Rejoining the Tao (retired)

2018 was my third full year practicing martial arts, since my  return in January 2016 . About a year ago I posted my  2017 Martial Arts Year in Review , reporting some statistics on my training and how I spent that time. Krav Maga In 2018 I began my third year of training at First Defense Krav Maga in Herndon, VA. I started the year as a P4. Prior to my P5 test in March, I participated in 29 formal Krav Maga classes. (I had trained 58 hours since my P4 test.) Between my P5 test and my G1 test in December, I participated in 91 Krav Maga classes. After my G1 test and through the end of December, I participated in 3 Krav Maga classes. That is a total of roughly 123 hours of regular Krav Maga classes, down from 130 in 2017 and 144 in 2016. In addition to regular classes, in July I attended a seminar with Master Eyal Yanilov on countering active shooters. That is a total of roughly 3 hours of special events, down from 93 in 2017 and 73 in 2016. Combined with my ...

Last week Professor Sauer taught the mixed level Jiu-Jitsu class Monday night at his school in Herndon, VA. I took the Fundamentals class at 6 pm and decided to stay for Professor's session. We spent time addressing a position Professor had been asked about during his recent seminar tour. The position isn't that important for this post, but it involved escaping a foe on your back. He has hooks in, ready to apply a rear naked choke. To make matters worse the opponent traps one of your arms, using his leg. We practiced escaping when the opponent traps your right arm. Professor showed how to escape the situation. Basically, fall to your left side to avoid getting your right arm caught under your opponent. Use your right leg against his right arm to help free your trapped arm. Finish with a variation of the normal curriculum escape to eventually achieve side control or mount. The end of the instruction had the most impact on me, however. As he has done many times during cla...

Life is a series of choices. Like the philosophers in Rush said, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Last month I decided to leave the path towards becoming a Krav Maga instructor. Instead I will focus on progress towards Practitioner 5, and then Graduate 1. At this point I am not sure what I will do after that, assuming I can continue training in Krav Maga and pass the promotion tests for both ranks in 2018. Accordingly I will not open a Krav Maga school in 2018. Now I'm looking more closely at the path to becoming a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor. I hope to test for blue belt some time in 2018, and perhaps begin the Gracie Instructor Certification program later that year. My home school, One Spirit Martial Arts lead by Professor Pedro Sauer, also offers an instructor certification within the Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association. I do not plan to open a Jiu-Jitsu school any time in the near- to mid-term. It takes at least ten years to ...

Last week I taught the noon Krav Maga class at First Defense Krav Maga . Our head instructor was out, so rather than cancel he asked if I would like to lead. I decided to focus on the ground techniques in the Krav P2 curriculum, and add in some "white belt Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" flair. I added the Gracie punch block series (from guard). I also taught how to transition from mount to an S-mount as the opponent tries to roll under you. If the opponent continues to roll, you can let them and then take their back. The students liked the class. As a result, I think, I am teaching again next week. Our head instructor is flying to Las Vegas for nine days of national training and meetings, so I'm teaching all three noon classes next week. I'm nervous, but as I told a friend, feeling nervous confirms three facts: 1) I'm alive; 2) I'm growing; and 3) I care. I could give a talk to an audience about my cybersecurity  methods with little to no preparation, but I'...

Who needs a hobby, or even a lifestyle, that requires getting punched in the mouth? We do! We martial artists are likely to be intentionally or unintentionally smacked in the face many times over the years. We owe it to ourselves to protect the investment our parents made in our braces and trips to the dentist! If you managed to avoid the orthodontist, you have an ever higher duty to protect what your creator gave you! Throughout my martial arts career, I've worn the same mouth gear. When I entered basic training at the Air Force Academy, military dentists took a cast of my teeth and made a form-fitting guard. It sat on my front teeth and helped me avoid injuries during the basic assault course, boxing, and combatives. I was not smart enough to wear it playing pick-up ice hockey (or a helmet, for that matter), resulting in some damage that is a story for another day. (I gave the other guy a scar, too.) Last month I decided to upgrade my protective gear. My old mouth guard was...

I've been enjoying the Jiu-Jitsu Brotherhood podcast , hosted by Nic Gregoriades. Nic brings a deep philosophical approach to his jiu-jitsu, and his podcast reflects that thinking. In episode 10 he interviewed Matt Thornton, the famous coach known for his concept of "aliveness" in training. Nic asked Matt for advice on how to be a better martial arts coach. Paraphrasing Matt, his response was the following: When teaching, ask yourself "what does the student need from me, right now, to succeed?" Matt's question really resonated with me. In jiu-jitsu I'm a student, but in Krav Maga I'm a student and a member of our instructor development program. I help teach kids and adult fundamentals classes, and I'm available for private instruction. Matt added that instructors should worry less about "looking good" in front of students, or demonstrating the latest and greatest flashy technique. Instructors should concentrate on getting thr...

