I really like these two demos. Not only because they portray talented martial artists who are able to engage with control and intensity, but because they represent two opposite ends of a spectrum. I like to call that that spectrum, skill acquisition vs skill application.

Kata, forms, and body-mechanics exercises, are great for developing and honing one’s movements. Especially for unfamiliar movements, slowness, sensitivity, and repetition is crucial. This is the same whether practicing with a cooperative training partner, or practicing solo. You can also study strategies and sequences within kata, historical “case studies” if you will, to expand your repertoire.

On the other hand, one can be fight-ready with very few techniques, by practicing with aliveness and spontaneity, and developing a fighter’s mentality. In other words, by “sparring”. But sparring too much can also be a distraction if that’s all you do. Having a narrow range of skills is like having a few “one-trick-ponies”. How far will that get you, knowing that any smart opponent will hit your weakest skill set first?

On that note, here are some veteran UFC fighters, testing their abilities for the first time in the US Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. The UFC fighters are the ones with the coloured helmets. (Scroll to the beginning if you want to watch the entire clip.)

You can only get good at what you train for… so, what are you training for?

The first 6 minutes covers 7 basic strikes that work well in a sudden or melee type of situation. I like to call these types of moves, one-hit-wonders because they’re straight forward fight-stoppers. Also, you don’t need years of advanced training to use them, though they can still be used with softer “more advanced” skills if you’ve got ‘em.

For another angle on sudden use situations, check out the video on The Fence in my previous article on Geoff Thompson.

A Repertoire of Strikes

You’ll notice that I’ve added two photos from Bruce Lee’s book, for a total of nine strikes. These last ones require more training and aim, but they still fit the theme.

Next, the fun part…!

For the second half of the clip, the role of the attackers is to grab and restrain the defender.

The defender’s role is to simply not get caught, while maintaining minimum distance. I’ve taught this kind of drill many times over the years (randori versions of “en no undo” & “sen no undo” in the Bujinkan), and it’s a great way to practice mindful non-attachment and being the observer. Eventually, you’ll become familiar and even comfortable with the swarming pattern, as well as be able to recognize openings and opportunities. Plus, the drill doubles as a great cardio workout!

When it’s decided, the defender switches from being purely defensive, to counterstriking with the methods listed above, or with whatever responses suit the moment.

You can also amp up the drill by allowing the attackers to strike and kick as well as grab, while varying the sophistication of the attacks.

Here’s a video that’s currently holding top position on YouTube’s homepage. It just passed 10.2 million hits, in only 4 days. (update: 34 million hits after six months)

It’s interesting to compare the reactions of the people in the elevator, though I really wish the prankster wasn’t able to call “time-out” as soon as he felt personally threatened.

A few observations:

– If someone seems cool, casual, and is laughing, it doesn’t mean that she/he doesn’t feel threatened.

– It’s a natural reaction for people to close their eyes, or turn their backs [which is the easiest way to get stabbed, dragged down, or choked out], unfortunately.

– Confusion may leave people open to suggestion and instruction — even from their assailant if the assailant is charismatic, has a good sense of timing, and puts on a good act. Just like a hypnotist or a con artist, (or a pickup artist).

– Crazy behaviour and unusual leaps of judgement can occur — at one moment, people could be in a highly adrenalized fight-or-flight state… and 2 seconds later, they could be exchanging high-fives, hugs, back slaps, handshakes, and snapping selfies. (I saw these in other videos by the same guy).

– Instead of directed verbal aggression, screaming is a surprisingly common response.

– The people who responded better claimed their share of the elevator floorspace right from the beginning, and the people who didn’t respond well gave up their floorspace right from the beginning. This was actually a predictor of how the prank was going to go down.

– Some people are more ready to respond than others.

– So much operates on instinct!

Thoughts? More observations? Is fouseyTUBE’s laugh getting on your nerves yet?

Please share!

