during my football days, when the temperature dropped, and you hit someone there was an extra sting to it. A tiny shot of pain over the normal violence of the game. The same holds true for close combat, especially hand to hand. Your hands will sting, your muscles will feel sluggish and you'll feel like your stuck in cement. It is a frustrating, awful feeling so you better get used to it. You better practice, even if it's just a few times, in the cold.
If you can't move your dummy outdoors or in your garage, use a pad or a pillow and duct tape it to something. Set it up where there is snow and ice on the ground. Practice your favorite combinations without any warm up and wearing your everyday clothing. When I wore a suit, I trained consistently in a suit. About once every few months. Not long, about a 1/4 of the time of a normal workout. This was just enough to mind set for the likely event that I would be protecting a client or working my day job.
While were at it, next time you're at work, which I'm sure the vast majority of you already do, imagine a live shooter scenario. Practice calling 9-1-1 and then look at the layout. Notice where the exits are, imagine f you were boxed in and had no where to go except through the shooter or, your just one of those people who would have to go all "Bill Badger" on the SOB. Whatever the case may be, you don't need to actually go through the movements and freak out all of your coworkers. But you can go through the scenario in your mind. It probably won't happen the way you imagine, it hardly ever does, but it sets a foundation for action and action saves lives.
Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
Monday, January 17, 2011
GI Joe's a Pussy, Give Me Bill Badger
Am I missing something? Why hasn't Oprah had this guy on yet?
His name is Bill Badger, the hero of the Tuscon shootings. President Obama barely mentioned him in his speech. Hell, the news hardly even mentions him. All I keep hearing about is that scumbag, child killer Jarod Loughner!!!! Are you kidding me? Thanks to mass media, I know what this piece of crap looks like, where he went to school and what his friends thought of him. I had to go to a local college radio station (No shit, college radio) and learn about Bill Badger: man among men.
So, for the record...
Bill Badger is a retired Army Colonel, 74 years old who was grazed with a bullet during the shootings. He managed to disarm Loughner and pin him to he ground.
GI JOE's a Pussy, give me Bill Badger.
Bill Badger said in an interview at University Medical Center that he was wounded and disoriented in Saturday's shooting but still managed to assist three others in holding the suspect down until police arrived.
Badger said that when he first heard shots ring out, he thought he was hearing the pop of firecrackers meant to harass Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whom he had hoped to meet. He said he saw no gun but could see the gunman's hand extended as he began firing on the crowd.
"By the time I looked over there and saw him, he'd already shot the congresswoman, the 9-year-old girl and the judge," Badger said, referring to Christina-Taylor Green and U.S. District Judge John Roll, who were among six killed. Giffords, Badger and 11 others were wounded by gunfire.
I'll ask again, why isn't this guy pasted all over the news? Why isn't there a "Bill Badger Day"?
I really haven't any commentary for the media except that the vast majority are weenie, panty-wastes who are afraid of even the slightest amount of heroism. Even the byline "Helped Subdue Gunman" suggests a dependency on authority and government to save you. For the record, he didn't help subdue the gunman, he subdued the gunman by himself! The police arrived to bag and tag the psycho scumbag after Bil was literally sitting on him.
File this once again under the notion that big brother will coddle and protect you. "Let the police do their job." Hey, there's no bigger supporter of the local PD than me. rumor has it, I even occasionally train some guys for free. But the police can't be everywhere. True self preservation and protection is your responsibility.
The line, "wait for the trained professionals to show up and do their job" is almost laughable. Cops and news media say this like as if there is a real danger of vigilante groups forming and lynch mobs lining the streets with torches and pitchforks. Image, a town full of Charles Bronsons, armed to the teeth, shooting anyone who looks suspicious. Imagine...ahh...I'm sorry, I drifted into fantasy land, I'm back.
Like I said before, the police can't be everywhere and even if they could, the police have been hamstrung by use of force policy that it's a miracle more cops don't lose their lives. God bless you for doing your job.
Oh, and contrary to popular belief, the police aren't your protector. Check out the 2010 ruling of the Supreme Court Castlerock v Gonzalez for a mind numbing reality check. That's the one where the mom had a restraining order against the husband who took the kids for his court appointed visitation. When the mom sensed something was wrong, she contacted the local police, they said they weren't responsible since he technically, didn't due anything wrong. End note, kids killed and husband offed himself outside the police station. YAY!!!
But wait a second...doesn't Arizona have a conceal carry law?!? Where was the firepower? I bet is he were at an NRA rally he wouldn't have got off that many shots.
Anyway, I digress...
What if Bill Badger didn't react? What if he didn't step up? The body count would have piled up faster than you can say "Virgina Tech."
I ask you again, why isn't this man getting the kudos he deserves? It's a damn shame that my google search pulls up Jared Loughner faster than it does Bill Badger.
On a technical note:
You should also note a few other things about the incident from a defensive tactics perspective.
1. Reaction time.
He thought they were firecrackers. I'm sure a retired Army Colonel has heard a gun rapport before. Yet when heard out of context, it takes a while for the mind to adjust. I have known war veterans who have seen action react the same way when working as a cop stateside. Lesson learned: it will take you a few seconds to understand the violence that's unfolding before your eyes.
What can you learn from this? What works for bad guys also works for good guys. If you act first, you will have a huge advantage over your assailant.
2. Your pain threshold is higher than you think.
He didn't realize he was shot. Martial artists assume that you will react to a gunshot or a knife wound the same way it happens in the movies. You get shot, you're dead. Unless you're hit in the hypothalamus or a major organ/artery is severed or ruptured, you will be able to stand a lot of punishment. After, in the hospital, when the adrenaline wore off, Bill was a little "hazy". This is common after the fact. I'm impressed the old war horse didn't pass out.
Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
His name is Bill Badger, the hero of the Tuscon shootings. President Obama barely mentioned him in his speech. Hell, the news hardly even mentions him. All I keep hearing about is that scumbag, child killer Jarod Loughner!!!! Are you kidding me? Thanks to mass media, I know what this piece of crap looks like, where he went to school and what his friends thought of him. I had to go to a local college radio station (No shit, college radio) and learn about Bill Badger: man among men.
