ISSUE #214  GUIDED CHAOS NEWS         follow us @GuidedChaos    ENDORSEMENTS

UNAVAILABLE YET UNAVOIDABLE: GC vs. Tai Chi    It seems that there is some misunderstanding of what I mean by "Unavailable Yet Unavoidable". Some folks think it is the same as the Tai Chi Chuan principle of simply absorbing or letting energy pass and then returning. This means when a person either pushes, pulls or strikes the Tai Chi Chuan practitioner allows the other person to pass and then return. This is done while not losing connection with the opponent. In Guided Chaos the idea of being unavailable yet unavoidable is somewhat different: In GC we feel the movement or intention of the attacker and move in such a way as to immediately absorb and return simultaneously. This is accomplished by absorbing and moving slightly off line as you either strike, push or pulse the attacker either causing him/her to be injured or loose balance or both simultaneously. There is no feeling of waiting for the completion of any movement from the attacker. Return and absorption are simultaneous. The advantage to this is when dealing with multiple attackers there is no time to simply absorb and return because the attack may come from many angle at once. You can only keep your balance on one angle at a time for a hundredth of a second at a time, so you must learn to strike or pulse from various angles all at the same time while moving from one point of balance to another at the speed of lightning so to speak. There is often no time for rooted adjustment but more of a "falling" into each split second position as you use the energy of falling and the simultaneous plyometric energy transfer with each return or avoidance. In other words you learn to create your stance and multiple strikes as you go in response to any movement from any angle at the same time or you move from a "causal" point. This means you move before the attacker moves using intuition or set up the circumstances for the attacker to "mismove", then you return with whatever response is necessary for your goal whether to strike, unbalance or both at the same time in various directions if needed. This is where I work with more than one opponent and move them in various directions both away from me or into each other while simultaneously striking them as the dynamic attack/defense occurs. Remember your return can and often may be an unrooted strike because you may not have time to find a root all the time so a strike to vulnerable targets like eyes, groin, throat etc may be necessary as well as "rooted" strikes, pushes etc. --John Perkins ----------------- Hi John, I found this a really useful distinction to make. I recognize it from my time in NY, but seeing it in black and white like this drives home the completely different mindset of GC. In comparison, my own mindset has prioritized the block/counter mentality which as I discovered is way too slow.... It's become an automatism that's difficult to change, but perhaps worse than that it seems to breed a passivity that allows people to attack - because I think I can block and stay safe .... uggh, sad!?  So, your comments were a great wake-up call to re-calibrate and adjust this mindset 'before it's too late....' (just watched Deliverance with Burt Reynolds & co....there's a lesson; where passivity leads to victimization....). I'm still digesting the second half of [your post] - may take a while! Many thanks, Paul ----------------- John, When I was at the workshop I saw first hand how important it is to get the Unavailable yet Unavoidable concept right, even against one person. I am working on this and answering the questions below will be extremely helpful.  1. In what you wrote, is there a difference between being balanced and rooting? It seems to me that rooting is stopping, at least for an instant, where as one can be moving and balanced but not rooted. Is that correct? If not please explain what is wrong with my understanding and/or elaborate in any other way you think will help me to get this. --When you are rooted you are balanced and vice versa. The important point here is that Guided Chaos develops "Dynamic Balance"--meaning you can be balanced while stationary or moving under chaotic conditions and have a functional root in either or both feet as necessary. Similarly, you can drop and hit off either or both feet. Separating the Yin from the Yang includes plyometrically loading and releasing from foot to foot, using one-legged balance to step wherever you need to to maximize power, exploit entry angles and elude incoming strikes and pressure. The distinction is important because tai chi tends to develop a stubborn, though powerful double footed, slowly changeable and thus a sometimes non-adaptive root  that under super fast multi-angled conditions is not as adaptive as GC for combat. This is not to say that Tai Chi does not move from one root to the other but it is not practiced with the idea of rootedness coming from instant step to step root change in any direction almost at once...Can they do it? I am sure they can given the practice and stimulus of an attacker moving from various positions and striking or pushing from many angles within split seconds such as is the training method of GC. --J Perkins, M. Kovsky 2. I find that when I am not striking, pulsing, pushing or taking some other action from my root, that it is best to operate, most of the time, like a mid engine sports car. That is I generally try to keep my center in my lower abdomen and not let it rise or sink to the floor. I only let the energy go to the floor if I am bouncing it off the floor to use it. Is this correct? Please let me know and also tell me anything else I need to know in order to understand the difference between being balanced and rooting. --Rather than think about my tantien or some other esoteric concept, I prefer a more mundane but visceral image: I like to "feel my feet in my hands". In other words, my entire balanced body unity giving me a direct line of power through every joint from foot to fist (knee, hip, spine, shoulder, elbow, etc.). This is no different from any other full body sport (football, tennis, etc.) and is similar to the boxing adage to "punch from the legs". Then again, I just gave the definition of "Threading the Nine Pearl Gates" as explained in the Tai Chi Boxing Chronicles so you could call this esoteric as well. And Dropping supercharges all of this. So line up your joints for power and balance and practice your Ninja Walk and wobble board...separately and together, as well as your Anywhere Strikes on the BOB. --M. Kovsky 3. I am not sure what you mean by 'causal' point. Would you please explain that further. --The Causal point is where even the opponent is not actually aware of what he is going to do next but you feel it and deal with him before he knows what happened...It is not clairvoyance but extreme sensitivity born of lots of experience working with many people in the most subtle way possible...Deep internal listening etc....JPerkins --My take on what John is saying is that any connection you have with the opponent becomes like a thumb drive plugged into his Operating System where you download everything about his balance, intent, looseness, etc. (Actually I've heard John use the "download analogy" many times). Well, coincidentally, this again sounds like a modern paraphrase of the definition of "chi"--also found in the Tai Chi Boxing Chronicles: "The circulating point of finesse in the body." So everything old is new again. --M. Kovsky 4. Patrick demonstrated the concept of "spring steel." I am not sure what he did to create that feeling. What it seems like he did was to pass/absorb and return simultaneously, without completely following through on return, and doing it slowly, so I could feel it. He also allowed me to begin to absorb/pass and return simultaneously, but he then started his pass/absorb return, after me, arriving before me, so that he always seemed to be attacking. Am I correct in my understanding of this? Please correct my misconceptions here and/or add anything you can that might help me understand this better, so I can train it properly. Thanks again for the information and offering to answer my questions, Michael --Instead of thinking of "pass and return" as two separate actions, try the analogy of the "collapsing sphere": you're always moving in, often obliquely, into areas of lower structure. Imagine you're a bucket of water thrown at the attacker: the water mindlessly penetrates any openings in his defense while simultaneously molding to any incoming attack. This requires an adaptive, dynamic root, supreme looseness and sensitivity. Examples: folding an elbow into his face against hand pressure or pivoting a hammer fist to his liver against elbow pressure; skimming in a strike to the eyes while simultaneously deflecting/absorbing/eluding a punch to your throat, all with the same arm; turning in to hit on one side while being pressured on the other; tool replacing; "weaseling" your way through a thicket of defensive moves with no force; destroying a limb with combat boxing while ricocheting into a 2nd and 3rd strike...etc., etc. --M. Kovsky   There is much more that can be written on these subjects but for now this should suffice until more experience is gained....JPerkins  TAI CHI FOR SELF DEFENSE?   PUT YOUR TAI CHI ON STEROIDS... with Guided Chaos internal COMBAT principles    Adapt / Improvise / Survive Read more...      THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PART TWO (2 DVD SET) - $75.00 All the principles, in depth, with drills. THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PART THREE: IN THE EYE OF THE STORM (3 DVD SET-6 HOURS TOTAL) - $125.00 Applying the principles to free-form combat with Contact Flow. BUY BOTH AT 15% OFF THE REGULAR PRICE OF $200. SAVE $30! 15% OFF--THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PARTS TWO & THREE COMBO PACK - $170.00

