tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101713042024-02-06T19:20:10.970-08:00The Write Blogg (Living The Dream)Refocusing my Blog on Fitness and Martial Arts after 50! We are never too old to make changes that can positively impact our health. All things are possible with Faith in God!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-28264623844190959982018-10-22T07:54:00.000-07:002018-10-22T07:54:03.610-07:00Fasting for Health and FaithLately, I have been researching fasting in order to live a healthier lifestyle. Although I exercise regularly and I am not overweight, I often feel lethargic and unmotivated to get up and get things done. I know this stems from a poor diet. Since I am 5'10" and 175 pounds, I sometimes feel as if I can eat anything I want, anytime I want. Unfortunately this leads to poor eating choices when I know better. I have been looking for ways to transform my eating habits and get healthy and energized. From what I understand, Fasting is a great way to accomplish this goal. Since I started back in the Combat Hapkido Club, I will be testing soon and I want to be at optimum shape when I do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKurXVaJfssw-hWHhBKw57ionJV4tjKGqIvmZE8RQXftZ63FRLzQU1iW4fvqaYvfZiUoUDoPqWYOsA-H1hdi4YUTAM36hDwhcv7bZnbUOOwkR87q0jJYgCogOEGQwJBR6ofUsO/s1600/10_Intermittent_Fasting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1261" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKurXVaJfssw-hWHhBKw57ionJV4tjKGqIvmZE8RQXftZ63FRLzQU1iW4fvqaYvfZiUoUDoPqWYOsA-H1hdi4YUTAM36hDwhcv7bZnbUOOwkR87q0jJYgCogOEGQwJBR6ofUsO/s320/10_Intermittent_Fasting.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
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It looks like the best way to start this is intermittent fasting. There are multiple ways to do this but I want to approach this from a common sense standpoint. So I will go 12-12 or 12 hours no food and then a 12 hour window to get the calories I need to function. Now this means good calories from fruits, veggies and lean proteins along with fresh juices and protein shakes. One major factor is water! Now I admit that has been a problem for me, I normally don't drink a lot of water but it is a change I must make when fasting. I have also read that black coffee and green tea are good additions to the fasting lifestyle and that's OK with me as I enjoy them both. Once I am established in the 12-12 for a few days I will kick it up a notch to 16-8. Eventually I hope to do a full 3 days water fast.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZfU0IQ8D6wbGIjfQwT-MFC1EyeG5uTXVsTcdaYqo61iIwnhRGn_0RFSBTGZzuN_g4MJQTKiLG4jeVH4cFS_wJ8D8JDvbCP2OT76yxG_JEpk54ERYxIyPFZN6X65ChUali5_F/s1600/glass-of-water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFZfU0IQ8D6wbGIjfQwT-MFC1EyeG5uTXVsTcdaYqo61iIwnhRGn_0RFSBTGZzuN_g4MJQTKiLG4jeVH4cFS_wJ8D8JDvbCP2OT76yxG_JEpk54ERYxIyPFZN6X65ChUali5_F/s320/glass-of-water.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Although I really don't need to lose weight I am prepared to as this will certainly lead to that end. I can easily handle being 160 instead of 175 or 180 which is my normal weight but I will increase my workouts to add muscle mass so maybe I will be a very lean and muscular 160 when I get there.<br />
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Last but certainly not least, my faith comes into play here. In the bible, fasting is mentioned over 40 times. Our Lord fasted for 40 days and many of his disciples also fasted and prayed in important moments of their walk with Christ. I intend to use this period to dig into the scriptures and spend more time with Christ to deepen my connection with him.<br />
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Wish me luck!<br />
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Peace<br />
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JD Pearce<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-62865222646706603622018-08-05T05:07:00.002-07:002018-08-05T05:07:40.690-07:00Times are a changing!<div style="text-align: left;">
Greetings Folks</div>
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I have posted here for many years. When I first started out it was about politics and life in general. Then it moved in whatever direction my life moved in such as music and singing. The last decade or so it has been mostly about Martial Arts which has been a passion of mine for many years.</div>
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Now, the season of change has entered my life again and I have retired from the Martial Arts. I have found a new passion to pursue. Painting!! Yes I have officially become a painter and I am sketching and drawing as well. I will be using this blog to get some of my work out here online for the next six months or so while I learn and try to hone my skill set. Eventually I will have a site dedicated to art but for now it will be here. </div>
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Here are a few images of the art I have created the past month. I hope you enjoy them!</div>
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There you go! I have been painting for nearly a month and I hope to keep going for many years to come. </div>
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Peace ~ JD</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-72808959783681365402018-06-20T05:09:00.001-07:002018-06-20T05:09:05.698-07:00Martial Arts vs Self DefenseHowdy Folks<br />
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There is an ongoing debate in the world of martial arts about this art or that art being better for self defense. In my mind some arts may be more geared towards self defense than others and will more than likely give you a better chance of defending yourself in a street attack. I know that is a very general statement so let me drill down a bit more.<br />
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Most martial arts schools train you in a safe environment. You practice with a willing uke and do your best to learn techniques without injuring your partner who probably has to go to work the next day and needs the proper function of his or her arms, legs, fingers, etc..<br />
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The truth is that in most street fights, (and I have been in many so I know from experience what I'm talking about), they can be very fast, very brutal and the adrenaline is pumping so hard you are going all out and more! There may be multiple attackers and weapons involved. When this happens all bets are off! The term we like to use in our Combat Hapkido Club is "Junkyard Dog". When you find yourself in the heat of battle you often revert to more primal instincts. Survival is a built in response for most people and they will scratch, bite, kick, headbutt, stomp, pick up a rock or a chair and on and on to survive!<br />
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If you watch videos of real attacks on the interweb you will see that most folks just go nuts!<br />
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Now, let me say this in earnest! Training is good and if you train enough, you can burn some of these techniques into your autonomic response in a fight. Simple, easy to go to techniques like an armbar are fast and effective. It can be applied in many different ways not just what you have seen on TV at a UFC event. There are other great techniques that you can use and may well help you survive an encounter on the street. We like to say, have as many tools in your martial arts tool box as you can. When pressed, pull out your favorite ones and use them.<br />
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In closing, don't expect that just because you are a black belt in something, you will automatically win in a street fight. You may not. Street fights are dirty and unless you train at a dojo who trains you to fight dirty you may wind up hurt. Remember your best weapon is your brain and you can best win a battle by avoiding it altogether. I will write more on this subject soon in an email blast. Until then,<br />
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Peace<br />
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JD Pearce<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">2nd Dan Aikido</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">2nd Dan Combat Hapkido</span></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-6036050549029290802018-06-19T08:08:00.001-07:002018-06-19T08:08:45.519-07:00Catching up!As usual I have neglected to post here. I hope to remedy that and start posting more regularly this summer. As I said in the last post I have given up my regular Aikido work outs and it has had a positive impact on my spine. I have not been to the Chiropractor but twice so far this year. I used to go once a week! I am still stretching each morning and working out so my back is doing great!!!<br />
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Some very sad news to report. My Aikido Sensei Tony Orlando passed away last year in December. We all miss him terribly but knowing that he was saved by the blood of Christ is very comforting. We all know he is enjoying heaven and waiting on us to join him. Peace be with you Sensei, I look forward to seeing you again in the great ever-after! Tony and I were great friends in and out of the dojo. I think about him all the time. Here's a pic of us a many years back when I got my Shodan.<br />
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I am still working with my Combat Hapkido club in Mooresville. Sensei Flagg is still providing us with his most excellent instructions on how to execute the techniques we have learned and are learning with more effectiveness than ever. I enjoy these workouts and look forward to going back each month for our three hour sessions. Here's the web address for that club.<br />
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http://www.personaldefenseclub.net/<br />
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If all goes well I would like to start training some folks one on one here at my home dojo or at the new Shotokan/ Aikido dojo in Charlotte on Independence Blvd. One of my old classmates from Carolina Martial Arts (Noah) is continuing the legacy of Tomiki Aikdo we learned from Sensei Tony at this new place. I have worked out there a few times and still do from time to time and will have access to that space if I can schedule it in advance. Here is the website address for this dojo. <br />
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https://www.charlotteshotokan.com/<br />
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That's all for now,<br />
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Have a blessed day.<br />
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JD Pearce<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>2nd Dan Aikido</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>2nd Dan Combat Hapkido</i></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-85662691816304534312017-10-30T03:37:00.000-07:002017-10-30T03:37:50.143-07:00Still Kicking, well not so much...Greetings friends<br />
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Back again to update the fitness quest for 2017. It's been an up and down year for me fitness wise. I have had a couple of back injuries that have sidelined me for weeks at a time. Also had some other medical issues pop up that kept me down for a while. Yet I am back at it again and this morning I had a great workout! NEVER GIVE UP!!! So I started with jumping jacks, well here's a list of what I did.<br />
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1. Jumping Jacks (35)<br />
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2. Squats (20)<br />
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3. Lunges (20)<br />
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4. Mountain Climbers (20)<br />
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5. Plank (30 seconds)<br />
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6. Crunches (50)<br />
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Repeat: 3X<br />
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I did 15 jumping jacks between each exercise and finished with stretching..<br />
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Needless to say this was a killer workout. It is non stop for 10 minutes. I will continue to do this till the end of the year. I should be at a good place when next year begins. If all goes well I will also try some cross fit next year.<br />
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Lately, my chiropractor has been after me to stop rolling, falling and flipping in Aikido. If I do as she asks I will basically have to give up Aikido as you can not really do much without said actions. I have decided that I should take her advice so I will be giving it up. I still may go to class from time to time and help instruct.<br />
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I will continue Combat Hapkido until I get my 3rd dan then I will have to decide how to move forward from there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkWusCHlS3-pfP9m1l25RLmMBmcAKvOF1UCVTJ3sKVDzZi0wdq0PV5v8eXWYsBJ3fEKXJFo0ENmwjczSQ3FUkRd9hWHNJA1vY-B30Q64tFIS8HNqs7M-ar8Dsy0BimVjIdLzz/s1600/nevergiveupfrog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOkWusCHlS3-pfP9m1l25RLmMBmcAKvOF1UCVTJ3sKVDzZi0wdq0PV5v8eXWYsBJ3fEKXJFo0ENmwjczSQ3FUkRd9hWHNJA1vY-B30Q64tFIS8HNqs7M-ar8Dsy0BimVjIdLzz/s320/nevergiveupfrog.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
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Peace<br />
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JD<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-64782695656578691662017-08-21T06:35:00.000-07:002017-08-21T06:35:06.616-07:00The Eclipse!Today is Monday, August 21st, 2017. <br />
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The Solar Eclipse is the talk of the town today even more so than the latest misstatements of Trump or any other politician on either side. I'm sure the media will get right back on that mission as soon as the eclipse is past. I must admit I find it interesting and I have made a box to watch the eclipse through but I am not going to drive to the place where I can see it in totality. I'll leave that to those who are more excited than I am.<br />