Have you seen this chart, or have you heard about the topic it describes? (Scroll to the very bottom of the post for TL;DR if you like!) From "On Combat", as rendered by Amazon.com. Not for commercial use. In brief, as I have heard it taught and as this chart explains, the higher your heart rate, the worse your physical performance. This idea has implications for anyone in a physical confrontation, where an increased heart rate seems to mean an inability to perform self defense actions. When I first encountered this concept, it did not make sense to me. In my teens I was a high school cross country and track runner, and I frequently elevated my heart rate over 200 bpm. I did not encounter these symptoms. In my twenties and thirties I played men's league ice hockey and managed to perform complex motor skills such as skating, puck handling, and shooting, all while my heart was racing.  Now, encountering this chart and its ideas as a martial artist, I'm ...

I'm reading Kendo: Culture of the Sword by Alexander C. Bennett. I started reading it to better understand the history of Kendo, which I've mentioned a bit here. As you might imagine, Kendo started as a battlefield practice. It was one manifestation of the combat art employed by sword-wielding Japanese warriors. Over time, as the leaders of Japan sought to reduce bloodshed, sword combat became less common. Swords were used in warfare, but as Japan became more peaceful, the numbers of "sword battle veterans" diminished. Various parties sough to continue to infuse the spirit of sword fighting in certain elements of the citizenry, leading to the development of Kendo and its sport elements. I'm currently reading the part of the book that deals with the re-militarization of Kendo, due to the wars Japan fought in the first half of the twentieth century. This is a fascinating phenomenon which I have not encountered (yet) with other martial arts. Following World W...

Last night Mrs B and I were fortunate to attend the U2 concert at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. Between the opening act and U2's first set, I enjoyed observing the physical security arrangements and seeing them in action. Shortly before taking the photograph at left, I saw a probably intoxicated fan run towards the mass of general admission attendees in the center of the photograph. He was pursued by a yellow-shirted member of the CSC Event Staff. The man either fell or was pushed to the ground by the CSC staffer. Shortly afterwards a few of the orange-shirted "Apex Security Group" approached the scene. The CSC and Apex crew removed the fan from the field, one person on each side, slightly behind the fan, each holding one arm behind the fan, at the wrist. A few minutes after the fan was escorted from the field, a few Prince George's County uniformed police officers spoke with other CSC staffers, then followed the path taken by the man escorted from the field. The...

In late March 2017, Iain Abernethy released another edition of his excellent podcast, titled Reinventing Violence . From 25:35-26:05 he makes the following statements: "We need to understand what criminal violence truly is, and then seek the best solution for that. So, what all arts should do, when it comes to the self defense side of things, is to objectively look at the problem, and from there seek the optimum solution.  Now what this will mean in practice is that the self-defense aspect of all the martial arts will end up being pretty much the same, because the problem will define the solution." Iain's idea of the problem defining the solution , rather than the solution defining the problem , is the key to this podcast. His overall concern is that too many martial artists do not understand the true nature of violence. Because they lack this experience or knowledge, Iain says, they claim that their system is, or at least can be, the solution to the problem of v...

Last night, Shane Fazen Tweeted the following: I genuinely believe that every single person in the world should be punched in the face, at least once, before the age of 18. #BeHumble When asked "why?" Shane responded : It's humbling. Knowing that your actions could lead to, say, a broken nose, I think people would be a lot less selfish. This is a good example of another person having a completely different perspective. I never considered that I might act in a way that would prompt someone else to want to punch me in the face. Now, I am not a paragon of virtue, but it's unlikely that I would put myself in such a situation. I would also not consistently associate with people who try to solve problems by hitting others! I tend to agree with Shane for a completely different reason, however. When I was 18 I enrolled at the US Air Force Academy. All male freshman cadets were required to take boxing. (All female cadets were required to take a self-defense class,...

