Modern Combat Concepts with Tim Cartmell

After a good five-hour thrashing:
From Left- Jake Burroughs, Me, and Tim Cartmell

MMA Training Group, c/o Terry, thanks


Yesterdays Seminar in Seattle with Tim Cartmell was one of the best I've been to, and my 51 year-old ass held up pretty good. I think the extra conditioning and a preview of Tim's "Ground-proofing" concepts with Jake a couple of weeks ago gave me a heads-up on what to prepare for.

As always, Tim's presentation was brilliant. Tim has experienced the concepts he teaches intellectually, physically, and in highly stressful competitive fighting. Tim knows what will work when the shit hits the fan, and it's no surprise that simpler is better. I've got two pages of notes and had plenty of time to mentally review the seminar on the way home.
As explained, every human will react predictably to given stimulus, like when the hands come up as someone pokes at their eyes. This can be used both ways, in attacking and defending, but let's focus on defense. The key is to take those gross motor skills and morph them into simple and natural reactions that fit a self-defense or fighting concept.
I have to say, this seminar- which was billed as "Intro to Mixed Martial Immersion", made me rethink a lot about how I have been training. That's what a good seminar is supposed to do, and it's sinking into my thick skull.
Tim always keeps his guard in a "boxers triangle" close to his head. He never reaches out to block anything, but rather pats jabs down "monkey paw" style, absorbs hooks against his head with forearms, and blocks body punches with movement and smothering the punches with forearms and elbows, which remain close to the body.
While it may sound like you would take a lot of punishment in this position, it is actually a great protective guard. I asked him if the extended guard of classical styles is still useful in any way, and he said it was just for training. When his master instructors in Taiwan actually fought or sparred, they reverted to this protective position. The idea is, once someone has crossed into punching range, they can work around or knock down an extended guard. The extended guard may work against drunk Rubes, but against anyone that can stand in and throw punches, this is the only guard that will protect you.
Here is where Tim made the distinction between ring fighting and street martial arts. There is no rule set on the street. So when you throw boxing punches, you can not over-rotate and expose your flank, as pro boxers do in the ring at times. You must always remain facing the opponent, so the punches need to be modified.
From the feet Tim moves in to the clinch range, where most fights go anyway. He seeks inside control on the bicep lines and then sets up the take down.
In his way of thinking, even a great kick boxer can get knocked out if the fight keeps on going, and he believes the quickest way to end the fight is to slam the opponent on a hard surface.
Sprawling to prevent leg dives, protecting yourself if you are on your back, and the technical rise to your feet were all covered in detail.
Tim, who wrote the book "Effortless Combat Throws", is an expert in high, damaging throws. But what he teaches are mostly off-balancing knock-downs, ankle picks and the occasional hip throw. Most of the take downs are more like tipping over a large cow; if you use simple angles and leverage it is possible to topple something much larger than yourself.
Those of you who read Dojo Rat regularly know I have a deep passion for the traditional Chinese Internal Martial Arts, especially the meditative and health aspects they provide.
But Tim provided a clear summary of the evolution of martial arts as they stand today. While very, very few of us train for ring fighting, we should not ignore new technology that actually makes survival in a violent confrontation possible.
This seminar will give our little Dojo a ton of new material to work on, in stand-up fighting, clinch work, and if all else fails, how to protect ourselves on the ground and safely return to our feet.
Great stuff from a great instructor, special thanks to my friend and Xingyi instructor Jake Burroughs for hosting the seminar.

The Controversy Continues: Chris Dow Weighs In

Today's guest rant is from fellow Dojo Rat and author of "The Wellspring; An Inquiry Into The Nature Of Chi", Christopher Dow:

