From: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: the_dojang-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: The_Dojang-Digest V8 #327 Reply-To: the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: The_Dojang-Digest Wed, 6 June 2001 Vol 08 : Num 327 In this issue: the_dojang: RE: OOPS the_dojang: Get your mud here... the_dojang: Gukak the_dojang: Human agression the_dojang: . ========================================================================= The_Dojang, serving the Internet since June 1994. ~1111 members strong! Copyright 1994-2001: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource The premier internet discussion forum devoted to the Korean Martial Arts. Replying to this message will NOT unsubscribe you. To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe the_dojang-digest" (no quotes) in the body (top line, left justified) of a "plain text" e-mail addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. To send e-mail to this list use the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com See the Korean Martial Arts (KMA) FAQ and the online search engine for back issues of The_Dojang at http://www.MartialArtsResource.com Pil Seung! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Anne Skjold" Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2001 10:19:30 -0500 Subject: the_dojang: RE: OOPS Have you tried the Yellow pages for that area? The yellow pages are now generally available on the net through whichever phone company resides in that area. Good Luck From: "Dizzy S." Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 00:41:52 -0400 Subject: the_dojang: Oops Anywho, does anyone know of a dojang in or around Rochester NY? I perfer Tang Soo Do (the style I study now), hapikdo (which is mixed in with what we learn), Soo bahk Do (which is pretty much the same as TSD), or Traditional TKD ..... not the WTF style only because I'm not much for sparring. I know I asked this before, but I can not find a school up there. I searched the internet (which includes Bernards site, Martial Info, ect). I can't find one that is less than two hours away. Does anyone know of a school by "word of mouth"? Some independent schools don't advertise on the net, and the only way to find them is to either go there a search (which I can't for a while), or ask around. Please help. Tang Soo! Dizz ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 17:00:10 PDT Subject: the_dojang: Get your mud here... Boryeong Mud Festival July 14 - July 20, 2001 Daecheon Beach Department of Culture and Tourism, Korea Boryeong City Hall Chungcheongnam-do Tel: 82-041-930-3541 Fax: 82-041-930-3784 The sediments from tideland around the Boryeong shores contain many minerals including germanium that are excellent for skin care. The Boryeong Mud festival has plenty of lively recreational events such as mud massages and mud games involving specially processed sea mud. The festival is a good way to live out the mid-summer night's dream and romance while vacationing with family and friends. ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 17:09:58 PDT Subject: the_dojang: Gukak The Definition of Gukak (Korean Traditional Classic Music) Music is called Gukak if it displays a number of Korean characteristics and traditions. Gukak is actually Korean traditional classic music which is performed by these instruments: Geomungo, Gayageum, Daegeum, Janggu, Buk and others. It originated from worship music for nature and the gods of other nations. Gukak, especially Aak (ceremonial music), was for the royal and intelligent people and was used for ceremonies, rites or feasts for the guests of the nation. Pansori, which is drama in song performed by a chang narrator, as well as Sanjo, a Minyo folk song, and Nongak folk music were for commoners. Gukak was created in response to Korea's many invasions and resistances and arouses interest with its fast tempo. ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 17:17:43 PDT Subject: the_dojang: Human agression Forwarding... I am working on an article on human aggression for the MA mags (perhaps JAMA). The original version first appeared in the fall and winter 99 issues of the PTI newsletter, but I feel it could use some polish before I submit it to a magazine. I am asking you all to review it with an editors eye, looking for specific things I could improve such as clarity, flow, punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc. To save Ray bandwidth, perhaps you could comment about the subject matter of the article here in the digest, but editorial help with how I wrote it can be emailed directly to me. Thanks in advance for your help, Tuhon Bill McGrath Visit the PTI web site at: http://www.pekiti-tirsia.com/index.html CONTROLLED HUMAN AGGRESSION FOR THE MARTIAL ARTIST by Tuhon Bill McGrath Anthropologists tell us that mankind began its history as hunter-gatherers, then became nomadic shepherds, then farmers and finally city dwellers. Aggression has been necessary for human survival during each step, but often in different ways. There are different types of aggression, each useful in a specific arena. I have titled this article "Controlled Human Aggression" because I wished to emphasize the word control. Uncontrolled aggression can lead to failure in a survival/combat situation. You may believe that there are no rules regarding the use of aggression in combat, but you are wrong. A soldier controls his aggression while waiting for an enemy to walk into the kill zone of an ambush. If he moves prematurely the enemy escapes. When a martial artist is faced with multiple opponents he must control his aggression and not become so focused on dealing