@kravmdjeff
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Re: Looking for Input from you all
Mote, e-mail me at [email protected]. I have some ideas that may help you.
Re: Done With Self-Defense
Alamocity, first, congrats on a job well done so far!!! Many people would never have started, much less put all the diligent effort you have so far.
Second, I just got to participate in some training in San Antonio. The staff and the facility there are primo, so I hope you realize how blessed you are to have them available!
Third, have you considered doing private training, in which you’d still be able to train the self-defense techniques, but at a pace that would keep you injury free? Just a thought…one that some of my students have gone with when the mixed classes seem to be too much.
Re: "Black belt Krav Maga" – book ??
Seeq, don’t be so sure…we have evidence of bad guys all over the country training and counter-training.
Re: Starting a club?
Leam…
A few suggestions…
1) Try to go to as many seminars as you can. even if it’s not formalized, I know a lot of the school owners would love to have you train for a few days and soak up with you can.
2) Look into doing Phase training. This WOULD certify you as an instructor if you completed it successfully and passed.
3) Possibly consider pooling resources to have an instructor from a nearby school come and do a seminar. There are several great schools in Atlanta.
Re: Looking for Input from you all
Mote, what are you writing for? A novel? A screenplay? Perhaps some context would help.
Re: To All Those In San Anontio for FTF/Vday Seminar Weekend-WELCOME!!
Thanks for the hospitality folks. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Re: Hebrew text for a tattoo
FYI on the Leviticus passage…ancient pagan cultures would cut themselves, brand themselves, and tattoo themselves as a sort of blood sacrifice to any variety of deities. So if you’re concerned about the religious implications of a hebrew tattoo (which, I understand many people won’t be), rest assured that the passage is intended to prevent the worship of idols, not to say that there’s anything wrong with tattoos per se.
Re: Phase A preperation
JDE, solicit as much feedback as you can from your Phase instructors. Be the squeaky wheel. You’ll get the most amount of gain for your pain, and their input will help lightbulbs go off in your head that otherwise wouldn’t.
Also, I strongly disagree with hemibuck about pacing yourself. The Phase instructors will set the pace that’s most appropriate according to the technique, skill, drill, etc. that you happen to be working on. They’ll also usually explain why. Go the pace that they tell you to go, even if you think you can’t.
Also, take the initiative to get in front of class when offered. When it comes to mock-teaching or leading warm-ups, be the first person willing to go. This will help to calm any nerves you may still have about being in front of people, and it will also demonstrate a willingness to be a leader.
Know what your weaknesses are, and pay extra attention when the Phase instructors are teaching through them. Ask for input even after the day’s training is done. This may sound crazy, but I had two candidates from Kentucky at a Phase B in Maryland who stayed late, even after an 8-hour day of training, to work on side kicks and back kicks, since they knew they weren’t their strength. The effort alone was impressive.
Also, know what your strengths are, and make sure that they stay strong throughout the training and the test. You should have at least a few things you do that are impressive, even among a group of instructor candidates.
Finally, if you’re traveling, be sure to do two things to off-set the downtime after the training…1) Get to know your fellow candidates. Aside from making the KM community stronger and more enjoyable, this will make the training sessions easier if you have some closer comrades training with you…and 2) Keep in touch with folks back home. Phase training is as difficult mentally as it is physically…and that’s on purpose. Make sure to keep in touch with family and friends when you’re not training. Trust me, it helps.
I’m not going to tell you anything like “don’t give up” or “give it your all.” If you didn’t already know you should be doing that, you probably shouldn’t be going anyway.
Re: Good days and bad days?
I’d say, having trained and taught full-time for the past several years, it’s entirely normal. The good thing to keep in mind, however, is that even on those “off-days”, when your technique doesn’t feel as good as it sometimes does, the defenses are still very much designed to work. To me, that’s an encouraging part of the system and helps me get past the frustrating days.
Re: Reacting to Insult
Reading SteveTuna’s post, I wanted to clarify. I do think that one should respond different to a verbal threat than to an insult. That does NOT mean I think one should categorically respond with violence to a verbal threat. In Dave Grossman’s book, “On Killing”, he points out that in a confrontation, there is more than just “fight or flight”…there is also “posturing” (a softer version of fight), and “submission”(a softer version of fleeing).
For the relevance of the discussion here, I think the key is to be able to differentiate whether or not a person is posturing (i.e.-using verbal attacks/insults/threats INSTEAD of a physical attack), or testing your boundaries (i.e.-using verbal attacks/insults/threats AS A PRELUDE to a physical attack). I’ve seen it happen both ways.
Re: Are we being true to the system?
I agree about the video taping…we’ve had a few news stories done out of the Maryland facilities, and the reporters who are filming the piece are interested in making it what will interest viewers, not what will accurately represent the spirit of the system.
Re: Long knife/sword defense techniques
Oasktf…Look at a stick defense against an overhead swing. There are three main modifications you’d have to make, however…our stick defense is designed so that, if you are late making the defense, you can still redirect on the base of the stick, near where the attacker is gripping. In a machete defense, you can’t do that…you must get to the wrist of the attacker to make the defense.
Second, after you create the ramp you’d want to angle your arm out away from your body more so the blade doesn’t catch any part of your arm or shoulder on the way down. Again, with a stick defense this doesn’t much matter, but it could render your defending arm permanantly damaged with a machete or longer blade.
Finally, I’m not sure it would be a good idea to do the disarm the way we teach it with a stick, for danger of being cut on the inside of your arm or on your side, especially with the friction of sliding your trapping hand from the attacker’s upper arm to the butt of the blade. I’d be interested to hear others’ opinions about the disarm…do it the same as stick? Modify in some way to avoid the blade? Just stay inside and hold on until combatives do the job?
Re: Live fire disarm vid?
James, awesome post. I had to read some parts two or three times to get a mental image of what you were trying to say, but once the image was formed, I totally agree!
Re: Long knife/sword defense techniques
So, previously when I posted, I hadn’t seen the Jamaica video that Chocolate posted. Seems like by running away (but not far or fast enough), he allowed the attack to continue. Staying away from specific techniques and sticking on concepts, the victim still would have been better off had he tried to go inside and strike. From the looks of the scenario, there were no real available improvised shields…it was in the middle of the street. But it seems like his options were:
1) Run away and take some serious damage
2) Fight back and perhaps stop the damage.
Another interesting machete story…many of you know our technique…knife threat to the front of the throat, which can also be done against a wall. I had a student start training with me after he and two friends were attacked in a South American country that way against a wall, only it wasn’t a knife…it was a machete. So it seems like the defense we teach against a smaller blade would not have worked, since it would cause friction against the throat on a larger blade.
