Subject: Attackproof.com Newsletter # 138
GUIDED CHAOS NEWS #138:
GRAB YOUR DVD DISCOUNT COMBOS
BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS!
SAVE 15-20% OFF:
• Companion Series
• Weapons Series
• Police & Military Tactics
• Groundfighting
Not for sport. Proven in combat. Self-defense that works.YOUR QUESTIONS . . .
QUESTION:
What do you think of Kali/Escrima as fighting arts?
What do you see as their strengths as well as their weaknesses?
ANSWER:
First of all, there are so many variations on Kali, Escrima, Arnis etc. being taught publicly today that it's impossible to give valid critiques of "Escrima/Kali" in general. Some styles of Filipino martial arts (FMA) being taught today are so full of aesthetically pleasing twirls, flourishes and choreographed dance-like practices that they are just as divorced from reality as Hong Kong movie wire kung-fu. On the other hand, some FMA styles, such as the Latosa Escrima that I learned and taught for seven years, bear much closer resemblance to Close Combat than to the flashy FMA, and even include certain combative elements of the internal martial arts.
That being said, my opinion is that MOST of the FMA being taught publicly today suffers from the following problems:
1) Focus on the dueling/sparring/competitive paradigm, which bears little relevance to self-defense;
2) Pre-planned techniques--set responses to hypothetical "attacks";
3) Choreographed two-person training drills that condition the practitioners to expect patterns of movement that don't often occur in reality and that actually box in their creativity and decrease their adaptability;
4) Bloated syllabi with tons of techniques and drills to memorize, designed to keep paying students paying for a long time;
5) Lack of awareness of how real attacks go down, leading to techniques and movements that work only "in theory."
A lot of FMA styles claim the heritage of Filipino warriors putting up valiant fights against the technologically superior Western powers. But think about it: the Moros who charged through hails of bullets to decapitate American soldiers were capable of those feats NOT because they had practiced 5 different hypothetical techniques against 144 attack angles using four different weapon combinations. . . . They were tough as nails thanks to their relatively primitive lifestyle, at home in the jungle because it was . . . their home, dextrous with their machetes and bolos because they used them for practical (non-combative) purposes every day, absolutely determined due to their religious convictions, and immune to pain and fear due to getting high as kites prior to attacking. Their combat effectiveness (if you consider suicide charges combat effective) had little to do with the kind of training available from most FMA styles today. Even some more recent Filipino scouts who worked with U.S. troops against the Japanese in WWII credited their success to a few simple blade strokes combined with stealth, junglecraft and ruthless ambush--NOT to the dueling techniques and flashy maneuvers taught in most FMA styles today.
Even some FMA masters admit (in some cases, preach) that the "disarms," unarmed knife defense techniques, and "stick tricks" taught in most FMA styles are largely b.s., or are only "practice drills" intended to teach aspects of body mechanics for more practical purposes. (Huh?!?) Some have been quoted saying something along the lines of "All you really need are the first two strikes." So why do the padded syllabi persist? Hmm. . . . $$$$
That being said, the "de-fang the snake" concept taught in most FMA styles has some (but not absolute) validity. Of course, the idea goes back at least as far as the ancient Greeks, and John Perkins' older hill country relatives, who were everything BUT Filipino, were quite familiar with it from their own "traditions". Most FMA training that includes uncooperative free-form practice (e.g. weapons sparring) will at least improve a practitioner's timing, sense of distance, etc. And again, some styles of FMA such as Latosa Escrima teach ideas and principles more commonly associated with Close Combat than FMA, such as pre-emptive attack, simple non-telegraphic strikes and drop-steps.
In summary, in terms of preparing you to defend yourself, certain styles of FMA may be better than some other conventional martial arts, and others may be worse. None, as far as I know, will teach you to thrive and prevail amidst the chaos of a real violent assault, with or without weapons, as Guided Chaos can.
--Ari Kandel 3rd Degree GCLEARNED HELPLESSNESS IN THE MILITARY:
The Tragedy and Lessons of the Fort Hood Massacre
(From John Farnam's DTIQUIPS)
Profession of Arms?
Learned helplessness in the military.
Had the serial murders at Ft Hood taken place just outside the Base
in the City of Killeen, TX, the murder suspect would likely have been
gunned-down immediately by several Texas CHL holders.
Tragically, the murders took place in a "gun-free zone" (aka "criminal
empowerment zone"), because in America, among those claiming to be active
members of the "Profession of Arms," no one is armed!