with one attacker that the others can attack him from his blind spot. If a grappler is attacked on the street he must not focus solely on the arm he is locking less his opponent pull a knife with the other hand and stab him. When we speak of aggression in humans we often speak of the "flight or fight" reflex. But is this the whole story? Do the terms "flight" and "fight" describe the total range of aggressive behavior in humans? Let's go deeper. Generally, it is herbivores and omnivores that are prey to carnivorous predators. Smaller predators can also become prey to larger predators (as when a hawk takes a snake) and larger predators can fall prey to smaller predators armed with better weapons (as in the case of a spear armed Masai warrior killing a lion). THE HUMAN ANIMAL: Age, social status and many other factors seem to play a factor in human aggression. One basic factor is purely biological. In human males, testosterone levels begin to rise upon reaching sexual maturity, peaks in the mid 20's and begins to decline in the 30's. As one would expect, most violent crimes are committed by young males in their teens and 20's (and even when the offender is older, there is some evidence to suggest that criminally violent males in their 30's and 40's have above average testosterone levels for those age groups). It is not uncommon for young males (upon reaching sexual maturity) or older males (who have lost dominance battles with the dominant male) of many mammalian species to be expelled from the general herd and form themselves into bachelor herds in which they stay until they find a mate and form their own family herd. We see vestiges of this instinct in humans in which there seems to be an almost inevitable friction between parents and teenagers and an instinctive desire for young males to form themselves into a subgroup. This desire of young males to form their own subgroup or "pack" can be positive if they join a youth group at a church, a martial arts class, sports team, boy scout troop, etc. or it can be negative as in a street gang like the "Crips", "Bloods", etc. or as in a school gang like the "Trench Coat Mafia" we saw at Columbine High School. Recent experience in Africa with elephants shows an interesting group dynamic of the bachelor herd in elephants that may be true of humans as well. When elephants would overpopulate one area, game wardens would take young males out from the herd and transport them to a new area. The game wardens found that these young bachelor herds would become destructive in their new area, unnecessarily destroying trees and killing smaller herbivores it found at their watering holes. They became the classic "rouge elephants". However, if just one older male was brought along with them, the younger male elephants did not engage in this destructive behavior as they were taught which types of aggression were necessary for survival and which weren't. The need to be part of a group and to conform to the standards of that group is very strong in most mammalian species. I have even seen a dog, when joining a new home where other dogs are present, roll around in the excrement of the established dogs to take on the smell of the new "pack". In adolescent humans there is a strong instinctive desire to conform to the look, sound (smell?) and rules of their new "pack" and to see the world as either those "in the group" or those "outside the group". One sees this in "nonconformist" youth all conforming to the same mode of dress and using the same slang. This may be annoying to adults but it is typically harmless and is usually dropped when one enters adulthood. Marriage has a civilizing effect on young males as the desire to show your skills as a hunter and warrior, find a mate and procreate yields to the desire to care for the offspring (perhaps this is the reason that in many cultures, men are not treated as full adults until they are married, no matter if they are a teenager or in their forties). ADULTHOOD TRAINING CAMP: Man has somewhat modified the "bachelor pack" instinct. It is common for many societies, whether consciously or not, to separate adolescent males and females into their own subgroups and undergo a period I call "Adulthood Training Camp" (A.T.C.) in which the oldest members of the tribe teach the younger members of their own gender the methods, techniques and responsibilities of adulthood. This allowed young men especially, to vent some of the aggression normal for that age, while still conforming themselves to the norms of society. It also has the benefit of lowering some of the friction between parent and teen. A common practice in some martial arts groups emulates these A.T.C.s in that teacher "A" will train his sons until they reach their teens then send them to train with teacher "B" who will do the same with his sons via teacher "A". When the sons of each teacher reach their 20's they go back to their respective fathers to complete their training in their father's systems. A vital component of most historic A.T.C.'s is that they usually have an "opening ceremony" and finished with a "closing ceremony" of some sort. Thus adolescence in these societies had a definite beginning and more importantly, a definite end. The military and college act as the modern equivalent of the A.T.C. in our society to some extent, but biologically speaking, they begin at the end of the best years for the A.T.C. period in humans. Some other shortfalls are the small percentage of the population who go through military training (at least in the U.S.). and the fact that college is mainly focused on one single aspect of adulthood (becoming a successful hunter) and no longer teaches