So, for the record...
Bill Badger is a retired Army Colonel, 74 years old who was grazed with a bullet during the shootings. He managed to disarm Loughner and pin him to he ground.
GI JOE's a Pussy, give me Bill Badger. Bill Badger said in an interview at University Medical Center that he was wounded and disoriented in Saturday's shooting but still managed to assist three others in holding the suspect down until police arrived.
Badger said that when he first heard shots ring out, he thought he was hearing the pop of firecrackers meant to harass Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whom he had hoped to meet. He said he saw no gun but could see the gunman's hand extended as he began firing on the crowd.
"By the time I looked over there and saw him, he'd already shot the congresswoman, the 9-year-old girl and the judge," Badger said, referring to Christina-Taylor Green and U.S. District Judge John Roll, who were among six killed. Giffords, Badger and 11 others were wounded by gunfire.
I'll ask again, why isn't this guy pasted all over the news? Why isn't there a "Bill Badger Day"?
I really haven't any commentary for the media except that the vast majority are weenie, panty-wastes who are afraid of even the slightest amount of heroism. Even the byline "Helped Subdue Gunman" suggests a dependency on authority and government to save you. For the record, he didn't help subdue the gunman, he subdued the gunman by himself! The police arrived to bag and tag the psycho scumbag after Bil was literally sitting on him.
File this once again under the notion that big brother will coddle and protect you. "Let the police do their job." Hey, there's no bigger supporter of the local PD than me. rumor has it, I even occasionally train some guys for free. But the police can't be everywhere. True self preservation and protection is your responsibility.
The line, "wait for the trained professionals to show up and do their job" is almost laughable. Cops and news media say this like as if there is a real danger of vigilante groups forming and lynch mobs lining the streets with torches and pitchforks. Image, a town full of Charles Bronsons, armed to the teeth, shooting anyone who looks suspicious. Imagine...ahh...I'm sorry, I drifted into fantasy land, I'm back.
Like I said before, the police can't be everywhere and even if they could, the police have been hamstrung by use of force policy that it's a miracle more cops don't lose their lives. God bless you for doing your job.
Oh, and contrary to popular belief, the police aren't your protector. Check out the 2010 ruling of the Supreme Court Castlerock v Gonzalez for a mind numbing reality check. That's the one where the mom had a restraining order against the husband who took the kids for his court appointed visitation. When the mom sensed something was wrong, she contacted the local police, they said they weren't responsible since he technically, didn't due anything wrong. End note, kids killed and husband offed himself outside the police station. YAY!!!
But wait a second...doesn't Arizona have a conceal carry law?!? Where was the firepower? I bet is he were at an NRA rally he wouldn't have got off that many shots.
Anyway, I digress...
What if Bill Badger didn't react? What if he didn't step up? The body count would have piled up faster than you can say "Virgina Tech."
I ask you again, why isn't this man getting the kudos he deserves? It's a damn shame that my google search pulls up Jared Loughner faster than it does Bill Badger.
On a technical note:
You should also note a few other things about the incident from a defensive tactics perspective.
1. Reaction time.
He thought they were firecrackers. I'm sure a retired Army Colonel has heard a gun rapport before. Yet when heard out of context, it takes a while for the mind to adjust. I have known war veterans who have seen action react the same way when working as a cop stateside. Lesson learned: it will take you a few seconds to understand the violence that's unfolding before your eyes.
What can you learn from this? What works for bad guys also works for good guys. If you act first, you will have a huge advantage over your assailant.
2. Your pain threshold is higher than you think.
He didn't realize he was shot. Martial artists assume that you will react to a gunshot or a knife wound the same way it happens in the movies. You get shot, you're dead. Unless you're hit in the hypothalamus or a major organ/artery is severed or ruptured, you will be able to stand a lot of punishment. After, in the hospital, when the adrenaline wore off, Bill was a little "hazy". This is common after the fact. I'm impressed the old war horse didn't pass out.
Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
Friday, January 14, 2011
Get More Out of Your Workouts NOW (and it won't cost you a dime)
The Secret Your Personal Trainer Won't or Can't Tell You
The one thing great about the web is that I can express my self to tens of thousands of people a day instead of just a class, a team or my wife and friends. Today I was working out with a friend of my, another 40 something who does Ironman triatholons for which the training is not necessarily overly insane, but takes way to damn long. I really don't have the time to train for a 110 mile bike ride. start at 8:00am and get done at 3:00pm...oh then tomorrow you have to run 30 miles and after that, go swim for 2. Don't start correcting my on the distances chumley, this is training.
Anyway, he's got me on the treadmill doing some ridiculous hill running interval workout. Note here: I hate the treadmill but it's mid January and I hate the cold even more. I'm done running in sub-30 degree weather. we get to talking and the subject of improvement, getting stronger, getting faster even when we're in our 40's, 50;s and beyond comes up. We look around and we see the same faces at the gym every day and you know what, they all look the same. they're not thinner, stronger or faster. They're just...the same.
Hey, I'm 42 and i have a six pack, run 6 minute miles and can rip off around 30 pull ups. I can still do more than what I did as a competitive athlete. The only difference is recovery time. But to tell you the truth, I was so banged up then between football, wrestling and Judo, even when I was in great shape, I was not injury free. Now at 42 I'm in the shape but I don't have anything pulled, broken and I'm not concussed.
My buddy is no different, a scholarship athlete at Michigan and an accomplished triathlete, we're both in pretty good shape, regardless of our age.
So enough talking about us, the point he brought up was this, why is it that the vast majority of people show no signs of improvement.
BECAUSE YOU DON'T PUSH YOURSELF
OK, there are some benefits to doing the same work out, and jogging the same distance everyday. at least your getting your heart rate up, but if you want to look better, be stronger and run faster you have to...Lift more weight, run farther and run faster!
That's the big f'ing secret and there's NO WAY AROUND IT sunshine.