KILL THE ENEMY: Close Quarters Combat for U.S. Military Personnel "The Kill the Enemy video is the greatest work of modern combat of our time! In the dirty bloody world of real combat there are no second place winners. In combat there is only Kill and come home. John trains you for just such an encounter. There is nothing in the world that can ever prepare you for the harsh cold reality of combat, but John Perkins has found a way to bridge the gap between school and real world no-holds-barred REALITY!" --Captain Jonathan Edwards, 101st Airborne/Air Assault POLITICALLY INCORRECT HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT...?   In 1989, the RUSSIANS instituted a hand-to-hand combat methodology that far surpassed ours in terms of SIMPLICITY and EFFECTIVENESS. Ironically, it was nearly IDENTICAL to the system OUR military used--BACK IN WORLD WAR II!! WHAT HAPPENED?!! Through a political process too convoluted and distressing to elaborate on here, over the years, our soldiers' hand-to-hand training has become convoluted, mis-directed, and relatively ineffective except under "sportive  or "competitive" (i.e. unrealistic) conditions. KILL THE ENEMY is a simple video guide that does away with the boxing-grappling-locking nonsense that has become the "politically correct" standard of training for our soldiers in recent years. Instead of subjecting our military personnel to methods that could get them killed, Master Perkins and Lieutenent Colonel Ridenhour USMC provide basic, effective methods proven in World War II. Distilled from Part 1 of our book ATTACK PROOF, these strategies (Guided Chaos Combatives) are the basic tools that John Perkins' Guided Chaos builds upon. Topics include: Comparison: US vs. Russian Hand-to-Hand Training The Myth of Grappling Defensive/Offensive Posture Basic Hand Strikes Bag/Dummy Training/10 Seconds of Hell Wrestling the Rifle Covering Your Back A Fantasy Knife Fight Rear Choke Scenarios Ground Fighting Fantasies Conclusion: History Doesn't Lie! BUY NOW

