Its the first newsletter of the new year....
And I promise you it will be worth the effort to read all the way to the endHow to cure the zombie virus
In my last blog post I mentioned fitness Zombies
Soft skills from the Jedi Master:
Soft skills are the things that do not involve getting physical with someone, they are the mental skills, the stuff that makes the difference frankly between winning and not winning.
Recently I was lucky to have the opportunity to get some coaching from one of the Jedi Masters, Marcus Wynne (I say this euphemistically, but if you knew this gentleman, you would find the description apt and appropriate). Marcus is a best selling author of some of the finest thrillers I have read in a good long while, whenever one of his books hits the shelf, physically or in the kindle shop, I am all over it. Besides being a best selling author of very entertaining books, Mr Wynne is also someone who has contributed to my education, both by osmosis and now by direct contact.
Let me explain,
my instructor, Guro Mike O'Melia was one of the members of theMN Kali Group when Mr Wynne was pioneering a new methodology of training, a way to get people up to speed on new skills with a high level of ability, in a short period of time. Some of the skills were indeed "hard skills", physical tactics to deal with problems people in contact with other people intent on doing them harm would benefit from, like the straight blast, shake and bake, extreme close quarters, and other groovy things....
however, ancillary to those "hard skills" were the "soft skills"
the things that let you have a split second advantage over your opponent, adversary, target or enemy (I make the distinction because there is one, and it can be an important distinction when the time comes)
the little bits and pieces that when assembled, make your options expand, your re-actions seem sometimes super-humanly fast, your actions appropriate to the situation, and most importantly, help you come out on top when the chips are down.
Vision, state access and management, and training in state were all elements that formed the soft skills tool box
Vision:
Being able to see what is going on around you is important right? sure you say, of course, that's obvious...
better is being able to see what is important, and put the rest in a box for later
Increasing your peripheral vision is a fast way to getting more information, being able to maintain that peripheral vision is one of the most important skills you can develop in threat to life stress situations, but it is also a skill you can practice all day, every day, every where.
incidentally, I use peripheral vision as a monitor of my stress levels while I am exercising, so this was a very familiar process for me
when my vision starts to shut down, I take a break, it usually comes before breathing changes, and before posture changes, so I am always training/practicing in a physical state that is most beneficial
this also means that I am adapting to whatever I am doing in the best state possible
State Management was the 2ND soft skill, so lets get there
State Management:
This is the ability to manage your mental, physical, and emotional state, the better you get at this, the better chances you have of acting with clear, deliberate intention, and not lose your head
If you slowly inoculate yourself to higher levels of stress, you become better at performing under stress, period, full stop
How do you manage your state?
Breath and Posture....sound familiar?
Your breathing and posture effects your physiology, your physiology effects your mental and emotional state.
If you slump your shoulders and breath shallow and high into your chest, you will notice a change in your mental state, not for the better
if you pull your shoulders back, get your chin up, and breath deep and slow into your belly, smiling, you will also notice a change in your state, likely for the better
its pretty simple really, and valuable (this is a very short explanation of the work we did, so bear with me, if you want a full tutorial, you have to schedule some private time with me, I will be happy to teach you how all this stuff works, and how you can adapt it to your application of choice)
Monitor your state and you can help ensure that you train/practice in the best possible mental and emotional state, this sounds redundant, I am OK with that
what is the best mental/physical/emotional state?
