Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 06:53:06 -0700 From: eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net Subject: Eskrima digest, Vol 11 #254 - 5 msgs X-Mailer: Mailman v2.0.13.cisto1 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Errors-To: eskrima-admin@martialartsresource.net X-BeenThere: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13.cisto1 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Subscribed-Address: fma@martialartsresource.com List-Id: Eskrima-FMA discussion forum, the premier FMA forum on the Internet. 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See the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) FAQ and the online search engine for back issues of the Eskrima/FMA digest at http://MartialArtsResource.com Mabuhay ang eskrima! Today's Topics: 1. Gladiator vs. Troy (Bill McGrath) 2. 2 X 2 Knife Sparing (Bill McGrath) 3. RE: Heavy Hitters (finally) (Eric vom Lehn) 4. Re: Hardcore training (Karol Krauser) 5. Heavy Hitters - my final reply (Ollie Batts) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 20:34:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Bill McGrath To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: [Eskrima] Gladiator vs. Troy Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Thanks guys. Some very, very good posts on the subject. You helped me understand why I liked the movie Troy so much. The portrayal of Achilles was an excellent character study of more than just the warrior archetype, it was what men born with a warrior mindset are often like in real life. Think Gorge Patton, Gorge Armstrong Custer, Muhammad Ali; men with big skills, big balls and big egos. I think I found the Achilles character more interesting than most moviegoers, because I have met so many men like him. Strong willed men whose courage, discipline, decisiveness, great physical skills and high pain threshold, come so naturally to them that their confidence levels may seem like plan old arrogance to us mere mortals (“but Bill, if its true then it ain’t bragging,” they’ve told me). The real natural born warriors I have met have often been like that, but the physical and mental attributes are so often found together I am beginning to think that they are inherently part of the package. Nice guys who reach top skill levels in warrior arts (like Guro Dan) are few and far between. I viewed Achilles as a human “Titanic”. You knew that the ship was doomed, but it is still an amazing vessel. Regards, Tuhon Bill McGrath www.pekiti.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail --__--__-- Message: 2 Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 20:48:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Bill McGrath To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: [Eskrima] 2 X 2 Knife Sparing Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Hi Marc, You asked for suggestions on 2 x 2 knife sparing. There is a maxim among police defensive tactics instructors “Don’t test before you have taught.” The implication being that if you practice a physical activity under stress, that stress will help to ingrain a habit beyond what a similar number of non-stressful repetitions would accomplish. This is regardless of whether that habit is good or bad. Throwing a group of non-swimmers into the deep end of the pool will likely produce many with bad swimming habits. I am not saying that the participants in last year’s gathering were untaught, but they were at the least unready for 2 x 2 knife sparing if they all “died.” You don’t want to ingrain bad habits through a sparing régime that they are not ready for. 2 x 2 knife sparing is exponentially more difficult than 1x 1 sparing. You wouldn’t ask a weightlifter to go from a 100 pound lift to a 300 pound lift. Well going from 1 x1 to 2 x2 knife sparing is the same. I have a general rule in my classes, you only go as fast as you can do the technique right. I begin my knife sparing with short rounds (3 to 5 seconds) of empty hand vs. knife. Most of my students probably won’t have a knife in their hand if attacked, so this is a realistic place to start. I keep the rounds short for two reasons. 1. Hand vs. knife is intended to become weapon vs. knife ASAP 2. I want them to concentrate on their “opening game.” One of the problems with knife sparing is that your opponent will not react to a hit. This may or may not be realistic depending on lots of factors in real life (weapon, placement, mindset, etc), but there needs to be a way to train so that knife fighting doesn’t become sport fencing. You don’t want to constantly ignore hits, but you don’t want to train to politely react to them either, (Ah, good hit old boy. Now please pass the Gray Poupon.) And let’s face facts here, we are talking about knives, not swords. No army in history went off to battle armed only with the dinky knives that are what the law allows in most states. I call the 4 inch pocket knife the “.22 pistol of the knife world.” While I would not volunteer to be shot by one, neither I would choose a .22 to stop an armed bad guy that I had to put down right here right now. I start my students with palm stick sparing to train them to get the most “bang for the buck” out of the small knives most of them carry. They know the palmstick has no edge, therefore, to get a reaction from an opponent, you’ve got to hit with it and hit hard. Imagine the p.s.i. on the end of a good hook when delivered by a palmstick. If you are going to try to defend yourself with something as dinky as a pocketknife, then you had better hit hard with it. When knife sparing, too many people rely on the slash, and the slash is just not a reliable fight stopper with a four-inch blade. I tell my guys that they have to knock their man down with the force of their fist and just think of the knife as some extra help to keep him down. This emphasis on hard hitting also helps solve the problem of opponents not reacting to a cut in knife sparring. You don’t give them the choice to react or not. You knock them down. Part of the problem with non-reacting opponents may also be in the choice of training knives. I have my guys knife spar with 8 to 10 inch wood dowels. I know it’s not as cool looking as aluminum trainers, but I prefer them for two reasons. 