I owe you guys another post on Yamashiro, but we had Rory Miller in town this weekend…sorry, but I’m gonna write about that while it’s fresh on my mind. (Apologies also for the new format – still getting used to it and have to fix some of the older stuff.)
First off, if you haven’t read Meditations on Violence, read it. There’s a lot of good material in it that you should know, particularly if you train. Also, I wrote about one of Rory’s seminars a few months back – read that if you want some more context.
Amy and John brawling – both of them are great training partners and a lot of fun to work with (honestly, everyone was a pleasure to work with, not just saying that).
Day One was in the dojo…the clean day (you’ll see what I mean tomorrow). The material of course is not clean, most of it is pretty screwed up actually (violence I mean, not how Rory teaches it). In a nutshell, we covered:
- Self-defense law
- The seven elements of self-defense
- Fighting to the goal
- Predator and violence dynamics
- Counter-ambush
- Movement/pain/damage/shock
- Mindset
Most of the day was devoted to lectures on different aspects of self-defense and violence. A lot of time was spent on types of violence (social vs. asocial) and legal stuff you really must know regarding use of force. Interspersed with the lecture was some technique practice, largely based on Rory’s “One Move” drill.
[Some of you won’t be familiar with the One Move drill. In a nutshell: each guy gets one move (duh). That’s harder than you think – blocks count as one move, so if all you do is block then you never get a chance to get in front of the damage curve. There are several variations of this drill; I picked it up from Rory some years back and if you’ve trained at NWMA very long you’ve done some version of it.]
Good shot (the elbow I mean – it’s really hard to get decent pictures in the dojo).
Like a lot of teachers I know, one of Rory’s themes is “make it fun”. Obviously, martial arts should be fun, if not then why do it? Plagiarizing myself, if all you’re interested in is self-defense then it’s probably more cost-effective just to hire a body-guard. Rory’s spin though is that we have to own it. Quoting him from two-day old and a-night-of-scotch-ago memory:
You’re more likely to remember (techniques) you have played at than something you learned at a seminar.
Ok my memory is worse than what I thought. Or maybe you just had to be there. ANYWAY…learn the techniques, play with them and make them fun, that way you’ll retain them. (Sorry I butchered the quote Rory.)
See how much fun we had?? You guys missed it.
Just a few highlights:
Self-defense law: You may use the minimum level of force that you reasonably believe will safely resolve the situation.
There was a lot of discussion around that simple sentence. Definitions, examples, stories…things that make it real and give it context; like many things, reading the words is necessary but not sufficient. But hey, you don’t get a free seminar just reading this post. I told you guys you should come…
If you use force and end up in court, you must demonstrate IMOP:
- Intent – the threat had the intent to harm you
- Means – the threat had the means to harm you
- Opportunity – the threat had the opportunity to harm you
- Preclusion – if you couldn’t just leave the situation, you’d better be able to explain why not
Criminals know this stuff better than you.
Mindset: Pick an animal. Fight like you imagine that animal would.
That one was a lot of fun. I think Rory’s right – animal forms (Crane, Tiger, Mantis, etc.) didn’t come necessarily from watching animals fight, they came from people imagining that’s how animals fight. Just pick an animal and you can found a whole new style!
Don’t take Badger, that one’s mine.
Badger Style
My favorite scene of the day:
Rory was talking about drug addicts and the violence they will commit in order to maintain their addiction. To illustrate the point, he asked us what we might resort to if our children were starving. I immediately thought about stealing, and in discussions afterward I learned that a few thought about prostituting themselves. The first person that spoke up though jumped right up to DEFCON One with:
“I would hack off my leg and feed it to them.”
Pause. Deep breath.
Rory, speaking slowly: “That’s a little extreme.”
Well, *I* thought it was funny.
Martial artists – the only people I know who smile when they get choked. Rory looks a little goofy in this one but I think he’s ok with that. I have a good one of him for tomorrow.
Finally, I’ve been threatening (in my head anyway) to start one of those silly caption contests (I just take too many pictures that I think are kinda funny). Don’t expect a cool prize or anything, but if someone sends me something funny enough I’ll post it and give you credit. So…here you go:
Send me something good and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a fabulous box of air.
Thoughts on Day Two tomorrow.
I have to jump in on the caption contest:
“Just concentrate on your third eye, man.”