Been awhile since i last posted. Completed Level 1 Krav Maga Cert but have been going as much lately as I would like due to health reasons - migraine, back, shoulder, you name it. Been trying different forms of healing and supplements, all with varying degrees of success - mostly little to none. Started seeing a migraine specialist that includes physical therapy and botox injections in my neck and head - seems to have cut down significantly on the migraines. Starting a yoga class tonight - hopefully the stretching will help.
I'm scheduled to test for Krav level 2 next month. I havent been going to the gym much, the equipt there is really subpar, however, a new gym is opening up next month in the same location as the last one. I may join that one if it checks out.
Started teaching Approach classes with Dennis on Sundays, that's going well even if it is only 1 student.
John stepped down as organizer for the Orlando Martial Arts Meetup Group and I dont have plans to keep it up and going. Meetup.com just got too expensive to maintain. I will just keep the Facebook page going.
Bob Otto is starting his Krav classes back up. Good to hear but just too far of a drive for me.
Elite Krav Maga where I've been going is opening a new and larger location just down the road.
Training there is tough for me however, the cardio is killing me and makes my technique suffer, makes me dread going most days. Hopefully when i get back into going regularly my cardio will pick up.
I'm still training Balintawak with Josh whenever he is in town, I enjoy the reflexive response training as it carries over into all my other training. Since Josh moved to Colorado he can only be here once a year though starting next year he may be able to come to Orlando every 3 months.
One more observation - I would have liked to start a VPPG group (Rory Millers concept of Violence Prone Play Group). A group where you can pressure test techniques and assumptions, I tried this a couple of times, both started with people who had no or very little martial training and it always devolved into a teacher/student role instead of a mutual discovery role. Instead it became - "teach me what you know. Are we going to do any sparring?". The student always has presumptions about what they think they need which usually isn't what they need. If I ask to train with those with martial art experience their expectations are always colored by their 'koolade training'. It's as important, if not more so, to find a good training partner as it is a teacher.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
It's been awhile since I last posted. Dealt with some back injuries but learned a lot in the process of healing about healing. Wish I had know these things when I was younger, it would have saved me less pain later on.
No more MBC it seems in order to accommodate the Fundamentals Krav Class. I still go when i can once or twice a week. My gym closed their doors so i joined anytime fitness. Scaled back on my workouts until i fully heal. Suffice to say Chiro and Acupuncture didnt work but the deep tissue massage certainly did.
I see my journey in martial arts more clearly than i ever have before. There is a distinction between self-defense and the "art" as in martial arts and most people don't see this. I'm only finding this distinction realized by a small handful of people. Some LEOs/SWAT - 'some' - not most. Corrections officers, combat military personnel, border patrols most will, Spec Ops and other Operators certainly will. Those that have lived that life and have lived to tell - certainly.
The distinction is this: Martial Arts as they are taught in our modern age will not prepare you for self-defense and certainly not for combat though some "arts" are more realistically focused than others. Most of these live in a combat fantasy that never quite matches up to the reality of combat because
1. They don't learn from those who have 'been there and done that'
2. They rely on supposed sources of authority who have never been or learned from those who have 'been there and done that'.
3. They have never 'been there and done that'.
....and so we see martial artists being taught techniques that once made sense centuries ago when samurai wore armor, before the age of firearms, before it was illegal to carry weapons with a permit, when you needed to punch or use a knife a certain way to penetrate or find the openings in armor or stand a certain way while fighting on a rocking ship at sea, or if you didnt own a horse how to train to ride one, the list goes on. Locked into tradition they will never discover the truth of combat. They will play at war but never experience war so they take comfort in the fact that their presumptions will never be tested. They will play because its something they enjoy whatever their motivations - cultural, legacy, the kinesthetic joy of movement and learning, an ego driven desire to impress others...whatever the motivation is therein lies their art.
There is much more but Im done ranting for now...until next time.
No more MBC it seems in order to accommodate the Fundamentals Krav Class. I still go when i can once or twice a week. My gym closed their doors so i joined anytime fitness. Scaled back on my workouts until i fully heal. Suffice to say Chiro and Acupuncture didnt work but the deep tissue massage certainly did.
I see my journey in martial arts more clearly than i ever have before. There is a distinction between self-defense and the "art" as in martial arts and most people don't see this. I'm only finding this distinction realized by a small handful of people. Some LEOs/SWAT - 'some' - not most. Corrections officers, combat military personnel, border patrols most will, Spec Ops and other Operators certainly will. Those that have lived that life and have lived to tell - certainly.
The distinction is this: Martial Arts as they are taught in our modern age will not prepare you for self-defense and certainly not for combat though some "arts" are more realistically focused than others. Most of these live in a combat fantasy that never quite matches up to the reality of combat because
1. They don't learn from those who have 'been there and done that'
2. They rely on supposed sources of authority who have never been or learned from those who have 'been there and done that'.
3. They have never 'been there and done that'.
....and so we see martial artists being taught techniques that once made sense centuries ago when samurai wore armor, before the age of firearms, before it was illegal to carry weapons with a permit, when you needed to punch or use a knife a certain way to penetrate or find the openings in armor or stand a certain way while fighting on a rocking ship at sea, or if you didnt own a horse how to train to ride one, the list goes on. Locked into tradition they will never discover the truth of combat. They will play at war but never experience war so they take comfort in the fact that their presumptions will never be tested. They will play because its something they enjoy whatever their motivations - cultural, legacy, the kinesthetic joy of movement and learning, an ego driven desire to impress others...whatever the motivation is therein lies their art.
There is much more but Im done ranting for now...until next time.
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