Combine that with a high protein diet and a multivitamin, you're all set. Drink more water, less soda and booze and you're on your way. Diet is a completely new post that I'll tackle later.
For example: I've been training my wife for the last 5 months and she's getting in great shape compared to her friends who spend as much or more time in the gym than she does. She or I don't use balance balls, we don't take spin, yoga, pilates, power core, zumba or stripper classes. All we do is run and lift.
Does this Ball Make My Butt Look Big?
Yes, we vary exercises and repetitions and YES there is a method to what we're doing, but it's not something out of the ordinary. which s a completely different post as well (shit now I have two more things I need to write).
I'd like to think that I'm some genius trainer, which, we all know I am, but it's in my ignorance that I'm a genius.
THE SECRET TO GETTING IN SHAPE...PUSH YOURSELF YOU PANSY!
What ever you're dong right now: add more weight, run longer, farther and faster.
Grabbing a couple of 10 pound dumbells and sitting on a balance ball every day is a joke. I watch these trainers putting housewives through stuff that is just designed to create interest, not results. If you have good technique with your weight lifting you will not get hurt. However, you may get hurt when you slide off the ball and the dumbell hits you in the head.
If you just did dead lift and military press for 5 sets, 10 to 15 reps (week 1) for muscle building, 5 reps for power (week 2) and mass or 20 reps for endurance (week 3), Ended with 4 sets of 25 reps of abs and 4 sets of 25 reps for lower back and then ran/walked for 60 minutes 3 to 5 times per week in 3 months you'll be an animal.
Just increase the weight when the sets become easier and increase the speed when you feel you can. NOTE: some days you will lift more and run faster than others.
The point is, what ever work out your doing, push yourself!!! I have a life of pushing myself. I know what it's like to have to puke after or during a workout. I lke when my lungs burn and my vision is blurred.
Do I feel like working out or practicing every day. Ahh...HELL NO!!! would much rather sit on my ass, have sex, drink red wine and order take out. (I still do that, but only after working out).
All athletes, professional and otherwise, don't feel like pushing themselves until after they get started. A body at rest wants to stay at rest, a body in motion will stay in motion. I start every workout with, the idea that I'm just going to warm up and go light. But then after I break a sweat and the endorphins kick in, I'm like, well, I came this far, WTF? The next thing I know is that I'm running farther, pushing more weight than ever before.
Injury is not an excuse, you just need to work around it. I've blown out my knee, torn my pectoral muscle and broken almost every bone in my hands and wrists (all when I was much younger). Even though I have shoulder issues as well, I've learned to work around it, so should you.
My dad used to say is it a hurt or an injury? An injury has swelling, discoloration, limits your range of motion and has a lot of pain. A hurt, well, just hurts. Note: if it is treated with an ACE BANDAGE, it's a hurt.
Finally, you're not working out if you can:
Read
Drink a cup of coffee
Engage in conversation
Change the Channel
Eat
Listen, if you're having trouble at the gym and you've hit a plateau, you need to push yourself. If you think you're pushing yourself and you're not seeing results over a 6 to 8 week period. Then you're not really that tough.
I'm just being honest, because that's the only way I know how to train.
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
The one thing great about the web is that I can express my self to tens of thousands of people a day instead of just a class, a team or my wife and friends. Today I was working out with a friend of my, another 40 something who does Ironman triatholons for which the training is not necessarily overly insane, but takes way to damn long. I really don't have the time to train for a 110 mile bike ride. start at 8:00am and get done at 3:00pm...oh then tomorrow you have to run 30 miles and after that, go swim for 2. Don't start correcting my on the distances chumley, this is training.
Anyway, he's got me on the treadmill doing some ridiculous hill running interval workout. Note here: I hate the treadmill but it's mid January and I hate the cold even more. I'm done running in sub-30 degree weather. we get to talking and the subject of improvement, getting stronger, getting faster even when we're in our 40's, 50;s and beyond comes up. We look around and we see the same faces at the gym every day and you know what, they all look the same. they're not thinner, stronger or faster. They're just...the same.
Hey, I'm 42 and i have a six pack, run 6 minute miles and can rip off around 30 pull ups. I can still do more than what I did as a competitive athlete. The only difference is recovery time. But to tell you the truth, I was so banged up then between football, wrestling and Judo, even when I was in great shape, I was not injury free. Now at 42 I'm in the shape but I don't have anything pulled, broken and I'm not concussed.
My buddy is no different, a scholarship athlete at Michigan and an accomplished triathlete, we're both in pretty good shape, regardless of our age.
So enough talking about us, the point he brought up was this, why is it that the vast majority of people show no signs of improvement.
BECAUSE YOU DON'T PUSH YOURSELF
OK, there are some benefits to doing the same work out, and jogging the same distance everyday. at least your getting your heart rate up, but if you want to look better, be stronger and run faster you have to...Lift more weight, run farther and run faster!
That's the big f'ing secret and there's NO WAY AROUND IT sunshine.
Combine that with a high protein diet and a multivitamin, you're all set. Drink more water, less soda and booze and you're on your way. Diet is a completely new post that I'll tackle later.
For example: I've been training my wife for the last 5 months and she's getting in great shape compared to her friends who spend as much or more time in the gym than she does. She or I don't use balance balls, we don't take spin, yoga, pilates, power core, zumba or stripper classes. All we do is run and lift.
Does this Ball Make My Butt Look Big? Yes, we vary exercises and repetitions and YES there is a method to what we're doing, but it's not something out of the ordinary. which s a completely different post as well (shit now I have two more things I need to write).
I'd like to think that I'm some genius trainer, which, we all know I am, but it's in my ignorance that I'm a genius.
THE SECRET TO GETTING IN SHAPE...PUSH YOURSELF YOU PANSY!
What ever you're dong right now: add more weight, run longer, farther and faster.
Grabbing a couple of 10 pound dumbells and sitting on a balance ball every day is a joke. I watch these trainers putting housewives through stuff that is just designed to create interest, not results. If you have good technique with your weight lifting you will not get hurt. However, you may get hurt when you slide off the ball and the dumbell hits you in the head.