(related link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Kombat)

I lay flat on my back, eyes closed, on an inflatable mattress in my spare room.  Physically, I’m tired, but in a particular way that feels healthy and good.  After laying still for a short while, three-dimensional reference points soon disappear, as the “outer world” is replaced by a warm darkness.

I may have dropped into a brief sleep.  Nevertheless, like a sapling slowly emerging from its protective seed coating, self-awareness gradually returns. My internal clock, not guaranteed to be correct in this quasi-timeless somewhat catatonic state, says that three minutes have passed.

Still in my state of absorption, I notice the sensation of a subtle but definable “spatial field” around my head.  It spontaneously and ceaselessly “shapes” to the activity of my mind, as if they were one-in-the-same, or as if it were a mirage created by my own nerve endings.  Its “form” is delicate, analogous to an invisible vapour rising off a warm cup of tea, or a beautiful flower made of air.  The quality of my attention is also delicate and gentle. Imagine a tightrope being walked perfectly, by a 3-month old baby.  I can see why this sensation would be hard to locate behind the background noise of normal waking states.  This was not an emotional, intellectual, or “willed” phenomenon.

This “spatial field” sensation is a fascinating “object” for the mind to focus upon, and not unnatural or “other” at all.  Rather, it seems to be an inner mirror of oneself, arising naturally, in the same way our outer actions mirror us to others.  I can see why the word “aether” was used by occultists in the past, and current day “Chopra-Oprah” followers talk of “living quantum fields” and the energetic interplay of “mind and matter”.  But perhaps those are just poetic metaphors used to describe the sensation of electrical mental activity, when observed from “outside” of them. I don’t mean “out-of-body-experience”, though I don’t rule that out as a possibility. I mean, observing those mental patterns from a direct physical sensation level as “spacial fields”, instead of getting caught up in “thoughts” and “thinking”. I believe this is the meaning of “directing one’s attention to consciousness itself”, which is what the eastern sages say to do for self-realization, as opposed to merely being aware of, or caught up in, the contents within one’s consciousness.

(See Plato’s Cave: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave)

The area outside of that personal “spacial field”, to me is “outer space”. It’s more or less a mystery to me, but I relate it to as a clear night sky.  I like to entertain the possibility that there’s a perceptible and working relationship between my “space” and “outer space” (the microcosm and the macrocosm).  In other words, connection to the divine. Hence the words, “cosmos”, or “universe” used in many belief systems and practices.

The concrete curtain of “time and three-dimensional space” returns to envelope me as I slowly leave my meditative state.  The clock shows that only twenty minutes have passed. Refreshed and feeling inspired, I stand up, walk to my laptop, and begin writing this journal entry that you’re reading now…

“Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.” ~ Bruce Lee

Many have asked, so I’ll explain how this works. First, some background:

Way back before I was a “ronin”, when I had a dojo of my own, I had a flash of inspiration that caused me to put aside the conventional “drop-in” or “monthly” fee structure, and instead, adopt a fee structure that was something like a combination of a barter system, a co-op, and an intentional community. It worked on the principle that each dojo member had an inescapable role, responsibility, and effect on the group, and that each person’s individual contribution of time, energy, and presence was what made the dojo the “place of the way“. It’s not the building or the training manual that makes it work. Nor is it the “feature wall” of training weapons, trophies, certificates, slogans, portraits, logo t-shirts, and smouldering incense sticks. It’s the people, of course.

As I thought about it, it became exceedingly clear that for someone to make time in their lives to show up at practice, ready to train and put themselves on the line, was already the most important and essential contribution a practitioner could make to a dojo. And to receive that contribution as a teacher or a fellow student, is an honour and a privilege. (Think: someone offers to put their health and safety in your hands, in order for you to grow as a martial artist. It’s not something to take lightly, nor is it without its’ risks.)