Reactions from the idiot Press were predictable:
They sought out anyone who would comment on the subject of personal weapons
on base. One representative fell into their trap and tried to defend Base
rules that require "... anyone on Base with a weapon must have it
out-of-reach and unloaded." However, as we all know, any gun that is "perfectly
safe" is "perfectly useless," and its owner is "perfectly helpless."
Base commanders apparently believe everyone should be disarmed and always
ready to be victimized, rather than (Heaven forbid!) armed, trained, and
prepared.
Interesting philosophy, and it obviously "worked" perfectly! Curious
that the murder suspect himself apparently didn't pay much attention to that
particular rule. Imagine that!
The fact is that the best, and only really effective, deterrent to criminal
violence is good and decent people who are constantly armed and prepared.
That practice has significantly discouraged all criminal activity every
time it has been tried.
It works. Nothing else does!
Years ago, in all branches of the US Military, officers and staff NCOs were
always armed with a pistol, on base, off base, in uniform, or not. Being
ever "armed and ready" was considered a point of honor! To be unarmed was
to be incapable of performing one's duty. Such a thing would be
dishonorable. Back then, we didn't have mass murders on military bases!
Under today's "enlightened" policy, even star-wearers are unarmed and
helpless, foolishly relying upon some ill-defined "reactionary force" to
protect them, a force that will predictably arrive long after the damage has
been done. Who own personal weapons, have local CCW permits, and acquire
training outside the "System," are now classified as "gun-enthusiasts" and
are thus highly suspect from that point forward, lumped in with lepers
and child-molesters.
So long as professing practitioners of the "Profession of Arms" are
pathologically frightened of guns and suspect of each other, we can look forward
to more such mass murders of the defenseless. And, I promise you, all will
take place in "gun-free zones."
As always, the real villain here is arrogance, the kind of personal vanity
the ever precludes us from sincerely admitting we're wrong and that we need
to change directions.
Learned helplessness? Not a formula for victory!
======================================================
WHAT ARE THE BEST DVDS FOR TRAINING THESE PRINCIPLES?
THE GUIDED CHAOS WEAPONS SERIES DON'T DIE WITH YOUR GUN IN YOUR HOLSTER--
A WEAPON IS USELESS IF YOU CAN'T GET IT OUT!
FOUR PART SERIES:
1: Knife Offense
2: Knife Defense
3: Cane vs. Knife
4: Bare Hands to Handguns
(You may not like the truth, but it could save your life)
From the military to civilians and even the police-- knife, gun and stick fighting
is often taught unrealistically. Based on the brutal, bloody, forensic homicide
research of former detective John Perkins plus Perkins' over 100 seriously violent
arrests, this comprehensive 4 part DVD series separates film fantasy from
forensic fact and dojo delusions from real combat.
COMPLETE SERIES CHAPTER INDEX
PURCHASE ENTIRE 4 PART SERIES AND SAVE $39
WANT A SEMINAR IN YOUR AREA?
Organize a group of 20 or more people and we'll bring our crew to you.
SPECIAL DVD COMBO DISCOUNTS
Get 15-20% off on many different DVD combo packages.
Scroll down on our SHOP page to view.
BIGGER THAN EVER! CHECK OUT THE GUIDED CHAOS NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES:
Does not include the last 6 months or the latest editions.
JOIN A GUIDED CHAOS TRAINING GROUP VISIT OUR FORUM
VISIT ARI'S TRAINING BLOG: "MY LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS"
As an ATTACKPROOF.COM newsletter subscriber, we will
be bringing you regular training tips and thoughts on combat
from Grandmaster Perkins, Master Ridenhour, co-author
Matt Kovsky, and others.
Old articles may be found at Newsletter Archives but not
GC News (only current emailed subscriptions have it).
If you are having a problem with our Newsletters please let us know.
=============================================
Tell us what you think about our GC NEWSLETTER!
If you like it, tell your friends about our site or sign'em up.
=============================================
=========================================
REAL FIGHTS ARE NEVER CHOREOGRAPHED...
YOUR SELF-DEFENSE SHOULDN'T BE EITHER.
Guided Chaos DVDs for the Spontaneous Edge
What your current training may be missing...
=========================================
...through watching videos put out by attackproof.com, and by
reading Attackproof, the book, I have learned real survival skills.
These skills have been learned...at an exponentially higher practical
yield-per-hour training rate than any other martial art classes or
seminar I've ever attended, or ever even heard rumor of.
--Matthew Shoener, Police Officer, Scranton, PA
The Companion Video Part One is stupendous!
A godsend of detail for out-of-state practitioners.
--Mark from Chicago
HOME OF MARTIAL REALISTS"A TRUE LINK BETWEEN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MARTIAL ARTS"
Web and video production for ATTACKPROOF.INC provided by:
