Background, we have 4 fighters preparing for fights in September. So today in the gym we started talking about how we learn things.
If I say put your feet like this, you can do that right now.
If I say move your feet like this you’ll need some time to practice to get comfortable
If I say hold your hands like this, you can do it right now
If I say block a punch like this you’ll need some time to practice.
Then there are the things I don’t/can’t teach you but you learn them with experience. So how cool would it be if I could teach you stuff before you have to experience it. Move your head feet and hands like this so you don’t get hit in the face…
Between Boxing in Junior high and high school, wrestling from 4th grade to my senior year then tai chi and Taekwondo while in the Marine Corps I feel confident in my ability to fight, if I really have to.
Love It!
We have a few guys that do really good in competitive fighting, the rest of us just want to have a chance if the little bastard on the street picks us.
I told my wife that I am afraid to fight someone, I am not sure it would work well for anyone confronting me. I would not want to hold back, and I would go till I felt I was done, not when they felt they were done.
These are basic tactics which can be utilized in any trainer/trainee scenario, whether it be self defense, auto mechanics, balancing a financial budget or washing the dishes.
“This is the task you need to perform.”
“These are the tools you have to perform the task.”
“This is how you hold/manipulate the tools to perform the task.”
“When your task is complete, put your tools away.”
These are the basic step we as trainers can provide, but it is up to the trainee to learn and gain the experience needed to become proficient. Some trainees get it, some do not.
For those who don’t get it I can only say this:
You can lead a man to knowledge, but you can’t make him think.
I have been ‘blessed’ to have competent, patient, nerves of steel Trainers along the way
to be able to teach a lunk-head like me the all around skills to not only survive but thrive in
.combat.
But like Bruce just said ‘Not everybody ‘gets it’. Boiled down and in it’s simplicity
Shooting, Training, Self D are simple.
WE OVERCOMPLICATE THINGS
People I NEVER thought would get it, GOT IT!
Like in a fight (fists n feet/a shoot) you never know how your going to act.
It’s well documented throughout history the ‘Braggarts’ show off’s, Wanna bee’s
are the ones who fold like a cheap suit the minute someone calls their braggadocio BS
and they tuck tail and run.
I helped a College kid get the basics down and then turned her over to a Pro.
She was a natural shooter. The Instructor said to me ‘I like when you send someone
my way. They are ready to go when they meet me’. If I can be a little arrogant here
I know my limitations. Teaching shooting is for the Pro’s as I said. I’m good
at breaking down the barriers (FEAR) of the Newbie, fear of the gun, fear of the
Ranges and Range Officers. New people coming in already KNOW they have this
‘concern’ of being hassled ‘You didn’t do this right’ you stepped over the line’, you
didn’t let one door close before opening… yeah yeah blah blah blah. by Range Officers.
If I had a couple of Mi$$ion dollars in a mattress somewhere I’d open a Range that catered to ALL. Newbie’s/Pro’s and everybody in between. Just because you have no competition doesn’t give you the right to be so stuck up and arrogant.
Just open the doors, Teach, Learn, Experience (and then STFU!)