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I suppose there will be some who take advantage of the premature darkness and cause some kind of calamity such as tearing down a statue that they find offensive. I seem to remember someone said not too long ago that her and her husband had to "Change History" to achieve their goals. I suppose eradicating statues and plaques that you find offensive is one way of doing that.<br />
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In the meantime I will continue on working and living my life in a way that is positive and not causing problems for others whether I agree or disagree with their ideology.<br />
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It has been a very busy summer for me and I have once again neglected this blog. I have been maintaining a good weight at 175 and I was working out pretty hard every morning until a couple of weeks ago when I was once again sidelined with a back issue. I am on the mend and hope to finish strong this year as my fitness quest continues!<br />
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By the way, I bought an Indian motorcycle in the spring and I am enjoying it allot! I have plans to make some trips in the fall up to the parkway and beyond. So far I have only had time to do one ride of any consequence which was to Chesnee, SC. Went to a great antique bike show there.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-14013844328593799312017-03-28T04:15:00.000-07:002017-03-28T04:46:25.784-07:00Fitness Quest - Fitness ChallengeI like the word quest, it conjurs up visions of epic adventures and the conquering of foes. I suppose that's because I grew up reading heroic fantasy novels and comic books. Yet in this case my quest is to step outside of my comfort zone and see how far I can push myself. I am in some ways entering the realm of the unknown by pushing harder than ever before as I work out and try to achieve epic results! It all started many years ago when I saw this picture...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Zuaz-FcE3OkkYn7ymaCD9YVMKrsbrFW7MG8xxQlm3l0kvIYiQPGvWEZTOhjBFkNuEEXOz1xJlkY__kKhGPr9sHpiXzBy-8ulayuzsyf9fe6WFsJhvXd0Vh_gPlOrQ1fWXEFo/s1600/too-old-to-work-out.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Zuaz-FcE3OkkYn7ymaCD9YVMKrsbrFW7MG8xxQlm3l0kvIYiQPGvWEZTOhjBFkNuEEXOz1xJlkY__kKhGPr9sHpiXzBy-8ulayuzsyf9fe6WFsJhvXd0Vh_gPlOrQ1fWXEFo/s320/too-old-to-work-out.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I was barely 50 when I saw this and it was startling to me. At first I thought it was photoshopped but as I researched I found it was the real thing. At that point it was simple, if HE can do it, I can do it.. So back in 2014 I started my first year long quest. I was doing well for a few months and was in great shape until I hurt my back. It was not long before I fell back into the same old habits of not exercising enough and eating all the wrong things.</div>
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It took me until late 2016 to get my mind right (and my back) again and I began working out every morning and pushing myself a little further than before. I created a good foundation to start my new quest for 2017. It hit me in Feb., that I was doing so well it was time to step it up and I began my 100 push up a day challenge. Honestly I had no idea if I could pull this off but I have managed to stay true to the course and the challenge is now almost complete. </div>
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Once I get into April I will come up with a brand new challenge for May. Hopefully I can continue this all year and by December I will be closer than ever to crashing through any so called limitations and moving beyond what we consider normal for our age group. I will be 56 in June and I want to prove to myself that I have no limitations once I set my mind to a quest.</div>
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One final thought. Since I began this challenge I have posted my results on FB each day as I try and crack the 100 pushups in two minutes barrier. I know some folks may think I am trying to brag about this or that but my true goal is to inspire. It's not often people my age take on a challenge like this, at least most of the people I know. I want to inspire at least one person to get in better shape, eat healthier and live longer. If I do that my journey is all the more sweeter. </div>
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At 56 I know over half my life is over and I am going to live it to the FULLEST!!!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTNtB4Iprb5w9saufF5fl-rKOXOPqxVGsDjUpeTKDxMX4amGFBM77yWUhR1oHomYv8fOgVeps9Uf2CDvw3QJ9Ti1GWdD9lLJyDqDut-b3NMOIx0xZMnsWAyUu8JRjqE5WdKfn/s1600/2015_Indian_Scout_tan-seat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwTNtB4Iprb5w9saufF5fl-rKOXOPqxVGsDjUpeTKDxMX4amGFBM77yWUhR1oHomYv8fOgVeps9Uf2CDvw3QJ9Ti1GWdD9lLJyDqDut-b3NMOIx0xZMnsWAyUu8JRjqE5WdKfn/s320/2015_Indian_Scout_tan-seat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-12623528495840315022017-03-15T04:09:00.000-07:002017-03-15T04:09:10.073-07:00Challenge update!If you were here last time I posted you know that I began a 100 pushup a day challenge! I started on Feb. 27th so today marks day 17 of the challenge. I am happy to report that I have stayed true to the course only taking one rest day (last Sunday). So, I have done 1600 pushups in the last 17 days. I added 100 crunches to the mix about 5 days ago and I also stretch and warm up with jumping jacks each morning before and after the routine. I've got to tell you I am feeling pretty good about this. I feel stronger and although I have had some pain I have fought through it. I am looking forward to completing this challenge and moving on to the next one which I think will be squats. Cannot neglect the legs!!! I have managed to clock in under 4 mins twice the past few days and I am hoping to get down to 3 minutes soon.<br />
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Now onto other news. I have been asked by a Shotokan Karate Sensei I know to help with a Self Defense class for women in Stallings NC at the Carolina Martial Arts gym I used to belong to. I am going tonight and meeting my friend April there. She is one of our Aikido students who made it to brown belt. Hopefully having her there to demonstrate some of the techniques on me will make the women feel more comfortable. Not sure what to expect but I think it is worth a try.</div>
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Well that's it for now, must get ready to go to work!</div>
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Have a blessed day!</div>
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Peace</div>
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JD</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-63313953228174406002017-03-02T07:24:00.000-08:002017-03-02T07:25:43.120-08:00March 100 pushup ChallengeAs an aging martial artist and fitness buff I am always looking at ways to stay in shape and increase my strength and stamina. As I wrestle with father time and try to beat him at every move, I find that to continue moving forward I have to challenge myself in a myriad of ways. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUekc7UAmkDw1ansAzxAW_ED-me0afIGjUE5OLLv024_eAEDlb-C0ll4279DFIGdO82uR8-syrGa7eHjLjfy6ZWhoWZiZfIGJxnAEisG0Z60oVrTcW6TuTwkf8X_C_NtbZLMvK/s1600/bruce-lee-forearms+push+ups.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUekc7UAmkDw1ansAzxAW_ED-me0afIGjUE5OLLv024_eAEDlb-C0ll4279DFIGdO82uR8-syrGa7eHjLjfy6ZWhoWZiZfIGJxnAEisG0Z60oVrTcW6TuTwkf8X_C_NtbZLMvK/s320/bruce-lee-forearms+push+ups.png" width="256" /></a></div>
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A few years ago I took a 90 day challenge and lost over 30 lbs. This year I am taking a year long fitness challenge and as part of that I am currently doing a 30 day 100 push ups a day challenge. Now I'm in decent shape for an old guy but let me tell you this is no piece of cake. The rules are as follows: Five minutes, 100 push ups. It's that simple. Break it up however you want 2x50, 4x25, 5x20, 3x33+1, whatever works for you. I have been at it for 4 days, I started a couple of days early and I can feel the difference! I hope you will consider joining me. As always with any challenge like this. Set your own pace but push yourself further than you normally go. That's how you achieve greatness in anything you do.. Just my humble opinion. As always don't hurt yourself. If you have serious pain, STOP! Check with your doctor or chiropractor before you continue...<br />
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Oh, by the way. I am looking into a martial art that a friend led me to via youtube called Aiki Jitsu. I think this might be the next big challenge for me in regards to my third black belt. If I can find a school in Charlotte that teaches it. I have a lead on a school in Mint Hill. I am hoping to observe their class soon.<br />
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHGnQbcvfMI<br />
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Here's some additional info I found about it.<br />
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aikijujutsu</em> is any <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">jujutsu</em> discipline that focuses on the Japanese principle of <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“aiki,”</em> in which a practitioner blends with and defeats an opponent by using one’s internal energy <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(ki</em> or <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">chi).</em> Various schools of jujutsu and aikijujutsu can trace their lineage back to <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">daito-ryu.</em> Conflicting stories state that either Shinra Saburo Minamoto (1045-1127) or a doctor Yoshimitsu in 1180 lay down the foundation for daito-ryu aikijujutsu (considered the oldest aikijujutsu in Japan) by discovering the mechanics of the joints and muscle attachments while dissecting cadavers. From these discoveries, joint-locking skills, techniques to cause muscle twisting, and strikes to vital points were formalized and perfected during battle.</div>
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Takeda Sokaku—whose most notable student was <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">aikido’s</em> founder Morihei Uyeshiba—modified daito-ryu by combining his knowledge of daito-ryu experience with sumo <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">kenjutsu</em> (swordsmanship) and several empty-hand martial arts. In the late 1800s, he named his style daito-ryu aikijujutsu. Takeda Sokaku then honed the art by teaching military officers, police officials and aristocrats.</div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Similar to <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">bujinkan,</em> aikijujutsu was founded as a “dark,” secretive and highly combative samurai art. Unarmed fighters used aikijujutsu to kill samurai in full armor.</div>
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Until next time,<br />
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PeaceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-26117233162830252742017-02-15T02:30:00.000-08:002017-02-15T02:30:06.511-08:00Fitness after 50!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is Jack Lalanne at 71!</div>
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I have posted many things here on this blog over the years but the primary focus is martial arts and fitness for those of us who are beyond 50. I will be 56 this year and it is easy to find yourself not wanting to workout when you wake up stiff and sore from old injuries.<br />
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As a guy who has trained in martial arts steady for the past 10 years and achieved 2nd degree black belts in two disciplines, I have the bumps, bruises and joint pain to go along with it! Not to mention the dreaded arthritis creeping into my hands and fingers. Being a guitar player also this is really a problem. I hate to take much more than an aspirin or two but looks like some medication is needed from time to time to deal with this stuff. I'll let you know when I find something that works for me. In regards to aspirin, be careful! A good friend of mine from church had been taking an aspirin a day for twenty years by order of his doctor to prevent heart attacks. He's a good bit older than I. Well it landed him in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer in his stomach! So be extra careful taking any kind of pain meds every day. Check with your doctor if you notice anything wrong.<br />
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Now, let's get to the good stuff, working out! </div>
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I like to work out in the morning. I try to do a small routine each day to get me started and that includes stretching. Start with jumping jacks, then squats, crunches and push ups. Repeat if you can, even a third set if you have time and are in good enough shape. In regards to how many, it's up to the individual. What can your body take? Of course your goal is to improve over time, add more reps and get stronger. Me, I like to do 25 J Jacks, 20 squats, 50 crunches and 25 or 30 push ups, then repeat if I have time. If you get to the point where you can do a third set of this you are doing very well. <br />
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Do NOT forget to stretch!!! Make sure you spend at least 3 to 5 minutes stretching in-between sets.<br />
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Once you get in good enough shape to do 3 sets of these you can add an exercise or two to the routine to kick it up another notch! Try man-makers if you are feeling really strong or just add some dumbbells to the workout and do some curls and overhead dumbbell presses. Hold them while you squat if you like as well!<br />
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Ok, that's it for now. Go on out and take on the world for another day. God bless and stay safe. I will be writing some about Church Security in the near future, stay tuned for that...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-41820805724893629492017-01-26T01:46:00.003-08:002017-01-26T01:46:56.861-08:00Blue Light Special<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was a cloudy day, but it seemed that every day was cloudy now.