other important values. A youth oriented club like the scouts, church group or martial arts school, if done correctly with this result in mind, can fill the need for a modern A.T.C. that teaches the values one needs for successful adulthood. The boy scouts do an excellent job of this, because it taught values like keeping ones word and good citizenship along with the "fun" things like outdoor skills. If this joining of a subgroup is instinctive in adolescents, then we should make sure that they join a subgroup with positive values. (I would like to see more martial arts schools emulate the scout's format, adding the functions of a community youth center to that of a business. This would be a great benefit to today's society where the high divorce and out of wedlock birth rates condemn so many adolescents to grow up with no father in the home and our society's high mobility means that a child's extended family of potential role models may be extended over several states.) AGGRESSION AS A SURVIVAL BEHAVIOR IN NATURE: Animals generally go into one of several behaviors, some defensive, some offensive, when they sense a predator or prey nearby. In this article we will divide these behaviors into 12 categories: "Passive Camouflage" as when an animal disguises itself as not to be noticed. "Warning Colors" as in the deliberately noticeable coloring of wasps, bees and sea snakes. "Active Camouflage" as when an animal tries to be seen as another more dangerous, or at least inedible, animal. "Decoy" as when an animal drops a body part (I.e. a lizard dropping its tail) when attacked as an enticing decoy while the animal itself escapes. "Flight" as when a zebra runs from a lion. "Parent/Protector" as when a group of musk ox form a circle around a calf to protect it from a wolf pack. Both prey and predators often engage in individual intra-species aggression. In most mammals this is among males over breeding rights to females which we will call the "Dominant Male". Of course predators add an obvious category of behavior to our aggression list the "Hunter". Some animals such as ants, dolphins, chimpanzees and humans engage in group intra-species aggression or "Warfare/Warrior." This usually involves aggression over territory and is specifically intended to cause fatalities to members of the other group. One on one warfare with a fixed set of rules we will categorize as the "Duelist". A very few species engage in another type of aggression that I call "Live Capture" such as a wasp bringing a stunned caterpillar back to it's nest to lay an egg upon, or a feline bringing an animal it has wounded back to it's den to let it's young practice killing techniques, or a police officer arresting a criminal. The last type of aggression we will look at is one that started as a safe practice method for other types of aggression such as hunting and warfare. This last type of aggression is "Sport." For the purposes of this article we will classify the different modes of aggression as: 1. Passive Camouflage 2. Warning Colors 3. Active Camouflage 4. Decoy 5. Flight 6. Parent/Protector 7. Dominant Male 8. Hunter 9. Warrior 10. Duelist 11. Live Capture 12. Sport Each type of aggression requires different survival techniques and attributes. DIFFERENT MODES OF AGGRESSION IN ACTION: If you watch a lioness chasing a prey animal such as a zebra, you will notice how intensely focused she is on that one particular zebra. Other animals may pass between the lioness and the zebra it has selected, but the lioness will stay focused on that one particular animal until she has caught and killed it, or it has escaped. This "tunnel vision" is a necessary survival skill that prevents the lioness from becoming confused by a large herd of animals when her best chance of success lies in concentrating on the weakest member of that herd. Of course the lioness doesn't have to worry about the other zebras in the herd banding together and attacking her. Contrast this to the type of aggression a soldier needed on a battlefield in ancient times. Imagine you are in a battle in those days. Shortly after the battle begins, the supply of projectile weapons has been exhausted and the two armies advance towards each other. The two armies clash and you attack the man opposite you. If your opponent were to fall back and you were to engage in the tunnel vision of "hunter's" aggression focusing only on chasing down your prey, you would soon find yourself behind the enemy line, surrounded and killed. Therefore a warrior's aggression must be both offensive and counteroffensive, guarding against attacks from more then just the single opponent in front of him. Conversely, a police officer may need "hunter's" aggression while chasing a criminal through a crowd of bystanders, but will need to use "live capture" or "warrior" aggression, depending on the circumstances, once he catches up with the bad guy. MODES OF AGGRESSION FOR THE MARTIAL ARTIST: How does an understanding of Controlled Human Aggression aid the modern martial arts instructor in his ability to teach his students the vital survival skills they need? By giving him an understanding of where his students are coming from as members of the human species and where they need to go in their training. By giving him the ability to describe for his students the mental skills necessary for survival. Finally, to give the instructor practical self-defense drills that he can bring to his classes that reinforce these survival skills. Let's look at our 12 different modes of aggression and explore how we can use them in today's world. 