First they came for the verbs, and I said nothing because verbing weirds language. Then they arrival for the nouns, and I speech nothing because I no verbs.
Peter Ellis, via Chris Goodwin
November 2003 Archives
[The political class] should be stuffed back into the chickens that shat them and then the chickens should be fed to minks.
Ward Griffiths
If the cultivation of undestanding consists in one thing more than in another, it is surely in learning the grounds of one's own opinions.
John Stuart Mill
I just got back from attending Michael Janich's Martial Blade Craft Course Levels 1&2 (MBC) this past weekend (Nov.8/9th). The class itself was hosted by Suarez International and was held at the Angeles Shooting Range just northeast of Los Angeles.
In addition to being an instructor renowned among students of edged weapons, Mr. Janich is also the author of numerous survival/self-defense books and videos published by Paladin Press.
Day/Level 1 started off with the usual (and necessary) mission statement as well as the defining of the overall goals of the classes followed by a short but informative lecture. Soon afterward, we were taught the basics which the rest of the course would build upon i.e. grip, stance, different methods of deploying a folder, Five Angles of Attack, Zones of Defense, and Defensive Responses. Afterward, we pretty much spent the rest of the day drilling on the various aspects of attack and defensive responses. We were also introduced to various drills taken from the Filipino Arts e.g. Largo Mano Flow Drill, Six-Count Flow Drill etc. in order to sharpen our technique, teach us to chain our responses and help develop an appreciation for the ability to perceive an attack and responding in a smooth and instantaneous fashion. In between all this, we were given a lecture on things to look for when choosing a folder and the numerous pros and cons of the various carry locations/positions. Later in the day, we were also given a demo on lethality and effectiveness of the fighting knife against flesh and blood targets as Mike slashed and ripped away at a pork roast (tied around a wooden dowel and wrapped in saran which was in turn sheathed by layers of denim) which was meant to simulate a human limb. The results were quite grisly but impressive.
Day/Level Two began with a brief review of Day/Level One before proceeding onto more advanced concepts/drills such as retraction cutting, Crossadas, Sumbradas, varying your range, etc. In between these comprehensive drills we were taught and given the time to practice both targetting and application for all the techniques we had spent the better part of a day and a half practicing. Towards the end of Day Two, we were also shown how the concepts and techniques that we were taught could also be applied to other contact weapons (canes, sticks, chains, belts) or in some cases, empty handed fighting.
Overall, I found the two day course to be a very gratifying experience. Mr. Janich is a top notch instructor who is not only intimately familiar with the subjects at hand but he also able to present the subjects in such a way that was easily understood and the fact that he had a sense of humor sure didn't detract from the experience.
As for the curriculum itself, I found it to be quite practical and thought provoking. The techniques taught were easy to learn and more importantly easy to apply in a real world situation. I think one of the best things about the concepts-based system of MBC is that by attaining familiarity with just a few basic concepts plus mastery over a few techniques the student is prepared for the entire spectrum of conflict involving contact weapons (or even empty hands) and this aspect of it should be very attractive to those of us who are seeking a simple, direct and highly adaptable fighting system to add to our Combative Skills Composite.
The Saxon is not like us Normans. His manners are not so polite.
But he never means anything serious till he talks about justice and right,
When he stands like an ox in the furrow with his sullen set eyes on your own,
And grumbles, ‘This isn’t fair dealing,’ my son, leave the Saxon alone.
Rudyard Kipling
Politics is just one branch of Show Biz.
The partially learned conceive of biological evolution as a teleological process producing what we consider "progress". In fact, natural selection is concerned only with what succeeds, not with what human beings find aesthetically pleasing. If there is some statistically significant survival value in being ugly enough to scare maggots off a shitpile, then biological evolution will happily beat all creatures with the ugly stick.
I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a part of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect.
George Carlin
Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I have tested it.
Mark Twain
A recent reader opinion letter author stated that the loss of the Columbia crew has caused him to question the value of human spaceflight and conclude that the space program has, "served its purpose". The letter writer offered several unsupported conclusions about space exploration. The most notable conclusion was that, "Man is not a spaceling".
If I follow the writer's logic correctly, we need to make some major changes in America. Apparently, man is not a suitable "roadling" either. Given that 26,000 people die in automobile accidents every year, we should stop making and driving autos. Fire fighting, law enforcement, football, auto car racing, and aviation also kill people every year. We should also ban those professions. Perhaps we should ban printing and burn books since we run the risk of getting a deadly infection from untreated paper cuts. Perhaps we should just all dig a hole in the ground, crawl in, cover our heads and never come out.
Man (including womankind) is not a timid creature. Fortunately, human beings have an irresistible urge to "push the edge of the envelope" and that includes challenging new frontiers. Like that letter writer, some early European commentators concluded that the newly "discovered" America was too forbidding and inhospitable to justify further exploration and settlement. Moving into space is as natural an act as breathing is for humans.
Most people only believe in the parts of the Bible that look good on bumper stickers.
I laugh when some trainer advertises his class as “for police only,” as if that phrase somehow makes the class more advanced or the topics more "deadly." Rubbish. The state of the art resides in the private sector salles d'armes, the unofficial shooting schools.