I was hungry, as usual, but I felt good about the prospects of what may
come of this new place I had heard about. I was there with a friend
that I was recently introduced to at one of our meetings. It seemed that
we had lots of meetings. I guess because there were so many new problems
to deal with these days. The main theme in all our gatherings was that
there is strength in unity. So much more could be accomplished together
rather than trying to make it on our own.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> We lined up behind our
buggies. We were in what used to be an old grocery store that had long ago
been looted and abandoned. It had been taken over, I suppose just
recently, by the new proprietor who introduced himself as Big John.
There were a few holes in the roof and the place smelled of mildew but
other than that it was OK. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The loud, bearded man that ran the place, <i>who some whispered used to be a preacher,</i> Big
John, was barking out orders. “First rule, no one talks while I’m
talking, I will not be repeating myself today people, I have a sore
throat and I do not intend to talk anymore than I have too, if you do
interrupt me you are out. Next rule, no pushing or shoving, you will
behave yourselves when you shop in my store or you are out and you will
not be allowed back, I will remember you! Next rule, do not take
anything out of anyone else’s basket, if you get caught doing that you
are out and banned for good! Any Questions about the rules?” No one
seemed to want to question the large man with the booming voice, and
rugged features. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The only sounds heard over the distant coughing of a
generator somewhere in the background were babies crying in the other
room. You could see them with their dirty little faces behind a big
glass window with a large crack in it. “Good, since you all understand
the rules now I will tell you what our specials are today.” The people
who listened intently, nervously shifted back and forth on the chipped
and broken tiles in the worn, grimy floor. Big John Bradford, finished
his speech by giving everyone the lowdown on the special prices of the
frozen goods. This was the weekend, and as was the custom, frozen goods
were always on special every Saturday. Of course you could still find
other stuff, canned and jar goods mostly, some boxed stuff that probably
was good if it had not been smashed too bad. You could also find some
candy, gummy bears, even chocolate if it had not melted yet. Bottled water was also on sale but it was not cheap. In fact it was probably the most expensive item at the market this day. People would kill for this stuff, but Big John's attitude seemed to keep folks in check today.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> The prices
were pretty good today, you could trade good weapons like knives, guns
and ammunition if you had any or you could trade tobacco products. Money
was no good, but jewelry was still valuable although not worth much
compared to a Colt 45 with bullets. The big guy wore one on his hip and
no one bothered him for that single reason alone I suspect. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This was the way it was since all the factories and grocery stores
had been shut down after the grid went dark. The EMP attack had taken all our power and communications. It wasn't long before nuclear plants began to melt down, chaos had ensued and millions died. Luckily, a few of us had survived in our bunkers but our food lasted only so long. Once we became hungry we set out looking for food and found that many others like us had survived too.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">You could find these black
market stores set up if you knew where to look, This of course was my
first visit and let me tell you it was a blessing. My family had not
eaten a decent meal in more than a year. We were scraping and scrounging
like everyone else. The only meat we had eaten at all lately was from
some skinny racoons we had caught sniffing around the compound where we
lived.
The core meltdown at the Nuclear Plant North of the city had seen
to it that no one, at least none of the survivors we knew of and they’re
weren’t many of us, would have a good meal for a long time. Most the
food had been contaminated. When we found this guy selling what was
supposed to be good food, we were happy to stand and listen to him shout
out his rules in order to have something to eat that was not too
radioactive or spoiled. I looked up at the big guy again just in time to
hear him begin his prayer. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Before we begin people, let us pray. Dear
Lord, thank you for all the food we have here today to share with these
hungry people, your children. Bless these brave souls and bless this
food for us all to share and enjoy for the nourishment of our tired
bodies, oh Lord. Lord, please look after our loved ones who have been
taken from us in this time of chaos and hardships. It is only faith in
you O’ King of Kings that gives us the strength and courage to continue
to survive in these troubled times. Thank you Lord for what you have
blessed us with on this day, in Jesus name we pray, Amen.” Everyone
repeated that amen and looked up with eager, anticipation in their bleak
and hungry eyes. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“OK people, start shopping, and remember, there is only
one door out of here and you pay me as you leave!”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Read more stories like this from the ebook: <a href="http://pearcedeliveries.com/lostlorefv1.pdf" target="_blank"> "Lost Lore from an Ancient Future"</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-89789760382575451342017-01-21T07:44:00.001-08:002017-01-21T07:44:19.981-08:00Setting Goals for 2017<b>This is an article I published on Linkedin..</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-you-have-goals-jd-pearce?trk=hp-feed-article-title-comment">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-you-have-goals-jd-pearce?trk=hp-feed-article-title-comment</a><br />
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Some folks are goal oriented, others are not. Perhaps they don't like setting goals for fear of not achieving them and then being disappointed. Whatever the reason, it is my firm belief that we need to set goals. </div>
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Here's why!</div>
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This is how we hold ourselves accountable and how we move ahead and achieve the objectives we desire. Whether it's our business or personal lives, we must be able to measure what we are doing to determine <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how </em>we are doing. Just like when a company asks you to evaluate their performance, this is key to improving. So next time you sit down to reflect upon your life and where you are now, as opposed to where you want to be, set some goals and start working to make things happen.</div>
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It can be as simple as this, for example:</div>
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What do I want to accomplish in 2017?</div>
<ol style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 3.2rem 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pray More</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Spend more time with family</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Read More books</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Play guitar more</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Be kinder to everyone</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Go to Church more</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Spend less on credit cards</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meet new people</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Exercise more</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Write more</li>
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So you see, it's easy to come up with items you would like to improve upon, the key is to write it down and put it somewhere where you will read it and be reminded of it each day or maybe each week. Keep a journal if you like to write and monitor your own progress.</div>
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If you are really ambitious you can set lofty goals like this!</div>
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<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Start a new business</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Do 25 sales call a week</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Build my Dream Home</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lose 30 pounds</li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 2.4rem 0px 2.4rem 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Travel around the World</li>
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You can go slow or you can go <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">BIG,</strong> it's all up to you. One thing to keep in mind, try to make goals attainable, if you shoot for the moon, sometimes you don't make it all the way and it can be discouraging. Start <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif; font-size: 0.975em; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">small </em>and work you way up to <b>BIG</b>!</div>
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Good Luck and go out and make it happen this year, all you need is a good attitude, a good network and a goal oriented vision of where you want to go.</div>
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Happy Trails!</div>
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JD Pearce</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-49880881173189866492017-01-15T02:21:00.000-08:002017-01-15T02:21:04.477-08:00A you tired? This will help!Drink Water!<br />
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Yes, it's that simple. Drinking water can refresh your entire body and refocus your mind. Many people are dehydrated. From mildly to wildly! Most of us do not drink enough water because we drink too much coffee, soda, beer, etc.. Many of these drinks are diuretics and will cause you to purge the water from your system leaving you dehydrated. I know because I have had that problem for many years. I am a coffee addict and I love to quench my thirst on a hot day with cold beer instead of water. So that leaves me dehydrated most of the time. Even when I try to drink more water I have trouble drinking as much as my body needs. So since we have just begun a new year, let's make it our goal to drink more water! Water is our source of life, we can survive for many days, even weeks without food but without water, the body will shut down in about 3 to 5 days. Think about this, when we sweat or exhale we are losing the bodies moisture just as when we eliminate waste. In a body made up of 60% water this can deplete our needed supply very quickly. Brain tissue will begin to shrink and organs shut down. We can not think clearly or concentrate as well. If you are working in a dangerous environment this can lead to disaster! I drive allot and when I start feeling tired and losing focus I reach for the water (if I have any) and within seconds after a long drink I feel refreshed and my mind becomes clearer! Here's a very good article extolling the virtues of drinking and using water for good health.<br />
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So, Drink Water My Friend!<br />
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<br />
Benefits of Drinking Water!<a href="http://greatist.com/health/health-benefits-water" target="_blank">http://greatist.com/health/health-benefits-water</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-6099417399912230192016-12-24T14:03:00.001-08:002016-12-24T14:03:36.291-08:00Goals Accomplished!Greetings Friends<br />
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Since I was last here many great things have happened in my life and I have accomplished some major goals. First of all I finally received my 2nd Dan in Combat Hapkido and a few months earlier I was awarded my Nidan in Tomiki Aikido. These are two important goals I had wanted to accomplish in life and as a 55 plus age martial artist the journey has been long and full of injuries. I finally got healthy enough to get it done and now am on my way to pursue some different interests. <br />
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I will still be training in Combat Hapkido but instead of pursuing 3rd dan I want to focus on going back through the curriculum and perfecting many techniques we learned along the way. My Aikido dojo has closed unfortunately and I am looking for a new place to train for now. I will pick back up on that effort after the holidays. I also want to put in a couple of years of combat handgun training. We are currently looking into some classes for this. I am always exploring martial arts and trying to add new, effective techniques to my tool box so this will be a never ending endeavor.<br />
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Just today I found a great video explaining the front kick as a serious weapon in great detail. Check out this link! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HgoLLezD14<br />
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By the way:<br />
<br />
Congrats to Pres elect Donald J. Trump for putting and end to Hillary Clinton's chances of becoming President. As a small business owner I am once again optimistic about the future of America now that the socialists have been defeated!<br />
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I have unfortunately found out that many of my friends and family are dealing with terrible illnesses lately. Please join me in prayer for those who need healing. Bobby, Bill, Freddy and a few others are on my list.<br />
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Finally, it is Christmas Eve and I am about to get ready to go to Church and sing for tonight's service. As a member of the choir and the praise band I am blessed to be a part of our music program and along with martial arts, this music is a true passion of mine.<br />
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Peace and Merry Christmas!<br />
<br />
<br />
JD Pearce<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-83207447854377077172015-11-13T05:02:00.001-08:002015-11-13T05:02:57.868-08:00W. Hock HochheimI want to introduce you to a guy I had the pleasure to train under a couple of years ago. Some of my Combat Hapkido partners and I went to a seminar in Huntersville, NC held at a Krav Maga school. There we worked with Hock and Nick Hughes, Nick being the owner of the Krav School. I'll just say if you ever have the chance to train with either of these guys, don't miss it!<br />
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The link to his blog is below. Go check it out!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">http://forcenecessarytv.blogspot.com/</span></b><br />
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Terrible, Terrible, Mistaken Knife Grips</h3>
