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.

IKENSHO: Meme's Work (Except When They Don't)

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

Except meme is not appropriate for realty states that such things are maxim’s, i.e., “a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct.” What is important here is that one must understand that “general truth” is, well, general. All maxim’s of martial origins both ancient and modern tend to hold both a general truth or meaning if you will, along with some rule of conduct one perceives when reading it especially in a martial context. 

Here is the thing about maxim’s, when you read it you almost instantaneously either like it or don’t like it and there is no in between. When you don’t like it after the initial reading you always discard it immediately and label it in some form literally blocking it from your mind for now and in the future - mostly.

When you do like it you instantly assign your perceptions and beliefs and reality to that maxim regardless of what may or may not be its true or original intent with emphasis that no one, NO ONE, can know the authors intent in the maxim unless that author provides a comprehensive explanation to why that maxim came about, what its purpose is to those they wish to read it. Otherwise your perceptions and beliefs and realities tend to assign it meaning and that meaning is almost literally wrote in stone in your mind. 

There is NOTHING wrong with this as maxim’s are meant to do just that, get you to accept them then, hopefully, get you to thinking. Often a maxim can be encoded in your mind and throughout your life may pop up when you experience things. They trigger the maxim and you may automatically re-assign the original intent and meaning you gave it or as is human and nature you may create a new one, sometimes closely resembling the old one. This is also a good thing. 

It is when you share the maxim with others that things tend to get out of hand, especially if others start to comment on their interpretations of said maxim then, if you are lucky, a dialectic meeting of the minds occurs and everyone benefits with the resulting theories, ideas and beliefs. In short all parties win-win without resorting to a competitive your idea must win dynamic.  

Mixim’s work when held and questioned and used as a teaching tool that is fluid in nature meaning that the perceptions one has of its intent changes according to the times, the moment and the evolution of one’s efforts toward using the maxim for training, practice, understanding and application. 

Individually, once exposed to a maxim, it is meant to be a teaching tool for that individual. It matters neither way whether they get the intent of the author or not, sometimes that intent is obvious to all due to its terse yet accurate composition and it often carries throughout history with little or no adjustment YET in many cases the intent of the author may be hidden in obscurity due to large windows of time passage along with a lack of true tools to convey and articulate that meaning as would occur to differences in culture, beliefs and the when of the author, i.e., Lao Tzu vs. a Modern master of that discipline. Then we are left with interpretations that differ accordingly. 

On a personal note, I take maxim’s as a means of learning and teaching where lively dialectic discussions often lead to a better understanding or even a change in the original to meet the needs of now vs. of then. As long as they achieve these goals and objectives then everyone wins and that means, to me, once it enters the arena of the many then everyone who participates must be ready to present a side for discussion. 

Remember, “All bottles are good, they all serve a purpose, simply means that the differences and disparities found in one bottle don’t change its purpose, to hold something regardless of what that something is…”

Charles James

"All bottles are good, they all serve a purpose and as long as the purpose is foremost in one's mind in training, practice and application then all is well otherwise... " - cejames with some license on Tatsuo-san's original bottle maxim :-)
For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)

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