On the cover of the 10-30-09 Livingston County Daily Press and Argus (www.livingstondaily.com) the headline reads Sheriff Warns Of Safety Cuts. Now before I begin this post I want to state that I usually don’t like to focus on negative press or spread information that creates fear. But… This should be a concern for all of us regardless of where you live.
Here are some of the headlines from the article
Budget cuts have reduced the Sheriff’s Department by 20 since 2005
Brighton State Police is down 8 troopers from last year
Longer response times for low priority calls sometimes officer will not come out they will call for more info
In the 2010 budget plan for the Sheriff’s Department there is a potential to lose 6 more employees
Local Police Departments are going outside of their boundaries to help State Police and Sheriff’s Department
Not only do these budget cuts affect the active services we see everyday they also effect on going training that the Law Enforcement Officers need on a regular basis.Training such as Defensive Tactics and Use of Force. I have trained a number of Law Enforcement Officers from many of the local departments and they all say that they need more training but it is not in the Budget.
I know that these statements are true because I have personally contacted a number Police Departments for Defensive Tactics and Use of Force training and I have been told there is not enough money in the budget.
In defense of the many of the Law Enforcement Officers there are some that are going outside of work to personally seek out the training that they need. But there are a higher percentage that do not seek out training personally and have not gotten the appropriate number of hours of training.
So what does this mean to you??? It means that if you are a victim of a violent crime there is a chance that you will not get the help that you need and if help does arrive they may not have the appropriate training to effectively handle the situation. We have all seen an episode of COPS where there are 4 Law Enforcement Officers trying to control 1 guy and he gives them a hard time.
Here is my solution to the above problems, take Self-Defense classes. It does not have to be our classes at Synergy Martial Arts but take something. We have a number of classes that are on going and who knows you might be surprised to see someone from your local Law Enforcement Agency in class with you.
This is a video that we shot about 1 year ago on request from another Instructor. This is material that I have taught to Law Enforcement, Corrections and Border Patrol Officers. It could be used by anyone who needs to detain a person. You will notice that it looks pretty chaotic and that is because when people are resisting arrest they don’t come along peacefully…lol
Special thanks to Synergy Martial Arts Apprentice Instructor Jef Lopes for being the demo victim in the video.
Over the last 6 weeks I have been performing a Conditioning Program that I talked about in my post Kettlebells, Martial Arts and Yoga Conditioning.
Here is what I have noticed I have gained 2 lbs I began this consistently weighing 164 I weigh in @ 166 pretty consistently now. My flexibility has improved as I am deeper in my Active Range of Motion Stretches and in my Yoga Asanas.
I am now swinging for 10 with my 44 lb bell minutes with a minimum of 20 swings, when I began I was swinging for 9 mins and did 20 handed swings in the initially then as I became more fatigued I would swing 2 handed for 10 reps.
On my Clean & Press & Chin days I am now doing 4×5 with my 44# bell for my ladders I began doing 3X5 ladders.
Last night I did the 7-8pm Boot Camp Class with my students and what I noticed that was a really cool result doing kicks on my bag during the active recovery phase of my swings is that when we were doing 1:30 min kick rounds with a partner the more tired I got the more I relaxed. This is because when I am kicking during my active recovery it is time to relax and control my breathing. I found this to be a really cool “side effect” of the active recovery training.
I have just started a new conditioning program that I will post soon.
Today a student of mine Kent Nelson (www.tkentnelson.com) and I were talking about a conversation that he was having with one of his students. This student is an experienced Martial Artist and started training with Kent about 2 weeks ago. The student was saying how the lead hook that they did worked for them and they felt very uncomfortable with the lead hook that Kent was teaching.
Kent replied “The way that you are doing the hook works for you but it would not work for everyone. You want to become an Instructor and that is the difference between a student and an Instructor. As an Instructor you need to find material that works for a large percentage of the population.”
I thought that this was a very good point. Over the years I have met Martial Artists that are teaching that have not gone through an Instructor program. They have trained for a couple of years and have gotten comfortable with the techniques and start to teach them to people without the thought if the way that they perform the techniques/training methods will work for a large percentage of the population.
This is very common with people who are Martial Athletes meaning they either participate in Tournaments or Ring/Octagon Sports. They find a series of techniques that work well for them and start to teach it, some of their students (most likely the students that are very athletic) get it and a large percentage don’t. They blame it on the student and don’t want to accept the fact that very often it’s not the student’s fault it is their own.
