Mushin: the Way of No-Mind-Ness

The highest state one hopes to achieve in self defense training is the state of no-mind-ness, or in Japanese, "Mushin."

It is when you react without conscious thought. Someone attacks you and "it" happens, you don't think about it all.

This is simple to read and understandm, but takes much training to reach. 
Trying to reach this state, people go one of two routes:
They train in several styles, trying to learn every technique they can get their hands on, hoping that such a toolbox will provide them with the answers for whatever situation they would find themselves in.

OR

They train in one style, hoping that it contains all the answers they will ever need.

Which is right? Both.
Which is flawed thinking? Both.

No one ART or SYSTEM has all the answers.  However, the idea of constant learning for the sake of accumulating techniques is just as flawed.

Techniques must be simple, effective and practical in order to be learned, functionalized and should the need ever arise, used in a real life encounter.

My adice is simply this:  one must research and learn techniques from several styles and systems that conform to the pillars of functionality.  Simple, effective and practical.

I have done all the guesswork for you.  The result of my studies is the White Collar Warrior Self Protectiion Skills Home Study Course.  Check it out.

Be Safe,

Bobby

What Would You Do?

What do we hear from the time we are old enough to walk, talk and think for ourselves?

"Don't be bad or you'll go to jail."

We don't need any other reinforcement than the plethora of films and TV shows that show us the horrors of life in the big house.

Not a place I want to be, that's for damn sure.

BUT...
What if you were out one day, minding your own business, obeying the law like we are all taught...and then two police officers show up, cuff you and take you in the back of their car and, before you know what the hell is going on, charge you with a heinous crime that you are TOTALLY innocent of?

Imagine having to spend 17 years in prison, knowing you were innocent but due to either corruption, loopholes or goold old fashioned government incompetence,had no hope-until you were exonerated?

Sounds like a bad dream or an edge-of-your-seat emotional thriller...only it's not.It is exaclty what happened to Alan Northrop of Woodland, WA.  You can read his story and view the accompanying news clip here:  http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/25/justice/wrongful-conviction-payments/index.html

Scary.  Just plain disturbing.However, it is not the only case of this by far.
My question to you issimply this?

If you had to defend your life against hardened criminals, people who don't share your value system or views on life and respect, today-could you?

the proper answer is:  I don't know, but I will train the proper way so as to ensure my natural reactions will serve me as best they can.

Everyone has their point where the animal nature can come out. Ask a timid mother what she would do if she saw her child being attacked and she would turn from a shy docile lady into a wailing banshee of fury, with the physical aggression to match.

Next time you train, keep this scenario in mind and see if it doesn't change the way you think, move, react and fight.  Remember, you train (or should train) to be ready for anything, not just bike path muggings, home invasions or bar fights-and sure as hell not karate competitions or point sparring matches.

If you have no training, start. Today. Now. Order the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course.  No further plug is necessary and, quite frankly, if the story above doesn'tmotivate you to

Shit happens.  Be the best person you can be, but also sharpen that part of yourself that can turn into a killer.  Like our saying goes, "Train to become an attacker's worst nightmare-or experience your own."  For my money, I don't know if a nightmare gets any more terrifying than the story I just directed you to a few lines earlier.

Be safe, Be prepared and God bless.

If you choose, say a prayer for this guy, and for all those poor souls who are victims of a broken system who have to fight their way through life every day when they have done NOTHING to deserve such an existence.

Bobby

A Tornado Haze of Windmill Violence...

One of the quotes I just read about self defense stuck out in my head, so I'm sharing it here:

"A Tornado Haze Of Windmill Violence...Brutal Defeats Refined, Simple Dominates Complicated."

Wow.

I like that one.

So often people lose sight of the fact that in a self defense encounter when your life is threatened, you need to explode in, as the quote says, "a tornado haze of windmill violence." 

Technique wise, brutal beats refined.  A bitter pill for many to swallow, but choke it down.  In order to pull off a fine motor skill move, you need to practice it over and over, then functionalize it in realistic scenario training over and over. Sounds like a lot of work to me, especailly if you have to do things like, I don't know, work!

I'd rather spend my time training simple, effective and practical stuff that goes right for the eyes, throat, balls and shins,and practice it with INTENSITY, becvause I know in a confrontation, you fight like you train.

As the quote says, "simple dominates complicated."  Keep it short, to the point and barbaric. Too many moves = odds of success going down the toilet.  No presuppositions, no fancy fluff.  Just "meat and potatoes" self defense.

Check out the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course today for just that.

Stay Safe, and Keep it Simple!!

Bobby

Your Time to Train...

We're busy.

I'm busy, you're busy, we're all busy.

You know who else is busy?

The scumbag looking to rob, the rapist scouting out locations for easy prey, the sicko who wants to stab or beat someone to death just for sh*ts and giggles...

If you think I'm hyping these things up, then man do I feel sorry for you!  Open a freaking newspaper or turn on the news (I personally try not to do either because the negative energy coming off of both is just too great to try and fight, so I leave them be.  I don't need to read an article every day to know things are dangerous everywhere-I take those as a "given" in today's day and age).

Point being, the reason of being busy as an excuse to not learn proper techniques of simple, practical and effective self defense is the WORST reason to not do so.

Crime NEVER takes a holiday-and neither should your training. 
Proper training for purposes of self defense should be condensed, to the point and realistic.  Techniques should be simple to learn and perform, effective against various opponents and practical for your body type.

The good news is by training in techniquese such as those found in the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course you will be able to read, learn and practice whenever you have a few minutes to spare.  Obviously the more time you put in to practice, the more adept you will become, BUT even by starting with a few minutes here and a coffee break there, you will be planting the foundational seed in your brain, both in the techniques themselves (which are gross motor skill in nature, thereby easier to pick up) and just as importantly, the non-physical aspects of any self defense encounter which are covered as well in detail.

Remember, BUSY is just a 4 letter word.

So are DEAD and HURT. 

Don't let one beget the other-get cracking today...

God bless, and as always, Stay Safe!

Bobby

The most important moment of your self defense training...

Everyone thinks it is if and when you are attacked.

That is a close, close second-but it is not the most important one. Proficiency in the combat arts (be it in the self defense realm, tournament setting, MMA cage or boxing ring) is a by-product of your training, albeit the most important one (if you train martial arts in any capacity, your first priority should be to learn to protect yourself and your loved ones-if it isn't you'd be better off going to a ballroom studio, the gym or learning how to build a ship in a bottle-sorry if I piss anyone off, but that's just the way I see it).

Ready for it? here it is...

Getting started.

That's the most important moment of your self defense / personal protection training.

Too often with any task, be it balancing your checkbook (we've all been spoiled by online banking-God knows I have), cleaning your car/garage/office/etc., or painting that spare room in your home, you can become overwhelmed by the logistics of such a big task. What almost often happens is that you say, "That is a big job; I'll do it tomorrowor on the weekend when I have more time."

The funny thing is, that never happens-it never works out quite that way, does it?

You have to train yourself to just get started and to say "to hell with the specifics."  Things will fall into place as you move along.

So it is with your self defense training. Make a decision NOW that you are going to begin this process TODAY, RIGHT NOW.   Check out the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course and take the first step.  You don't have to see the end result (be it a painted room, a clean garage or proficiency in the skills to remove you and your loved ones from danger), just GET STARTED and things will fall into place.  Trust me on this-I am not physically gifted by any means, I just took that first step 18 years ago and have never looked back, and today I am much more confident and competent in this area, but I am always learning, growing and developing-as it should be.

Join me, won't you? =-)

Get moving, and as always, God bless and stay safe!

Bobby

This is just plain disturbing...

Whilst checking my email, I came across this article from the Huffington Post.  What it has to say is not only tragic and barbaric,but downright sick and twisted...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/vermont-strangulation-death_n_1385206.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D147455

I'll keep this one short and sweet.

I think I can speak for anyone with half a brain and a good sense of common decency when I say that if I had the opportunity to remove the people who committed this disgusting act (note: I didn't say the accused-that's not for me to say) from the Earth with no legal repercussions, I would not hesitate for a millisecond...and then I would,in the words of Clint Eastwood from Gran Torino (one of my favorite films), "go home and sleep like a baby."

I HATE reading articles like this.  That teacher was someone's mother, someone's daughter and many more children's role model and positive influence.  How many lives are forever scarred due to this senseless act? Let me be crystal clear, it is not my job to judge whether or not the accused are guilty; that is a job for the law.  It is my DUTY to impart to you the very REAL and URGENT need for people everywhere to learn simple, effective and practical means to protect themselves, because as we see every day, threats like these are not "isolated incidents" as the media would like us to believe (and, to be frank, those who do believe that don't know their ass from a doorknob).

I always think of my wife, my sisters and my mother when reading things like this.  It really, REALLY blows my skirt up.
Check out the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course today. For only 7 bones a Volume,it's practically a steal-but I don't view it that way.  I view it as the cheapest life insurance policy out there.

Pray for her, her family and friend, and her students.  Pray that justice is delivered quickly and with no errors. And pray for your families to be safe....but plan for the worst anyway.

God bless, and stay safe.

bobby

Technique Vs INTENSITY

In my opinion, the one factor that will determine whether or not you will survive a life-threatening encounter boils down to one word: INTENSITY.

Now, before some of you reading this get your underwear in a bunch, know this: I am not, NOT, N-O-T saying that techniques don't matter.  I mean, think about it: how can you defend yourself if you don't know what to do?  You need to learn techniques to protect your life, it's as simple as that. However, the techniues must be simple in motion, effective in use and application and above all, practical for use wherever you may need to use them (note that I didn't just say "the street" because last time I checked, people don't just get attacked on the "street.")

However...

Learning all the techniques in the world, even the type of techniques listed above (which are the only kind of techniques I care to learn anyways) don't mean sh*t if you do not have the corresponding INTENSITY to put them to use effectively.

There is an old Chinese maxim, "courage first, strength second, gung-fu (or 'kung fu' to us Westerners) third."

What does that mean?

Easy.

The biggest attribute one can develop is the ability to EXPLODE into a whirlwind of hellfire and aggression when one is attacked....but also have the temperance to turn it "off" once the threat is neutralized.  This is not as easy as it sounds,nor does it mean "going apesh*t," screaming and running around like a nutjob who scaled the wall of the looney bin. What it means is being able to effectively call upon what Bruce Lee called "controlled cruelty."  One can train this alone, through various means of mental training but the only way, and I don't care what anyone else says, to functionalize this and develop it fully is through realistic scenario training.

Fortunately, we show you how to do this and much,much more in our White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course.


Drop a few bucks on it and get crackin.'

Saty safe, and practice with INTENSITY.

Bobby

Gettin Lucky...

Well, well,St.Patty's day has come again, and I bet all over the Chicago area (and many other places across the country as well) many folks took that as the annual call to don a green sports jersey and flat cabbie hat, do themselves up with Axe or Tag body spray, primp their hair just right and proceed to get sh*tfaced while proudly running their 15% Irish heritage (their grandpa's dad came over on the boat, you know) up the flagpole and cop a brogue after 12 beers.  These same folks hugging each other and saying cute things like "Erin Go Bragh!" will undoubtedly be acting like a bunch of ass-clowns in 4 hours' time, starting fights, exchanging "hard looks" and bumping chests.

Give me a freaking break.  All I have to say is "Thank God that madness is over."

I'm not knocking on anyone's heritage at all; I love Irish folk music and bagpipes (I can take or leave Guinness, though) I just find it comical that so many people spend so much time in preparation just to get completely wasted.
A major part of of ANY St.Patty's Day bar scene/party will undoubtedly fall back to "getting lucky" (no pun intended) - as in "Dude, that girl is hot-dude, I want to get lucky tonite...dude, think i got a chance at getting lucky?"

The best definition I have ever heard of LUCK is as follows: 
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."

Think about that for a sec-

If someone attacks you and you have PREPARED through proper training (physical, mental,emotional and psychological) when the OPPORTUNITY  arises, your odds of successfully removing yourself from danger, either through employing attacks that are SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE and PRACTICALto their vital targets, verbal diffusion / de-escalation (all of which we teach - and then some- in our White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course) or by simply removing yourself from a potentially hazardous area before anything happens by listening to your gut, you will indeed get "LUCKY."

May I leave you with a modified Irish blessing a la Bobby:

"May you be in your home a half an hour before the scumbag who attacks you wakes up in the parking lot."

For straight shooting talk about self defense and personal protection, sign upto receive FREE email tips and articles at http://www.whitecollarwarrior.com/

Stay safe,

Bobby

Another old saying...

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good quote... here is one I think is quite fitting.

Here goes:

"Train with what you have, not with what you wish you have."

This can be applied to any facet of self defense / personal protection training. 

We wish we have more time to invest in this or that...but we don't.

We wish we were in better shape,and while we can definitely improve our fitness levels at any age, we are where we are right now, and no amount of rah-rah affirmations or positive visualization will change what is right now.

We wish we didn't have so many things going on in our lives so that we can focus on doing what we want instead of what we have to do and so on.

Let me be crystal clear, I am not knocking any of the aforementioned techniques such as affirmations, positive mental imagery (actually, that one is key to anything in life, not just personal defense), etc. I am stating a fact:  we are where we are right now, for good or bad. If you want to survive an assault on your life or the lives of familyor friends, accept what is.  Don't ask,"why is this happening?" because it doesn't f***ing matter why it is happening.It just is.

Your personal defense plan MUST address where you are right now.  Your age, your weight (too much or too light), your mobility level, your coordination (or lack of) and so on.  You are capable of incapacitating an attacker just the same - IF your training serves you well.

One of the benefits to the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course is that it addresses all of these factors-and is designed for you to learn, use and apply them in the way that suits YOU best. As Grand Master Wong Shun Leung of the Ving Tsun (Wing Chun) Kung Fu system stated,  "Be the MASTER of the art, not its SLAVE!"  What Wong meant was to find a way to make the art work to you as you are right now, don't try to conform to the art...BUT always, always strive to make yourself better, so that your applications of the art can grow, and as they grow, you will master your art so you can apply it in any situation.

Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Stay safe,

Bobby

Train when you don't feel like it...

It's easy to work on self defense and training when you're in the mood to do so.  However...my guess is that if some thug is going to attack me he will do so when I'm not pumped up and in the mindset to throw down and kick ass.  It will probably be when I'm walking to my car with groceries in both hands, fumbling for my keys,trying to get in the car before I drop something.  Or it will likely be when I'm walking out of a restaurant with a full belly and fighting the insulin spike that makes me want to burrow into my couch and watch Golden Girls re-runs.  Get the picture?

By keeping your self defense tactics simple, effective and practical, you can call on them when you need them-whenever that may be.  By training when you do not want to or don't "feel like it," you can train the part of your mind that says "I don't want to train because everything isn't perfectly in place to do so."  Tough!  If sh*t happens, the time will never be "perfect." It will be "as is."  Borrow the desire to shrug off training as an opportunity to train not only your body but your mind as well.

Train your mind by getting up and doing anything you may have been putting off NOW.  Train your body to become a weapon by following the lessons given in the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course.   In doing both you will be training your spirit to become indomitable and unconquerable.


Stay safe, and train smart!

Bobby

Sore knees...

My knees are killing me right now.  I'm  hobbling around like I'm 80 years old.   One has always given me problems, and this past Monday,I hyperextended my "good" one in a sparring class,or I should say, one of my students hyperextended it for me via  a thigh kick that landed on my kneecap.  As I type this it make me realize if I were relying on any art that utilizes high kicks or fancy movements should I be attacked, I'd be screwed. 

Instead, I'd go for the eyes, throat, balls, shins, toes, and any other vital target I could find. Simple. Effective. Practical. No bullshit.

Take a ganders at the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course and see for yourself how easy these techniques can work for you,no matter what your current state of mobility (or lack thereof-Thanks, Mario=-)

Stay Safe,

Bobby

Your only two options in any self-defense encounter.

The way I see it, you only have TWO options in any self defense scenario.

Become THEIR worst nightmare...or experience YOURS.

As the guardian knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade told Harrison Ford,
"you must choose...choose wisely."

Skip the drive thru at McDonald's and check out the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course.....

Empty calories or a lifetime skill....

Choose wisely.

It's about 75 and sunny with not a cloud in the sky, so please excuse me...I don't know what I'm going to do yet but anything outside is better than net surfing inside on a day like this.

Stay safe,

Bobby

Train without ceasing...

Many religous folks out there get a bit confused when they read or hear someone quote the Scripture passage that states one is not supposed to set aside specific times and dates for prayer, rather one is to "pray without ceasing." Where many get tripped up is that they misinterpret this passage as a direct order to constantly be mumbling prayers under one's breath like some robot or automaton. Merely repeating "magic words" has no value if your heart is not in them,no matter what your religous background. What the passage in fact means is that one is to make one's entire life a prayer; an offering of thanks to God. This is done through one's actions, thoughts, acts of charity and goodwill, etc.
Often times when one trains martial arts or self defense skills, there is a tendency to compartmentalize that aspect of one's life into only that time spent training. I have personally taken that Scripture passage mentioned above, and applied it to my self protection skills training. I am "training without ceasing." My mind is always aware and alert. I am always evaluating situations I am in, be it waiting in line at the bank, in a grocery store parking lot, filling up my car with gas, etc. These assessments take but a few seconds and honestly I do them without knowing I am doing them most of the time. It is just how I have trained myself to be. Too often I see people turn the part of their brain off that should be left on 24 hours a day the moment they leave their self defense or martial arts class. Bad move. I am not saying you should become like the paranoid old lady clutching her purse and jumping every time someone walks by. Not at all. However, you should always be mentally training: assessing situations, surveying your surroundings and keeping your senses sharp.

Tips on how to do this (and a bunch of other important "gems" await you in the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills System Home Study Course.
Check it out, and remember, train without ceasing.


Stay Safe!


Bobby

the best Life Insurance Policy out there...

I am a big believer in insurance policies...Homeowners, Medical, Dental, Vision, you name it...hell, i even pop the extra 20 bucks down for a warranty plan on a juicer I buy at Target.  What strikes me as ironic and yet sad at the same time is that so many people spend an exorbitant amount of money on medical treatment yet balk at the idea of plunking down a couple hundred bucks a year for a health club membership.  Wake up folks!  An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of the cure.  So it is with proptecting your most prized possessions-the health and well-being of not only you but your family as well.  Think about it from the perspective of an insurance salesman for a second-why not invest in something that will ensure not only your health and safety,but your financial stability as well. Sound good? I know it does-which is why learning to protect oneself not only benefits you,but your dependents and loved ones as well.If you are attacked, there is medical convalescence time and there are several expenses as a result.  Why not ensure that this will not happen to you?  Think of the White Collar Warrior Self Protection Skills Home Study Course as "Life Ensurance"-it ensures that your odds of survivng an encounter (which in all likelihood will increase given the state of the world today) with minimal interruption to your day to day life and ability to provide for yourself and your family.

Remeber-it's not just about you.  Do the right thing-check it out.  You owe it to yourself-and to the ones you care about.

Think about it-and stay safe!

Bobby