CAN YOU SURVIVE ON THE GROUND?   The Fantasy: A 100 pound woman can fight off a 200 pound man from the Guard position (much less mount him for a "ground and pound"!)                  ...ARE YOU SURE?     • Do you really want to be locked tight to a dangerous enemy-- who may have weapons or accomplices ready to kick your brains in? • Do you really want to Mount or go into the Guard position against someone bigger and stronger than you? • If you're a woman, can you REALLY grapple with a stronger man...and live to tell about it? There is a world of difference between competitive submission fighting with rules and elite athletes... ...and real, life-and-death self-defense for REGULAR people, where the only rule is chaos. DON'T BET YOUR LIFE ON A SPORT! The built-in restrictions on your training could short-circuit your reactions and get you killed if the spit hits the fan.   GUIDED CHAOS GROUNDFIGHTING: MODIFIED NATIVE AMERICAN COMBAT 2 DISC DVD SET MODIFIED NATIVE AMERICAN COMBAT   We focus on:  • Evasion • Ground Mobility • Ground Kicking • Ground Avoidance • Multiple Attackers • Knife Attacks • Penetrating defenses and striking to the eyes and throat OUR CRITICS SAY: "We can hit the eyes and throat too, so what's the difference?" The difference is that we're better at it--as well as defending against it, because both require Sensitivity and Adaptation--something we train exclusively. YOUR INSTRUCTORS: Former forensic crime scene expert John Perkins: Perkins has trained in Native American "Anything Goes" fighting principles since the age of 5. Over a period of 20 years he combined it with experience gained from over 100 extremely violent arrests (where people routinely ended up in the hospital or morgue), unsanctioned pit-fighting, World War II Close Quarters Combat, the internal aspects of tai chi and the ancient Greek combat art of Elephtheri Pali. In 1978, he formally created Ki Chuan Do and the principles of Guided Chaos [in1998 he officially changed the name of the art itself to Guided Chaos]. Unlike the "fight-by-the-numbers" self-defense methods popular today, the Groundfighting component of GC is probably unlike anything you've ever seen before.   Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran Lt. Col. Al Ridenhour USMC: Infantry unit commander and instructor of unarmed combat, he is also a Guided Chaos Master. Security Manager, Assistant Operations Officer, and the Anti-Terrorism Force Protection Officer for the II Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq. Worked with U.S. Customs Service and U.S. Border Patrol for the JTF-6 counter drug mission. Has trained current and former members of US Marines, US Army Special Forces, NYPD, US Air Force OSI and US Air Marshal Service   Guided Chaos 2nd Degree Tony Dey, Champion of Cage Combat, Bare-knuckle, No-weight Limit and Vale Tudo matches in Kiev, Holland, Florida and Mississippi and former head bouncer at some of New York City's most  violent nightclubs.  GUIDED CHAOS GROUNDFIGHTING--BUY NOW