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About 20 years ago, I wrote some magazine articles about what I dubbed as The <i><b>Cancer Grip</b></i> of the knife. Its a saber grip, as in "the sharp end of the knife sticks out of the top of the hand." You would think people would know this but some don't. Anyway, I kept seeing some of the biggest names in Filipino Martial Arts slashing, stabbing in the air like mad, followed by their students, with this Cancer Grip. This is when the ball of the thumb and the thumb is up off the knife. You can't stab, you can't slash, you can't cut a steak this way, and while dueling its an easy knock-out disarm. Yet many "FMA Gods" were slipping in and out of this grip in photos, films and teaching. There is even an entire Filipino knife system (not a popular one, I might add) that only uses the thumbs-up grip. Not good. And practitioners in training are still simulated stabs and slashes with these grips.<br /><br /> This is an "international" problem. A now rather famous American knife guy, on the cover of his first knife book years ago was, and unfortunately still, is shown stabbing someone with this worthless grip - just mindlessly replicating the big boys. He knows better now. Folks, you need the ball of the thumb and the thumb to hold the knife to stab and slash, to even cut a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-76725002047278510642015-09-12T04:30:00.001-07:002015-09-12T04:32:10.681-07:00USCCA ArticleI wanted to share this today...<br />
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When I teach a self defense class the very first thing I
cover is situational awareness. Before talking about martial arts or guns or
weapons of any kind I always emphasize that your mind IS your most
<b><i><u>powerful</u></i></b> weapon!</div>
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The following article is also about SA... Please share
with someone you care about.</div>
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Be safe and always pay attention!</div>
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JD</div>
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Situational Awareness is the KEY to Self-Defense</h1>
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I might be rehashing some things you have already heard me say, but recent
events compel me to speak out again.<br />
When I am asked, “What can I do to stay safe?” the best answer contains just
two words: <em>pay attention</em>!<br />
The first thing you can do is put your smartphone in your pocket and start
looking at what’s happening around you. For all you people reading this right
now on a smartphone, I expect you to be behind a locked door or to have a
lookout you trust with your life within arm’s reach. If one of those elements
does not describe your current situation, YOU ARE AT RISK.<br />
Why am I saying this now? Two reasons:<br />
Before the live on-air shooting of three people, the gunman approached,
pulled out his gun, said the word “bitch,” and then stood by with his gun out
for more than 20 seconds…and none of the victims noticed anything until he fired
the first shot.<br />
I’m not saying the outcome would have been any different, but there is a
chance that something could have changed. People would have had the chance to
fight back if only they had paid attention to someone walking in on them while
they worked.<br />
The next thing that really set me off was an incident in Omaha where a woman
was attacked while standing in the lobby of a church. Her purse was stolen and
she was punched in the head and knocked to the ground.<br />
It angers me—but does not surprise me—that criminals would violate the
sanctuary of the church. But looking at the video, there <em>are</em> some
things the woman could have done differently to stay—if not safe—safer.<br />
First up, she had her back to an unlocked door and she was not paying
attention to anything but the pamphlets on the table. Granted, she was in a
church. It is likely her safe place. The criminals not only took her purse, but
they took her sense of security as well.<br />
Situational awareness is not just looking around; it also involves actively
changing things to make your surroundings safer.<br />
In the case of the news crew that was shot, when someone walks onto the set
or near the workspace, that person should be addressed immediately. Ask
questions. Get answers. If you don’t immediately get the response you like, be
moving and looking for an escape route or an improvised weapon.<br />
At the church, the woman should have remembered my cardinal rule of being
inside a building: if at all possible, be where you can see the door. A double
bonus: if she would have had the small table between the attackers and her, she
would have had more time to respond or maybe move or access a weapon if she had
one. This incident is also a good reason why we tell people not to carry guns in
purses.<br />
I understand that she is 76 years old and there might not have been much she
could have done against two attackers, but that does not mean she should do
nothing. If you are an older person, or if you know an older person, situational
awareness becomes all the more important in order to gain every advantage.<br />
A pistol is a fine tool for self-defense, but it is not the only element of
effective self-defense. If you don’t even see the attack coming, your gun won’t
do much good.</div>
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Sent from my iPhone~JD
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-43663038634337003842015-05-29T08:19:00.000-07:002015-05-29T08:19:18.981-07:00Combat Hapkido Training<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the past few weeks I have been working off and on with my Combat Hapkido DVD's. Watching from the beginning, going through my notes and re-familiarizing myself with all the earlier techniques. I will be training in Mooresville next weekend at<a href="http://www.personaldefenseclub.com/" target="_blank"> Flagg's Personal Defense Club</a>. Mr. Handy and I are close to testing for our 2nd degree black belts. We have a seminar in August up in Southern Pines so maybe we will be ready to test by then. Looking forward to getting this one done and moving on to the next level. Hoping to start a charter in the Charlotte/Matthews area in the next year or two.<br />
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This is a great martial art! Self Defense oriented, no kata or traditional drills just working strictly on self defense techniques each time we train. Sensei Flagg offers additional tid bits with his diverse background in Judo and Jujitsu as well. Overall a great learning experience for those who want to learn self defense.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-11662301626647778002015-05-25T05:04:00.001-07:002015-05-25T05:04:58.082-07:00KI Energy<b>Ai - Ki - Do</b><br />
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One translation is: The way of combining energy. <br />
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You can use many words to replace <i>energy</i> but it is the Ki in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido" target="_blank">Aikido</a>. So many people ask just what is Ki? You may get many different answers, depending on who you talk to and from what culture they stem but here's a definition I have come to understand. <br />
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Consider life in any living creature. <br />
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In humans you might think of is as the breath of life or even the life spirit. It is the energy or power that flows through our bodies that makes us living creatures. Think of the breath in your lungs, the blood that pumps through your body as the heart beats. The electric burst of power that happens when the synapsis in your brain fire billions of times per second. This is all part of the Ki energy that flows through us all. Where does it come from? Another important question that you may find many different responses to. Some say God, others say the earth or the wind or the universe. No matter where it originates we all live thanks to the Ki energy in our bodies.<br />
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Ki, as I know it from the Japanese martial art of Aikido and the Korean martial art of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapkido" target="_blank">Hapkido</a> is also known in many different cultures as Qi, Chi, Gi, Ghi, X, and many more. So many differing ways to spell the same thing, yet they all recognize it as being some kind of energy.<br />
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Now let's look at the role of Ki energy in martial arts and in Aikido specifically. As <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikidoka" target="_blank">Akidoka</a>, we learn to channel this energy into our techniques by focusing our power into our center. This is where the human body is the strongest. Our center of gravity can be found in the middle of our bodies, to be more specific it is the a place in our abdomen just above the groin and below the navel. When performing a technique such as <a href="http://www.stenudd.com/aikido/kotegaeshi.htm" target="_blank">kote-gaeshi</a> or a wrist lock, you focus your power in your center when you turn uke's wrist.<br />
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Further more in 99% of all Aikido techniques you will focus your power here in your center. This makes you stronger than your opponent in most cases or allows a much weaker opponent to break the balance of a stronger one. </div>
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Consider this, when a person tries to hold you by grabbing your wrist with both hands they can pull you and control you if you are off balance. Yet, if you find your center of gravity and use the strength of your body and not just the pulling motion of the one grabbed arm you can break away from the hold or break the balance of the attacker and then use a technique to breakaway, pin or throw.</div>
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There are some schools that take the spiritual approach to defining Ki and even some who try to teach it as a supernatural force with mystical origins. This is fine and I say to each his own but remember we all have Ki but it takes training and practice to focus that energy and use it properly when it comes to martial arts.</div>
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JD</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-69885414202894731822015-05-23T13:50:00.002-07:002015-05-23T13:50:50.137-07:00 Aikido and Self Defense<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Aikido gets a bad rap it seems from many folks. I learned today that a martial artist that I have worked with for years in Combat Hapkido, thinks that the Tomiki style Aikido I have studied for over 7 years now is only Kata and sport. I have to assume many other martial artists out there are under the same false impression.<br />
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The truth is that Tomiki Aikido does have many Kata forms but the dojo where I train does not teach Tanto Randori which is the sport aspect of Aikido. We focus on some of the original Kata like the 15 and 17 basics as well as the Dai Ni and Dai San among other drills.<br />
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We also take time to do free style which is where we can use the techniques in a very fluid situation that simulate a real attack. We attack from real grabs and punches as one would expect on the street. Using the basic principles of breaking balance, focusing our Ki energy into our center, using circular motion to break the balance and perform take downs and throws we are able to make techniques work very effectively.<br />
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More on this later...<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-61116002753705038932015-05-09T05:57:00.002-07:002015-05-09T05:57:29.591-07:00<div id="BlogTitle" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 5px;">
John Pellegrini’s Combat Hapkido Invades U.S. Military Training</div>
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Posted By <u>Patrick Sternkopf</u> On March 20, 2011<u></u></div>
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In 2004 John Pellegrini was inducted into the <em>Black Belt</em> Hall of Fame as Instructor of the Year. Since then, it’s been tough to get in touch with him because his art, combat <em>hapkido,</em> has become one of the most sought-after systems in the world. That means the master is in demand from New York to California, from Afghanistan to Colombia. In this exclusive interview, John Pellegrini talks about the special aspects of his art that make it work so well for military personnel and law-enforcement officers.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: Why is combat hapkido so appealing to the military when many traditional martial arts are not?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: The word “traditional” probably answers the question. In traditional arts, a lot of attention is paid to posture, stance and movement. Everything is done in a way that reflects the traditions and essence of that art. Remember that all martial arts were designed for the battlefield, but it was the battlefield of 300, 500 or 1,000 years ago. There were different weapons and different rules of engagement.<br />
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Since then, warfare has evolved, and the martial arts that accompany the warrior also must evolve to reflect the new terrain, missions, weapons, tactics, strategies and rules of engagement. So we have to evolve, too. In combat hapkido, we’ve stripped away a lot of the traditional trappings—such as the classical stances and positions. We’ve [kept] the core of the art because basically a joint lock is a joint lock; nobody’s going to reinvent it. We’ve stripped it down to emphasize close-quarters conflicts for modern battlefield environments, and we take into account that when [a soldier] strikes, joint-locks or takes somebody down, he’s going to have equipment on.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: Is there a lot of individual combat on the battlefield today?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: There’s still individual combat. However, the advantage soldiers have is that they’re rarely alone. They’re operating in groups. If someone comes out of a house and attacks you with a knife, there are other soldiers to cover, protect and help you. But what if you’re in a group of three out patrolling, and the other two get shot or step on a mine? Now you’re alone. That happens a lot in house clearing—there may be two or three soldiers, and one of them goes down and then a couple of people come out of the house. That’s when the close-quarters fighting begins.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: What role does an empty-hand martial art play when so many guns are present?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: People think that soldiers engage the enemy only with their weapons—that every time something happens, the soldier just fires his M-16 and solves the problem. Many times he does, but the mission of the Army nowadays has changed. They do a lot in an urban environment. It’s started to resemble law-enforcement functions. They walk down the street, patrolling open-air markets, or they go into houses to confiscate weapons. Yes, the weapon is the primary defense, but sometimes you’re at close quarters and the person comes from behind or gets right in your face, and it’s very difficult to use the weapon.<br />