1. PASSIVE CAMOUFLAGE: The term "passive camouflage" may not sound very aggressive, but I consider any act done to increase your chances of survival more aggressive then the alternative which is to do nothing. Passive camouflage can be defined as "camouflage designed to make you less likely to be noticed by a predator." The human version is to not look like you're worth robbing. This is practiced every day in New York City by people who hide their visible jewelry before leaving home or work, and by keeping a few dollars separate from their main supply so that they won't have to pull out their wallets when making a quick purchase at a convenience store. DRILL: Before leaving home or work check yourself in a mirror for any visible jewelry. Check that your wallet is not in an obvious location. Keep a few small bills in a cheap money clip separate from your main supply. Many cops carry a second "back-up" gun well hidden on their person. If you will be traveling in a pickpocket prone area (any crowed tourist spot or mall during the holidays), consider carrying a "back-up" wallet containing your most important items (driver's license, car registration, a credit card, car key, house key), in a lightweight traveler's wallet under your shirt. 2. WARNING COLORS: Wasps, bees and sea snakes use bright visible colors as an "advertisement" for the fact that they are carrying venom. Humans often do this, but in different ways. An outlaw biker in leather with his gang's "colors" is trying to send out the signal that he is a V.D.P. (Very Dangerous Person). When I was in my late teens my family used to joke that the reason I was never mugged while visiting friends in rough areas of New York was because I "dressed like a mugger". Dressed all in black and armed with enough sharp and pointy objects to outfit a Seal Team, I was trying to send the same signal as the biker. However, when I got older and went into law enforcement I began to question the usefulness of overt "warning colors" for humans. Dressing in "warning colors" may decrease your chances of coming under the unwanted attention of criminals but it will also increase your chances of coming under the unwanted attention of law enforcement. Another type of "warning colors" mode of dress I consider unwise is to wear a martial art T-shirt, jacket, patch, etc, out on the street. With very few exceptions, you don't want to give up the element of surprise in a street confrontation. In addition, advertising yourself as a martial artist may later entice your assailant or his family to sue you or your school for physical damages and emotional distress. Even winning this type of law suit can still cost you 5 or 10 grand in attorney's fees. 3. ACTIVE CAMOUFLAGE: In nature, active camouflage is used by such species as a harmless fly that has the coloring of a venomous wasp or by a tasty caterpillar that has the coloring of a inedible species. To learn the human version of active camouflage I suggest this exercise to my students. Stand at a safe distance outside your local police precinct or courthouse one day and play "spot the plain clothes cop." This game entails looking for common denominators in appearance among plain cloths and/or off duty police officers. At one time in New York, we used to joke that the multi-pocket vest, short haircut and neatly trimmed mustache was the official "uniform" for the off-duty officer. A non-law enforcement friend who has always dressed in this manner has often received a polite "Hello Officer" from street toughs while walking through urban areas. I tell my students that even in hot weather they should dress in a manner so the bad guys can not tell they are unarmed (With half the states in the U.S. now issuing full carry permits for concealed handguns this is becoming less and less of an issue. Many of my students are wearing vests, jackets, oversize sweatshirts, fanny packs, etc. because they really are armed). It is more than just the way you dress though. Police officers, even off duty, have a certain way about them. They walk down the street with confidence, they are very aware of their surroundings and are not afraid to look directly at someone they are suspicious of. This is the exact opposite of the signals a criminal predator is looking for when choosing a victim. A predator will look on an off duty cop's lack of fear and decide that there must be a reason for it and let him pass. Now I am not suggesting that you walk around town pretending to be a police officer, but you can dress and carry yourself in a way that would suggest to a criminal predator that you might possibly be "The Law." Remember, a predator is looking to take out the weakest member of the herd, not the strongest. Let me give you a scenario to illustrate my point. Imagine a serial rapist whose modus operandi begins with his approaching a woman loading packages into her car. His intent is to get close so he can display knife, quickly shove her into the car, drive her into a deserted area, rape and murder her. He sees a women in jeans and a T-shirt loading her car. He approaches her with a smile and the line "Hi, Miss, need some help with those bags?" If she quietly says "No, that's okay" and goes back to packing the car he will continue walking towards her. If she timidly glances at him out of the corner of her eye but says nothing, or only protests his presence mildly, he will see her as an easy target and keep coming. Now imagine a second scenario in which another woman is also dressed in jeans and a T-shirt but in addition is wearing a fanny pack with the bag to the front. When the stranger asks if she needs help she replies with a firm "No thanks" while leaving her bags where they are and turning to look at him. If he continues his approach she