Is moving meditation possible, and how can it benefit a Krav Maga practitioner? My last post on Krav Maga and Kendo  mentioned how I applied some of Master Eyal Yanilov's lessons from his Combat Mindset Class . Yesterday I had another chance to integrate his lessons on meditation and breathing while spending time with members of the First Defense Krav Maga community. Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a public ice skating event at a nearby rink. We had a mix of experienced and first-time skaters, Krav Maga practitioners and family members. On a physical note, our first-timer skaters performed brilliantly. In less than an hour they were taking laps around a crowded rink. Although everyone who skates will fall at some point, during this outing none of our first-timers made unexpected contact with the frozen deck! I attribute their success to great attitudes and sound body awareness due to Krav Maga training. My sisters and I on a home-made rink. Now, on to the mental side...

Have you considered the effect of online video on the martial arts? The publication of the newest Krav Maga Global technique Review of the Week and a  recent thread on the /taekwondo Reddit reminded me of how interesting this topic can be. Consider the training environment 400 years ago, when martial arts in China, Okinawa, Japan, and the Philippines were developing into forms we might recognize today. If that is too distant for you to imagine, going back even 100 years is sufficient. In those days, one could not capture motion, or even sound, using anything like a movie camera as easily as we do now. Perhaps 100 years ago one could use an imaging camera to take still pictures, but they would have been largely staged scenes. In such an environment, how could one make a record of the movements, tactics, and philosophies that comprise a martial art? One method was the creation of forms, or patterns. These sets of movements might capture the essence of a martial arts sty...

Would you believe Bruce Lee affected my career in cybersecurity? For several weeks I've been listening to the Bruce Lee Podcast . The "Bruce Lee Moment" is a segment where a listener explains how Bruce Lee's life and/or philosophy affected him or her. In this post I'd like to share my submission to the podcast. Hello Shannon and Sharon, I love your podcast. I want to share how Bruce Lee's philosophy affected my career in cybersecurity. In 2000 I was an officer in an Air Force cybersecurity unit. The previous year my wife and I enjoyed a three-week honeymoon in China, and I was a practicing martial artist. A top-tier book publisher saw me speak at a conference and asked if I would write a book on detecting and stopping hackers. I considered this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but I declined. I distinctly remember saying that I wasn't ready to write a book yet. I did not feel that I was prepared to authentically express myself in written form....

Is fighting inner demons the way to greatness? This is a question that has bothered me for years. Steve Jobs is one person who may have achieved greatness by battling inner demons. A review of a Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs notes "[f]rom his childhood, Jobs suffered from the emotional wounds inflicted by his unmarried biological parents, who put him up for adoption." Would Jobs have been so successful creating, and then saving, Apple, without inner demons from his childhood? I was reminded of this question when I listened to another great edition of the Whistlekick podcast, featuring Jose Dimacali . In the episode, Kyoshi Dimacali describes how winning tournaments was a way to seek approval from his father. When he won a local tournament, his father didn't say anything. When he won a state tournament, his father didn't say anything. Even when he won a national tournament, his father remained silent. Kyoshi Dimacali went so far as to win a world tit...

Podcasts keep me sane. If you're at all familiar with the traffic in the northern Virginia area, you know what I mean. I spend hours every week driving, many times slowly and with the company of thousands of my not-so-closest friends and neighbors. Thanks to podcasts, the experience is much more enjoyable. When I returned to martial arts training in January , I switched from listening to courses-on-iPhone-or-iPod to podcasts-on-iPhone-or-iPod. (Yes, my car is old enough to require me to use a 2007-era iPod as my primary digital music player!) In this post I share my favorite seven currently active podcasts. I finish by listing a few that were recently active, and perhaps will make a return in 2017. I am not listing the podcasts in order of preference. Many times whatever podcast I'm listening to at the moment is my "favorite." Each offers something novel. The order below does not reflect any favoritism. 1. Bruce Lee Podcast. The Bruce Lee Podcast is relativ...

Eyal Yanilov addresses the group. Have you ever trained in your martial art for a weekend or more? I just returned from the annual Krav Maga Global (KMG) Practitioner and Graduate ("P&G") camp, hosted by Battle Born Krav Maga . It was my first camp and I'd like to share five reasons you might want to attend similar training, whether in KMG or your own system or style. I finish with two bonus reasons for the KMG family! 1. Instructors everywhere.  I am fortunate to train regularly at First Defense Krav Maga in Herndon, VA. Our lead instructor, Nick Masi, is an E-2, and USA director for the system. As of yesterday's grading (more on that shortly), we also have an E-1 instructor, and multiple G-level instructors. I do not take these instructors for granted! However, at the camp we had access to even more instructors -- and this was an amazing opportunity. At P&G Camp, participants learned from some of the highest ranking people in the system -- starti...