February 2012
2 posts
Martial Sports/Arts Do Not Prepare You For Real...
Every week people ask me which martial sport or art is best for self-defense; moreover, they are also looking to get a full conditioning workout. As for the workout, forget it. Even professional fighters do their conditioning separately from their martial regimen. If you are looking for a Tai Bo type workout, well, that has nothing to do with fighting.
If you are a working professional,...
May 2011
2 posts
Muay Thai for Self-Defense Requires an Exceptional...
Self-defense has become more complicated these days. A street attack can likely be weapons based, perhaps with multiple attackers and street thugs have more experience in the fight game — some are even experienced in MMA. Defending yourself can also lead to a civil or criminal case against you. Simple self-defense skills are not enough anymore, learning how to fight can elevate your game.
I...
January 2011
2 posts
A Brief Overview of why Kung Fu is Ineffective for...
The closing of Santelli’s in the 1990’s left a vacuum in New York’s fencing community. However a few years later, one of their former instructors started teaching stage fencing nearby and I jumped at the chance to learn. Inasmuch as the class was great fun, it was actually ruining my skills – I had to quit because my fencing skills were deteriorating.
That’s because fencing is based on small,...
June 2010
2 posts
THE NEW MIRANDA LAW
Most of us are familiar with the Miranda Law, having heard it hundreds of times on TV cop shows – “You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will be used against you”- etc.
However on June 1, 2010, the Supreme Court altered Miranda, and we should all be familiar with the updated version. Miranda was meant to protect a suspect from being compelled to be a witness against himself. Once a...
February 2010
2 posts
MYTHS ABOUT THE SAMURAI
In Western media there seems to be an over-enthusiastic apotheosis of the samurai. I’m not denying that the samurai were skilled and valorous warriors but let’s take a step back, remove the blindfold and evaluate them more objectively.
Myth #16 - The samurai were the greatest warriors in world history
False – Physically, samurai were not very formidable; unlike the samurai portrayed...
December 2009
2 posts
MYTHS ABOUT THE MIND AND BODY!
There’s so much misinformation out there about the mind and body, how they relate and communicate with each other and the effects they produce, both positive and negative. Here is the latest information about this topic.
#1) When we Learn a new Skill and Perform it many times, it is Internalized by the Muscles — this is called “Muscle Memory”
FALSE: There is NO SUCH THING as...
November 2009
2 posts
THE VALUE OF WESTERN FENCING FOR KNIFE WORK
Over the last decade, in different countries, I’ve met and spoken with several individuals who have been in “life and death” edged-weapon engagements. Two were direct assassination attempts, three were ego-based attacks, and two occurred to soldiers stationed in the Middle East (I didn’t include attempted robberies).
In recalling these stories, I noticed some common denominators that all of...
September 2009
4 posts
MARTIAL MYTHS - PART 3
#11. The Hollywood Neck Snap
We’ve all seen this in most Hollywood movies for a while now. A soldier comes up behind his victim, grabs his head and suddenly twists it to one side, the victim falls down dead. This has been so overused that they’re even using this in horror films. Although neck injuries can cause major damage, this method will not do so.
Dr. Fabrice Czarnecki
You can actually...
THE TRUTH ABOUT STRETCHING & WARM-UPS
There has been so much misinformation about stretching and warm-ups over the years that most people don’t know where to turn. They just follow what they read in magazines, but sports editors know nothing about sports science! Worse yet, many trainers and coaches have not kept up with the latest scientific findings about these subjects and keep regurgitating useless information that often leads to...
July 2009
6 posts
MARTIAL MYTHS - PART 2
Martial Myths
Myth # 6:
My master has mystical or supernatural powers
Never happened, never will! These stories usually come from China and other parts of Asia and refer to the vibrating palm, the death touch, flying etc. Again, if you understand China, you’ll appreciate the cultural foundation is based on mysticism and not practicality.
I recently overheard a hilarious conversation in a New York...
IS YOUR KNIFE TRAINING REALISTIC?
No matter where you go, most edged weapons defense instruction focuses on the wrong thing. The emphasis is on knife against knife training. But no matter how much fun this type of training is, it doesn’t reflect the way most attacks occur. It’s important to remember that most edged weapons attacks are sudden and violent. Quite often, you are dealing with an large weapon (not only a folder), and...
MARTIAL MYTHS - PART 1
Martial Myths
The myths that really irritate me the most revolve around fighting and self-defense, and students regularly ask me about these. I’ve listed 10 of the more prominent myths in this article. Believe it or not, a great majority of people still believe these to be indisputable facts.
Myth #1:
The one-punch kill!
This is numero uno, the biggest myth of all; I can’t believe so many people...