responds by raising her left hand in a halt signal and says in a loud firm voice, "NO THANK YOU SIR, I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP." As she is saying this her right hand rests near the zipper of her fanny pack and her right foot moves back to place her into a position that could easily turn into a shooting stance. Several signals tell this "wolf" that the woman he first thought was a "sheep" is now making the sounds and movements of a "guard dog." Her body language suggests to the rapist that she is armed. Her firm voice tells him she is confident in her ability to defend herself. The "SIR" tells him she is a cop, because civilians don't address strangers they are suspicious of in that way, while police officers in today's litigious society have been trained to do just that. She hasn't shown her teeth yet, but like most predators it makes more sense to him to move to easier prey rather than find out if she really can bite. Even if you don't carry a handgun you can still benefit if many of your fellow citizens do and criminals don't have an easy way of telling the armed from the unarmed. DRILL: Dress and act to keep the bad guys guessing. 4. DECOY: DRILL: Remember the example I gave of the lizard dropping his tail to cover his escape? Here is the New York City version. Carry a few dollar bills in a cheap money clip (a paper clip will do- just something to keep the bills from blowing away in the wind). When accosted by a mugger, drop the money clip, back up a few steps while telling him to take the money, turn and run. The mugger now has the choice of picking up the money he knows is right before him, or chasing a possibly penniless victim and attracting attention to himself. 5. FLIGHT: In a real street confrontation "flight" is often a better option than "fight." When escape means simply moving away from danger your course of action is obvious, so I will not cover it here. What do you do however, when the only exit is behind your attacker? If you can't get around him, your best escape path may be to escape "through" him. The Marines have a technique for surviving an ambush. When ambushed along a road and taking fire from the front, the most obvious escape routes are often not a real option. If you stay still you are dead. If you go to the right or left you will hit the mines the ambushers have laid. Meanwhile, the reserve group of attackers are coming up quickly from behind. When faced with this situation the Marines "charge the ambush," charging to the front, firing as they go. They will take casualties doing this, but they have found that they will take less casualties with this option than going where the enemy who prepared the ambush expected them to go. Ambushers rely on the human instinct when attacked to either run away or attempt a defense in a stationary position.However, the fight or flight instinct cuts both ways if the ambusher is counterattacked. If, at the very first moment of his attack (especially before he has built up any foreword momentum), you aggressively counterattack, his instinct will be to stop and brace himself against your attack. If you continue charging past him towards your escape route he may not react quickly enough to catch you. If you wound him sufficiently as you pass, he may not muster up the courage to chase you. If he does chase you, you have bought yourself a little more time to get away from an ambush zone favorable to him, and into an area favorable to you. Remember, getting out of an attacker's chosen ambush zone is imperative whether in warfare or surviving an assault by a criminal. Former head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, John Douglas in his several books on profiling serial killers and rapists, emphasizes in the strongest possible terms the vital necessity of not allowing a criminal to take you from "Crime Scene 1" to "Crime Scene 2." Crime Scene 1 is where the criminal first shows his criminal intent. It' s where he displays a weapon and says "Do what I say and I won't hurt you." Crime Scene 2 may be an alley, a wooded park, the back room of the store being robbed or simply on your knees if you have been standing. The common denominator of all these Crime Scene 2 locations is they are where the most severe of the crimes against you will be committed. It may be where police later find your dead body. Therefore, use "Flight" aggression to defeat your attacker's intention of taking you from a place of your choosing to place of his. DRILL: Practice "charging the ambush" charging "though" your opponent while you counter attack. You will be surprised how hard it is to stop a determined person from escaping an area (even when pitted against a person who would normally defeat you in regular sparring). While a male attacker may expect a female to run, he may not be mentally prepared for a female who suddenly and aggressively counterattacks and then runs. Add a "break and run" component as the finisher to your self-defense drills. By "run" I mean literally that. If you don't train to run after you deliver a technique in class then you won't run in real life. Mark a "doorway" with tape on the floor and have your students execute a technique and then run through the "door." 6. PARENT/PROTECTOR: A rational study of the subject will reveal that there are basic behavioral differences between the male and female of every mammalian species on this planet. Within various individual animal species different types of aggression may be required for each gender. This may lead to different stimuli being required for each gender to bring out an aggressive response. Depending on the species, one gender may be tasked with protecting