Alternately, there also needed to be a way for a person who missed a class, to contribute in lieu of being there. If there was a way to do this, then that student would not need to feel apologetic for being absent or negligent (as some of my students expressed). Though they might not contribute in “physical form”, they could contribute their energy in other ways. More on that below.

Now, I’m not suggesting that the reverse-fee-structure will work with every dojo. Financially, it has to be viable. There’s also large dojo culture, and small dojo culture. There are not-for-profit dojos that train in a spartan manner outdoors exposed to the elements, and there are commercial dojos equipped with full fitness and spa facilities. There’s the intimate family-style dojo, and the org-chart-style dojo. You can teach to deepen your experience of your art, or you can teach to bring the art to the masses. I’m not going to say “quality over quantity”, because everyone has a different idea of what quality is, and we’re all here for different reasons, but I will say that my dojo was more of the smaller type.

So, with a desire to “balance the equation” on how training fees could be administered, I came up with this:

The Reverse-Fee-Structure:

1. BEGINNERS LEVEL (“omote” or outside)
   A beginner pays a standard monthly fee, as is typical in many dojos. This provides the beginner time to assess whether training in this dojo is right for them, as well as giving existing members time to assess whether this beginner will be right for the dojo. This is akin to “putting in one’s time” or “paying one’s dues”. Fees collected during a beginner’s probation period goes towards dojo operational expenses (studio rentals, equipment, advertising costs, etc.)

2. MEMBERS LEVEL (“ura” or inside)
   Once a beginner has developed a track record and shows promise, then he/she is asked if they would like to make the commitment to become a contributing member of the dojo. A conscious relationship is therefore established. (In older Japanese traditions, the student would make a solemn blood-oath at this stage.) As a member, monthly fees are no longer collected like they are from beginners. Instead, there are now two essential ways for the member to contribute to the dojo:
   1. By attending classes for FREE, while contributing by being the best training partner possible for fellow students and teachers, and having a vested interest in the group. This means, bringing a positive attitude, presence of mind, willingness to learn, doing one’s homework, helping with setup and takedown of equipment, providing snacks or drinks, maintaining one’s physical conditioning and fitness, mentoring younger dojo members, and generally showing care to ensure that the dojo stays strong and healthy. This is the most important method to contribute to a dojo because without this, a dojo could not exist.
   2. Alternately, in lieu of attending class and providing one’s presence to the group, a member could contribute A FEE towards the dojo for each class MISSED. Think of it as a “drop-out-fee” as opposed to a drop-in fee. The idea here is that whether one’s energy contribution is in the form of time (presence) or money (payment), the support and commitment to the group is maintained as a constant, ensuring a stable training environment for those who are making it to class. Paying into training while not being there is not a waste, but rather a tremendously valuable role. The member is, in a sense, a philanthropist or benefactor to the dojo.

3. FRIENDS LEVEL
   To opt out of participating in the dojo as a member, a student would need to simply communicate this intention to the teacher. To have the student write a letter or email would encourage clear-mindedness, and ensure that the person is either “in” or “out”, and protect against paying fees towards a group effort that they can no longer be a part of. A student might need to opt out due to health reasons, moving abroad, graveyard shifts, parental leave, change of heart with regards to training, etc. Life happens. This is natural and should not be frowned upon.

Hypothetical Example:

Normal Fee Structure:
5 attendees (5 x $10) +
10 non-attendees (10 x $0) = $50 per class

OR

Reverse-Fee-Structure:
10 attendees ( 10 x $0 ) +
5 non-attendees (5 x $10) = $50 per class

Which is better?

After some preliminary conversations by phone and email, and then a full dojo meeting, I implemented the switch to the reverse-fee-structure and improvements happened quickly. First off, attendance increased because training was now “free”. Not surprisingly, there was also more energy in the group, as well as accountability, pride, and conscientiousness on all levels. Some of the students I hadn’t seen for a while came back out of hibernation and became regular attendees, and the keeners became super-keeners, and without my prompting or involvement, added another training day to the weekly schedule to focus on self-training. What was most interesting, was that looking at the dollars collected at the end of each month following the adoption of the reverse-fee-structure, I was surprised to see that the amounts collected were exactly the same as when using the old fee structure.