All 3 of my Instructors Guro Dan Inosanto (www.inosanto.com) Sifu Dave Hatch (www.attributivemartialarts.com) and Sifu Paul Vunak (www.fighting.net) have arranged their curriculums to meet the needs of a large percentage of the population. All of their curriculums are very different but they still have the desire to teach the average person.
At Synergy Martial Arts we have the philosophy that we want to help the student that is on the bottom end of the food chain be the best Martial Artist they can be. The reason for this is that if the person who is an “average” Martial Artist has solid fundamentals they will be able to challenge the above average Martial Artist and make them better.
It is a cycle that I have found to be true as an Instructor as my students get better I improve not only as an Instructor but as a Martial Artist as well. Our new students push me as much if not more sometimes than our advanced students. The reason for this is because if a new student is not comprehending the material the way that I am attempting to communicate it then it makes me reevaluate the how I am communicating it. I then attempt to explain it in a manner that reaches the student. Often allowing me to see the material from a new perspective.
I hope that this brief explanation will help you to evaluate how your Instructor is teaching you and if you do teach are you really teaching your students or are you merely instructing them on your own personal learning style and athletic abilities.
As I was doing my daily Youtube searching I found this clip by JKD/Kali Instructor Burton Richardson (www.jkdunlimited.com) showing how to make the snake disarm work. What I found interesting is that he really follows what I have heard Guro Dan Inosanto say that you have to hit in order to disarm the the stick.
I am not a student of Burton but I have followed his work for years and have watched him evolve as a Martial Artist. From his early work with Guro Dan to his training with the Dog Brothers and Straight Blast Gym Burton has always impressed me with not only his techinical ability but his attention to detail and application.
One other quick thing I would like to mention as well. I think that Burton does a fantastic job blending what most people would consider a “grappling” position like the deep over hook with stick work that really makes sense.
Check out the video make sure you watch the whole thing because you will see him do it in live sparring.
This is the last week of our promo Free Classes @ Hamburg Fitness Center (hamburgfitness.net). Here are the class times and descriptions of each. Take a look to see which class works for you!!!
Also there are some very exciting things in the works for Synergy Martial Arts & our students be sure to check back often for updates. (Can’t tell you what they are yet or we would have to kill you… lol)
Synergy Martial Arts Schedule
All times are for Mondays and Wednesday unless specified
5pm: Kaizen Young Adult Self-Defense
Kaizen in Japanese means continuous and incremental improvement.
The Kaizen young adult self-defense program is for students 12-18 years old. In this program students build self-confidence, learn to become a leader and participate in exercises that promote team work. These skills combined with learning Self-Defense methods will enable the student to stand up for themselves when needed.
6pm: KISS Women’s Self-Defense
The KISS program is designed to teach women simple self defense concepts that are easy to learn, easy to remember and very effective. Our program does not teach women to be combative with her assailant. Instead the emphasis is placed on safely escaping the conflict in the shortest time possible.
7pm: Adult Self-Defense Boot Camp
This Co-Ed Self-Defense program has been taught to Law Enforcement Officers, Corrections Officers, Border Patrol Agents and Military Personnel. It combines Self-Defense methods from Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, Mixed Martial Arts and bodyweight exercises to ensure that you can kick butt while the work out kicks your butt. No prior experience in Martial Arts or Self-Defense required. This program is tailored to meet you at your level and help you improve from there
The purpose of this post is to give you an overview of our Martial Arts School.
Synergy Martial Arts was founded in 2005 by Shawn Kitzman. In the beginning Shawn’s goal was to teach Martial Arts with a heavy emphasis in Self-Defense. Classes were held in Shawn’s front yard and the material that was covered included JKD, the RAT system, Filipino Martial Arts and Muay Thai.
Our intial target market was pretty much whoever wanted to come and train. Over the years we have narrowed it down to 3 different markets. Young Adults (ages 12-18), women who are interested in Self-Defense, and adults who are interested in getting in better condition while learning Self-Defense. Here are brief descriptions of each of our programs.
Kaizen Young Adult Self-Defense: Kaizen in Japanese means continuous and incremental improvement.The Kaizen young adult self-defense program is for students 12-18 years old. In this program students build self-confidence, learn to become a leader and participate in exercises that promote team work. These skills combined with learning Self-Defense methods will enable the student to stand up for themselves when needed.
