ISSUE #175       GUIDED CHAOS NEWS

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LOS ANGELES 2 DAY SEMINAR February 26-27, 2011

WITH GRANDMASTER JOHN PERKINS Former forensic homicide investigator and Guided Chaos creator   AND LT COL AL RIDENHOUR USMC Iraq & Afghanistan Combat veteran and Guided Chaos master A once-in-a-lifetime training opportunity!

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WE MEAN WHAT WE SAY      by Lt Col Al Ridenhour USMC, Guided Chaos Master

It’s been a while since I’ve written due to a variety of other commitments so this is just a short newsletter as a follow up to my previous one on this topic. As stated in my earlier newsletter on this subject, there continues to be a school of thought or mind set out there that believes that just because we state or describe a concept of fighting in clear unambiguous terms without getting all “Kung Fuey” with flowery language about “Hidden Dragons” and tigers that “crouch” rather than walk like other normal tigers, that somehow there has to be more to it.  In this newsletter I’m going to delve into some of this because, once again, I still think that at times there are those that continue to be confused about all of this. We Mean What We Say - But Hey, What the Hell Does John Know? For those who normally attend our classes in NY, you will often hear me say, after pointing out the direct correlation of the exercises to actual fighting skills: “But hey, what the Hell does John know…” As Master Kovsky stated in Newsletter No. 150, “There's a lot of bad information floating around the web recently about what it takes to hit hard and effectively in a fight for your life…” With this understanding in mind it still amazes me that people are confused about Grand Master Perkins' training methods.  From his methods for developing functional balance for fighting; to true pliability and sensitivity and hyper-coordination; it absolutely blows my mind that after all that has been written and demonstrated through his DVDs that people still think they can build a better mouse trap.  It is a kind of denial that in my opinion verges on mental illness in the form of narcissism. They just can’t except that some guy from Yonkers, NY (and not some exotic land) through trial and error has developed a complete, effective and realistic fighting system.  And here’s the key point: that it is easily learned and transmitted from one practitioner to another in a relatively short amount of time. None of this business about doing “a thousand kicks” in order to master a specific kick, no thousands of punches just to learn something as simple as socking someone in the mouth.  As the legendary Charles Nelson used to say: “A kick in the balls is a kick in the balls…” Simple and straight to the point… TAI CHI MELTDOWN It reminds me of an incident long ago where Matt Kovsky and I were doing some training with a group of Tai Chi folks in NY City.  During our little impromptu demonstration (well actually I was kind of holding court) one gentleman asked (rather arrogantly I might add), “So what is the lineage of your school?” To which I replied: “Van Cortland Park, the Bronx…” while he remained silent, the look on his face was priceless but his arrogance is typical of such pompous bozos who can pontificate all day about “fa jing”, “chi”,  Ki, super secret wrist locks and whatever… but couldn’t whoop the ass off a fly with a can of bug spray and a fly swatter.  I also went on to explain for the benefit of the rest of the folks that John Perkins had trained under some of the highest level practitioners of their arts and has been in more real blood baths than most people care to think of. [I just want to add that there was a noted tai chi instructor and author in the group listening to Al, who stated that his tai chi was "primarily for health." Another student, standing nearby, turned to this instructor and asked "But wasn't tai chi originally a combat art?" The instructor had no answer, which illustrates Al's point even further.--M. Kovsky] This is not to say that we set ourselves up as the all knowing end all to be all but simply that there is a knowledge about fighting through a proven methodology such as “Guided Chaos Combatives” whose concepts were forged in battle during WWII and on the streets of America. That it can be learned by the average person to provide them with the skills to at least be able to put up one hell of a fight should they be faced with possible death at the hands of a homicidal maniac. In spite of this there are folks who continue to believe that somehow we are holding back information; that we are not telling them the full story.  Even more startling: they think that through some obtuse “mental effort” they are going to find "the secret" or a "short cut" to developing what they need without going through the effort of doing the exercises as laid out in Attack Proof and the Companion DVDs. Alluding to my previous comments, they fall into the trap that many martial artists fall into: They have bought into the eloquent lie that “there are many paths to the top of the mountain but from the top they look all the same...” You know I had an old acquaintance in the Marine Corps who had climbed Mt. McKinley twice and ran the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center and I can assure you he would tell you that while there are many paths to the top of the mountain, 90% percent of them will probably get you killed. The point being there is a correct way and there is the not just wrong, but “stupid” way. It is that simple. Some things work while others don’t. Period! The point is they don’t realize that the true “short cut” to developing the skills is by doing the exercises, focusing on the principles during contact flow and focusing on fighting for your life. Deluded ways of thinking are not only foolish but can prove fatal in a real fight to the death. As we continually state over and over: it all starts with your mind set. Without the proper mind set, no amount of training, no matter how well taught or developed, will help you, because above all, you must have the will to use your skills to their fullest. Anything less and you will die. The Difference "Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." -- Abraham Lincoln No greater words could have been spoken when describing what the vast majority of people think about when discussing the martial arts.  This, despite being in and age of instant media and 24/7 news reports and updates where the most horrific crimes can be beamed into our computers and TV’s on a daily basis. There are still people who cannot or better yet refuse to see the difference between real martial training and nonsense.  They literally think it is like the movies or the ring, dojo, you name it.  You should know I liked the “Karate Kid.” Heck, I like all of Jackie Chan’s movies.  I like boxing and MMA too. Heck some of my students are practitioners of these arts, but I also know the difference between the tree and its shadow.  As with the famous quote above from Abraham Lincoln, you need to think of it like this:  Guided Chaos is like “the tree”, firmly rooted in principles based on reality, which are in turn based on the laws of physics and human physiology.  You can touch it and more importantly “feel it”.  As you nurture the tree (i.e., you) with proper training the tree not only gets bigger but stronger, the roots firmer and deeper, the branches more expansive, more intricate and resilient.  Whereas most martial arts systems, when it comes to training for real fighting are like “the shadow of the tree”, yes you can see it but in truth there is nothing to it.  There is no depth, there is nothing solid about it, it has a form of substance but in reality it is “pure illusion”.   And for those who have experienced the reality of violence when the world of illusion collides with the real world, reality is often a cruel teacher. Again: Guided Chaos principles are grounded in pure physics and tried-and-true reality and not some intellectual exercise or contrived nonsense Guide Chaos is not concerned with theoretical combat or quirky moves from other arts but only that which works Guided Chaos is not for sport or fooling around with your friends to show them how "cool" you are Guided Chaos is not designed to play around with bogus macho BS challenges but is exclusively designed for life and death combat which is why we also train with guns, knives and other improvised weapons Are you more concerned with a "win" in class or victory on the street? Are you more concerned with showing how much you know versus actually being able to do it for real? If you're not training for real you're just wasting your time. Please keep these things in mind as you go about your training.  I can only offer you what I know to be the truth.  What you decide to do with it is on you. The choice is yours.

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?       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) - $145.00 Applying the principles to free-form combat with Contact Flow. BUY BOTH AT 15% OFF THE REGULAR PRICE OF $220. SAVE $33! 15% OFF--THE ATTACKPROOF COMPANION PARTS TWO & THREE COMBO PACK - $187.00

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