depends on the task at hand
if you are learning a new skill, or sharpening a skill, the state of mind you are in will be part of that skill, meaning that you can make your learning and practice more efficient
being relaxed, resourceful, motivated, and having a well defined goal, in general, will be key to making this happen in most contexts
if you think it is hard to maintain the above mental and physical state while under stress, you are absolutely correct, however, taking into account the SAID (specific adaptation to imposed demand) principle, we know that we Always adapt, to Exactly what we do (Z-Health definition here, thanks Dr. Cobb), we can agree that it is a skill (everything is a skill, Z-Health again) and practice will make us better
So, calibrate your vision
Get your breathing under control,
Get your posture sorted out
Now access a particular state that is conducive to the task at hand:
State Access:
Sorry kids, this one is something that I have to show you, rather than have you read about it
basically, you remember a time (or create a memory of a time) when you were in the mental state you feel would be desirable in the context of the skill you are practicing, and get yourself back to that mental state
we actually do this a lot throughout our day, just unconsciously and usually not to our benefit
negative self talk and imagining bad outcomes are the easiest examples
this kind of mental gymnastics puts us into a state of mind,
and if you can access a state of mind that can be a deficit to you, the converse is true
for coaching on this, contact me, I can run you through it pretty quickly, but it requires some feedback on both ends, Skype or in person is the best way to do this
once you have accessed the state of mind necessary for the task at hand (being motivated to learn, getting through a bit of work that is less than fun, or dealing with a violent encounter) practicing in that state is the key to mastering the skill IN THAT STATE
this is an important thing here, the closer you can get to the state while practicing, the better chances you will have of success when you draw on that skill in a real life rather than practice situation
this can be as benign as exercise or as crucial as a threat to your safety or life or that of your loved ones
Something else that is very important here,
just accessing the state necessary for the task is one skill
getting out of that state is just as important,
in a threat to life stress context this is more clear,
if you have accessed a state that allows you to deal with a violent encounter, than being able to dial that back, and become calm again is going to be key
people who shoot are used to this as the "scan and breath" part, it breaks the mental state of focus on the target and lets you re-evaluate your environment, search for other threats, and decide what to do next
this can also be important in an exercise context,
if you are in a highly excited mental and physical sate, being able to quickly bring yourself back to calm and relaxed means you recover faster
this sounds a bit jumbled and I can appreciate that, however, as I stated at the beginning of this section, its better learned person to person than reading about it
so
once you have an "on" switch
you should also establish an "off" switch
trust me, its important
This wasn't't't meant to be a tutorial by any means, just a quick overview of what one old Jedi passed on to us in a couple workshops,
the skills he gave us will help me as a coach, and as a person that takes personal safety and security as a very serious and important skill to be sharpened and honed daily
I teach people how to be healthy, strong, safe, and secure in their day to day lives, to be able to defend themselves and those they care for from anyone who may mean them harm.
If you would like to learn the methods and drills I learned, I would be happy to pass on the information to anyone who may need it.
Just contact me and we can set up a coaching session
Footwork:the foundation of effective counter offense
In the art and science of Kali, as handed down to me by my instructors, foot work is the foundation of everything,
since Kali is an art derived from cultures that fought largely without armor, being able to evade strikes is paramount
and being able to position your self where you can best launch an offensive and come out on the winning end of a confrontation
having sharp footwork also means you look really cool at the club while you boogie......being able to move
- forward
- backward
- laterally
to your target/opponent/enemy is key to being in the best position
the first piece of footwork that I teach anyone is the triangle foot work
Female Triangle
This bit of footwork is known as the Female triangle, my understanding is that the wife would line up behind her husband, and move from behind him to attack, returning to her position behind him after each flurry,
If you are at the point of the triangle, you can step out to either side, left or right (and leading with one shoulder or the other could present a true or false lead, more on that some other time)
you could then continue to step across the base of the triangle and continue down the opposite edge of the triangle to the point, or, or return to the point after stepping into the lunge position,
switch your feet at the point, stepping forward into a lunge every time you step forward and return,
so,
start at a center point (the tip of the triangle,
step forward on your left foot at a 45 degree angle into an anterior lunge
return your left foot to the starting point
repeat on the right
when you switch your feet, eliminate as much as possible the bounce (do not let yourself move up and down, only move in the direction you are trying to go, this bounce can be timed and will give your opponent an opening to strike when you are in transition and cannot react quickly)
when you switch your feet at the point, make the switch as quick as possible, so that your feet do not occupy the point at the same time (this used to be practiced on halved coconut shells, two feet could not be on one shell at the same time, so you became very quick footed and able to move in any direction without delay)
once you get the hang of moving forward on the triangle, connect the base by moving lateral across the top
Step forward on the left foot into a 45 degree lunge, bring your right foot together with the left foot, then continue to step to the right, bring your left foot together with the right, and continue stepping back on a 45 degree angle with the left foot returning to the point of the triangle.
Do this in both directions
switch directions randomly
now, once you have the idea of the Female or Attacking triangle (that's right folks, the Female triangle is considered the attacking triangle, remember, she is stepping out from behind her mate to attack the attackers, this is aggressive footwork, as you traverse the base of the triangle you are spending the most amount of time engaged with the opponent)
we can move to the Male or Defensive triangle
The Male Triangle
The Male Triangle is the Defensive triangle, the husband would stand with his family behind him, and launch his attacks from a position that best allowed him to protect them, his wife would move from behind him to attack and cover him as he defended the family.
The footwork is the same as the Female Triangle, only reversed
The starting point is the base of the triangle, you step back at a 45 degree into a lunge leaving one foot at the tip, then returning to the tip, step back on the opposite foot, or continuing along the base until a full revolution has been made.
So
From the tip of the triangle,
step back with your left foot into a 45 degree lunge,
return to the tip and step back with your right foot into a 45 degree lunge
follow the same guidelines as the Attacking/Female triangle, don't allow your feet to be in the same space for too long and try not to bounce, make your transition at the tip as efficient as possible
connect the points of the triangle in both left to right and right to left rotation
Now, lets stack the triangles for the Diamond Footwork
Diamond Footwork
Basics here are all the same, except now, the two triangles have been stacked one on top of the other, so instead of traversing the base of the triangle, you will continue to the tip of the next triangle,
you can move left to right, or right to left
Traverse the center of the diamond any time you want to move back to the Male or Female footwork,
work only one side of the diamond (this was done in combat to save strength in one leg, by only moving the right or left leg, a person could keep fighting until that leg got tired, then switch, thus being able to stay in the fight longer without having to sacrifice mobility)
There you have it folks
"Mobility is the Key to Combat"-Guro Mike O'Melia
This is a true thing, and being able to quickly change directions, have a mobile base from which you are powerful in all directions, and the ability to execute a technique from any position lends itself well not only to armed and unarmed conflict, but it is the essence of sport as well
play with the foot work and let me know what you think
when you have a good grasp of these three patterns I will post some more
on to the next piece of this months newsletter....
Commentary Living
In my studies of defensive tactics, I came across the idea of commentary driving, this simply put, is commenting on everything that is happening while you are driving.
It is a running dialog of everything you see hear and think while driving
an example would be
"driving south on Main at 14:00 hrs, passing bank 2 cars on left first car beige late model Taurus 3 up, males, blond brunette brunette, talking, car 2 green Honda accord, 2 up red haired woman, brunette male,
2 adults on bikes helmets stopped in middle of road, hand going into males shoulder bag, coming out with a GUN !!!!"
now, obviously I put that last bit in as a bit of fun
however,
once you have practiced the technique of commentary driving for a while, it can be done silently, you start to notice and catalog everything that is happening in your immediate vicinity
how many cars are there around you, what kind of cars are they, how many occupants in each car, how fast/slow are the traveling, are they aware of their surroundings or fidgeting with their phones...ca
carrying this over into every day life is simple
you can work on this skill one of two ways, one way will leave you looking a bit of a crazy person, wandering around talking to yourself and commenting on the obvious and subtle things going on around you, the other way is to do exactly the same thing, but to only do it in your mind.
Start with whatever you feel comfortable doing, if you are brave enough to just mumble to yourself a little it won't hurt you, and you will likely develop the skill to a higher level faster.
If you follow the steps and key points I laid out in the Soft Skills portion above, this will be even better, as you will be maintaining awareness of your surroundings and keeping your peripheral vision in check while you move through your world.
I get it,its weird, but this is really a very valuable skill
being able to notice what your environment is doing while still being able to participate in the environment is useful
it lets you be aware of details you may have missed, and experience your life at a deeper level, being able to capture more and more of each moment for your memory bank.
Not only is it good to be aware of your surroundings and the goings on in them, but being able to recognize the patterns and mis-matches in those patterns, can be life saving.
If you notice that the traffic ahead of you 1/2 mile up is starting to come to a sudden halt, it gives you time to slow down, ease off to an exit, and not get mired in the 12 car pile up ahead of you
If you notice that there is a pair of men paralleling you on a late night walk, and they split up, one crossing the street to your side while the other continues on....
if you notice that there is a group of men concealing themselves on either side of a rural road, and there is some debris blocking your path....
if you notice a fresh spot of earth in a road you travel every day (think high risk environments, the folks who work in them know exactly what this means).....
Notice the way your spouses smile seems to bubble up at the first mention of strawberry ice cream
Notice the way your kids squeal with delight when they see the posters advertising that the circus is in town
notice the presence of your wife when she has left a room, but you can still smell her perfume
notice the concern in a co-workers question "are you feeling alright?"