KISS Women’s Self-Defense: The Keep It Simple Self-Defense (KISS) program is designed to teach women simple self defense concepts that are easy to learn, easy to remember and very effective. Our program does not teach women to be combative with her assailant. Instead the emphasis is placed on safely escaping the conflict in the shortest time possible.
Adult Self-Defense Boot Camp: This Co-Ed Self-Defense program has been taught to Law Enforcement Officers, Corrections Officers, Border Patrol Agents and Military Personnel. It combines Self-Defense methods from Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, Mixed Martial Arts and bodyweight exercises to ensure that you can kick butt while the work out kicks your butt. No prior experience in Martial Arts or Self-Defense required. This program is tailored to meet you at your level and help you improve from there.
Classes are held at the Hamburg Fitness Center (www.hamburgfitness.net) check our schedule for days and times. Also be sure to check out our About US page to see the our Instructors and their achievements!!!
Thanks for stopping by and we look forward to seeing you soon.
In this video Sifu Rick Faye (www.mnkali.com) demonstrates striking to the lower body. In our Self-Defense classes we teach lower body striking because it is usually something that most people do not expect. Striking with the knee to the leg or groin is a great technique to momentarily distract your attacker so that you can escape. With these techniques we are not expecting to knock the attacker out just hurt him enough so that we can get away.
We drill these strikes out of wrist pummel, bicep pummel, 50/50 pummel and the clinch. As the skill level of the student goes up we then use these strikes to transitions to throws,tackles and take downs.
If you have not already put these strikes in your clinch/pummel game it will increase your spatial awareness and understanding of how why we feel that this range can be highly effective for self-defense.
This morning @ my Business Networking International (BNI) group (www.brightonb2b.com) I was talking to my friend Jason Chall and he was interested in having his wife attend our KISS Women’s Self-Defense classes due to the fact that she attends Eastern Michigan University (EMU). While EMU is a great school, the area around the campus is pretty rough and he is concerned for his wifes safety.
He told me a story about a woman who was almost car jacked while getting into her car. The attacker was in the back seat of her car before she got in. When she got in her car she realized that there was a guy in her back seat she punched him in the face and got out of her car and fled the scene.
I am not sure if she had any Self-Defense training prior or if she just reacted in the appropriate manner out of instinct but here are some tips to make sure that this does not happen to you or a loved one.
Know your surroundings act in an appropriate awareness level.
If you are going to be parked in an area for an extended period of time park near a light/lamp post.
If there are a high level of auto break ins check your car before entering.
If you do happen to be surprised do WHATEVER it takes to get out of the situation!!! Bite, scratch, kick, punch,headbutt.
Attack vital areas Eyes, Throat, Groin and Shin. You want to disable your attacker so that you can escape.
All of the above are things that we cover and much more in our KISS Women’s Self-Defense Program. These simple skills could be the difference between being seriously hurt or escaping safely.
Classes are Monday and Wednesday nights @ 6pm.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions,
One of my very first Martial Arts Seminars was in Sarnia Ontario Canada. The Seminar Instructor was Sifu Rick Faye (www.mnkali.com), I had never heard of Sifu Rick before but my Sifu Dave Hatch (www.attributivemartialarts.com) recommended that I went to it with him.
So early on a Saturday am I got in my car and drove to Sarnia excited & unsure of what I was getting myself into little did I realize what an AWESOME Seminar that this would be. I will tell you more about my experience @ the Seminar in a little while.
In this clip Sifu Rick talks about Reality Based Training Methods, some of his students experince and Boxing Focus Mitt Combos.
At the SeminarI found Sifu Rick to be a very relaxed natural presentor and Instructor. He was very approachable, knowledgable and geniunely cared that we learned the material that he presented and best of all he has a GREAT sense of humor.
While I am not a student or affiliated with Sifu Rick or The Minnesota Kali Group I have the utmost respect for him and his students. I have his Panatukan vol 1 & 2 on DVD which I highly recommend.
If you have a chance to attend a Seminar that is held by Sifu Rick run don’t walk you will not be disappointed!
Posted by synergymartialarts 
Posted by synergymartialarts 
Posted by synergymartialarts 