the group as a whole while the other gender may be responsible for guarding the young. In some species there is an instinct to protect only ones own offspring, while in others the whole group protects the group's young. When anthropologists speak of primitive humans as "hunter-gatherers" they are speaking specifically about the adult males being the "hunters" and the females and children being the "gatherers." Think about the span of time that has ingrained this instinct into humans. Anthropologists tell us that the first hominids appeared about 4.4 million years ago. The first stone tools (simple stone flakes for cutting meat) were developed about 2.5 million years ago, but it took another million years or so for the first hand axe to be invented. Homo sapiens first appeared about 150,000 years ago. Cro-Magnon (modern) man appeared about 40,000 years ago. The first walled town (Jericho) was founded around 8,000 B.C. Women received the right to vote in the U.S. in 1920 (and in Switzerland in 1971). Until very, very, very recently in human history, it was the males of our species who hunted and went off to war and the females who stayed close to home and raised the children. For millions of years it was necessary for the survival of the species for human males to be physically aggressive, just as it was necessary for the survival of the species for human females to care for the young and the sick and wounded. Whether these survival instincts from our primitive past work for or against the modern martial arts instructor is dependant on his understanding of how these instincts are at work in his students. An instructor who ignores the physical, behavioral and cultural differences between the genders in self-defense training does a serious and unnecessary disservice to his students. The better we understand the place our students are starting from, the better we can help them get to where they wish to go. Self-defense instructors often encounter a student who is on the low end of the human aggression bell curve. These students often appear to have a low self-protection instinct. Sometimes the problem is not so much that these students don't want to defend themselves as much as they have a hard time imagining themselves harming another. I have found that very often when a person is on the low end of the bell curve in aggression, that same person will be on the high end when it comes to compassion. It is common for instructors to find that the majority of those who fall into this category are women. Physical aggression in women can be brought out if one understands that most women require a different "trigger" to raise their physical aggression levels up to what is required in a self-defense situation then do most men. The "trigger" that seems to work when all else fails I call the "Parent/Protector" instinct. If you ask a woman on the low end of the aggression scale what she would do if a stranger attacked her, you may see a look of fear in her eyes. If the same woman has children, ask her what she would do if a stranger attacked one of her kids and she will get a look in her eyes that will give you nightmares for a week. Getting the necessary aggression to come out might just be a matter of finding the right button to push or, as I call it, the right "trigger." I tell the women who need that extra push to imagine that they are not only defending themselves, but their children as well. If the woman has no children have her imagine future children are being attacked. If this doesn't work, then temporally "give" her some children. Have her lead the children's class in their warm-up exercises. Let her get to know them. Then ask her to imagine someone coming into the school and trying to harm one of the children. If the image of a child won't work as a trigger for a particular woman, try a parent, husband or boyfriend; the principle is the same. Here is an important point. Once a low aggression person has crossed the threshold where they can see themselves aggressively attacking another human being in defense of someone else, it is just a short step for them to believe themselves capable of doing the same in their own defense. While human females, on average, tend to be smaller, with less upper body strength and are normally less aggressive then the males of the species, that does not mean they are helpless. I tell my students "If a caveman could successfully defend himself against a cave bear that was ten times his body weight, armed with nothing more than a sharpened piece of rock tied to a stick, then a modern woman can successfully defend herself against a modern criminal only twice her body weight with nothing more than a sharpened piece of steel." DRILL:The student pictures the person they feel protective instincts for standing behind them while they practice self defense techniques. Have the instructor say "If he gets through you, he gets to them" or "do you want your child to grow up without you?", etc. 7. The Dominant Male. In many species of mammals only the strongest, most dominant male of the group gets to mate. Thankfully, this is not the case with humans (or else how could guys like Woody Allen get a date?). With rights, however, comes responsibilities. If the dominant male is the only one to mate, he is also the first male, and sometimes only male, to defend the herd against predators. Human males also have this instinct to protect their mates and young and I try to bring this instinct out before sparing through what I call "warm-up imagery" . DRILL: Try this at your next sparring class. Mark off a "doorway" with tape on the floor and place student #1 before this doorway. His job is to