Absolute Self Defense and Fitness

Welcome To The Place Where You Are Not Judged By The Look Of Your Body,

But What You Can Do With It…

This blog is about one thing… helping people who want and need self defense or fitness training.We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and Warriors one month out from a war zone. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs.

You’re in the right place if you want something that actually works. No more meat market gym, no more “seen on TV” fad machines that don’t work. Here you’ll discover cutting edge fitness, nutritional education, modern fighting tactics, and many other resources for getting all the help you can handle.

Interested? If you would like to come and learn more about what we do; fill out the box to the right, call or send Jim an email to make an appointment to go through your introductory session. Watch the video to see the action!

I was training my son in Standing Grappling and Ground fighting just a few days ago and my youngest said, “It’s too hard, can you show me something else that is easier?” Of course, I gave him a hard time about it and continued to drill and drill. Later on, I sat him down and shared some of my life experiences where having a “Don’t give up” mental attitude literally saved my life. So, I thought that this thread might make a good blog post. Let me know what you think. I look forward to your comments and tweets.

Here it is:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.  – Aristotle

How many times do we tell students “don’t give up”, but do we practice this mindset ourselves?  When a challenge comes along and we don’t get it the first time, we should keep trying for at least one hundred times.

I have not failed 700 times, I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work
~ Thomas Edison

Think how successful we would be if we always did things one hundred times before we even thought about giving up.  If this was put into our life at work, home and in martial arts, think of the things we could achieve.  we might not even get there after one hundred times but think how much better we would be than just giving it one chance and then saying “l can’t do it”.

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
Lewis Carroll

The human quality of perseverance is very important. Often people with physical talent fail because they lack perseverance and motivation, they should instead be like the proverbial boulder and just know we can achieve whatever we want, as long as we keep taking action and learning we can only go forwards and progress.

Repetition is the mother of all skills.  To do a technique once and expect it to work for us is not true in the slightest.  To really understand the technique and its concepts we have to do it until the line of familiarity and the root movement is in our subconscious.  It can be done anytime anywhere without even thinking about it.

You may train for a long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning Karate is not very different from learning a dance. you will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of karate-do – Gichin Funakoshi

Think how many times we do a jab in our training more than say a difficult kick, the jab is repeated far more times as the difficult kick will work in a real situation.  It’s repeated time after time so that it will work for us in situations and we become very comfortable throwing it.

Given enough time, any man may master the physical. With enough knowledge, any man may become wise. It is the true warrior who can master both….and surpass the result.
~ Tien T’ai

When we have developed all of our combative skill sets ensuring that we adhere to the six attributes then our techniques will become technically sound and we will develop our tactical or strategic skills to become an excellent martial artist.

The obstacle is the path
~ Zen Proverb

Until next time, Let’s Get Training!

jim

This is borrowed from: “The Paleo Diet.com” and the research and PDF file come from “Springer Link.com”.

Heart disease is the most common cause of death in most western countries. Type II diabetes and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) are common risk factors for heart disease, and in fact, the majority of heart disease patients have abnormal glucose tolerance. A large waist circumference is another warning sign and is a characteristic of the metabolic syndrome. Most of the time patients with these symptoms are advised to eat whole grains, low fat dairy products, fruits and vegetables, legumes, fish, and unsaturated fats. However, as a team of Swedish scientists recently demonstrated, there is a better diet to improve these disorders.

Twenty-nine men with heart disease, type II diabetes or IGT, and waist circumference measurements of greater than 94 centimeters participated in a 12-week dietary intervention. They were assigned to either a Mediterranean diet group (including whole grains, low-fat dairy, legumes, potatoes, vegetables, and fatty fish) or a Paleolithic group (lean meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, root vegetables, eggs, and nuts).

A greater decrease in waist circumference was observed in the Paleo group than the Mediterranean group, but the most striking difference was the change in glucose tolerance. All subjects in the Paleo group had normal fasting glucose values after 12 weeks, while 7 of the 15 subjects in the Mediterranean group retained diabetic values. A 26 percent decrease in blood glucose concentration was observed in the Paleo group compared to only a 7 percent decrease in the Mediterranean group. In addition, participants in the Paleo group ate 25% less energy despite eating similar quantities of food (by weight). The authors summarize their findings by stating, “The study adds to the notion that healthy diets based on wholegrain cereals and low-fat dairy products are only the second best choice in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.”

This study is important in that it isolates the Paleo diet and compares other diets against it. Widespread dietary intervention studies using the Paleo diet have not been conducted and this study optimistically brings attention to that need. Hopefully, this is a pre-cursor study to more detailed analyses of the Paleo diet and the affect on diseases of civilization.

Lindeberg, S., Jönsson, T., Granfeldt, Y., Borgstrand, E., Soffman, J., Sjöström, K., Ahrén, B. A Palaeolithic diet improves glucose tolerance more than a Mediterranean-like diet in individuals with ischaemic heart disease. Diabetologia 2007 Jun.

Follow this LINK to read the research for yourself and get the PDF copy…

Hey! Just a quick update. Lynn and I are here in Hutto teaching a seminar on Self Defense Grappling.

There are folks from Austin, Houston and Florida here.

Today we ran through all the basic positions, escapes and walk the clock. Tommorow we are going to finish up the submission series and do some rolling.

Stay tuned for pics and video!

Check out this picture of the aftermath of a mini “Fight Gone Bad”!

