CWP, 28 May 2014 A.D.
Happy Memorial Day, Concealed Weapons Permittees,

***** Training *****

     I attened the Crazy Owl Retreat in Red Boiling
Springs, TN this Memorial Day weekend.
http://crazyowlretreat.webnode.com/
There were many clinics in Yoga, martial arts,
and food preparation.
     Cat Fitzgerald taught a class,
"The Truth About Knife Fighting".
http://ksamartialacademy.com/

He said (I paraphrase heavily):
     There are three categories of confrontations:
     Martial Arts - which is a game that you play with
an opponent and has well defined rules. 
(No eye gouging, no biting, no breaking bones, etc.) 
Under these rules, if you go up against a better trained
more experience opponent, you will probably lose.
So, you would not bet on yourself unless you were
given extrodinary odds.
     Fighting - which is combat between two persons
who have invested their ego in the outcome, and
there are no rules.  If you were smart, you would
run away or decline to fight, because you run the
risk of serious injury or death when you fight.
But, because you have stupidly invested your ego,
you engage.
If you fight a better trained more experienced
opponent, you will probably lose.  So, you would
not bet on yourself even if you were given
extrodinary odds.
     Self Defense - which is to incapacitate the enemy
immediately and leave.  There are no rules.  You
must win because your life is invaluable and
your loved ones are depending on you. 
You always bet on yourself.
     [ Editor:  What does it mean to bet on yourself?
You invest your time, money, and effort in yourself,
by investing in lessons from experts and investing time
practicing. You're putting your money on you.
     Life insurance, ransom insurance, self-defense
insurance are all bets against yourself.  You may
feel that they are necessary or a responsible thing
to do.  It's just important that you understand the
concept.]

     Action takes about 0.5 seconds.  That is the time
from when a person decides to initiate an action to
the beginning of the movement of the action.
     Reaction takes about 2.5 seconds.  That's the
time from when a person perceives a threat to when
that person takes action against it.
     So, if you immediately attack, your action will
beat the enemy's reaction to your attack.
You may beat him by even more than 2.5 seconds
because criminals do not expect their intended
victims to attack them.  Criminals choose victims
that they think will submit and not put up any
resistance.
     So, in a self-defense situation, immediately
attack.  Don't talk, don't negotiate.  Attack
until the enemy is incapacitated and leave.

     Three considerations in self-defense:
1.  Escape.
2.  You're going to get hurt (cut, shot, etc.).
3.  Never give up.
     Escape is always good, because you can't get hurt
if you're not there.  But, you may be disabled.
You may have to protect someone else.  So, then you
need to immediately shift into self-defense mode.
You're not going to fight.  You're going to stop
the attack immediately and leave.
     The criminal uses fear of injury to control
(terrorize) the victim.  By accepting that you are
going to get injured, maimed, etc. you take that
tool away from the criminal.  You don't worry about
getting hurt.  You don't do things to avoid getting
hurt.  Because it's a foregone conclusion that you
are going to get hurt.
     Statistically speaking, realistically speaking,
there is no up side to surrendering or submitting
to the attacker.  You think you're only going to
get raped?  If you submit, you'll get raped, beaten,
mutilated, and maybe murdered (statistiaclly speaking).
Sociopaths don't have any compassion or mercy.
Sociopaths are not like us.  They are not misunderstood
good people.  They are evil, and as a rabid dog,
must be put down.  Otherwise, they will put
you down.  Besides, you would be doing the
assailant's next victim a grave disservice. 
Statistically, any stranger who attacks you has
a long criminal record.  (Official or not,
some criminals are smart enough to avoid conviction.)
[end of paraphrase of excerpt of Cat's clinic]
My apologies to Cat, but it was hard to take notes
during the clinic, and my memory distorts things.
So, all errors of addition, omission, and distortion
are mine.

***** Mindset *****

     There is a movie, "Spartan", with Val Kilmer.
In it a junior Marine instructor tells a Master Gunnery
Sergeant:  Sir, I teach edged weapons, knife fighting.
To which the MGSgt. replies:  Teach your Marines to
kill.  So, that while the enemy is fighting, your
Marines are killing them.
[I was going to use a memory from boot camp,
but it was too vulgar.  So, I cite a Hollywood movie.]
     Techniques for killing are entirely different
from techniques for fighting.
     As Bruce Lee said:  Real fights are short.
His comparison was to the silly Hollywood
movie and TV fights.
     The best self-defense techniques allow you
to kill quickly, so as to allow you to leave
as soon as possible.  The shorter the fight,
the less hurt you get.
     As General Colin Powell said, "I'm not
looking for a fair fight.  This is not a
boxing match."  The General's mission was to
destroy the enemy as quickly as possible so
as to minimize friendly casualties.
     In self-defense, that is your mission.

***** Commentary *****

Self-Defense Programs in Martial Arts Schools Have to Change
Redefining Crime: Why We Are Failing Our Self Defense and Martial Arts
Students
By Lissette Fitzgerald
http://ksamartialacademy.com/2014/05/change-self-defense/
     This is an illuminating first person
account by an expert in self-defense and martial arts.

Cheers,
Jon