Awareness creates time, time creates options
capitalize on those options to make your life better, practice commentary living for 1 week, see how much more you take in, and how much more rich and interesting life becomes
a few quick tips
1:observe without judgment, don't make a judgment about what you see, just observe it first, in context to what else is going on
2:nothing is unimportant, however, most things are not that important, narrow your focus only on things that seem out of place, trust your mis-match intuition and you will find some valuable insights
3:act as soon as you think you need to, if you notice that something looks wrong, possibly dangerous, or just makes your spider sense tingle, do something, move, create distance between your self and the thing that is causing you to feel that way, examine the whole picture later when you have a safe and secure place to do so
4:don't spend too much time staring at people, it makes them feel creepy, if you go around mumbling to your self and staring at people you will surely give off the werewolves among us vibe and set off other peoples alarm bells, this is not a good thing, you may pop up on the wrong radar and wind up in trouble
5:make it a game, play, not work, is the best way to learn, and you will be learning a lot, about yourself, and about human behavior, and your environment
SpecialsThis month, the Ultra Seasonal Protector is on sale, and if you purchase more than 25$ in supplements, I will give you free shipping anywhere in the continental United States
From My Wife's Cookbook
If you follow me on facebook or twitter (if you don't you should, I am entertaining, though, sometimes not safe for work, just be aware) you may have seen pictures of the meals that keep my machine running at optimal levels. By that I mean the amazing food my wife cooks,
here is the first recipe from her kitchen.
Shepherd's Pie:
Ingredients
Ground Lamb (about 1 lb) or your meat of choice, we have tried turkey, beef, bison, chicken, even venison, but I am very fond of lamb, they just look so cute and cuddly...on my plate
Butter (1/2 stick) yes, 1/2 a stick, trust me (you can use coconut oil, but it makes for an odd combo, so its up to your tastes)
Oregano
Pepper (I like whole pepper corns, cracked when ready to use)
Thyme
Rosemary
Sweet Potatoes (about 3 good sized) you can make them with whatever kind of potato you want, I like sweet potatoes
Carrots (2-3)
Parsnips(2-3)
Celery(2-3 sticks)
Onions
pretty much any other vegetable you like, but try to keep the liquid volume down, or it will be shepherd's stew
Step One: peel your potatoes, parsnips and carrots (you don't have to wash them if you are peeling them, just rinse the mud off and peel, we use only organic vegetables so the chances of nasty chemicals is nil) and chop everything up into sizes you can easily fit in your mouth, this is a pretty individual thing, we like pretty good sized chunks, but everyone is different
Step Two:boil the potatoes (these will be mashed later, so get the boiling started first off)Step Three: brown the lamb and herbs/spices in butter, use about 2 tbsp for this
Step Four: when the lamb is browned add the vegetables and let them get a little caramelized, place the lamb/veggies mix in the bottom of a casserole and set aside
Step Five: by now your potatoes should be ready for mashing, so get to mashing, add some heavy cream (about a 1/2 cup) and the rest of the butter for nice, rich, creamy mashed potatoes
Step Six: when the potatoes are well mashed, spread them out in the casserole, covering the lamb/veggie mix until you fill the casserole to the top
Step Seven: cover with tinfoil and place in the oven to bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, then uncover and let bake until you start seeing the potatoes brown a little, add a bit of Parmesan after you uncover for an extra bit of tasty
This recipe feeds about 6 people, or 2 of me, or one of me and my wife with left overs...sometimes...it depends on how hungry I am
enjoy!
If you are a paying member of the 5 Rings Army, you will be getting one of these every month for the rest of the year, sometimes you will get more than one to let you know about special deals, events, or just because I have found something so incredibly awesome that I had to share it with you.
This will include:
- Video Instructional of kettlebell, Indian club and other physical culture/fitness tools, martial techniques (all ranges and applications)
- A recipe from my wife's kitchen
- Members only specials on supplements
- Plus first dibs on getting into any clinics I teach this year
- Other miscellaneous awesomeness
Becoming a paying member of the 5 Rings Army (why not, its really really not that much, $15 a year, that's $1.25 per month...seriously folks, my wife's recipes are worth that alone) ensures that this will not be the only one of these newsletters you will see that has all of the content in it. You will also receive 10% discounts on nutritional supplements, first dibs on clinics that I teach, and access to members only videos demonstrating kettlebell, Indian club, and martial arts techniques.
Otherwise you can still be in on the awesomeness that I generate, by registering at my site as a user.
You can take part in the public forums, see my blog, which will have running commentary from me on life, physical culture, self defense and other interesting topics, like what should and should not be said in a public restroom, and have other generally awesome things. Cause that's what I do, I provide the awesome...
No matter which option you choose I will still respect you |
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$24.99 at Dick's 