They hated/loved every minute of the workout!

I want to welcome the following people to our fitness family!

Shakisha and Michael Haskins

Summer Leverett

Julia Oxenford

Welcome Athletes!!!

I want to welcome Rahial Teku to our athletic family! When you see her in the gym, stop lifting heavy stuff and losing weight to say hi.

Welcome!

There are certain body positions that nullify a opponent’s attacks. Their strikes, kicks, locks and chokes are no longer effective due to the attack options presented by your defensive position. Yet from these positions, the superior fighter can launch effective strikes and finishes or can move to an even more advantageous position. There is no reasonable way without a position such as this to hit another person that doesn’t leave you vulnerable to an attack in return. These positions are the frame from which we attempt to organize our training.

Natural Stance - Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, this basic ready stance is often used to disguise tactics or intent. The entire body should be relaxed. Allow your arms to hang at the sides, bring both arms slightly to the front and clasp the left hand over the right wrist in the “monkey’s paw” grip. This is done by aligning all five of your fingers together and curving them the meet the curvature of your right wrist. Grip with all the fingers on one side of the other wrist. This will allow a unconscious release of the other arm. If you use a normal “grip”, you will subconsciously have to tell yourself to let go and complete another motion. This grip removes that step.  If used with a stick, stand with stick under left arm and left hand holding right forearm.

Fighting Stance – A general rule of stance is to keep both legs flexed for balance, and to be able to move rapidly. One heel is always lifted, usually the one with the least weight. This is a relatively general principle, which in particular facilitates turning. It may also help with explosive motions. The feet are 45 degrees to the major line of the body. There should be a feeling of being ready to take off like a sprinter. Hide the head behind the shoulder and the throat behind the chin. It is a good rule of thumb to keep the elbows low and close to the body and head. The guarding hand is used to block and check incoming attacks. When in an fighting position, hold the hand in accordance with your range to the opponent. If a weapon is being used, it is always in the lead hand.

Fighting Stance

Fighting Frame - In response to your opponent’s attack, you step slightly off the side of their body that the attack originated. You bring your arms up in the instinctive flinch response then link your wrists. Both arms are slightly bent at the elbow with your head tucked down and in-between and looking forward at the attacker.  Form your hands into fists and grasp your right wrist with the left hand in the “monkey’s paw”. You are attempting to blast your way past the attack (normally a jab or a haymaker style punch) by striking your opponent’s forearm / bicep area with your left forearm and your right forearm striking the opponent’s shoulder / neck area with emphasis on hitting the Brachial Plexus Origin nerve cluster.

Fighting Frame Position 1

This combative application of instinctively protection our face will hopefully do several things.

1. Protect our head and face from the incoming attack.
2. Deliver a debilitating blow to the attacking limb by striking the bicep brachial nerve which should stun the limb and hopefully effect a “impact driven grip release” of any weapon.
3. Place us into position for the Tactical phase of our Combative Application: The delivery of counter attack techniques.

This sample response simply shows a beginning option:

Fighting Frame Position 1

Left Knee Spike

Right Elbow Strike

Headtwist Takedown

Knee Drop

Hammerfist Finishing Technique

The fighting frame is a simple, yet effective strategic and tactical application tool. Practice, Practice, Practice until it is instinctive. Next post I’ll show you how to drill this with a willing partner.

Until then, Let’s Get Training!

jim

Here is a quick and easy self defense tip for when someone grabs one of your wrists and tries to pull you somewhere you don’t want to go.

1. Step back sharply and jerk the attackers arm down and towards the ground at a 45 degree angle. (this will off balance them)
2. Yell or shout. I like to tell folks to spit in their face and scream, “I have AIDS or Swine Flu”, or something like that to freak out the attacker. (this will begin to change their thought process from holding on)
3. Just for illustrations sake, we will pretend that your left hand is the one captured. So, after you jerk and shout; immediately / at the same time shove the palm of your hand upward and slam into their chin. You want to drive their head back and snap their teeth together. (this redirects their attention from the grip, establishes pain to divert their muscles from the grip)
4. Lastly, after the chin strike rebound your arm downward to the attackers arm that is holding your arm. We are aiming for the area forward of the bend in their elbow. (This spot is a nerve sensitive area and a strike will cause a flex response and cause the release of your wrist) Repeat as often as necessary.
5. Once you have struck the attacker’s arm, rebound your arm and strike them in the face with your forearm.
6. Run. Find a safe place or refuge to complete number 7.
7. Notify Law Enforcement authorities.

There you go. Quick, down and dirty self defense technique to escape a wrist grab.

Need some Self Defense training? Not sure what to do? Call Jim at Killeen and Harker Heights best Self Defense and Fitness center. 254-247-4999.

I want to welcome Carmen Sulpeveda to our family.

Welcome Carmen!

I want to welcome the following Athletes to our family.

Lorelei Wherry – Boot Camp

Natasha Wherry – Boot Camp

Jennifer Tello – Boot Camp

Welcome!!!

In the nutrition class last Friday, we talked a great deal about how our diet can contribute directly to Type II Diabetes, Hyperinsulinemia as well as a host of other problems.

Well, I got this in an email today. Read it, view the research and stop eating and drinking poison…

I would like to welcome the following folks to our little Athletic family:

Ashlery Garcia – Boot Camp

Amber Davila – Boot Camp

Callie Howard – Boot Camp