If you just did dead lift and military press for 5 sets, 10 to 15 reps (week 1) for muscle building, 5 reps for power (week 2) and mass or 20 reps for endurance (week 3), Ended with 4 sets of 25 reps of abs and 4 sets of 25 reps for lower back and then ran/walked for 60 minutes 3 to 5 times per week in 3 months you'll be an animal.
Just increase the weight when the sets become easier and increase the speed when you feel you can. NOTE: some days you will lift more and run faster than others.
The point is, what ever work out your doing, push yourself!!! I have a life of pushing myself. I know what it's like to have to puke after or during a workout. I lke when my lungs burn and my vision is blurred.
Do I feel like working out or practicing every day. Ahh...HELL NO!!! would much rather sit on my ass, have sex, drink red wine and order take out. (I still do that, but only after working out).
All athletes, professional and otherwise, don't feel like pushing themselves until after they get started. A body at rest wants to stay at rest, a body in motion will stay in motion. I start every workout with, the idea that I'm just going to warm up and go light. But then after I break a sweat and the endorphins kick in, I'm like, well, I came this far, WTF? The next thing I know is that I'm running farther, pushing more weight than ever before.
Injury is not an excuse, you just need to work around it. I've blown out my knee, torn my pectoral muscle and broken almost every bone in my hands and wrists (all when I was much younger). Even though I have shoulder issues as well, I've learned to work around it, so should you.
My dad used to say is it a hurt or an injury? An injury has swelling, discoloration, limits your range of motion and has a lot of pain. A hurt, well, just hurts. Note: if it is treated with an ACE BANDAGE, it's a hurt.
Finally, you're not working out if you can:
Read
Drink a cup of coffee
Engage in conversation
Change the Channel
Eat
Listen, if you're having trouble at the gym and you've hit a plateau, you need to push yourself. If you think you're pushing yourself and you're not seeing results over a 6 to 8 week period. Then you're not really that tough.
I'm just being honest, because that's the only way I know how to train.
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
The "Quick Fix" for Self Defense
The Self Defense Training System has been called the "quick fix" of martial arts. I'm assuming by traditional martial artists since when you post "anonymously" I really can only assume.
NOT AN SDTS MEMBER (though he probably would be if he knew what he was getting into)
First off, The Self Defense Training System (SDTS) isn't martial arts. It's not a sport or cultural exploration. There are not any forms to learn or uniforms to wear. There isn't a required time period or number of lessons. There aren't any sporting techniques or complicated movements. Quite simply, it's tactics and techniques that can be mastered in the shortest amount of time and recalled under extreme stress. It should go without saying that the methods are designed so that you inflict the most damage to your target while incurring the least amount of injury to yourself.
So, is it a "Quick Fix". I say HELL YES IT IS. It also happens to be the ONLY FIX, the quick fix is the correct fix. The alternative...the long fix is not really a viable self defense alternative at all.
Listen, before I start ruffling feathers, martial arts has it's place. Fitness, character building, community building and self confidence and you can get those benefits from martial arts or any other sport activity under the right coaching. The only thing martial arts provides that sports don't is a chance for the below average and average participant to receive proper instruction since sport coaches tend to focus on the better athletes. Plus, as an adult, there really aren't too many activities other than yoga, pilates and martial arts.
The SDTS isn't pilates and it isn't martial arts. So that begs the question:
Why do martial artists still sipping the kool-aide hate me so much?
It's simple, if I'm right (which I am), then the self defense benefit claimed by martial arts is done like dinner. After MMA they climbed on the self defense band wagon and started saying what we've been saying for years "MMA is a demanding combat sport, not self defense." This is true, but memorizing pre-arranged dance moves and sparring in plastic booties isn't self defense either.
If you're a smart martial artists, you know the difference. But if you're claiming that you teach sport, self defense, grappling, mma and traditional martial arts you're a snake oil salesman (which I have been accused of). The average martial artist trains between 2 and 5 hours per week. Listen, you can't do all that in that limited amount of time. It would be like trying to be a painter, carpenter, engineer and architect. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
To run a successful martial arts school you need students enrolled longer. On the back end you will find testing fees, contracts, private lessons and upsells into other programs. The more complicated it is, the longer you will have to stay. The longer you stay, the more you spend.
Don't get me wrong, if you're enjoying your martial arts experience and you think it's worth it, great- who am I to tell you what you enjoy. But if you think that you have to spend 5 years and thousands of dollars to learn how to protect yourself....you're sadly mistaken.
All you need is the will to survive, something to hit and the proper instruction. Most people training in the SDTS see results in a month. After about a year...you're good to go. Two years to become an instructor. Like I mentioned before, no fancy moves, sport sparring, kata's or forms frees up A LOT OF TIME!
Hell is takes a soldier 6 weeks of basic training to get in shape and learn how to shoot a weapon. Let's say basic training is 12 hours a day (I'm including chow time), That's about 432 hours. If you did 6 hours per week (1 hour a day for 6 days a week) you would see similar results in 18 months. This includes any physical training as well. So in a year and a half you could learn how to kick ass and be in boot camp style shape. But no, your local martial arts guy brags that it takes someone 5 years to know what you're doing. Hell, lawyers take less time (insert lawyer joke here).
Let's roll the clock back a bit on traditional karate. In it's infancy, Okinawan Karate was primarily two techniques (reverse punch and front kick). Sure there are more techniques but your primary focus was on these two techniques. You did a ton of hand conditioning, makiwara training and over all physical fitness. The goal was ikken hitsatsu (one strike, one kill). The purpose was to develop those skills to the point that you destroyed everything you hit. Sparring contests were extremely boring by today's standards where two combatants would stalk each other until the perfect moment to strike. This mind set and method came directly from came from the samurai way of dueling.