A HAND GUN IS USELESS IF YOU CAN'T GET IT OUT BARE HANDS TO HAND GUNS PART 4 OF THE GUIDED CHAOS WEAPONS SERIES DVDS You can be the best target shooter in the world but if you can't fight HAND-TO-HAND at CLOSE RANGE you will never even GET to your gun. Worse, you could be shot with your own weapon! And if you get the microsecond to draw, traditional Isosceles or Weaver stances could get you killed. MORE INFO    PART 1: KNIFE OFFENSE | PART 2: KNIFE DEFENSE PART 3: CANE VS. KNIFE | PART 4: BARE HANDS TO HAND GUNS

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SIMPLE AWARENESS TOOLS FOR SAFEGUARDING YOUR LIFE,   YOUR HOME AND YOUR FAMILY:

1. BEST INTRO BOOK FOR LEARNING GUIDED CHAOS COMBATIVES (THE FIRST PART OF GUIDED CHAOS) FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE The GC Combatives Manual Available in 3 Formats: (Paperback / Kindle / eBook) GC COMBATIVES: COMBAT PROVEN / EASY-TO-LEARN THE PERFECT "HOW TO" MANUAL FOR: AVERAGE PEOPLE / SECURITY PROFESSIONALS / LAW ENFORCEMENT ANYONE WHO DOESN'T HAVE YEARS TO BECOME A GUIDED CHAOS "MASTER"!     2. DVDS, and especially the no-nonsense GC WEAPONS SERIES: Kill The Enemy, Companion Part 1, Military/Police Tactics, Guided Chaos Weapons Series      DOES COMBAT TAI CHI ACTUALLY EXIST?      READ MORE... PUT YOUR TAI CHI ON STEROIDS... with Guided Chaos internal principles    Adapt / Improvise / Survive       THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PART TWO (2 DVD SET) - $75.00 All the principles, in depth, with drills. THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PART THREE: IN THE EYE OF THE STORM (3 DVD SET-6 HOURS TOTAL) - $125.00 Applying the principles to free-form combat with Contact Flow. BUY BOTH AT 15% OFF THE REGULAR PRICE OF $200. SAVE $30! 15% OFF--THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PARTS TWO & THREE COMBO PACK - $170.00      HOW DO I PRACTICE ON MY OWN?  TRAIN ALL THE GC DRILLS SOLO... ...SET TO NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC.  COMBAT CONDITIONING All the Guided Chaos drills back-to-back and non-stop on one DVD. No theory or extended explanations. Put it on, blast your stereo, follow along and work out--5 minutes, 20 minutes, an hour or longer--whatever you want-you decide! Also, many chapters end with a quick application demo of the skill just trained. Talk about practical!

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ENDORSEMENTS:


"Let me start by saying I thought I'd seen all that the world of 'reality-based self defence' had to offer, so for the easily bored out there, I'll cut to the chase. What I witnessed on the weekend of 26 and 27 March is the closest thing I've come across that resembles a modern-day, reality-based martial art and not just another 'combatives system'. Does it work? Hell, yeah! I got my arse well and truly kicked and at times felt like I was in the middle of a Jason Bourne fight scene."
--Clive Girdham, former Senshido and Geoff Thompson instructor [excerpted from the exclusive review of the Guided Chaos Australia Seminar in the Aug. print edition of BLITZ MAGAZINE: Australia's #1 Martial Arts magazine volume 25, issue 6

"Guided Chaos is the only training in my 15 plus years of Corrections that translates into real world application, period."
---Bob Miller, Corrections Officer at the largest facility in Oregon

"Guided Chaos is the only thing that has worked for me in real life situations. Unless you are 6'3" and 285 lbs of muscle, most of the Defensive Tactics stuff (ok all of the Defensive Tactics stuff) will get you hurt. And even if you are that big and strong, there is always someone bigger and stronger and there may be a lot of them. Nothing like dealing with one guy and it turns into a free for all with all his buddies. This is where you literally need to 'adapt or die' and Guided Chaos is the only training in my 15 plus years of Corrections that translates into real world application, period.

"If I had to pick only one martial arts system in the world it would be Guided Chaos..."
--Dr. Robert L. O'Block founder and publisher of the American College of Forensic Examiners International, American Board for Certification in Homeland Security
 

"...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

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