prevent his opponent from getting through the doorway. Student #2's job is to get through the doorway. Tell student #1 to imagine that his family is behind him and if the "bad guy" gets through him then the bad guy gets to his family . Or you can run the drill with the opposite view and tell student #2 that he is the good guy and imagine that the man in the doorway is one of two burglars who has entered his home and that the second burglar is beyond the doorway attacking his family. Tell him that the way to his family is through the first burglar. This drill not only works on the techniques of either stopping or getting past an opponent, but really brings out a high level of determination in most men. Sparring during this drill takes on an entirely different look compared to regular sparing which is based more on "dueling" than real combat. Note: it's best to do this drill with only one "good guy" and one "bad guy" at a time. If you have both students get in the mindset of protecting their families simultaneously, their high level of determination can lead to injuries. 8. The Hunter. I think of a hunter's aggression as a very controlled, focused type of aggression. Many would call this specialized focus "tunnel vision," which in modern parlance has a negative connotation, but for the hunter tunnel vision is a necessary survival skill. I divide a hunter's "tunnel vision" into three skills. "Search-Filter" vision (as when a hunter visually searches for camouflaged prey), "Aim-Throw" vision (as when a hunter aims then throws a spear through intervening brush) and "Track-Chase" vision (as when a lion visually tracks the one animal it is chasing through a herd). Lions, birds of prey and humans can be classified as "Sight Hunters," as opposed to wolves and sharks which are "Scent Hunters." Since vision is our sharpest sense, human hunters learn to key in on certain visual clues using "Search-Filter" vision while looking for an animal. We learn to use a mental template of the shape, color and texture of our prey and filter out all that does not match that template. Just a small glossy black eye or a single horizontal line in a predominately vertical forest may be enough for a human hunter to spot his prey. DRILL: The types of tunnel vision martial artists practice most often in class are "Aim" vision as when you deliver a punch through an opponent's guard; and "Tracking" vision as when you block a punch. These are skills most martial artists learn sufficiently through sparring. Since Search-Filter vision is a necessary combat survival skill that is often neglected in many martial arts classes we will learn a drill that develops that skill, which I call "Spot the Weapon." You can put a toy handgun or training knife in a corner of your workout area. At the beginning of class have your students close their eyes and name all the weapons in view. You will be surprised at how obvious you can make a weapon and still have it go unnoticed by the untrained eye. Another variation is to have a small folding knife palmed in your hand or to wear a toy handgun under your uniform and see how long it takes for your students to notice the weapon. The goal here is to train them so that even subconsciously they will always be on the look-out for weapons in their day to day activities. 9. The Warrior. Whether a solider, a police officer or a civilian martial artist the distinguishing feature of warrior aggression is the awareness that you are facing multiple opponents. A warrior must think differently than a hunter. What would be instinctive for a hunter to do to a prey animal after bringing it down, (hit it till it's dead), will usually get the modern law enforcement officer in a world of trouble. For the civilian, pummeling mugger #1 to a bloody pulp may bring temporary satisfaction, but that satisfaction will be very short lived if this allows mugger # 2 to sneak up from behind and puts a 6 inch blade into your back. A solider clearing a building in urban warfare must not charge ahead of his teammates and leave himself without covering fire. DRILL: Track-Chase tunnel vision, which is so useful for the hunter, can easily be overused by the warrior and put him in danger. Here is a simple "Hunter-to-Warrior" transition drill that I use in my law enforcement classes that teaches when to move from one type of aggression to another. 1. Bad guy attacks and good guy defends using necessary physical force. 2. Bad guy falls to the ground (at random intervals). 3. Good guy takes a position of advantage (this could be getting to the bad guy's back, taking cover or simply backing up a step or two to get your back against a wall). 4. Good guy quickly does a visual check for more bad guys (I have civilians check for escape routes instead). Multiple opponent sparing will also help to "cure" you of the wrong use of Track-Chase tunnel vision (just don't jump into the deep end of the pool to learn how to swim; do plenty of basic multiple opponent footwork drills before you get into multiple opponent sparing). Note: In my job as a New York State Court Officer I have been in a great many "multiple opponent" situations in which I was one of the multiple opponents. I can tell you from experience that once someone is brought to the ground by multiple opponents the odds of that single opponent escaping are very, very low. 10. The Duelist. In my teens I studied four styles of Penchak Silat. Two of these styles focused on "Duelist Aggression." The idea being that if you were challenged to a duel in these styles, while it would be a fight in which the loser would be severely injured or killed, it would be a fight with certain rules: You would agree on