Those two techniques could then be adapted to any combat situation. Is the answer to combat that simple? The truth is yes it is. When you're training for combat you only care about one thing: what works. It was later that martial arts became commercialized. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just the way things are. By the time Karate hit the US, it was already WAY OVER HYPED thanks to WWII and the prowess and folklore of the Japanese soldier. Westerners played no small part in perpetuating that hype and in some cases, making it more brutal than it was in previous years. But unfortunately you can't earn a living being brutal. In reality only a small percentage of people are willing to subject themselves to rigorous training. And even those people are prone to injury.
The modern business model for martial arts studios includes a lot of aerobic and kickboxing activity coupled with calisthenics. This is all fine, but very little is focused on self defense or even the building of those skills. Most fighting skills are centered around sparring that has little to do with actual street fighting. MMA is even more convoluted since the time is split between striking, grappling and submissions. The fact is even at 5 hours per week, you will never be able to be seriously proficient at any of those skills for several years. Grappling is by far the hardest to master (ever wonder why the vast majority of MMA studs are elite wrestlers?).
What is called self defense by martial artists is a series of unconnected, choreographed movements that are based on the action = reaction principle. That means, he does this, I do that. If laws of physics teach you anything is that Action s always faster than Reaction. So if you think some guy is going to grab your throat and wait for you to do something...good luck with that.
The SDTS is not a reaction based system of self defense. It's position and distance based, just like firearms. It does not contain a huge quantity of techniques to master. It's funny, years ago I remember receiving a return from a woman who said, this is very repetitive. My answer was simply...No Shit. I know, not very corporate of me, but then again, I ditched the suit and tie a long time ago.
Listen, it's simple, it's quick and it only takes between 8 to 14 months to become awesome. Physical conditioning not withstanding. FACT: the better in shape you are, the better chance you have to survive but if your time is limited would you rather learn to beat the piss out of someone or do 20 minutes on the treadmill?
Quick fix, yes it is, but IT IS A FIX IF NOT THE ONLY FIX. Listen, I could have given you martial arts repackaged with a cool name, but I didn't. Why didn't I just give you karate, FMA, Judo or AIKI JUJUTSU, BJJ, Wrestling, TKD or an MMA style program to cash in on what's already popular. I'm clearly qualified to do so. I could put out anything I want. The reason I didn't is simple, this is what works and it's not that complicated. Anyone who tells you you need to spend several years training to become proficient in self defense (not martial arts or sports) is either trying to get your money or has not idea what they are talking about.
Here's Your Quick Fix CLICK HERE
Until next time, Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
NOT AN SDTS MEMBER (though he probably would be if he knew what he was getting into)First off, The Self Defense Training System (SDTS) isn't martial arts. It's not a sport or cultural exploration. There are not any forms to learn or uniforms to wear. There isn't a required time period or number of lessons. There aren't any sporting techniques or complicated movements. Quite simply, it's tactics and techniques that can be mastered in the shortest amount of time and recalled under extreme stress. It should go without saying that the methods are designed so that you inflict the most damage to your target while incurring the least amount of injury to yourself.
So, is it a "Quick Fix". I say HELL YES IT IS. It also happens to be the ONLY FIX, the quick fix is the correct fix. The alternative...the long fix is not really a viable self defense alternative at all.
Listen, before I start ruffling feathers, martial arts has it's place. Fitness, character building, community building and self confidence and you can get those benefits from martial arts or any other sport activity under the right coaching. The only thing martial arts provides that sports don't is a chance for the below average and average participant to receive proper instruction since sport coaches tend to focus on the better athletes. Plus, as an adult, there really aren't too many activities other than yoga, pilates and martial arts.
The SDTS isn't pilates and it isn't martial arts. So that begs the question:
Why do martial artists still sipping the kool-aide hate me so much?
It's simple, if I'm right (which I am), then the self defense benefit claimed by martial arts is done like dinner. After MMA they climbed on the self defense band wagon and started saying what we've been saying for years "MMA is a demanding combat sport, not self defense." This is true, but memorizing pre-arranged dance moves and sparring in plastic booties isn't self defense either.
If you're a smart martial artists, you know the difference. But if you're claiming that you teach sport, self defense, grappling, mma and traditional martial arts you're a snake oil salesman (which I have been accused of). The average martial artist trains between 2 and 5 hours per week. Listen, you can't do all that in that limited amount of time. It would be like trying to be a painter, carpenter, engineer and architect. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
To run a successful martial arts school you need students enrolled longer. On the back end you will find testing fees, contracts, private lessons and upsells into other programs. The more complicated it is, the longer you will have to stay. The longer you stay, the more you spend.
Don't get me wrong, if you're enjoying your martial arts experience and you think it's worth it, great- who am I to tell you what you enjoy. But if you think that you have to spend 5 years and thousands of dollars to learn how to protect yourself....you're sadly mistaken.
All you need is the will to survive, something to hit and the proper instruction. Most people training in the SDTS see results in a month. After about a year...you're good to go. Two years to become an instructor. Like I mentioned before, no fancy moves, sport sparring, kata's or forms frees up A LOT OF TIME!
Hell is takes a soldier 6 weeks of basic training to get in shape and learn how to shoot a weapon. Let's say basic training is 12 hours a day (I'm including chow time), That's about 432 hours. If you did 6 hours per week (1 hour a day for 6 days a week) you would see similar results in 18 months. This includes any physical training as well. So in a year and a half you could learn how to kick ass and be in boot camp style shape. But no, your local martial arts guy brags that it takes someone 5 years to know what you're doing. Hell, lawyers take less time (insert lawyer joke here).
Let's roll the clock back a bit on traditional karate. In it's infancy, Okinawan Karate was primarily two techniques (reverse punch and front kick). Sure there are more techniques but your primary focus was on these two techniques. You did a ton of hand conditioning, makiwara training and over all physical fitness. The goal was ikken hitsatsu (one strike, one kill). The purpose was to develop those skills to the point that you destroyed everything you hit. Sparring contests were extremely boring by today's standards where two combatants would stalk each other until the perfect moment to strike. This mind set and method came directly from came from the samurai way of dueling.
Those two techniques could then be adapted to any combat situation. Is the answer to combat that simple? The truth is yes it is. When you're training for combat you only care about one thing: what works. It was later that martial arts became commercialized. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just the way things are. By the time Karate hit the US, it was already WAY OVER HYPED thanks to WWII and the prowess and folklore of the Japanese soldier. Westerners played no small part in perpetuating that hype and in some cases, making it more brutal than it was in previous years. But unfortunately you can't earn a living being brutal. In reality only a small percentage of people are willing to subject themselves to rigorous training. And even those people are prone to injury.
The modern business model for martial arts studios includes a lot of aerobic and kickboxing activity coupled with calisthenics. This is all fine, but very little is focused on self defense or even the building of those skills. Most fighting skills are centered around sparring that has little to do with actual street fighting. MMA is even more convoluted since the time is split between striking, grappling and submissions. The fact is even at 5 hours per week, you will never be able to be seriously proficient at any of those skills for several years. Grappling is by far the hardest to master (ever wonder why the vast majority of MMA studs are elite wrestlers?).
What is called self defense by martial artists is a series of unconnected, choreographed movements that are based on the action = reaction principle. That means, he does this, I do that. If laws of physics teach you anything is that Action s always faster than Reaction. So if you think some guy is going to grab your throat and wait for you to do something...good luck with that.
The SDTS is not a reaction based system of self defense. It's position and distance based, just like firearms. It does not contain a huge quantity of techniques to master. It's funny, years ago I remember receiving a return from a woman who said, this is very repetitive. My answer was simply...No Shit. I know, not very corporate of me, but then again, I ditched the suit and tie a long time ago.
Listen, it's simple, it's quick and it only takes between 8 to 14 months to become awesome. Physical conditioning not withstanding. FACT: the better in shape you are, the better chance you have to survive but if your time is limited would you rather learn to beat the piss out of someone or do 20 minutes on the treadmill?
Quick fix, yes it is, but IT IS A FIX IF NOT THE ONLY FIX. Listen, I could have given you martial arts repackaged with a cool name, but I didn't. Why didn't I just give you karate, FMA, Judo or AIKI JUJUTSU, BJJ, Wrestling, TKD or an MMA style program to cash in on what's already popular. I'm clearly qualified to do so. I could put out anything I want. The reason I didn't is simple, this is what works and it's not that complicated. Anyone who tells you you need to spend several years training to become proficient in self defense (not martial arts or sports) is either trying to get your money or has not idea what they are talking about.
Here's Your Quick Fix CLICK HERE
Until next time, Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The decline of youth sports and the decay of America
Obesity is on the rise. So much in fact that instead of rejecting unfit applicants, the US Army has modified its physical training and selection process. In one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of its kind funded by The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, American children become less active once they hit the teen years: While 90 percent of 9-year-olds get a couple of hours of exercise most days, fewer than 3 percent of 15-year-olds do.
15 to 20 years ago, every high school program had full varsity teams, junior varsity teams and middle school teams. Now, most schools are dropping some staple programs like football due to lack of participation.
I’ve seen our area program get cut in half and suffer over the last two decades. While there are still good kids and elite athletes, the talent level of the average to the above average player has declined severely. If you took the average wrestler, soccer player, football player in 1984 and put him on the field today, that kid would be all-league. The median athlete is almost gone. What you have are elite athletes and kids who really shouldn’t be on the court at all.
The problem is this: kids are starting younger and specializing sooner. Kids are specializing in middle school when they should be specializing in college. Year round training, specialty training clubs, elite young travel teams have taught parents that if you’re not playing year round, you will not succeed. It has taught kids that if you’re not the best, don’t bother.
The results is that by the middle school age when sport participation is most critical. This is when kids get involved in drugs, promiscuous activity and crime. Let’s face it, if you’re a teenager, you’re going to need to do something with the excess energy and time on your hands. Since this is the time kids become more independent they are left to their own devices. Finally, on a social level, sports create a common, positive interest that encompasses both the physical and if taught correctly, mental development as well.
The ironic issue is that compared to 15 to 20 years ago, the level of participation in youth sports has almost doubled. Kids can play any sport, year round from the age of 4 or 5 and up.
Well, the younger, year round idea is not working. I don’t need the study from The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to tell me that. The result is that the average athlete has been ignored and this has consequently lowered the level of skill significantly across the board. Now elite athletes are attending private schools with other elite athletes, leaving the other schools to try to compete with kids who fundamentally have been ignored for most of their careers since the tendency of coaches is to focus on the better kids in hopes they don’t leave the program for a private one.
My feeling on the subject is this: focus on the team. Focus on the overall scope of the program, not just one or two kids. In a few years’ time your program will be head and shoulders above the competition.
One or two studs may make a program for a few years, but eventually even those kids are going to understand what it is to be part of a team. The elite kids will get their supplemental training, don’t worry about that. But if you wan to really build a program, or more importantly, raise a child with the best possible chance of reaching their potential, help them to be stronger, faster and agile.
Raise athletes not specialists.
An athlete can do every thing, a specialist only one thing. If and when it comes to pass, your kid will make a decision. But until they’re in college, make sure they train to be bigger, faster and more agile.
Kids ages 5 and up. If you want them to do anything, have them run short races, kick a ball, some basic gymnastics and basically play. As they get older around 8, you can do it in a more structured manner, but no more than 35 to 45 minutes, two time a week. This should also include basic calisthenics. Sports are done IN SEASON ONLY. Stacking sports like indoor soccer wrestling or basket ball is nuts. When they’re younger they can do more than one sport in season. (Like wrestling and basketball) schedule permitting. However, when they’re young they can try one thing one season and another, the next. Or even attend a sport clinic if they want to try it. The options are there that weren’t around 15 years ago.
Off season if you want you can have them attend one or two camps per sport per year. Give them at least a few weeks off in the summer of nothing. After all, they’re just kids.
As far as physical training, that should be done consistently throughout the year taking every 5th week off.
