Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Have fun and be safe!

Brett

Firearms for self-protection: Some truths:

We've all heard it before: "my 45 will beat that kung fu crap anyday."  "Why learn to protect myself, I'll just shoot the person."   "You brought a knife to a gun fight." And all the other ways it's been said.

The notion is pretty clear. In most people's mind, a firearm is the greatest method of personal protection.

But in reality, is it?

I remember training in Judo and Jiu-jitsu with a grizzled old war veteran when some random guy walked into our gym. He basically said to us that while martial arts we're pretty cool, he'd bet on his gun anytime. My judo coach looked at him and asked him, "So, you have your gun on you right now?"

"No, of course not." the man responded.

My coach then look him in the eye and said back, "So, if you ain't got your gun on ya, how in the hell would it protect you if I attacked you right now."

The guy left.

About a week later the guy visited our gym again, this time armed with a training gun. He wanted to show us the firearms superiority. He chose three of us, plus the grizzled old coach to attack him, one at a time, any way that we liked. Each time we were able to close in, take him down, tie his arms up and finish him off with a choke, lock, or ground strikes before he was able to get to his gun.

He later became a student.

In the mid1990's their was a wave of videos in the military and law enforcement world that showed trained officers and soldiers trying to stop a training knife wielding attacker. As long as the attack occurred from a range of 25 feet or closer, the knifer was able to close in and fatally wound the guy with the gun before that person could draw their gun and fire.

I've personally conducted this test many times with clients and it's held true each time.

While firearms are an awesome means of self-protection, they are not a cure all.

Most things taught in firearms classes will not get you ready for a real life altercation.

Learning proper tactical firearms strategy and techniques is the only way to ensure that you're skills will work. And most of the real tactical firearms techniques and strategies start you out with empty hand skills to then allow you to get to your firearm.

Also, a firearm can only be used if you have it on you at the time you need it.

Yours in peace,
Brett

Ah, how I've matured over the years

When I first got into the martial arts, some 30+ years ago, I loved everything about them. I loved the traditional arts. I loved the combat sports. I loved the more reality-based arts. I loved the flashy movie styles. All of it. And I really enjoyed training in it all.

Then, starting in 1993, I changed my views.

I had been in a few dozen real life scrapes, plus the first UFC happened.

All of the sudden, in my mind, everything in the arts that wasn't grappling was crap.

How foolish I was.

Luckily, as I trained more in MMA, had a few bouts, did some challenge fights and what not; I found that striking was also good.

So, I trained in my sport grappling and my sport striking.

Then I did some seminars with some weapons based people and found that dealing with a knife, stick, gun, or whatever was difficult.

So, I found out that there was incredible value in the weapons arts.

Then I found a good Qi Gung and Tai Chi master that showed me not only the health benefits of these arts, but he also kicked the crap out of me when we'd fight.

This opened my mind even more.

Then, the same thing happened with Silat and Kuntao, with Systema and Baugua, with Xing Yi and with others.

Then I was fortunate enough to watch and train with some XMA guys who had some sick skills. Incredible acrobatics and such.

Now, at 37 years old I'm back to loving each and every aspect of the arts. The traditional arts, the combat sports, the XMA, the reality based, etc.

I feel fortunate enough to have found that all arts are awesome, all arts have their place, and all arts are part of an amazing journey.

Thanks for reading. Now go train!

Brett

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The Problem With Women's Self-Defense Classes

As a person that truly believes that all of us, regardless of race, sex, creed, or whatever, should be able to defend ourselves I have a huge problem with the way that most female self-defense classes are run.

Let's look at a typical women's self-defense type of a class.

You usually have, let's say 10-30 women and one instructor, and they take turns practicing the movements that they are learning on each other.

So Brett, you might ask, what's you problem with that? After all, it sounds fun and it sounds like a good way to learn, right?

Let me now ask you this, how many women are attacked by other women?

Yes, girl on girl violence does occur. But the majority of assaults directed against women are from men.

Men are bigger, stronger, more powerful, more aggressive and are far less hesitant to use extreme violence then women are.

So, when you are training to defend yourself against a male attack, and all of your training partners are female, are you really training for reality.

It reminds me of an interview that I read with Grace Cassilas Boggs, a truly legendary female martial artist.

In this interview she talked about a reality check that she had. She had just finished up teaching a women's self-defense seminar (with only women involved) and she had come up with a new way to beat a two-hands around your throat strangle. It worked wonders in class, and all of the ladies that were involved were able to make it work against all of the other ladies attacks.

So, Grace decided to show this move to her husband, World Sport Ju-jutsu champion Ernie Boggs. As directed, he grabbed her by the throat with both hands and began choking. And, the move failed miserable against a man's strength.

After that, Grace decided not to use that technique anymore.

The point being, if you are interested in being able to defend yourself against larger, stronger, more powerful and more violent attackers; you need to train with people that are larger, stronger, more powerful and can bring the violence.

Now, go train hard.

Yours in peace,
Brett

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Dealing With Sociopaths or Criminals Don't Play By Rules!

Ah, Jason Voorhees. When many people think of psycho killers or sociopaths they like to think of the way they are portrayed in films. While I love old Jason here, the real truth is far from the fiction. A sociopath is the type of person that will kick a baby out into traffic, watch it get run over by a semi, then head out to get a beer without giving it another thought.

And this is the type of criminal that causes violent crimes.

I remember, when I started really studying criminal behavior talking with various prison inmates that were in for murder. Many of them had the same story. They would start the situation like a mugging, pull a gun or knife  then demand the wallet or purse. Then, after the victim would comply, they would shoot or stab the person. Many of these inmates grinned with glee as they told their stories. They all loved the look of confusion on their victims' dying faces. The look of, "why'd you shoot/stab me? I was following the rules and giving you what you wanted."

And there's mistake number one.

Criminals and sociopaths don't follow any rules!

They are there to hurt, cripple, rape, maim or kill you!

They don't care if you're "following along."

They don't care how good of a person you are or anything about your family.

They want to do you harm.

How do you go about dealing with these kind of criminals?

Ruthlessly!

I remember teaching a self-protection workshop and having someone actually say, "Brett, that's all great but can't you teach us something less brutal?"

The answer of course is, "FUCK NO!"

If someone physically attacks you, it is your responsibility to defend yourself within the confines of the law, lest you go to prison. But, as the old Cooper saying states, "It's always better to be judged by 12 of your peers than carried by 6."

If someone attacks you, it is your responsibility to do whatever it takes to survive and remain safe. Yes, calling the cops is good, but it may take them 5-10 minutes to arrive. How brutal of an attack can happen in that amount of time.

Don't think about any type of rules, instead fight like a warrior or a feral animal. Use everything that you can to survive and get away.

That's enough for now. I'll talk with you more later.

Yours in peace,

Brett

P.S. Feel free to check out www.brettsliveyourdream.blogspot.com and www.empowernetwork.com/almostasecretphp?Id=bstepan