Please take a look at Articles on self-defense/conflict/violence for introductions to the references found in the bibliography page.

Please take a look at my bibliography if you do not see a proper reference to a post.

Please take a look at my Notable Quotes

Hey, Attention on Deck!

Hey, NOTHING here is PERSONAL, get over it - Teach Me and I will Learn!


When you begin to feel like you are a tough guy, a warrior, a master of the martial arts or that you have lived a tough life, just take a moment and get some perspective with the following:


I've stopped knives that were coming to disembowel me

I've clawed for my gun while bullets ripped past me

I've dodged as someone tried to put an ax in my skull

I've fought screaming steel and left rubber on the road to avoid death

I've clawed broken glass out of my body after their opening attack failed

I've spit blood and body parts and broke strangle holds before gouging eyes

I've charged into fires, fought through blizzards and run from tornados

I've survived being hunted by gangs, killers and contract killers

The streets were my home, I hunted in the night and was hunted in turn


Please don't brag to me that you're a survivor because someone hit you. And don't tell me how 'tough' you are because of your training. As much as I've been through I know people who have survived much, much worse. - Marc MacYoung

WARNING, CAVEAT AND NOTE

The postings on this blog are my interpretation of readings, studies and experiences therefore errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. The content surrounding the extracts of books, see bibliography on this blog site, are also mine and mine alone therefore errors and omissions are also mine and mine alone and therefore why I highly recommended one read, study, research and fact find the material for clarity. My effort here is self-clarity toward a fuller understanding of the subject matter. See the bibliography for information on the books. Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented.


Note: I will endevor to provide a bibliography and italicize any direct quotes from the materials I use for this blog. If there are mistakes, errors, and/or omissions, I take full responsibility for them as they are mine and mine alone. If you find any mistakes, errors, and/or omissions please comment and let me know along with the correct information and/or sources.



“What you are reading right now is a blog. It’s written and posted by me, because I want to. I get no financial remuneration for writing it. I don’t have to meet anyone’s criteria in order to post it. Not only I don’t have an employer or publisher, but I’m not even constrained by having to please an audience. If people won’t like it, they won’t read it, but I won’t lose anything by it. Provided I don’t break any laws (libel, incitement to violence, etc.), I can post whatever I want. This means that I can write openly and honestly, however controversial my opinions may be. It also means that I could write total bullshit; there is no quality control. I could be biased. I could be insane. I could be trolling. … not all sources are equivalent, and all sources have their pros and cons. These needs to be taken into account when evaluating information, and all information should be evaluated. - God’s Bastard, Sourcing Sources (this applies to this and other blogs by me as well; if you follow the idea's, advice or information you are on your own, don't come crying to me, it is all on you do do the work to make sure it works for you!)



“You should prepare yourself to dedicate at least five or six years to your training and practice to understand the philosophy and physiokinetics of martial arts and karate so that you can understand the true spirit of everything and dedicate your mind, body and spirit to the discipline of the art.” - cejames (note: you are on your own, make sure you get expert hands-on guidance in all things martial and self-defense)



“All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.” - Montaigne


I am not a leading authority on any one discipline that I write about and teach, it is my hope and wish that with all the subjects I have studied it provides me an advantage point that I offer in as clear and cohesive writings as possible in introducing the matters in my materials. I hope to serve as one who inspires direction in the practitioner so they can go on to discover greater teachers and professionals that will build on this fundamental foundation. Find the authorities and synthesize a wholehearted and holistic concept, perception and belief that will not drive your practices but rather inspire them to evolve, grow and prosper. My efforts are born of those who are more experienced and knowledgable than I. I hope you find that path! See the bibliography I provide for an initial list of experts, professionals and masters of the subjects.

Luck [運]

In recent postings it has become known that in relation to the experience threshold, i.e. “According to Ken Murray in 'Training at the Speed of Life', the Air Force set ‘ace’ at five dogfights because there best research showed that no one—no one—remembered their training for their first three to five dogfights.  Personally, I would set the threshold for unarmed encounters closer to twenty. Grasp that.  With the best training in the world, you still got through your first 3-5 on instinct and luck.” - Rory Miller, Teaching, Training, Conditioning and Play. Chiron Blog dtd May 9, 2014

This might be perceived as disheartening to those who practice a MA for SD or those who are taking SD because they feel they need the protection because of the possibility of it taking up to twenty encounters to finally pull up training in lieu of surviving on “luck.” Well, luck maybe what you get when you do all that training and practice. Consider this, would you rather have to deal with violence cold and without any exposure or knowledge, i.e. where you simply roll up into a ball and hope you live, or would you rather have it there where the lizard may or may not extract it for your survival?

For me, after hearing all this in regards to that experience threshold I thought that maybe taking MA or SD for defense is fundamentally not worth the time or effort since, expect for those professionals who deal with conflict and violence on a daily basis, almost all civilians will never encounter violence in their entire life times and even if they do then it sure is not going to reach a level of three to five encounters with the additional seventeen or so for empty hand per the Mr. Miller’s estimate of empty handed experience threshold. 

I also believe that in most cases you make your own luck. I believe that even with the experience threshold that one with that kind of luck is due to all the hard work, hard training, sweat-blood expended that when push comes to shove that luck will be based on the created mind-state of the practitioner. Yes, you may not drop into your kung fu posture and apply those cool combinations necessary to apply SD but what ever you do if you have the history in training and practice and if your experience threshold is currently at zero that luck that leads to your survival will be there. 

Don’t use the perception of the experience threshold, especially for empty hand, as an excuse to stop training and practicing because it will contribute to your “luck.” Remember, “The Mysticism surrounding any good martial art is not so much religion as mindset.” - Unknown Focus in that mind-set or mind-state because that is what will help you make the leap even if that leap is a lot of luck while you build toward that experience threshold. 

Experience Threshold is a phrase used by Rory Miller, and possibly many others including Ken Murray, that is about getting to that point where your training and practice actually reach the point where it pushes luck to second place right behind or inter-connected to your efforts in MA, SD and/or both. 

Note: these are my thoughts and theories and mine alone, I just used others phrases and terms to create a viewpoint that may provide MA/SD practitioners more to think about in their training and practice and most of all, application of MA and SD. 

Addendum:


Luck: where success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions; chance to find or acquire. One looks at luck as something that comes from nowhere and for no reason when in fact luck is about preparation, knowledge and experiences. Every day of our lives is about accumulating experiences, skills and knowledge that adds to our so called “luck.” Luck is more about pulling the right decisions and actions from deep down in our lizard brains, i.e. the instinctual level of our brains serving mankind since the beginning of man’s time for survival. It is that which rises up from our unconscious that is often perceived as magic or inspiration when in fact it is the human ability to take a bunch of apparent unrelated experiences and knowledge to form theories, ideas, actions and new knowledge to tackle obstacles and find answers to life’s questions in providing growth of humans, both personal and societal. Make your own luck, seek out knowledge; seek out experiences; seek out all those out of the box things that will bring about the type of luck that will mean “survival.” 

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