certain weapons or the absence of weapons before hand and you would have to deal with only one opponent at a time. This parallels many accounts of duels you find in both Asian and Western literature. In my view there are two major distinctions between a duelist and a hunter or warrior. First, unlike the hunter or warrior, the duelist does not need to chase down or ambush an opponent; and second, generally the duelists will agree to a set of rules (however minor) beforehand. Many of the empty hand dueling techniques I learned in Penchak went deeply into taking a lock into the counter, recounter and tertiary counter level. We worked on some amazing locks that would disable three different joints on an opponent simultaneously. The locks, counters and recounters became like a chess game and I feel that such long strings of counters and recounters develop the same "mental muscles" as does a good game of chess. The problem with these techniques though was that you were so tangled up with an opponent that is was not easy to quickly disengage should a second opponent appear. I think most ground grappling falls into this category, so one must choose where and when you engage in "Duelist Aggression" carefully. DRILL: Take each lock or takedown into the counter, recounter and tertiary counter phase. 11. Live Capture. Most of the material I teach that uses "Live Capture" involves law enforcement officers (LEO's). What makes things interesting of course is that the good guys and the bad guys are not playing by the same set of rules. While the LEO's focus is on taking control of an offender with as little damage to the offender or LEO as possible, the offender's focus is purely on escape and he will do whatever he has to to effect that escape. The majority of the techniques here involve bringing the offender to the ground or pinning him against a wall and applying an arm lock to gain control in order to apply handcuffs. DRILL: Emphasize takedowns in which the opponent lands facedown. My favorite lock for live capture is the straight arm bar into bent arm bar combo which allows me to cuff the offender. 12. Sport. Most early sports evolved as a way to safely hone skills needed for hunting or war. While that is not true of every sport today, even something as unwarlike as ping-pong does improve your reaction time. I would say that the defining difference between sport and combat is, of course, in sport's emphasis on safety. One can engage in an action that is designed to severally injure or kill an opponent and that would be training for combat. Take the same action, modify the tools, add safety equipment and rules that encourage a spirit of sportsmanship and it becomes a sport. For example: Even though you are engaging in actions that would be considered felonious assault if done on the street, boxing is a sport. No matter how much blood is spilt in the "No-Holds-Barred" events, because there is a referee, because certain techniques are not allowed, and most importantly, because you can tap out, the "No-Holds-Barred" fights you see on TV are a sport. Drills for sports are very specific to that sport and are designed to fit inside the "universe" of that sport. For instance, an Olympic fencer need not train to defend against an opponent's left hook and pro-boxers don't bother to learn counters to a judo player's hip throw. DRILLS: A martial artist should decide if he is training for sport or for combat (it is difficult, if not impossible to make a tournament both safe and combat realistic). If training for tournaments you must focus only on those techniques which are allowed in the tournament. To a certain extent you can train for both tournaments and combat defensively but not offensively. What I mean by this is while a pro-boxer won't spend his valuable training time practicing kicking techniques, he can still keep his legs in a position that lowers his own vulnerability to low kicks. While punches to the face are not scored in many Tae Kwon Do tournaments, while kicks to the face are, a Tae Kwon Do tournament player can still keep his hands up to defend his head. Many Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) tournaments allow grappling. A FMA tournament fighter should keep in mind that getting hit with a rattan training stick in armor is different than getting hit without armor with a heavy ironwood fighting stick (and obviously far different than a sword) and not voluntarily take a sacrifice hit on the way in to a grappling move. While a FMA practitioner in a tournament knows he will be fighting a single opponent with no concealed weapons, he should still concentrate on ground techniques that allow a quick escape and those that guard against the pulling of a concealed weapon. Conclusion: You should now understand that you have many tools in your mental tool box labeled "Controlled Human Aggression", and while each tool has its value, each is best used at its own specific time. ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2001 17:19:34 PDT Subject: the_dojang: . ------------------------------ End of The_Dojang-Digest V8 #327 ******************************** It's a great day for Taekwondo! Support the USTU by joining today. US Taekwondo Union, 1 Olympic Plaza, Ste 104C, Colorado Spgs, CO 80909 719-578-4632 FAX 719-578-4642 ustutkd1@aol.com http://www.ustu.org To unsubscribe from the_dojang-digest send the command: unsubscribe the_dojang-digest -or- unsubscribe the_dojang-digest your.old@address in the BODY (top line, left justified) of a "plain text" e-mail addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com. Copyright 1994-2001: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply.