Beginning Martial Science

In the beginning of teaching children it is good to lay a strong foundation. On top of that one just account for the limited attention span children have and finding the balance in the having fun and learning the harsh truths of fighting. While doing that one must not forget all the other great things martial science can teach.

I started mine with a basic combo, boxing's one two followed my a front two knuckle punch to the solar plexus, a half moon step with the rear foot, hammer strike to the groin, ending with a back fist with the same hand. I drill this with her right leed and left leed. Then I turn around and drill evasion of that combo.

 I chose this combination  not because of its tactical validity but because it develops many of the basic skills needed to progress. I train her in blocking the same for the same reason. Most who know me know I do not utilize a passive blocking system and may wonder why I am teaching her to passively block that one combo. To me right now it is about teaching her basic motor skills as opposed to what is tactically sound, although there is a notable trade off with those two aspects.

The approach I choose with new students is not to bombard them with a bunch of new data but to play off their natural skills and coordination. I show her a combo tell her to mimic it, then I point out one or two things that could be better with her form. When she had become more adept at the points I tell her then I point out one or two more, I feel this teaches her brain to use thought paths that already exist as much as possible therefore accelerating her learning. I personally feel that the traditional approach insisting a specific and complicated form overwhelms the mind causing it to create a whole new thought path, one that has little "connectivity" in sending that signal to perform that movement. This results in lower reaction time and faulty movements.

I believe that it is one reason many high ranking martial artists have been defeated in a real fight. Some may disagree with me under the logic that it is better to practice the "right" way rather than the wrong way. I would say you might be right, suggest that each student might learn better under my approach and another might learn faster under a different one. Which is one reason why I see fighting as martial science. I propose the use of a flow chart to find what, how and why, each maneuver, technique and method of study works for different situations, and students.

What really matters regardless of what approach you like is this, "are you doing it?" Are you making sure your child can protect themselves if and when you aren't there?

Ultimate archery, and the ultimate archer.

So this guy, Lars Anderson, is clearly talented. This is a good lesson to us, simply teaching our kids how to shoot isn't enough. It is important that we think outside the box and not hive ourselves limits.

We can learn from this man that when we teach out kids we need to strive for what works in all circumstances not just what works in training. We can apply the same approach to any other form of combat. In essence this man is the Bruce Lee of archery. He went past modern convention and wasn't afraid to do it differently. On top of that he didn't stop there he kept taking it to the next level. He thought how can I make this harder, how can I do it better.

We all should strive for this in the warrior lifestyle.

Why a warrior culture is needed.

I do my day job in hitches, which requires me to live with roommates for two weeks at a time. This means that even though I spend little time watching the news at home my roommates have it on at work. As I am sure you know there recently was a terrorist attack in France and the organization behind it is calling out publicly to have "lone wolf attacks" in America. There is no "head of the snake" with this, these people are somehow inspired to do these violent things.

What scares me about it is, it could happen any where and at any time, just as long as it turns public it will aid the intentions if these groups. They want it online, facebooked, tweeted etc... They are like a bully in that they need people to see the things they do. They are not bullies, they feel it is right, that they are fighting a noble cause. If they were a private group or a simple rebel force you could take out the leader and the moral of the group would go down and the fight would die out or at least die down.





I deal that I at one point had something in common with that. In my teen years and early twenty's I wanted to feel conviction about something. I wanted to fight for something, this lead to some delusions but I grew out of those and I don't feel that they were abnormal or unhealthy. As young boys we see our hero's and want to be like them so we strive for that.

So what sets me aside from these people? I learned one simple truth, unprovoked violence is despicable. In order for me to really learn this it was important that I already understood the value of life. I grew up helping people just cause they needed it.

 These forms of violence are not new to our culture. I will tell you a story of when I decided to live a warrior lifestyle.

My grandparents were part owners of a mining property in the Mojave desert. When I was eleven they had been evicted due to court rulings. This was a place i felt truly at home, my grandfather taught my cousins and I everything from hunting small game, survival, fishing, boxing to how to build things and solve problems when you are away from the city. I continued to learn these thing from him after the eviction.

When I was sixteen we were allowed back, but we had to share the property with people that were violent. We never carried firearms, we wanted to make a statement that we were peaceful people and didn't need them. We had them, a Ruger Mark1 in a sock drawer and a Mossberg 500 propped in the outhouse. We did not carry them on our person, we trained for violence but did not look for it. We were tested more than a few times against these people but we always remained peaceful in our intentions. We even went on food runs and bought food and beer for them more than once.

The drive from Boulder city to there was forty miles and people were regularly stuck on the side of the road for one reason or another. We helped them when we could, and sometimes when we couldn't. Had allot of interesting stories from it. People looking for ghost towns and found our mine on the map was one, most people were good. The news started reporting more and more stories of people being found dead out there, stories of gang initiations that involved killing someone who stopped to help.

 One day we were driving in Eldorado valley and saw a dark plume of smoke coming from nelson road. When we made the turn on that road we witnessed a red hatchback hauling ass in the oncoming lane. When we approached the cloud of smoke we saw it was a late model sedan on fire with the four ways on. Up the was was a dead prostitute with numerous bullet holes. We drove the rest of the way to Nelson NV, borrowed a phone and called it in to the police.

 After that and with all the other crime activity going on it was hard to stop to help people for fear of the worst. It was a few years later when I was on my way to the lake for a party when I passed up a family who was trying to flag me down to help pull them out. I realized the world I lived in had bad people and violence everywhere. But there are people that need help to make it through. If I would stop and help people who would?

I had been raised in the warrior lifestyle but at that moment I realized how important it was. I realized that in the name of "peace" I started leaving people stranded when they needed help. I didn't think it could happen to me, but it did. I started carrying a .38 revolver anywhere I could and have never passed up helping someone since.

Now it is a .45 but my intentions will always be to improve the quality of life for those around me. It is important that we raise our children understanding the importance of life, helping people, and to protect themselves and innocent people around them.

The necessity of compassion.

I am hitting my heavy bag the other day. My boy of three years old comes up and says, "Dad, what are you doing?"  I tell him I'm working out and he just goes.on his way. This brings to mind a question I often ponder, when do I start teaching him how to fight?

There are things I have been  doing with him to developed skills like strength, balance, coordination etc... He jumps and runs and sometimes mimics me. He thinks its just a game when he uses my training knife to hit a tennis ball on a string hanging from a ceiling. Right now it's just fun, like baseball or any other sport. When do I teach him HOW to hurt people without teaching him TO hurt people
 I can only come to the conclusion that I need to see him display great compassion before I teach him how to fight. What is compassion? To me it is having concern for the well being of others. He has displayed this with other kids, he apologizes when he " bonks" someone accidentally. He also helps them up when they fall. I don't feel like this is enough.

Now I am faced with the decision as to what is enough. When I think about it now I figure that it will "come to me" in a sense. Will he come to the aid of a child in the playground? or will he help a small animal that most would see as insignificant? I don't know.

I find this important Whenever I watch the news. I see all the violence, riots, robberies, and most notably school shootings. I live in Colorado and unfortunately those are usually kinda close to home. I wonder what these people's childhood was like. How do they not have the compassion that would have diverted their intention from doing these things?

I realize that I have only brought more questions than answers. There is one thing I know. Bad people exist no matter what. You can raise a kid perfect and find he or she was born a psychopath. But if there is none raised with the skills and willingness to help and protect people, the good ones wouldn't stand a chance.

Introduction. Let them play cops and robbers.

Those who knew me before I had a family expected me to raise toddler ninjas when I became a parent. While I certainly would enjoy that I must say that being a parent has changed my prospective on the warrior lifestyle.

For one, it has diminished the time I have to train. Does that mean I have gotten out of shape? No. It does mean that I have had only a few hours a week that cannot be planned or scheduled. This has caused me to consolidate my training to the most important, simple, and effective training methods.




For two, I have witnessed how kids are easily influenced and it is important to guide them in a way that they still feel empowered. It's easy for kids to see dad hitting a punching bag and his training partner and think he can go hit other kids for fun.

There are many other aspects of being a warrior parent that will test you in ways you never knew possible. It will effect your views on what it means to live the warrior lifestyle, be a parent, and what path you are leading your kids down.


This blog will be my story and thoughts on training to protect yourself, family, friends, and those who need help in general, all the while being a dad at the same time.