There’s a second problem: You want to use your weapon, but there are women and children around. You have to be careful because of the bad public relations that can be generated for the United States. You have to have some hand-to-hand skills.<br />
I’m not saying that every soldier in the U.S. Army must become a black belt. All I’m saying is that they should get a minimum amount of skill. Take a course in combatives that gives you a few kicks, strikes, controlling techniques and pressure-point techniques so you can take somebody down without the use of your weapon.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: What should that “minimum amount of skill” include?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: I would like to see every troop learn at least a simplified version of what we do. We don’t kick to the head; we don’t jump and spin; we don’t do anything with big, wide circles. Everything is synthesized with a core of techniques that give them a fighting chance when they’re in close quarters.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: Which hand-to-hand combat techniques do you focus on for the military?</strong><br />John Pellegrini:<strong> </strong>The most important use for the hands is to make sure the attacker doesn’t grab your weapon. The second most important use is close-quarters blade defense. Somebody approaches you, maybe to ask for food or information—or maybe you’re interviewing the person—and all of a sudden he pulls out a knife. That’s why you need trapping techniques, basically redirecting the attack and immediately closing the gap and taking control of him. We teach a combination of techniques, like low-line kicking, strikes with the hands and joint-locking with the possible application of pressure points. That obviously doesn’t work all the time, depending on the clothing and other factors.<br />
We always encourage striking to the head because it contains the computer of the human body. You want to rattle and stun the computer and take away the vision of the attacker so he can’t see what’s going on. Then you can take him down easily.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: What if the other person is wearing a helmet or body armor?</strong><br />John Pellegrini:<strong> </strong>The people I taught in Afghanistan [said they] seldom encounter that. Even if the bad guys wear a helmet, their eyes and trachea are still available. You can target the face.<br />
Now, our people wear helmets all the time, and we encourage them to use them as weapons. Head-butting has a whole new meaning when you’re wearing a helmet. Our people also wear Kevlar body armor, but it covers them only up to a point. Their arms are still open, and they contain serious arteries, so they can still get slashed. The neck is somewhat covered, but it’s also open in places. The femoral artery is open, the groin is open—it’s not a complete set of armor like medieval knights wore.<br />
That brings up another point: A lot of military combatives courses are 90-percent ground survival. I’m appalled that some units learn Brazilian <em>jiu-jitsu</em> and are encouraged to fight on the ground. When you look at their training on base, they’re wearing shorts, gym shoes and T-shirts while they roll around and do ankle locks and armbars—and that’s beautiful. But do that on rocky terrain in Afghanistan with the soldier wearing 65 pounds of equipment, and it’s insane.<br />
Do we teach ground survival to the troops? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, several months ago, the 10th Mountain Division sent six of their team leaders here to Phoenix to spend a week with us and get certified as military ground-survival instructors. [They know they] can be pushed to the ground, fall or lose their balance, and if the guy gets on top of them with a knife, there could be a close-quarters struggle. But the idea is to immediately dislodge the person and recover the dominant standing position. It’s not about grappling and rolling on the ground.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: What kind of grappling techniques are effective in those situations?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: If you’re on the ground, you need to immediately strike hard. The head is the main target. Take out the eyes, the breathing apparatus, the throat, the nerve groups. Try to stun the person long enough, or hurt him as much as possible, so you can get up. If you find yourself on the ground, hopefully a couple of buddies will come to your aid, deploy their weapons and grab the person.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: Are there techniques you teach for disengaging from someone who may have jumped you from behind or surprised you from a doorway?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: Yes, they’re mostly sweeps and takedowns using what we call the balance-disruption system, [which is characterized by] taking away their balance, trapping their feet or doing some low-line sweeping. If they come from behind, you can do a hip throw, but it’s not a high throw like you’d see in a tournament.<br />
It’s not that easy to attack soldiers from behind because of what they carry on their backs. So if somebody comes from behind and tries to bear-hug or choke a soldier, there’s a big backpack between the soldier and the attacker. It’s not necessarily a smart move.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: Do you teach kicks? Are they restricted to low targets?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: We teach kicks to the groin—if it’s available at close quarters, you can employ your knee, shinbone or boot. But mostly we do kicks to targets that are even lower. There are several pressure points on the legs and in other areas that can instantly drop an attacker.<br />
We teach only four kicks to the military: the front kick, the side kick, the low-line roundhouse kick to the side of the leg and the scoop kick, which is used when you’re almost in a grappling situation and need to use the inside blade of your boot to rake the shin. With those four, you should be able to take care of any situation.<br />
Obviously, there are a couple of reasons we use only a few kicks and only extremely low-line. One of them is that 65 pounds of equipment. How long do you want to be off-balance on one leg? If you’re already in a clinch, the longer you stay on one leg, the sooner you’ll wind up on the ground.<br />
Our kicks are low-line, fast and directly to the leg area. The bad guys don’t wear armor on their legs. If you give them a hard kick to the leg, you can drop them.<br />
This is not <em>taekwondo</em> or even regular hapkido. The average soldier doesn’t have much flexibility or do stretching exercises every day like you do in the <em>dojang.</em> It’s insane to expect them to kick to the chest or face. The risk of having their leg grabbed and being taken down [is too great].<br />
<strong>Black Belt: How do you handle knife and gun defense?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: Law-enforcement officers often ask us why they need to learn to take away a knife or handgun when they’re already armed and in a deadly-force situation, which means they can shoot the bad guy. The problem is, sometimes you’re in such close quarters and the person manages to close the gap and put a gun to your head. Understand that when the bad guy gets the gun, if he wants to kill you, he’ll pull the trigger. When he points a gun at your face, it means he wants to capture you.<br />
It’s a different environment for a soldier than it is for a civilian or law-enforcement officer. If you’re at close quarters and the person’s got a gun pointed at your face, you’d be insane to try to deploy your weapon. But you can employ your hands from a surrender posture and disarm him.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: Why might the military need empty-hand-versus-weapons skills?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: They’re not always going to have all that equipment and weapons. Just to give you an example, I got a call from the Pentagon about a year ago to train people attached to the Office of Naval Intelligence who were being deployed to Iraq. They were dressed in civilian clothes, and some of them had beards—they weren’t your regular troops, which is why they wanted empty-hand training. They explained that they may go into a village and extract people from their houses, then put them in a cave or a tent and interview them. In those interrogation scenarios, [often] they’re not allowed to carry weapons. So they go in and sit down with a translator.<br />
Sometimes the detainees go nuts or try to escape or overcome the interrogator. They don’t care if they die in the process because that was the idea to begin with—which is why we have suicide bombers. I was explaining to them what happens if the guy’s hiding a knife somewhere or if he grabs a pencil or rock. Isn’t it better if the soldier has some techniques to defend himself? He needs to put his hands up, deflect the attack, take the guy down quickly and be done with it. Granted, help will arrive within seconds, but at least he didn’t get killed or maimed.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: Are there any secret moves that you teach the military that you can’t reveal to civilians?</strong><br />John Pellegrini: Yes, but I don’t call them “secret.” There are no secrets. Everything has already been invented and shown.<br />
I refuse to teach certain techniques to civilians because they’re direct-kill techniques. I don’t think that civilians need to see them. You say, “Wait a minute, civilians can be in deadly situations, too.” Yes, and we teach as much as possible so they can defend themselves and escape. But what I’m talking about here is direct kill. That means that the technique is designed to do nothing else but kill the person by destroying the airway, the spine or a couple of other things. You’re going directly into a kill mode because maybe you’re faced with multiple attackers or weapons. You do your threat analysis and decide that you have to eliminate this person; you cannot just push him to the side, kick or punch him, or take him to the ground and put him in a joint lock. You need to eliminate him so you can face the next threat. It’s not that the techniques are different; they’re different in application.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: You were recently in Colombia, South America. What were you teaching there?</strong><br />John Pellegrini:<strong> </strong>Colombia has faced two problems for the past 30 years. One is the Marxist guerrilla movement. They do a lot of kidnappings and bombings, and they attack troops, police officers and civilians. The other problem is the drug cartels. Both of them engage the troops and the police.<br />
The guerrilla operations often take place in a jungle or a mountainous environment. They use different tactics, but once you start looking at the threats they face, you see that the threats aren’t much different from what our troops are facing in Afghanistan and Iraq. You employ your weapons first, but what happens if you’re in close quarters or an urban environment where women and children are running around? It’s good to know some hand-to-hand techniques.<br />
So, when we were asked to teach a counterterrorism unit of the Colombian air force, we taught them basically the same stuff we teach our military. They also needed to know how to [handle] political demonstrations when the crowd gets out of control. Obviously, they’re not going to fire an M-16 into the crowd.<br />
The second group we did there—policemen who worked in plain clothes—was interesting. They carry sidearms and provide security for diplomatic personnel. When the American ambassador or a visiting dignitary goes out, the first layer of protection is provided by the FBI, Secret Service and our own people, but there’s an outer circle of security provided by the Colombian police. These people have received little if any empty-hand training. They’ve been taught to shoot and do defensive driving, they take courses in executive protection and they’re good at their job, but during their training, close-quarters hand-to-hand combat wasn’t emphasized. They were extremely grateful that we taught them some good stuff. We did it at the American Embassy, one of the most well-protected in the world.<br />
<strong>Black Belt: In terms of brutality, how different is what you teach the military from what you teach law enforcement and civilians?</strong><br />John Pellegrini:<strong> </strong>When our troops are in a theater of operation, they’re at war and people are trying to kill them. It’s not like a bar fight or a street fight in which a juvenile tries to snatch your wallet. There are lethal situations in civilian life and certainly with police officers, but the brutality that war brings to the equation is different. It’s employed by the enemy; therefore, we have to respond with the same kind of brutality.<br />
On the battlefield, even if your life isn’t in danger, you’re struggling with somebody trying to hurt or capture you. You must use that brutality. You have a weapon, and you can hit him in the face with it. Imagine a police officer pistol-whipping somebody in a civilian setting; it wouldn’t go over very well.<br />
Even so, we live in a 24-hour news environment, and our soldiers have to limit the degree of brutality they use. Think about how hard that is: They have to be in survival mode every second, yet they also have to be aware of the possibility of doing something that will come back to haunt them. When you fight people who don’t wear uniforms—in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bad guys don’t have uniforms—you never know who’s who and who’s going to do what.<br />
That’s why, in the final analysis, what we do with our combat-hapkido training is simply give them one more tool for survival. We’re not trying to create super invincible warriors. We’re not trying to make them into martial arts experts and black belts. It’s an additional tool that might save a life and might prevent charges of brutality if a soldier can take the person down and control him instead of shooting him.</div>
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Article printed from Black Belt: <strong dir="ltr">http://www.blackbeltmag.com</strong></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-69409672834193341942015-02-09T09:02:00.002-08:002015-02-09T09:02:45.210-08:00Principles of Judo, Kenji Tomiki<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Kenji Tomiki was born March 15, 1900. In 1956 when the following was first published, Kenji Tomiki was 7th dan Judo, 8th dan Aikido, Professor of Judo at Waseda University, a member of the Kodokan's Special Direction Committee, and an official of the All Japan Judo Federation. In 1971 he was awarded the 8th dan in Kodokan Judo. Kenji Tomiki died December 25, 1979.</div>
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Table of Contents</h3>
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1. Physical Training<br />2. Shizentai (natural posture)<br />3. Courtesy<br />4. Sen (initiative)<br />5. Kuzushi (breaking balance)<br />6. Stability<br />7. Ju-no-ri (principle of gentleness)</h4>
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1. Judo as Physical Training</h2>
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It is a fundamental principle of sports to carry on exercises in proportion to the bodily strength. Judo as a game belongs to the fighting games and so often assumes all the aspects of an intensive feat of strength requiring strenuous exertions. In the practice of Judo, however, this evil can be averted by means of Kata (forms). That is, the kata enables the Judo student to adjust the amount of exercise according to his bodily strength and age, and yet is fully effectual both in respect to interest and benefit.</div>
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Judo includes the following three points in its objective on the physical side:</div>
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<li style="list-style: none;">Toughness (giving steadiness, elasticity and staying power to the muscles)</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">Flexibility (giving mobility to the spinal column and other joints together with full elasticity of the muscles)</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">Adroitness (quickening the function of the motor nerves and making movements both nimble and steady)</li>
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From the standpoint of athletic physiology these qualities are correlated with one another, and the bodily activities in Judo exercises are best adapted to those requirements.</div>
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2. Natural Posture (Shizentai)</h2>
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The <em>shizentai</em>, or natural posture, is the posture of a person standing quietly with his head and upper body kept upright, arms hanging without constraint and legs not so firm and widely apart. This is the description of the proper posture as regards its form, but it has a deeper, wider significance. When this posture is maintained, it may be considered that 1) the body keeps stability and does not fall and 2)as the limbs are kept soft they can shift to any action at any moment.</div>
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In the preceding paragraph the natural posture is explained as a standing posture. If, however, outward form or posture is left out of consideration, and the natural posture is an attitude of the body which is capable of repelling the opponent's attack, and moreover of assuming the offensive whenever there is an opening in the opponent's guard, the natural posture may be said to be possible not only when standing, but also when sitting or lying. In fact, in a Judo contest, the contestant who has fallen is not nedessarily beaten. On the contrary, he may make an attack against his opponent while lying on the mats. In fact, the natural posture is an attitude of the body which is always capable of taking the lead.</div>
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There is an old expression, "Motion in rest." It means that rest is pregnant with motion as infinite activity, so it indicates the principle of natural posture. Functioning like this, the natural posture must necessarily be studied from a mental point of view, and from olden times the ultimate secrets of <em>jujutsu</em> have lain here.</div>
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3. Courtesy</h2>
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Courtesy is the formal manifestation of the spirit of respect. With the spirit of respect we recognize the dignity of another's personality. In other words, it is the spirit of living in harmony with one another in social life. In a Judo contest the contestants should face each other in the proper posture, looking properly at each other and using moderation in their actions. Thus they are in a state of harmony in which they never set each other at defiance, and maintain the dignity of personality. Hence it is taught that exercises in Judo should begin with courtesy and end with courtesy.</div>
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4. Initiative (Sen)</h2>
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In all athletic sports one must, in order to gain the victory, surpass the opponent in mental power, technical skill, and physical strength. These three factors must be united in gaining the mastery over an opponent. The mastery is brought into play in the form of various techniques, and although there are a large number of them, they may be summed up and resolved into one word <em>sen</em> (initiative or lead).</div>
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In the old <em>densho</em> (books of secret principles) the way of taking the initiative is explained in three stages.</div>
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<li style="list-style: none;"><em>Sen-sen-no-sen</em> (superior initiative). Superior initiative is given play in a delicate situation where one confronts an opponent who intends to attack, and gains mastery over him by subtly guessing his mentality and forestalling his actions. This is the highest reach of the mental cultivation in any military art and is regarded as not easily attainable. But if you consider it more deeply, you will find it too late to try to gain command over anything when it has taken a concrete form, and you must have the mental preparedness to hold it down beforehand. For this purpose it is necessary to learn to maintain the openness and serenity of mind as signified by the old expression, "Clear as a stainless mirror and calm as still water." Lao-tse teaches this almost divine state of mind in the following words: "It is the way of heaven to prevail without contention."</li>
<li style="list-style: none;"><em>Sen</em> (initiative). This is to forestall your opponent by starting an action before he begins attack on you.</li>
<li style="list-style: none;"><em>Ato-no-sen</em> (initiative in defense). This is not to guess the mentality of your opponent and check his action before it is done, but to start action in defense the moment you have an inkling of the offensive of your opponent. It is to avoid the opponent's attack the instant it is about to be launched upon you, and to make a counter-attack taking advantage of a pause in your opponent's movement and a disturbance in his posture. A man who takes the initiative in defense rises in opposition to his opponent's attack, and parries or averts it. Seemingly it is a defensive move. In order to stave off the opponent's attack at the last moment and restore one's position one must keep the moral attitude of initiative so as not to get worsted by the adversary.</li>
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The secrets of victory thus lie in taking the initiative, and in getting the start of one's adversary there are included the following factors:</div>
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<li style="list-style: none;">The first is the eyes. From old times it is said that the important things in a bout are "first the eyes, second the feet, third grit, and fourth strength." The eyes are said to be the window for the mind. They are an index to your mind. Where the eyes are fixed, there the mind is concentrated, and naturally the will is attracted.</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">The second in importance is the posture. In a wider sense, it is the bodily attitude. It is a preparatory posture either for attack or for defense. Therefore, unless a proper posture is well maintained, not only is it impossible to take advantage of any opening for attack in the adversary, but you get your posture broken and are given a blow.</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">The third is the movement. Even though you maintain the proper posture or bodily attitude, you cannot attain your object unless your movement and action conform to the rules.</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">The fourth is the space condition. It consists of your distance, direction, and position as against your opponent. It is essential to study the principles of space condition, for from this study you will realize the secret principle of "fighting after getting the better of the opponent first."</li>
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5. Breaking Balance (Kuzushi)</h2>
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<tr><td style="padding: 9px 10px;"><img alt="Kenji Tomiki performing ude garami" src="http://judoinfo.com/images/tomiki2.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; height: 265px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: 195px;" /><small style="font-size: 11.8999996185303px;">Kenji Tomiki performing ude garami</small></td></tr>
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In the preceding section on the principle of natural posture, explanation was given regarding how to make oneself invulnerable to all possible attacks and how victory is gained. In this section on the principle of <em>kuzushi</em> (breaking the posture) it will he shown how it is that one is defeated. For in order to make clear the theory of victory one must at the same time know the theory of defeat. The Kodokan Judo found that the principle of the techniques (either with naked fists, or using a weapon like the sword, spear, club, etc.) of the old-school <em>jujutsu</em>consists in breaking the condition of the body which has lost equilibrium. It is called<em> kuzure-no-jotai </em>(state of broken balance). Sometimes the opponent himself loses the balance, and at other times you positively destroy the opponent's balance, leading him to a vulnerable posture. In Judo each technique is analyzed into<em> tsukuri</em> (preparatory action) and<em> kake</em> (attack). Preparatory action is further divided into<em> aite-no-tsukuri</em> (preparing of the opponent) and <em>jibun-no-tsukuri</em> (preparing of self). Preparing of the opponent consists in destroying the opponent's balance before performing a technique and putting him in a posture where it will be easy to apply it. At the same instant the contestant himself must be in a posture and position in which it is easy to apply a technique. This is the preparing of self.</div>
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The nicety of judo techniques lies not in the action of performing techniques, but rather in the skill with which the preparing is done as a preliminary. It was the clear-sighted and original idea of the founder of the Kodokan Judo that analyzed the technique which is applied in an instant, and attached importance to the study and practice of preparatory action. In the case of the preparing of the opponent, the theory and practice of the principle of breaking the balance must be studied, while as regards preparing of self it is necessary to study the natural posture and also the theory and practice of <em>ma-ai</em> (space condition).</div>
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6. Stability</h2>
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The center of gravity of a standing man's body is nearly in the hypogastric region. When the perpendicular line drawn from the center of gravity passes through the fulcrum or the middle of the base formed by the two feet, the posture of the man is stabilized.</div>
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A man is ready to fall when his body swings forward and backward or from side to side, and the perpendicular line drawn from the center of gravity departs from the fulcrum. However, when a living person's body loses its balance, he tries to regain it. Though the center of gravity wavers, he is able to maintain his erect posture. In case the center of gravity of a standing person wavers sharply and he is unable to maintain stability he supports his body by putting his foot forward in the direction in which the center of gravity tends. In short, the posture of a standing man appears unstable at first sight, but the equilibrium is cleverly kept by taking steps properly. If some external force acts upon the man the moment he loses balance, he falls at once, as is described below</div>
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<li style="list-style: none;">The body falls easily, when something impedes the foot which is set in the direction in which the center of gravity tends, e. g., when the foot put out stumbles on a pebble.</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">When the equilibrium of the body is lost, the time when the center of gravity is lost is shorter than the time required for the peripheral sensory organ to communicate the loss of the body equilibrium to the nerve center and the latter to order the foot muscles through the foot nerve to put the foot forward; for instance, when the body inclines forward and falls forward because a sudden force is applied from the back, giving the person no time to put the foot forward.</li>
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7. Principle of Gentleness (Ju-no-ri)</h2>
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In the previous sections it was asserted that we are never defeated if we keep our proper posture and presence of mind, and in carrying on movements and actions we use the body in a natural and reasonable manner. It was also shown how easily we are defeated when the balance of the body is lost. Next we must learn how these two principles should be put into practice in the judo contest, namely how to deal with the opponent's power when applied upon us, and to gain the final victory. The rules of this activity are called <em>ju-no-ri,</em> or the principle of gentleness.</div>
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a. The Principle of Gentleness as Viewed from the Relation of Force</h4>
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When meeting an opponent, there are various ways that the principle of gentleness can be applied against the force that is used upon us. The bout may be performed in a standing position or sometimes in a lying posture. There are also various kinds of techniques such as standing position techniques, lying posture techniques, holding techniques, strangle-hold techniques, and the bending and twisting of joints. In order to give the techniques full play in their respective situations it is necessary to apply the principle of gentleness.</div>
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What then is the principle of gentleness? In the standing position techniques the contestant does not act against the force applied by the opponent, but, while following it, he makes use of the force and tries to break the opponent's posture. For instance, when you and your opponent confront each other at some interval, and he takes a step forward and pushes your chest with his hand, you too take a step backward instead of acting against him, and you will not feel the resistance of the opponent's force. If at that time your step backward is longer than the opponent's step forward, his balance is broken forward by his own force, and you can throw him down forward by pulling the arm which he thrust forward. If, again, the opponent pulls your front lapel, then you can throw him down in the same way by moving forward following the pull. In short, the principle is to pull in response to the opponent's push and to push in response to his pull. In other words, while yielding to the force of the opponent's action upon you, you break his balance by striking at the weak point in his posture. In this case it will be more effective to dodge the opponent's push and pull him by seizing that opportunity than to retreat in the direction of your opponent's push and pull him. The direction of the opponent's movement shifts around you and the opponent not only has to make more movement than you, but he is apt to lose his balance partly owing to the action of centrifugal force. The saying goes among judo experts, “ Move round in response to push." While following your opponent's action, you must always make your movement so as to lead your opponent around you and destroy the balance of his posture.</div>
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This principle of gentleness means in a wide sense action to maintain your initiative against the resistance and obstruction arising from the surroundings. The manners of taking your posture, taking your steps and moving your body as taught according to the principle of natural posture indicates that the action against all resistance should follow the principle of gentleness. In regard to the case where your body loses its balance and you fall at last, breaking falls are devised as a means to protect your own body from the impact on the ground. This is also an application of the principle of gentleness. As was explained elsewhere in detail, when your own body is about to fall you should round yourself up and fall instead of resisting the impetus, while you use your arms to protect the body from the impact on the ground. In short, you avert the resistance of the ground while yielding cleverly to the terrestrial gravitation (which acts on you before you come under the opponent's force), and thus endeavor to exercise the initiative.</div>
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b. The Principle of Gentleness as Viewed from the Relation of Movement</h4>
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In the foregoing passage explanation was given concerning the relations of the force between oneself and the opponent. It must further be given from the relation of movement. In a bout your opponent develops a feverish bodily activity; so it does not turn out as you want it to. For instance, it would be difficult for you to deliver a blow on your opponent's face, forearm, or side, or to sweep his foot or waist, because the opponent does not stand still a moment, either. Still more difficult is it to grasp the opponent's wrist or arm. An old book of secrets in martial arts mentions the three following opportunities to land a blow on the opponent:</div>
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<li style="list-style: none;">Giving a blow at the beginning.</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">Giving a blow at the finish.</li>
<li style="list-style: none;">Giving a blow on the receipt.</li>
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"Giving a blow at the beginning" is effected when the opponent is beginning an action in which he shifts from a stationary state. Close observation reveals that a man's movement is a succession of rest and motion, resting followed by motion and motion by rest. You land a blow on the opponent at the turn of his action. For instance, when the opponent strikes with his fist, he must first raise it. The moment he begins to raise his fist and the moment he begins to deal a blow with his raised fist are called the "beginning." In "giving a blow at the finish," "finish" means the moment the opponent has dealt a blow with raised fist and forearm fully stretched. "Giving a blow on the receipt" is effected when the opponent has received the blow you gave him and, intent only on parrying it, has ceased all other action.</div>
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In all these cases you avail yourself of the pause at the change of one action to another. By taking advantage of the three above-mentioned cases you give a blow, grasp, or parry. But as a matter of fact, you must be more careful. The pause at the turn of one action to another means the instant the opponent comes to rest. The instant may perhaps be a minute fraction of a second and so it is difficult to give a blow or a grasp just that instant. When, for instance, you chase a fly or dragonfly, you often fail if you try to catch it the moment it settles on something. You will succeed if you catch it by adjusting the motion of your hand to the speed and direction of the insect before it alights. Thus one realizes that in order to seize the three opportunities giving a blow successfully, it is necessary to have practice in adjusting the rhythm of your action to that of the opponent's motion. One cannot understand the principle of gentleness unless one learns this relation of rhythm. As with the way of movement in the natural posture, it is possible to adjust the rhythm of the motion of your body to that of the motion of the opponent's body. It is only when the rhythm of the body movement is thus in accord that you can make the rhythm of your foot and hand movements in accord with that of your opponent and seize the opportunity of applying various techniques.</div>
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The application of the principle of gentleness is well manifested in the techniques and five <em>kata</em> (forms) of the (<em>ito</em> school of<em>jujutsu</em> which are preserved as the <em>koshiki-no-kata</em> (forms antique) of the Kodokan Judo. The application of force and the movement of the body are effected quite naturally without causing any strain, and enable the contestant to bring the opponent under control without acting against his force. The movement makes a magnificent and beautiful rhythm. From olden times the principle of gentleness has been symbolized by a willow branch or a bamboo, which is pliant and not easily broken. It was also likened to the movement of billows rolling in and receding on the beach. Many of the old schools of <em>jujutsu</em>took their names from these symbols. The term <em>aiki</em> as used in the <em>aikijujutsu</em> or <em>aikido</em> signifies after all "gentleness." The Orientals sought the source of all human actions in <em>ki</em> (spirit). Force is derived from spirit, and movement of the body is effected by spirit. So they held it of primary importance to foster spirit. Mencius says: "Will leads spirit; spirit permeates the body." Issai-Chozan, ancient swordsman, writes, "Spirit carries the mind and controls the body." To adjust one's own spirit to the opponent's is to adjust one's own power to the opponent's, and this is an internal explanation of the principle of gentleness.</div>
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<tr><td style="padding: 9px 10px;"><img alt="Kenji Tomiki" src="http://judoinfo.com/images/tomiki.jpg" style="border: 0px; height: 169px; margin: 10px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: 147px;" /><small style="font-size: 11.8999996185303px;">Kenji Tomiki, author of "Judo, with Aikido", published in 1956</small></td></tr>
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<em>Jujutsu</em> (art of gentleness) was also formerly called <em>wa-jutsu</em> (art of accord). This shows that <em>ju</em>(gentleness) has also the meaning of <em>wa</em> (accord). In the <em>Ryuko-no-maki</em> (lit. Book of Dragon and Tiger) which is regarded as one of the oldest volumes expounding the secrets of the martial arts, there is a passage, "If the enemy turns upon us we meet him; if he leaves we let him leave. Facing the enemy, we stand in accord with him. Five and five are ten. Two and eight are ten. One and nine are ten. All this shows accord."</div>
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<em>Wa</em>, or accord, is the fundamental principle of the Japanese martial arts. Expressed in modern terms and made easy of practice to anyone, it became the principle of gentleness. The principle of gentleness teaches that one should go, not against, but with, the the opponent's force, and yet maintain one's proper position so as not lose one's balance. This corresponds to the spirit set forth in Confucius' remark in his Analects, "The superior man is compliant but not blindly yielding." <em>Jujutsu</em>originated as a method of fighting between men. But through practice by experts for many years it has been refined as an art, with its principles more and more closely studied and invested with moral significance, until it has developed into Judo as we learn and practice it today. Judo is neither a mere manifestation of violence nor a means of fighting, but can be studied and followed as a doctrine of life.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-51655558884133810782015-01-28T23:20:00.001-08:002015-01-28T23:20:32.941-08:00The True Meaning of Aiki in Aikido and Aikijujutsu, Part 2I am posting Part 2 of an article that has been running in BB magazine online. Read to the bottom then go to<br />
Part 1.<br />
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http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/aikijujutsu/the-true-meaning-of-aiki-in-aikido-and-aikijujutsu-part-2<br />
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The True Meaning of Aiki in Aikido and Aikijujutsu, Part 2</div>
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Posted By <u>Robert W. Young</u> On January 26, 2015 @ 5:50 pm In <u>Aikijujutsu</u> | <u><a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/aikijujutsu/the-true-meaning-of-aiki-in-aikido-and-aikijujutsu-part-2/print/#comments_controls">No Comments</a></u></div>
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When comparing <em><a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/aikido/daito-ryu-aikijujutsu-vs-aikido/" rel="external">aikijujutsu</a> <sup>[1]</sup></em> and <em><a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/aikido/aikido-moves-for-hand-to-hand-combat-against-knife-attacks/" rel="external">aikido</a> <sup>[2]</sup>,</em> some generalization is necessary because several styles of aikido and branches of <em>daito-ryu</em> aikijujutsu exist.<br />
Although the technical influence of daito-ryu on aikido is still clear, according to Antonino Certa, a daito-ryu teacher in Milan, Italy, the two are now separate arts with different outlooks. Certa, a longtime student of aikido prior to taking up daito-ryu, stresses that genuine aikijujutsu is not simply “hard aikido” or “aikido plus strikes and weapons.”<br />
For one thing, Certa found that the number of techniques in aikido is far fewer than in daito-ryu. Morihei Ueshiba distilled a core of about 20 main techniques — including <em>shiho-nage, irimi-nage, kote-gaeshi, ikkyo</em> and <em>nikyo</em>— as the basis for aikido. United Kingdom-based aikido instructor Dave Humm agrees but points out that <em>aikidoka</em> can use those core techniques to generate an infinite number of variations based on circumstances, situations and methods of attack. The ethos, he says, is to be able to make any one of those applications fit any given situation.<br />
In daito-ryu, however, the approach is very different. The techniques number several hundred, and each is performed only in a small number of situations for which it’s deemed most suitable — for instance, when kneeling, when standing, when attacked from behind, when attacked by a taller person and so forth. No attempt is made to fit a technique to all situations.<br />
<a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/aikijujutsu/the-true-meaning-of-aiki-in-aikido-and-aikijujutsu-part-2/attachment/aikido-aikijujutsu-2-476/" rel="external"><img alt="Sogaku Takeda’s son and successor Tokimune Takeda" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-28817" height="300" src="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/wp-content/uploads/aikido-aikijujutsu-2-476.jpg" title="aikido-aikijujutsu-2-476" width="476" /></a> <sup>[3]</sup><br />
<em>Sogaku Takeda’s son and successor, Tokimune Takeda, sits with students in their dojo in Hokkaido, Japan.</em><br />
Certa found that aikido practice is generally conducted in a more “free” way than aikijujutsu, with a continuous flow and the use of circles to bind movements and applications together. In contrast, daito-ryu uses mostly formal, two-person <em>kata</em> practice. The techniques are short and direct, and tend to be more linear and angular than circular.<br />
Daito-ryu also tends to favor throwing with a dropping motion, rather than an outward projection as in aikido. The objective in daito-ryu is to keep the <a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/freeguides/three-judo-throws-at-the-foundation-of-judo-training-an-introduction-to-self-defense-techniques/" rel="external">thrown</a> <sup>[4]</sup> enemy close so he can be finished off, if need be. Also, where aikido often favors controlling <em>(osae)</em> the opponent without causing excessive pain or injury, daito-ryu leans toward breaking <em>(kansetsu).</em><br />
<strong>Relative Lethality</strong><br />
Another important point is that daito-ryu doesn’t claim to be a purely defensive system: There are several formal techniques in which one makes a pre-emptive attack rather than waiting for the enemy to strike first.<br />
Although much of aikido seems to be practiced as a defensive form, Humm believes that it can be employed proactively in real situations simply by changing the mind-set. His experience as a prison officer serving in high-security establishments has shown that while the application looks nothing like the techniques in the dojo, the principles behind the techniques (distancing, blending and unbalancing) are definitely valid and have served him well when he’s had to initiate encounters.<br />
The martial and often brutal spirit of daito-ryu is illustrated by the explanations of Takeda’s son and successor Tokimune Takeda. In an interview in <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Daito-ryu-Aijujutsu-Stanley-Pranin/dp/4900586188/" rel="external">Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu</a> <sup>[5]</sup>,</em> by Stanley Pranin, Tokimune states, “The essence of daito-ryu is to keep alert until you have cut the enemy’s throat.” In modern times, health and safety regulations and the hassle of lawsuits make it a little impractical to actually cut the throats of partners in training. Therefore, the essence of the final kill has been preserved in a symbolic way: The practitioner delivers a sword-hand strike to the downed opponent, accompanying it with a sharp <em>kiai.</em><br />