Looking back on all this, I realized that I never did advertise the fact that dojo members TRAIN FOR FREE, but doing so could be a way for teachers to attract some excellent new students, if marketing or word-of-mouth is targeted well. I didn’t advertise “free training” because I already had the number of students I was looking for, and I only wanted more consistency from certain students, and to reciprocate what I felt I received from the students who were there each class, and gave time after time.

What I’ve described is the core philosophy of the reverse-fee-structure. I can offer no guarantees that it’ll work for you, as each group will have it’s own details to work out, but it was effective for my group.

The reverse-fee-structure, which is really a method for organizing people, is yet another way to pay it forward, and is easily applied to small classes such as yoga, dance, cross-fit, etc. Human beings are social creatures, so if we could choose what it was, wouldn’t we all want to be a part of something? But this is a martial arts blog, and paying close attention to traps is what we do, so I will add this as well:

The reverse-fee-structure concept can also be misused as a way to appear fair and benevolent, while one is actually seeking attention, drama, status, power, or control over others. As in the saying, “You can’t cheat an honest man,” the best defence in this day and age is “seishin teki kyoyo” or self refinement. Develop your self-knowledge and study human nature. Be true to yourself and your gut feeling, rather than relying solely on charismatic people claiming to be a sensei, guru, or teacher.

If you incorporate the reverse-fee-structure into your group activity – in part or in full – please make the commitment to reciprocate by crediting our blog (http://www.PlayFight.co), and our twitter page (http://twitter.com/PlayfightCo) as the source, and by letting us know how it’s working for you!

This is the event the coalition is helping to sponsor, and here is the downloadable poster . Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Synopsis of his early life from Amazon:

Watch My Back is the story of one man’s search for courage. Depressed, bullied, intimidated by life and indoctrinated to believe that this was his lot, Geoff Thompson, on the verge of a breakdown, decided to fight back. In a bid to confront his fears, he took a job as a bouncer in one of Britain’s roughest nightclubs. His life was never to be the same again. Over the next ten years, and after being involved in hundreds of brutal and bloody fights that left two of his friends murdered and many more in prison, the bullied 11 stone youth turned himself into a fearsome fighting machine with an unparalleled reputation as a knockout specialist. Seduced by beautiful women, attacked by maniacs with knives, guns (and a pair of garden shears), chased and locked up by the police and sought after by top establishments to ‘clean up’ their clubs, Geoff reached the top of his trade and became addicted to violence. Then it all changed. After being stabbed, glassed and nearly killed in a gang attack, and almost killing one of his attackers in a savage car park match-fight, he was forced to reassess his relationship with violence.

After writing down his experiences in an effort to exorcise his demons, Geoff discovered a flair for writing. Within a few short years his work found a cult following all over the world. This is the story of an ordinary man who faced his fears and took himself from bedsit to bestseller but very nearly got killed on the way. Geoff Thompson made violence his profession working as a dooman at some of Britain’s roughest clubs. As the holder of the rank of 6th Dan black belt in Japanese karate, 1st Dan in Judo and equally well qualified in other martial arts he is a Tough man. As well as many books he has written a film script, Watch My back, based on his life and a stage play, One Sock, that Inspired The Royal Court Theatre in London’s West End to invite him into their exclusive writers’ group. Watch My Back is his account of nine years as a doorman and bouncer, of living with the ever present fear of going too far and killing someone in any of the 300 violent and bloody confrontations.

Geoff’s autobiography Watch My Back was adapted into a major motion picture Clubbed. DVD Jacket above. For synopsis, see IMDB.

Geoff on YouTube:

The Fence — succinct time-tested advice on how to deal with face-to-face dangers:

Who Am I – Geoff Thompson delivers… on the ego, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Eckhart Tolle, and more:

For more info, look up Geoff Thompson on Wikipedia!

The following is my rant and download of important points from last Tuesday’s training:

Multiple opponents practice is in many ways the opposite, and an important counterbalance, to regular sparring practice.  Understanding this will allow you to make best use of  multiple opponents training.  I’m speaking here of unarmed practice.

Individual sparring simulates a consensual and “fair” one-on-one duel.  The opponents stand in each other’s intimate personal space*, and cooperate to stay there in order to test techniques and prove ones fighting abilities.  Outside the dojo though, this attitude can lead to disaster.  A little irrational and compulsive “mano-a-mano” can easily escalate when sudden hatred or terror causes one person to over react and pull a knife.  It can be a slippery slope, a cascade of violence, when primitive instincts are involved.        *(read On Killing, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman)

On the other hand, multiple opponents practice simulates an “unfair” situation where you’re outnumbered and out-powered already.  By definition, it is to your disadvantage (as it should be for it to be a worthwhile exercise), so escalation is already presumed.  Hence, if you cooperate and “stand your ground” as you would while sparring, you will lose.  You’ll be surrounded, cornered, jumped, and dragged to the ground and submitted.  It’s not like the movies where opponents only attack one at a time.

Multiple opponents practice serves as an important reminder that even though you may be highly skilled, you can still be easily defeated by moderately skilled opponents who use even a smidge of strategy and commitment.  So, to stay and fight, “see what happens”, or see how fate will suddenly and magically turn things in your favour, is not the sensible thing to do when it comes to your own survival.

The primary approach to practice then, is not your ability to fight, but your ability to judge the situation wisely to know when to attack, when to retreat or flee, and when to wait. Work on rearranging the “chess pieces” to your favour, instead of fighting as if you’re the stronger one (good luck!). It goes without saying that one must control the situation, but getting stuck in a sparring mindset or fixed stance (or grip), or let your ego or tunnel vision fool you into doing so, will lead to failure.  Always have your exit plan ready, while maintaining close watch on your other opponents and the environment.  Focus on controlling or dispatching one opponent at a time, while maintaining a safe distance from the others. Be a moving target and remember the importance of aerobic fitness and escaping skills. Self-preservation comes first.

There are strategies to multiple opponents practice as well, such as (in no particular order):

• lining up your opponents and using the one closest to you as a shield against attacks from the others.
• creating fear in your opponents by sending a “brutal message” by “making an example” of one of your opponents, or taking an opponent as “hostage” to negotiate your safe passage.
• fleeing and/or finding a game changer (weapon, police, friends, etc).
• tactically communicating on verbal, physical, and subliminal levels to de-escalate the situation

But apart from these strategies, the approach to practice that strangely, isn’t always as intuitive as it should be (for males who are taught from an early age to be heroic “because the good guys always win”) is:  the ability to evade, and live to fight another day.

Not because those words can’t be true in a poetic sense, but because they’re overly simplified, cliché, and elusive. Could one really take that person seriously, without first investigating into the meaning behind philosophical assertions that sound like they came from a 1000-year-old (but deadly) long-white-bearded mild-mannered asian guy in flowing robes?

Natalia’s recent post brought up the importance of being rigorously honest, to offset the typical tendency to conform by playing it safe and being nice. It reminded me of an essay on critical thinking which I’ve reposted below in summary form.

As an inspiring and masterfully written essay on how to think, the full version is still quite short. I encourage everyone to read it, martial artists and truth seekers alike.

But since we’re on the topic of critical thinking and purposeful conflict, let’s role-play some purposeful conflict and ask, “what are we missing here?” What would the legitimate opposition say against pure and rigorous honesty? Like, what does that even mean? Does it mean different things to different people? Does rationality have any flaws or omissions in its’ perception of truth that the “be nice” camp would want to point out?

Please post your replies below.