I can’t help but believe that this issue, raised most often by MMA advocates, is really a nonissue. MMA is, indeed, a sport—a viewpoint that most of its advocates would not dispute. To quote Wikipedia: “Originally promoted as a competition with the intention of finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors were pitted against one another with minimal rules. Later promoters adopted many additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport.”
So, by definition, MMAs as they now are practiced are more limited than TMAs. While some MMA practitioners may be hell on wheels in the ring, where techniques are restricted, many could not stand up against a highly trained traditional martial artist on the street, where anything goes, including bone breaks, joint dislocation, tendon tearing, cavity strikes, and other debilitating and deadly techniques that take only an instant—and often no apparent effort—to accomplish. I think of someone like Yang Jwing-ming, whose expertise in chin na (not to mention several other TMAs) is so extensive, accurate, and fast that to present him with an antagonistic limb in any form or at any speed and power is to know instant pain and defeat—not to mention a probable hospital stay.
But let’s get to the reality of the situation. Mixed martial artists—and those who practice some of the more brutal combat arts such as Krav Maga—train strictly to fight a human opponent, and therein lies their failing no matter how effective they may be in combat. The truth is, the vast majority of us will never get into a fight, or if we do, it will be a rare occurrence generally against an opponent who is not well trained. Think drunk, basic belligerent jerk, or brawler. Against these opponents, the automatic trained responses of the average-to-good martial artist are probably effective enough to quickly end or divert a fight as most aggressors are interested in intimidation, not in getting hurt.
But all of us, whether we train in martial arts or not, do battle daily with some of our worst enemies: depletion of energy, ageing, illness, aches and pains, lack of direction, lack of concentration, stubbornness, laziness, and other ailments and negative proclivities of the human condition. Against these enemies, MMAs can’t hold a candle to TMAs—particularly the internal martial arts. Anyone who doesn’t believe this should watch the movies Requiem for a Heavyweight or The Wrestler. Both are realistic portrayals of the toll that ring combat sports take on the human body and spirit. Or, if you need real-life examples, think of Muhammad Ali, whose Parkinson’s Disease was probably caused by too many blows to the head or Mickey Rourke, star of The Wrestler, disfigured and also the recipient of too many head strikes, forcing him to retire from the ring and return to acting (thank goodness!). Then afterward, watch any YouTube video of traditional martial arts masters in their seventies and eighties who move as if they are decades younger than their calendar ages. To put it another way, the “broken-down pug” is a well-known stereotype for a reason, but how may of us have an image of the “broken-down karateka,” or, even more ludicrous, “the broken-down tai chi chuanist?”
If you’re going into the ring against an opponent, go ahead and practice MMA. Even Ali could barely stand up—literally—to mixed martial artist Antonio Inoke in 1976. The bout was called after fifteen rounds because Ali’s legs were bleeding from the kicks Inoke administered, and later, his legs became infected and developed blood clots. But if your principal enemy is the toll that life takes in many and various ways, TMAs are for you. The fact that they most definitely train you to defend yourself should the rare occasion arise is icing on the cake.

Traditional MA / Mixed MA, And The Three Dantiens

Yesterday in last post's comment section, reader Aric and I opened up the Traditional Martial Arts / Mixed Martial Arts can of worms again.
I am the first to say that practical sports like Western Boxing and Wrestling are perhaps the fastest path to fighting skills. But without the underpinning of philosophy and perhaps some form of meditative spirituality, Boxing, Wrestling and MMA are fight-sport, not Martial Arts. Just my opinion.

Where do the Dantien's fit in?

Let me see if this comparison works:
My Tai Chi Chuan instructor Michael Gilman was explaining the Three Dantiens to us. In my own words, the lower Dantien is near our navel, where we were connected to our Mother by the umbilical cord. It is where our sexuality stirs, and it is our physical center. The lower Dantien provides a sense of self.

The middle Dantien is in the chest, near the heart.
It is where we find our sense of love and responsibility to community, and is a higher level when concentrating on meditation and contemplation.

The upper Dantien is the "Third Eye", above the eyes in the forehead. It is associated with the Pineal Gland and is the highest level Dantien to open and meditate through. It is associated with psychic energy, extreme spiritual experience and all that is metaphysical.
This is the Dantien that is also opened up with drugs such as LSD, Magic Mushrooms, Peyote, etc. The problem is, some people who experiment with psychedelic drugs have no grounding in their sense of self or sense of community, found in the lower Dantiens. They have taken a short-cut on the long journey, but their vehicle has hit a bad stretch of road and trouble occurs. They have a Bad Trip...
So for young people, especially those that have no sense of self or sense of community, MMA is a similar short-cut. They may be given dangerous fighting skills, but in the wrong hands this can be socially and legally risky. Traditionally, Martial Arts Masters withheld the most dangerous techniques for only advanced and trusted students. Of course, this was in the era of the firearm, where Martial Arts stopped being a profession and moved into society as cultural expression and personal self defense. It was also at that time when philosophy and spirituality (something the typical soldier didn't need) was meshed with the fighting skills.
It's OK to take things one-step-at-a-time. We don't have to take the short-cut and risk a bad trip.