Daito-ryu features more use of <em>atemi waza</em> (<a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/category/strikes/" rel="external">striking</a> <sup>[6]</sup> techniques) than do most aikido styles. In the early days, aikido training did include a large amount of striking — Ueshiba is famously quoted as saying, “Atemi is 99 percent of aikido” — but this seems to have been de-emphasized in many styles as the years progressed. The atemi in daito-ryu use the fist, the edge of the hand, the elbow and the feet, and are crucial parts of many techniques.<br />
There’s also a difference in the use of weapons. Some daito-ryu branches incorporate the classical sword style of <em>ono-ha itto-ryu</em> and consider <em><a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/tag/kenjutsu/" rel="external">kenjutsu</a> <sup>[7]</sup></em> important for understanding the daito-ryu system. In addition to the sword, some techniques involving the <em>tessen</em> (iron fan), <em>jutte</em> (truncheon), <em><a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/martial-arts-videos/weapons-videos/samurai-weapons-video-james-williams-shows-you-the-basics-of-handling-japanese-samurai-swords/" rel="external">tanto</a> <sup>[8]</sup></em> (knife), <em><a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/ninjutsu/ninja-history-101-ninjutsu-weapons/" rel="external">shuriken</a> <sup>[9]</sup></em> (throwing stars) and other weapons are taught at the higher levels in some branches. A few substyles of daito-ryu are alleged to contain aiki <em>nito</em> (two-sword) and spear techniques, but they’re rarely seen today. Aikido, on the other hand, is largely an unarmed art, although some styles, notably the <em>iwama</em> style, do include some<a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/kendo/samurai-facts-vs-samurai-myths-and-legends-finding-the-best-sword/" rel="external">sword</a> <sup>[10]</sup> and <em><a href="http://store.blackbeltmag.com/p/Books/jo-art-of-the-japanese-short-staff-book/4605.html" rel="external">jo</a> <sup>[11]</sup></em> (staff) training.<br />
The advanced teachings of daito-ryu also include <em>aiki no jutsu,</em> which are throwing techniques that appear to have been one of Ueshiba’s specialties, forming the basis for the <em>kokyu nage</em> (breath throw) of aikido.<br />
Certa regards aiki as an important part of daito-ryu but eschews the kind of fantastical interpretations described earlier. In the above-mentioned interview, Tokimune Takeda remarked that, “Aiki is to pull when you are pushed, and to push when you are pulled.” Certa met and studied under Tokimune prior to the latter’s death in 1993 and seems to share this pragmatic view. In his opinion, aiki is but one of the tactics a skilled fighter can use. At a mechanical level, it’s a particular way of meeting force that differs from simply opposing or yielding. He offers this illustration: The opponent attacks and projects his force against the defender, who momentarily resists. That makes the attacker react in the opposite direction, and the defender yields in that new direction using the force of both people to execute a throw.<br />
Rather than being a secret “no contact” power, it’s an application of physics, physiology and psychology.<br />
<strong>Conclusions</strong><br />
Daito-ryu aikijujutsu and aikido are very different arts, despite their technical and historical links. Neither can be called better than the other, as they have quite different objectives. It would be wrong to assume that aikijujutsu practitioners are automatically better at fighting.<br />
A good way to summarize things is to say that aikido is a modern philosophy and way of life that can also be an effective defense system, while aikijujutsu is a classical combat system that can also lead to self-improvement.<br />
As for the exact meaning of aiki, it has proved difficult to pin down with a single definition. In fact, interpretations vary enormously from art to art and even from teacher to teacher. But returning to the question posed at the beginning of this article — namely, What’s so aiki about peace, love and understanding? — the true answer must be: Originally, nothing!<br />
<em><a href="http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/traditional-martial-arts-training/aikijujutsu/the-true-meaning-of-aiki-in-aikido-and-aikijujutsu-part-1/" rel="external">Read Part 1 of this article here.</a> <sup>[12]</sup></em><br />
<strong>About the author:</strong> Dr. Nick Hallale has practiced the Chinese and Japanese martial arts since 1988. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and taught for several years at the University of Manchester in England. He has written freelance articles about the martial arts for the past 10 years. The author is grateful to Antonino Certa and Giacomo Merello of Milan, Italy, for providing much of the technical information about daito-ryu. He also wishes to thank Dave Humm of the Higashi Kaigan Aikido Dojo in England.<br />
<em>(Photos courtesy of Antonino Certa)</em></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-10203550806845368232014-09-16T05:24:00.000-07:002014-09-16T05:24:04.252-07:00Get Motivated!We change as we get older. Our bodies tend to ache at times, we gain weight often and even our minds tend to lose a step or two in regards to memory. Does it have to be this way?<br />
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Not according to this guy!</div>
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Sure we will change with age but can we reverse the aging process? I am working on that problem as are many more folks like me. Once I approached 50, I started thinking in terms of what my life would be like for the next 20 or 30 years, if I'm blessed to live that long. I decided I wanted to make the best of it and I started training in Aikido, then Combat Hapkido. My job is also very physical so I had to get into much better condition just to keep up with all I had going. Not to mention the fact that I have seen too many people eat themselves into oblivion in these later years and become so out of shape that they can't even walk up a small flight of steps without needing oxygen. I knew I did not want to be like that.<br />
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My workouts were OK for a few years then I stepped it up. With the help of a personal trainer I learned new techniques to help me reach some goals. Now, with a body-weight workout of my own design, I am reaching goals and going beyond!<br />
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You can too! As I have said many times all you need to do is get your mind right. Once you find the proper motivation it is ON! I still remember one evening several years ago I was having a cold beer with a friend and I told him when I reached 50 I wanted to be in the best shape of my life. His response? He laughed...<br />
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Now, at 53 I can honestly say I am in the best shape of my life and intend to keep pushing until I see just how fit I can be.<br />
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What's your motivation?<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-36719413253671246692014-09-13T09:13:00.002-07:002014-09-13T09:13:42.791-07:00The mystery of "Aikido & Hapkido"<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many people have never heard of Aikido. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Even some in the martial arts world who have heard of it do not know or understand how it works. At the dojo last night we were talking with a student who is about to earn her 2nd Kyu and she told us when she decided to learn Aikido, she did not really understand the art even though she had read about the blending with energy from your attacker. She of course had no idea of the many drills for hand and foot movements that we do over and over again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those of you who are unfamiliar Aikdo is a Japanese art founded by Morihei Ueshiba, December 14, 1883 - April 26, 1969. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The founder also known as "O'Sensei", (pictured above) was a man of small stature, it is said he was just under 5 feet tall but was of a strong muscular build after he left the Japanese army. He understood that smaller people needed something extra when confronted by larger and stronger attackers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>In my humble opinion, this is the essence of Aikido. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My Sensei has taught me that I do not need to use my strength when applying these techniques, especially the joint locks. I am one who has built my upper body for many years to be stronger and capable of using my strength to my advantage, so I have had to train myself <b>NOT</b> to be strong when using these techniques. It is still a struggle at times for me but I am moving in that direction. In fact, this concept of applying Aikido techniques softly is probably the hardest part of my training. Now don't misunderstand, Aikido can be used very forcefully! When it is applied this way it is no less than devastating. Bones will be broken and opponents can be maimed. No doubt Aikido can be very dangerous when applied with violence of action. Yet we are trained to be able to control our use of force and treat our training partners and even our opponents with respect and not injure them if the situation calls for that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now let's move on to Hapkido which is a Korean martial art developed by Choi Yong-Sool, it is said the Hapkido was heavily influenced by "Daito ryu aiki jujutsu" as was Aikido. Much like Aikido, Hapkido has many joint locks, throws and pins. Yet it is different in that there are many more strikes and even kicks which are not taught in Aikido. That leads me to Combat Hapkido. This system is heavliy influenced by the Korean form of Hapkido but is not a traditional martial art.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My training in Combat Hapkido has also been useful in applying this concept as we learn to use our entire body to manipulate our attacker with many techniques to injure, control or throw our attackers. Combat Hapkido is a blending if you will of many arts, including Korean Hapkido, Aikido, Judo, JuJutsu/JuJitsu, Taekwondo, Jeet Kune Do and others. Grand Master John Pellegrini, (pictured above) took what he felt was useful from each art and combined it all to make a form of Close Combat Self Defense. He calls it the Science of Self-Defense. I am trained to use it at 10%, 50% or 100% depending on what technique I am doing and what the situation calls for. Always remember there are legal and moral ramifications to an encounter. You must be wise when defending yourself or wind up in court. Of course if your life is in danger you have to do what it takes to survive and Combat Hapkido will teach you those lethal skills. So it is obvious that this is an art that when applied with full violence of action is devastating and can maim or kill an attacker.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet I digress.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My original intent here is to explain the kido arts in a way to make it more approachable and understandable to those who have never experienced it. There are universal principles involved that span many martial arts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Balance Disruption</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Circular Movement</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Non Resistance (Harmony)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Water Principle</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are critical! In order to take control of an attacker you must gain control of his/her balance. Once you have this you can manipulate the opportunity, often by using circular movement. If you use the energy coming at you and do not resist it, it makes taking the balance easier. You see, all principles at play here, working together in harmony to allow you to gain control over your attacker and find a suitable outcome. As you work, you flow in, around, over and under, like water. How it ends is up to you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now before I conclude this essay let me explain the OODA loop!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Observe, Orient, Decide and Act!</b> I must explain that I was taught this by Master Doyle a 4th Dan in Combat Hapkido who is a Special Forces Veteran. This is a simple decision cycle our minds use every moment as we live. When it comes to martial arts these are critical seconds that tick by as we determine how dangerous the situation is (Situational Awareness) and decide how to respond. Here's what I found online:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">he phrase </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">OODA loop</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> refers to the decision cycle of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">observe, orient, decide, and act</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, developed by </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_strategy" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Military strategy">military strategist</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="United States Air Force">USAF</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Colonel </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_(military_strategist)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="John Boyd (military strategist)">John Boyd</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">. Boyd applied the concept to the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_operations_process" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Combat operations process">combat operations process</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, often at the </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Strategic">strategic</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> level in military operations. It is now also often applied to understand commercial operations and learning processes.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Be Safe!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Peace</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">JD</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10171304.post-13232929995618971792014-09-12T05:29:00.003-07:002014-09-12T05:29:46.625-07:00FYI ~ Focusing on Martial Arts this month.<div style="text-align: center;">
Just a brief note to say I have a new post coming soon getting into detail about Aikido and Hapkido. Also explaining the OODA LOOP! This one is taking me a while to write and I have limited time these days.</div>
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Until then continue to practice Situational Awareness and be safe!</div>
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Don't forget if you want to look like this! </div>
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You have to stop eating this!</div>
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Peace</div>
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JD</div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">Prepared,
Educated, Awake, Controlled and Engaged</span></span></em></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03953231574835549435noreply@blogger.com0