1. You can hit harder. 2. You can hit harder, safer. In theory you should be able to hit just as hard with an aluminum trainer as with a dowel, but the guys Marc spoke of obviously didn’t. How do I know; because nobody died. Either because of grip slippage on impact or because they were subconsciously holding back, not all of the force of their thrusts went into the opponent. Yes, the trainers were dull, but the human body is not that tough. A good, full power thrust, even with a dull aluminum trainer, is still capable of penetrating the body cavity if the wrong areas are hit. And let’s not talk about the head. Well okay, let’s. A few years back I took a fencing mask and had a student hold it on the end of a stick. I then thrust the mask with a dull aluminum trainer and left a two-inch deep crater with a hole at the bottom. Right about where the right eye would have been. Now imagine adding the force of someone wearing the mask and charging into the hit. Instead of aluminum, we use wooden dowels with a circle of twisted grip tape under a flat wrap of tape to act as a lock for the hand to keep it from slipping on impact. Try this and see if the power of your hits during knife sparing doesn’t improve. I also keep my knife to knife rounds short (5 to 10 seconds). If you don’t get it done in this amount of time in real life, then you ain’t getting it done at all. I use a pattern of 10 seconds fighting, 10 resting, 10 fighting till people begin to get sloppy, then I make them stop (what they do under stress…etc). Hope this helps. Regards, Tuhon Bill McGrath __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail --__--__-- Message: 3 Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 21:48:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Eric vom Lehn To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: [Eskrima] RE: Heavy Hitters (finally) Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Gee Whiz Marc. From this day forward, I shall drink no Starbucks and darken no door of The Gap. As a matter of fact, I think I'll join the military. Perhaps I can kill some people, get captured, tortured and live to return to a bunch of ungrateful "bobos" whom I protected from the evil terrorists and what remains of the Axis of Evil. On your spectrum of "Bobos" and "Heavy Hitters", to the best of my knowledge, I am neither. I serve ice cream in a little tourist town. I travel when I save up enough money. When work permits, I study Tae Kwon Do. Beyond providing basic first aid as an occasional life guard, I have experience very little physical pain. So, that leaves me with a pointless opinion. Right? I mean... beyond paying taxes, what the hell am I? I vote, but my candidate doesn't always win.... I volunteer on occasion but make no great contribution to society. I, simply, exist. Now that we've cleared that up, let me make some observations: Hitler, Hussein, Bin Laden, Kim Jong IL, dealt and experienced a lot of pain. Are they heavy hitters? Maybe I'm being obtuse. There must be good heavy hitters and bad heavy hitters. Still being obtuse, do they both not have the same result: death, destruction, pain? Your less intelligent clients were wrong to assume that they hired you to die for them. They were right when they said they hired you to protect them. That's not classim: it's supply and demand. You had the choice of working for them and taking their money or not. I pulled a couple of kids out of the water. I'm not hero, I'm a life guard who did his job. I expected nothing more from those kids, their parents or my employer. Soldiers have the unfortunate job of fighting. I say unfortunate because I see no glory in pain or death. I'm sure you don't either. However, it is their unfortunate job by choice. I do not see them as any more or any less. However, when they behave in an immoral manner: torturing prisoners, killing unnecessarily or hazing fellow soldiers then I see them as a common criminal and a disgrace to the uniform and country that they claim to serve. Let's have a look at a CEO now. CEOs lead their company. In some cases, they lead only for personal gain. That is a bad CEO and undoubtedly the embodiment of one of your "bobos". In other cases there are those who care about their company and the employees who rely on that company to support their families. Good CEOs serve their company like good soldiers serve their country. Does that make them heros? Nope.. they're doing their job. In the case of running a company, there may not be a great deal of pain, but oh... there is suffering. When you lump people into a group of "bobos", to me, you're making a stereotype just like your "bobos" frequently do. Will you consider that reality or will you find another red herring in the form of a movie to tell me why I should feel just as bad as Ollie for challenging your opinion? Eric --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! --__--__-- Message: 4 Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 06:33:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Karol Krauser To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: [Eskrima] Re: Hardcore training Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net I don’t mean to beat a dead horse with this topic but I felt compelled to share some recent thoughts that were stirred by discussions over the past few weeks on the topic of hardcore training. I recently re-located to Maui and have found a shortage of training partners as well as Filipino and Indonesian martial arts. This has led me to be somewhat creative and explore some options. Teaching and training in the outdoors with Mother Nature and the elements can often lend a new experience to the term “Hardcore Training.” Instead of training in the shade on 90 plus degree days it is often challenging to take it out in the direct sunlight. With the heat beating down it adds a whole new twist to things. You get exhausted much quicker but it makes you reach different levels than training indoors. I often use a timer and alternate between five minute rounds of karenza, kembangan, various sinwali drills, and working on trees or other objects. If you haven’t done this be creative and give it a try. Start off slow as it really gets your heart pumping and drink lots of water of course. I often monitor my heart rate during these sessions and find I get a double benefit of martial arts work as well as cardio work. A guy can also wear a weight vest, or a small weighted back pack and work low line, lunging or squatting leg work into a whole plethora of movement. Pushups or abdominal work can be used in between rounds to mix things up. You can also change the sticks you are using as well. Try using heavy Kamagong sticks for a round and then pick up some lighter rattan for the next…you will be surprised what happens. You can get pretty creative with this kind of environmental training. If it starts raining things change as well, the ground becomes more slick, but you just adapt with what it is you are doing. Cold weather also provides another twist but a lot of people aren’t really enthusiastic about the extremes of heat and cold. I would often train at friend’s garage in the dead of winter in Seattle opening the door to allow the elements in. Friends often curse and complain when you do this though. At the present time I am fortunate enough to live in Maui as we speak and I have taken some of my student through these kinds of workout and also down to the beach to practice silat and other things in the surf and sand. Since some of them haven’t experienced the “Mc Dojo” atmosphere they don’t know the difference and embrace the variety and challenge that Mother Nature provides. I was training on the roof of an Ashrahm in India a few years back and the monkeys provide a challenge in itself as you constantly have to break the rhythm in your training to keep the buggers from stealing your sticks, food, water, or anything shiny that’s not nailed down. Not to mention they jump on you randomly just for something to do. Training on rooftops while in a strange land whether it be the heat of the day or the dark of the night can often lend a challenge of sorts. Just be sure and check out how the locals might interpret your actions! I had a close friend that moved from Japan were he was a high level jujitsu player. When moving to the states he didn’t have a partner for a while. He made due by putting on a thick Kimono top and rolling with his 100 pound Rottweiller. Hardcore or crazy…? Where does one draw the line? Look at the Dog Brothers…is it hardcore ? Its hard to argue against that one but then so is training in the elements with you heart pounding in your chest, freezing cold and being mentally strong, or constantly trying to find fears and challenges to face. I had a silat teacher who told me that as a child in Indonesia that he would have to work on one Djuru for hours a day outside for weeks on end before he got another piece of the puzzle. Not exactly for most westerners though. Maybe it’s just anything that exceeds your previously imagined limitations. Facing your fears be they mental or physical….with or without a partner. Use your imagination, Mother Nature, your friends and training partners and challenge yourself. Also when any of you on the digest make it out here to Maui I always have a great place to train…out doors of course… Karol Ungoy Krauser __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail --__--__-- Message: 5 Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:54:27 +0100 From: Ollie Batts To: Subject: [Eskrima] Heavy Hitters - my final reply Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > Message: 6 > From: "Marc Macyoung" > No. It's not a "club." It is not an elite group. It's not something that > makes us better, nor however,-- it very much needs to be pointed out -- > does it make those who have chosen to "stand the wall" worse. It just makes > us very human... and, as is often forgotten, if not intentionally ignored... > part of society. And what that means quite frankly is that there are people > in this society who see those who "serve" as second class citizens, not the > other way around. Thanks for your post Marc. I'm sure that there are indeed people in society who look down on "those who serve" - perhaps since time immemorial - as the following words most excellently portray: Tommy I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer, The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here." The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die, I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I: O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play, The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play. I went into a theatre as sober as could be, They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me; They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls, But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls! For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside"; But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide, The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide, O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide. Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap; An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit. Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?" But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll, The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll, O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll. We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too, But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you; An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints, Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints; While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind", But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind, There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind, O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind. You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all: We'll wait for extra rations if you treat us rational. Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace. For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!" But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot; An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees! Rudyard Kipling 1892 > Before I answer your post, let me ask you a question. Did you see the movie > "A Few Good Men?" If so, let me ask you something else, who were you > rooting for? I mean who was the "Good Guy" and who was the "Bad Guy?" Did > you think that Jack Nicolson's character was a vicious, self-deluded > fruitcake while Tom Cruise was the noble lawyer crusading to reveal the > corruption and brutality of a maddog? Did you like Kevin Pollack's > character believe that two "bullies beat up a weaker" person? Did the > speech that Jack Nicholson made before admitting his involvement make you > think "This psycho needs to be keep on a leash?" I ask you these questions, > not because I assume they are your opinions, but because by and large, these > are the impressions that many people have about the movie. They really enjoy > seeing someone they consider to be a bully, getting nailed ...and by clever > words alone. HA! Didn't that smart yuppee lawyer show that big bad uppity > servant who's the boss? I'm afraid I'm not a movie buff. I can't remember the last time I went to the Cinema, although I suspect that it was when I was in the States about 11 years ago. I tend to come in on films, when they are about half-way through, and being shown on the telly. I rarely know, or remember, the name of those films that I do watch, and hardly ever remember them in the detail that you obviously do. Having said that, I do indeed remember seeing at least some of the film you mentioned. By nature, I tend to pretty much always favour the underdog in life. In that particular film I saw both main characters as A*seholes. I don't much care for smart-arse lawyers - the types of people who get the likes of a famous American ball-player off a murder charge - and I don't much care for bullies and braggarts either. > I, on the other hand, am greatly saddened by that movie. In fact, I feel it > points out a rather dangerous and ugly trend in American society. I didn't > see a "Good Guy" or a "Bad Guy." What I saw was two very different mindsets, > both critical for the preservation and functioning of society, so entirely > out of touch with each other that they had nothing but distain for each > other. And that both had become so entrenched in their own way of > functioning that they had no idea the needs, conditions or purposes of the > other. Nor the fact that they needed each other. > > What saddened me the most however, is how the so-called "Good Guy" was > willing to let another "stand" an extreme post (and generally ignore his > very existence) until something came up that he condemned him for. Let > someone else do the dirty work. Until it was time to condemn him for his > actions/choices Nicholson's character, the rest down in Gitmo and the > conditions they operated in didn't exist in Cruise's world view. I say this > even though a) Cruise's character was himself supposed to be military, b) > he would have known that there was a base down there c) Cruise's character > was both obviously intelligent and held what could only be described as a > "desk job." As such, the way that character was written is rather > unrealistic from a military standpoint, and was instead far more "civilian" > oriented. Yes, Nicholson's character was snotty and condescending during > their intitial interview/trip, but so was Cruise's. Oddly enough, he was > condescending to the ideas that Nicholson expressed about the danger he and > his Marine faced, not specifically about the fact that Nicholson's character > was covering up after a tragic result of a bad order. (Remember Cruise > mocking Nicholson's "I eat breakfast" line?). Putting it bluntly, Cruise's > character was quite willing to let someone else risk life and limb to deal > with an extreme situation; but wanted it handled under the moral, emotional > and ideological standards that he -- in his non-dangerous lifestyle -- > operated by. And he did this with absolutely NO concept of the problems and > challenges that occurred under those conditons. And then he got morally > outraged when a servant didn't behave the way he wanted the world to be. > > My problem wasn't with who was the "Good Guy/Bad Guy" or who was "right or > wrong," my problem with that movie was that it showed the total break down > in communication and understanding of two very critical components of > society. In as much as each had, not only become so isolated and separated > from each other, but also that both had solidified into dogmatic, > isolationist contempt for each other. Each was so locked in their own > mindset that they failed to see that they really did need each other -- and > *gasp* needed to work together as part of a larger whole, namely society. As I said before, I don't make a point of going out of my way to watch films on any kind of regular basis - especially the kind of Hollywood movies that are supposedly based on real life, as they usually attempt to rewrite history and / or distort truth and facts. It would seem, therefore, that I tend to watch films on a rather superficial and casual basis (usually as a means of winding down at the end of the day) whereas you seem to look at them rather more deeply? Please forgive me if I am wrong on that count. > Ever met anyone who felt that a job was beneath them? Or > perhaps that their time was more valuable than performing a particular task? Yes of course! As an example: I went into a coffee shop in Cambridge City centre (UK) the other day and, busting for a pee, went to go into the Gents (or Rest Room, as you guys call it). There was a sign on the door saying that the toilet was not in use. Due to the urgency of the situation I was quite prepared to use the Ladies instead, except that there was a queue! I went back to the Gents and tried the door anyway - quite prepared to piss in the sink if necessary. The door opened and I discovered that someone ahead of me had shit everywhere. What this meant was that no member of staff had been prepared to put on a pair of Marigolds (household rubber gloves), get a bucket with some water and disinfectant in, and simply clean the mess up. Instead, someone had typed out a message on a computer, printed it out, then gone to the trouble of laminating the message (yes I'm absolutely serious!), and finally fixed the message on the door. Hell, I could've cleaned the crap up in half the time that would have taken to have done all that! > This stratification extends into socialization as well. How many upper > managament/CEOs do you know who have janitors, cops and garbage men as > friends? That's not always a case of snobbery though. That can be a case of who people come into regular contact with on a day-to-day basis. > How many active duty soldiers do you know? I really don't 'know' that many, at this moment in time, although I do regularly come into contact with a few as I teach weekly martial art classes at Bassingbourn Barracks near Royston, in Hertfordshire. I actually used to know quite a few U.S. military personnel a few years ago, as I used to train martial arts with a lot of them at USAF Mildenhall in Suffolk - which is about 26 miles from me. It also seems not uncommon for American servicemen and women to live off-base over here, whereas British service personnel do not (not unless they have changed the system without me hearing about it). What this means, is that apart from when I go onto military bases, to teach, or individual military personnel come off-base to train with me, I (and other British civilians) rarely come into any kind of regular contact with military people. If a group of 'Squaddies' go out on the town for a few drinks, they will also quite naturally tend to stick together. > There is a very distinct trend in the US towards what can only be called > intellectual elitism. Rather than going into this in detail I highly > recommend you read "Bobos in Paradise" by David Brooks. I should be able to remember that title ;o) If I see a copy sometime I'll pick it up. Thanks. > (http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Econ_Articles/Reviews/bobos.html) The > term Bobo stands for bourgeois bohemians, a weird blend of ideologies and > motives. It is a social trend that anybody who has sat in a Starbuck's and > listened to the conversations around them will recognize. This isn't just a > Yuppee mindset, but a rather interesting and pernacious variant. One that is > very concerned with being both PC and personal gain. I have replaced the > term Bobo with Yuppee in my lexicon as I see a distinct difference in > operating styles My wife however, still uses the term Yuppee to lump them > all together. An interesting comment she made about both lifestyles is that > they are " dependant on the existence of a servant class" But a servant > class would be horribly un-PC as well an unegalitarian. The mental gynastics > that Bobos go through to maintain both their "superior" position and their > boheimian/enlightened world view is the topic of the book. > > I mention this because when it comes to looking at people as "Second class" > Bobo's excell at it. Quite simply, people who provide services that are > critical to the function of society are -- although they will never admit > it -- looked upon as both less important and "on call" for the needs, wants, > comfort and benefit of the Bobos. And when those nasty, dirty, stupid people > aren't busy doing this job, "well, just go away". And yet, despite this, > they become extremely defensive if you point out this elitist attitude; > because after all, they are intelligent, sensitive, egalitarian people who > feel that they treat everyone equally -- despite their track record and > displayed behaviors. Strange isn't it that people usually only criticise the British for their out-of-date class-ridden and class-driven society, when quite clearly this kind of thing, and those types of morons, exist everywhere? > Want an example of this kind of thinking? As a > bodyguard it was my job to protect people in trouble. Trouble to the point > that there was a pretty good chance that someone would try to kill them. > Never mind the fact that despite the fact that I was risking my life to > protect them (and possibly have to kill someone else) they wanted to haggle > about price. What was most appalling was when I set boundaries about what > was going to happen because of the danger levels to myself (i.e. that would > get me killed) the common response was "Well that's your job." I know very little of your line of work Marc, although I am happier to know that you are doing it (or did it) rather than me! And that's not in any way meant as a put-down - rather the opposite. > "Excuse me? No you moron, my job is to protect you and keep you out of > trouble, not to get my head blown off because you don't want to be bothered > or inconvienced by the situation you created here." > But that was very much the attitude I regularly encountered while trying to > provide protection services to both people and organizations. My life, > because of what I did was not worth the same value as those I was supposed > to protect. Now you ask me if I think civilians are second class citizens? > By extension you ask if those who choose to serve think the same? No, > Buckwheat, I think it goes the other way. I think there is very definately a > segment of society that thinks those who serve are lesser beings. Like I say, I don't envy anyone doing that kind of job thanks! > Quite frankly, it isn't for them that I chose to do the protection/services > that I provided, nor is it for them that I train others to stand the wall > these days. It's for the people out there, the "civilians" who are just > trying their best to get by. People, do their own bit to help the whole by > what they do, but who are unequipped to handle the monsters that haunt the > night. Monsters who would prey on them or kill them for pleasure. It is the > people who are struggling to live good lives in a complicated -- and > sometimes dangerous world -- for whom I say Demi Moore's line from "A Few > Good Men" "Ain't nothing going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch" > > If need be I will die protecting people -- especially the innocents; that is > a responsibility that I have taken on based on what I do rather well. But > there is a cost to myself and to others who have chosen to perform this > duty. A cost that is often not understood by those we stand between them and > danger. And for most people, god bless them, I don't want them to know the > types of monsters that are out there. Let them get on with their lives and > raising their children never knowing what DIDN'T get through. I wouldn't > want to inflict the horrors I have seen on anybody, much less the good > people out there who are just trying to get by best they can. > > Having said this however, yes, I and many others who take that hit everyday > for people, do get cranky when we encounter the Tom Cruise attitude in A Few > Good Men. Not because we have distain for those we stand for, but because > quite often those who dismiss us as stupid, violent and second class > citizens don't want to communicate. They don't want to understand what is > involved in the situation. In fact, they don't want to learn what is really > going on outside their own little preview. They want the entire world to > work according to what they believe, think and value. Instead of seeking to > understand the complexities and conditions that we face, they are more > interested in projecting their morals, standards and expectations on our > actions and condemning us for actions that they do not understand (i.e. why > such actions were necessary or what the long term cost are for those actions > for those who had to make the hard choices). Now this is where we came in. It was my interest in wanting to 'learn' and 'understand' which provoked me to engage in this dialect with you in the first place. > You asked what was one of the identifying marks of a heavy hitter, I'll tell > you right now, one of the biggest marks is Pain. It's living with and still > being able to function under the weight of seeing, doing and having done > things that would destroy most people. It's living with the trauma of having > seen and dealt pain, death and destruction. What's more though, it's > knowing this hell, and while not wanting to go there again, a willingness to > do so if the need arises. Or, putting in your terms, the willingness to > deprive somebody[*]of the chance to play with their grandchildren -- and the > willingness to live with the costs of that decision because it needed to be > done. [*] Insert the word 'deserving' between 'somebody' and 'of' and I'll say 'Amen to that', and thanks again for the dialogue. Pugil --__--__-- _______________________________________________ Eskrima mailing list Eskrima@martialartsresource.net http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/eskrima http://eskrima-fma.net Old digest issues @ ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com/pub/eskrima Copyright 1994-2004: Ray Terry, MartialArtsResource.com, Sudlud.com Standard disclaimers apply. Remember September 11. End of Eskrima Digest