Culture Of Cruelty: From The Cage Match Craze To The Tea Party

Over twenty years ago I had a revelation that appeared to stand logic on it's head; The two most polite places I had ever been were Karate tournaments and Gun Shows.
That's right. At the Karate tournaments there were hundreds of fighters, many who outranked me and had far superior skills. Yet, complete respect was displayed across the ranks.
At the gun shows, nearly everyone was armed. It was a National Rifle Association Nirvana where you could walk around with a Beer, buying and selling rifles, shotguns and handguns. Everyone was polite beyond belief.
But something has changed.
While wasting some time flipping through television channels, I happened across the movie "Never Back Down". It's a simple formula flick that we've seen in dozens of versions: Boy meets girl, boy gets beat up, boy learns how to fight, boy gets girl in the end.
But what struck me is the level of blood-lust the teenage crowds at the fights displayed, and from what I have seen it wasn't far from the truth. While I myself have only seen "mixed martial arts" fights on TV, I have friends that have gone to casinos and arenas to watch them live. These guys are hard-core martial artists that train daily and have no problem kicking some ass. But I listened with interest as they described the wanna-be fighters in the crowds, everybody a tough guy with a chip on his shoulder. My friends said the atmosphere was too testosterone charged and probably would never go again, let alone take a wife or girlfriend to an event. It seemed everybody wanted to kick somebody's ass, and it wasn't worth putting up with.
Across the board, instructors of traditional martial arts have been complaining of low enrollment and general lack of interest in martial arts that are steeped in customs, respecting rank, philosophy, and the long self-improvement aspect associated with traditional Asian martial arts. Instead, our increasingly on-demand society seeks instant results. Young people are gravitating towards "mixed martial arts", which is a misnomer and should simply be referred to as "fight-sport".
These fight-sports have methods, not "arts". Combat brings necessary pain, while "art" necessarily brings pleasure.
Don't get me wrong; the advent of fight-sport has clearly weeded out certain fighting techniques that are not viable in our modern times. However, this has been at the expense of the parallel loss of martial virtue, "Bushido", or "Wu-De".
With great power comes great responsibility, and kids of the "Never Back Down" generation are cheating themselves out of traditions that instill humility, respect and order in an otherwise un-orderly world.

To "The Tea Party"
Continuing the "Culture of Cruelty" theme, we now look at the extremes that the "conservative" movement has allowed to develop since President Obama began his run for the Presidency. Spurred on by empty heads like Sarah Palin, low-information voters and outright racists have become nearly mainstream activists.
When the so called "political left" protests, it is generally against war, and in favor of labor and civil rights. Despite immense numbers of demonstrators, the worst that usually happens is some window at a Starbucks gets broken by a few out-of-control kids.
Now, the "political right"- generally in support of war, and against labor (unions) and against civil rights (Nixon's "Southern Strategy"), is openly bringing guns to their protests:

Setting aside the politics and issues involved, I can only say that low-information conservatives consistently vote against their own best interests. If the "Left" protests war, the "right" protests against sensible health care reform. And they're bringing guns.
Does this look familiar?:

And we had hoped that by now, in 2010, that things would have changed.
In our current "Culture of Cruelty", Black Congressmen are being spit on and called "Nigger". There is open talk of secession and revolution as the emerging Neo-Confederacy invites acts of violence and warns of a "Reckoning".
With 24-7 broadcasts by propagandists Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity the "Jew baiting" ramblings of last century's Father Coughlin pale by comparison.
Take a look at this conservative conference addressed by Sean Hannity, who later back peddled from his comparison of "Tea Party" activists to Oklahoma City bomber and mass-murderer Tim McVeigh:

Please note that the crowd applauds in agreement.
But perhaps the clearest example of the mindset of these "conservative" activists is the abject cruelty displayed to a man with Parkinson's disease with a sign pleading for health care reform at a "Tea Party" rally:

With the first Black President and the first woman Speaker of the House, the fragile grip conservative white Americans had on the country is slipping away. Unwittingly led by corporate overlords through fake "AstroTurf" grass-root movements like Dick Armey's "Freedom Works", conservatives struggle to label Obama a Socialist, Communist, and in the greatest case of "projection" ever, "Fascist". Never mind they can't define or differentiate between either of these political ideologies.
**********
Things are escalating to dangerous new levels. The pot is literally calling the kettle "black", and the pot is packing guns to political rallies.
During the McCarthy Communist "witch hunt" in 1954, chief council for the Army Joseph Welch was defending a young attorney that had been a member of The National Lawyers Guild. In this famous moment, he sums up the atmosphere of not only the hearings, but the political climate:


At long last, Tea Party activists; have you no sense of decency?