In season physical training, in junior high and high school is tough. A full class day, study and practice, it’s hard to find the time to do the in season physical training. It turns into only once or twice a week if you’re lucky. By this time you should be narrowed down to two or three sports. When and if you get to college, well, that’s another 40 hour a week job and a whole other level.
Until next time, Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
Monday, January 3, 2011
New Year's Resolutions are BULLSH#T
Do you have a New Year's Resolution?...don't waste your time. Save your money and your effort. If you're not doing it now, you will never do it.
Change doesn't happen on a time or a date, it happens when you're ready. Nothing magically happens when the clock strikes midnight on January 1 except that you lie to yourself and create unrealistic expectations and proceed to place incredible demands on yourself that you can't possibly sustain.
Change is like trying to move a huge boulder (Like the one from Raiders of the Lost Ark).
In the beginning it seems impossible to move. You push, you grunt, it moves a little only to roll back. You try your frigging best to get that SOB moving and it doesn't budge. Or maybe it moves so little, that all of your effort doesn't seem worth it. This is point when most people quit. You expect to get that thing moving with one or two shoves. But it doesn't work like that. It takes a while to get that potential energy stored up enough to get that thing moving an inch. Then somewhere along the line something happens, and it's starts moving!!! Slowly at first, but then it pick ups momentum. After a while a funny thing happens; you don't have to push that hard to keep that thing rolling.
Take fitness for example. First of all, the better in shape you're the "smaller your boulder is". The longer you are sedentary or the more you are out of shape the "larger your boulder". Once you're in shape or the better shape you're in the more time you can take off and the more you can "cheat." You can go on a week long bender and in a week be back where you left off. It's pretty incredible.
Remember Newton's Law of Inertia: "An object at rest will stay at rest, forever, as long as nothing pushes or pulls on it. An object in motion will stay in motion, traveling in a straight line, forever, until something pushes or pulls on it."
Objects (you) will have a tendency to stay at rest forever, while objects in motion tend to stay in motion or are easier to keep in motion with a lesser amount of force than is needed to set the object (you) in motion.
Listen, the hardest part it to set aside the time to do it. The other hardest part is to allow yourself to rest, miss and cheat. What happens over time is that you will want to cheat and miss less. Remember you can create good habits just like bad habits. There was a time you didn't smoke, drink or eat (yeah, I remember 3rd grade too). The only difference is that good habits are usually a lot more difficult to create. Hey if it were easy..you know the rest.
Be realistic, don't expect to quit smoking, loose weight or anything else in the time "As seen on TV". A lot of testimonials are flat out lies, some before and after shots are done in the same day; check out the documentary "Bigger, Faster. Stronger". Also, quite a number of them are fitness models or people who were normally in shape, let themselves go and get in shape. I'm not saying that results like this can't happen, you just need to manage your expectations.
If you have not done any physical activity in the past 7 to 10 years you need to give yourself about 3 months of 4 to 5 times a week of regular exercise to see results (We break this down in Module 7 of the SDTS titled "Combat Conditioning"). It will take a solid year to get to where you think you should be. But even if it doesn't happen, who cares? ANYTHING IR TRULY BETTER THAN NOTHING.
So what's the big deal anyway? Why do you need to "Be All You Can Be?"
Because self improvement and learning leads to happiness. It's all about doing it better than the generation before you. that's progress. A better quality of life, physically, mentally and spiritually. The day you stop trying to learn and trying to improve is the day you die. Life is learning and improving. It's also about helping others to learn and improve at a faster rate. Kids, students, friends it doesn't matter. If you got a great deal on tire would you let your friend waste time and shop around or would you just tell him? Well if you're his friend you would tell him, if you're a dick, well you know...
The same should apply to martial arts, self defense and all sports activities. For some reason instructors get hung up on how much time you need to put in in order to be proficient. This type of thinking is ridiculous. Some people have a higher aptitude or certain activities while others don't. Using a time standard, you punish the person who has a talent, works harder and more often than the others. Also, if you're not promoting or seeing improvements at a faster rate then your teaching model needs to be updated. If it took someone 4 to 5 years to earn a black belt from the same instructor 20 years ago, don't you think that time should shorten over two decades? With the Self Defense Training System we are always looking for ways to get results faster through new and updated methods. We also accomplished faster results by streamlining techniques and eliminate all the fluff and extras with regards to self defense.
At the end of the day, what we are all talking about when it comes to changing your life is about achieving a greater happiness. A better job, get in shape, stop smoking, learn to protect your self, have more sex, less sex, better sex or no sex at all. It all leads to being happy. Learning and understanding how to enjoy life. Happiness comes internally. It's almost as simple as deciding that you're not going to be miserable anymore. It is a fact, that if you're financially secure, it's one less thing to think about, but it does not guarantee happiness. I've been both poor and rich and have both poor and extremely wealthy friends and I can tell you, the rich ones can be just as miserable. Yea, I know, I want to punch rich people when they bitch, too. But the fact remains, external factors don't make you happy.
You can go through life miserable or you can go through life happy. I've met stage 4 cancer patients with more upbeat attitudes than people who have their health, a family and gainfully employed. Because it's not the goal that matters, it's the journey. When I was a kid I thought about what was it about scoring a touchdown I liked the most? Wast it before, during or after? The answer was clearly before and during. The preparation and the struggle to your end goal is what I enjoyed. After it was over, well, it was over.
The Book "The Legend of Bagger Vance" makes the point "Life is not a game to be one, it's a game to be played." Because when we're dead, we all go to the same place. Face your fears, get out of your comfort zone and above all, become a better friend, brother, sister, husband, wife, teacher, street sweeper. What ever you do and who ever you are, just do it better.
You don't need to be thinner, taller, richer or better looking. You just need to be the best you you can be. The rest will happen.
So what the hell does this have to do with kicking ass and self defense? It's all connected. Living a safer, healthier life without all of the BS that you are forced to endure to get simple questions like "Can you just show me what I need to protect myself?" answered.
Happy New Year,
Until next time, Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
www.selfdefensecompany.com Corporate Center
www.theselfdefenseco.com World's Most Lethal Self Defense
www.legaluseofforce.com Police Combatives Training
www.familysafeprogram.com Keep Your Family Safe
www.teachselfdefense.com Turn Your Passion into Profits
www.60minuteselfdefense.com Self Defense for Everyone
www.myselfdefenseresource.com Free Resource Material
FREE Training Forum http://theselfdefenseco.madmooseforum.com/
Change doesn't happen on a time or a date, it happens when you're ready. Nothing magically happens when the clock strikes midnight on January 1 except that you lie to yourself and create unrealistic expectations and proceed to place incredible demands on yourself that you can't possibly sustain.
Change is like trying to move a huge boulder (Like the one from Raiders of the Lost Ark).
In the beginning it seems impossible to move. You push, you grunt, it moves a little only to roll back. You try your frigging best to get that SOB moving and it doesn't budge. Or maybe it moves so little, that all of your effort doesn't seem worth it. This is point when most people quit. You expect to get that thing moving with one or two shoves. But it doesn't work like that. It takes a while to get that potential energy stored up enough to get that thing moving an inch. Then somewhere along the line something happens, and it's starts moving!!! Slowly at first, but then it pick ups momentum. After a while a funny thing happens; you don't have to push that hard to keep that thing rolling. Take fitness for example. First of all, the better in shape you're the "smaller your boulder is". The longer you are sedentary or the more you are out of shape the "larger your boulder". Once you're in shape or the better shape you're in the more time you can take off and the more you can "cheat." You can go on a week long bender and in a week be back where you left off. It's pretty incredible.
Remember Newton's Law of Inertia: "An object at rest will stay at rest, forever, as long as nothing pushes or pulls on it. An object in motion will stay in motion, traveling in a straight line, forever, until something pushes or pulls on it."
Objects (you) will have a tendency to stay at rest forever, while objects in motion tend to stay in motion or are easier to keep in motion with a lesser amount of force than is needed to set the object (you) in motion.
Listen, the hardest part it to set aside the time to do it. The other hardest part is to allow yourself to rest, miss and cheat. What happens over time is that you will want to cheat and miss less. Remember you can create good habits just like bad habits. There was a time you didn't smoke, drink or eat (yeah, I remember 3rd grade too). The only difference is that good habits are usually a lot more difficult to create. Hey if it were easy..you know the rest.
Be realistic, don't expect to quit smoking, loose weight or anything else in the time "As seen on TV". A lot of testimonials are flat out lies, some before and after shots are done in the same day; check out the documentary "Bigger, Faster. Stronger". Also, quite a number of them are fitness models or people who were normally in shape, let themselves go and get in shape. I'm not saying that results like this can't happen, you just need to manage your expectations.
If you have not done any physical activity in the past 7 to 10 years you need to give yourself about 3 months of 4 to 5 times a week of regular exercise to see results (We break this down in Module 7 of the SDTS titled "Combat Conditioning"). It will take a solid year to get to where you think you should be. But even if it doesn't happen, who cares? ANYTHING IR TRULY BETTER THAN NOTHING.
So what's the big deal anyway? Why do you need to "Be All You Can Be?"
Because self improvement and learning leads to happiness. It's all about doing it better than the generation before you. that's progress. A better quality of life, physically, mentally and spiritually. The day you stop trying to learn and trying to improve is the day you die. Life is learning and improving. It's also about helping others to learn and improve at a faster rate. Kids, students, friends it doesn't matter. If you got a great deal on tire would you let your friend waste time and shop around or would you just tell him? Well if you're his friend you would tell him, if you're a dick, well you know...
The same should apply to martial arts, self defense and all sports activities. For some reason instructors get hung up on how much time you need to put in in order to be proficient. This type of thinking is ridiculous. Some people have a higher aptitude or certain activities while others don't. Using a time standard, you punish the person who has a talent, works harder and more often than the others. Also, if you're not promoting or seeing improvements at a faster rate then your teaching model needs to be updated. If it took someone 4 to 5 years to earn a black belt from the same instructor 20 years ago, don't you think that time should shorten over two decades? With the Self Defense Training System we are always looking for ways to get results faster through new and updated methods. We also accomplished faster results by streamlining techniques and eliminate all the fluff and extras with regards to self defense.
At the end of the day, what we are all talking about when it comes to changing your life is about achieving a greater happiness. A better job, get in shape, stop smoking, learn to protect your self, have more sex, less sex, better sex or no sex at all. It all leads to being happy. Learning and understanding how to enjoy life. Happiness comes internally. It's almost as simple as deciding that you're not going to be miserable anymore. It is a fact, that if you're financially secure, it's one less thing to think about, but it does not guarantee happiness. I've been both poor and rich and have both poor and extremely wealthy friends and I can tell you, the rich ones can be just as miserable. Yea, I know, I want to punch rich people when they bitch, too. But the fact remains, external factors don't make you happy.
You can go through life miserable or you can go through life happy. I've met stage 4 cancer patients with more upbeat attitudes than people who have their health, a family and gainfully employed. Because it's not the goal that matters, it's the journey. When I was a kid I thought about what was it about scoring a touchdown I liked the most? Wast it before, during or after? The answer was clearly before and during. The preparation and the struggle to your end goal is what I enjoyed. After it was over, well, it was over.
The Book "The Legend of Bagger Vance" makes the point "Life is not a game to be one, it's a game to be played." Because when we're dead, we all go to the same place. Face your fears, get out of your comfort zone and above all, become a better friend, brother, sister, husband, wife, teacher, street sweeper. What ever you do and who ever you are, just do it better.
You don't need to be thinner, taller, richer or better looking. You just need to be the best you you can be. The rest will happen.
So what the hell does this have to do with kicking ass and self defense? It's all connected. Living a safer, healthier life without all of the BS that you are forced to endure to get simple questions like "Can you just show me what I need to protect myself?" answered.
Happy New Year,
Until next time, Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
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