Is has been hot here in Southern California the last week as temperatures have soared to almost 100 degrees! I have not really bought in to this whole global warming debate because the average temperature has actually dropped in this decade but imagine my surprise to learn some coffee shops in Washington state actually let the gals work in bikinis! You can see this all the time at the beach but I usually think of Washington state as cold.
Things warmed up fast for one Washington area pervert when he was scalded while flashing the baristas! In what apparently is an old story from last year, a pervert was repeatably flashing the baristias at a drive though coffee shop! In this post I will examine ways anyone can defend themselves and some not so common weapons that can be used in a pinch. Here is a video I found on youtube.
So you have learned how to throw all of the kicks and punches and have achieved a black belt in your chosen style of karate; how can you improve your fighting ability? You have fought at a couple of open tournaments (open to all styles) and have yet to win a trophy? You had to defend your girlfriends honor and end up looking as bad as the other guy?
Do any of these statements resemble you? If so – read on. In this post I will introduce advanced fighting tactics that American Kenpo Karate teaches to brown and black belt students. Many of you that have learned your karate at Tracy’s or Joe Lewis Fighting Systems will recognize these techniques too as I believe Joe Lewis and Bruce Lee to be the source.
Do you remember that childhood game of hand slapping? Seemingly the fastest guy could slap the other guy’s hand before he could move it! If one knows how to do initial movement, he or she can slap the hand before the the other guy can move it! Watch this video I found and then I will explain initial movement and a high level overview of Angular Attacks.
I was watching sports on HBO I found a trilogy of fights between Autro “Thunder” Gatti and “Irish” Micky Ward and noted it was a tribute to Gatti’s passing. I’ve not been watching too much boxing in the last 10 years but it has always been one of my favorite fighting contests growing up.
Aturo Gatti was born in Italy and migrated to Canada. He grew up as a teen in New Jersey and was a notable blue collar boxer especially due to his exciting fighting style. I found a good overview of his life here. In this post I’ll talk a bit about his fighting style and show one good highlight video I found of the Gatti vs Ward trilogy. Here is a good overview of the sad case of his murder and the highlights of his boxing career I found.
Ok – you have stuck with your training and achieved a black belt in your chosen style. Perhaps you have really stuck it out and made it to 2nd or 3rd degree black belt! Are you stuck in a rut? I mean do you know it all? Have you wondered what is the meaning of life? Ok – the meaning of life will not be addressed in this post.
Many times we as martial artists get to a point where we think we know it all. After all once you learn all of the kicks, punches, knees, elbows, and kata – what else is there to learn? In this post I will talk about what the different levels of karate (the martial art I am most familiar) mean and how one progresses when they know it all.
Do we really have to retreat to the mountains and meditate to gain insight? How can we improve our fighting methods? Are there better ways of teaching students? Answers to all of your questions to help you in your quest to become a better martial artist in this post! Here is a video I found about the first masters of the marital arts doing a demonstration.
A real life self-defense situation can be a surreal experience. Many that have experienced this have wondered – it is really happening? How did I get here? And sometimes they start getting mad and put up a fight!
Here are some news stories about the San Diego Serial Rapist that has plagued San Diego since 2008!
Self-defense can come in may forms; in this story I am presenting today, the last victim, Christina Hennigan finds herself in a tricky situation and starts to turn the tables on her attacker! In this post I will highlight the self-defense story here, evaluate some of the considerations and give an overview of the serial rapist in San Diego. Here is Christina recounting the attack and chase.
This post is an update of the last housekeeping post. From time to time I change the look and feel of the blog to try and stay in-line with my goals for this site. What are my goals you might be wondering?
This website was created so I could help people understand how the martial arts might help them in their quest for self-defense prowess! Some other goals I have are to reach out to people of all walks of life, preferred fighting styles and just try to take some of the mystery out of self-defense. On that vein before I get into Ikigai’s eBook, the new links and upcoming stuff – here is a funny self-defense video (with a little colorful language) taught from the reverse perspective!
Here is an introduction by my friend, fellow black belt and hall of famer - David Hays:
I wanted to give this post a introduction. Many of you know that this post is done by John Zimmer. John is a good friend of mine and was inducted into the KenpoHall of Fame this past weekend along with Victor Hervias and John West. All of these men are from the San Diego school of Dick Willett. All of us that come from that school are proud to be part of this great fighting system.
John Zimmer, Victor Hervias and John West are some of the best all around fighters I have ever trained with. The speed of Victor, the hard hitting, unorthodox left handed style of John Zimmer and raw brutalness of John West always kept me on my toes. All three of these men are greats in the arts.
Last year at the 40th anniversary of Dick Willett’s San Diego American Kenpo School (now owned and ran by Todd McElhinny) a statement was read by Al Tracy. Master Tracy said that Dick Willett had produced some of the best fighter in Kenpo Karate.
The legendary fighter, Joe Lewis, who was at the event, stood up and said “That statement was not completely true.” Joe went on to say “Dick Willett had produced some of the best fighters anywhere period”. We were all humbled by that statement coming from the Joe Lewis. Congratulations men!
I am pleased to announce that I was among three black belts (John West, Victor Hervias and John Zimmer) that were nominated and inducted into the Kenpo Hall of Fame this last weekend in Chicago! Dick Willett’s American Kenpo Karate board selected us to go the the Tracy’s Karate – Gathering of Eagles 2009.
John West, Victor Hervias and I (John W. Zimmer) were all students of Dick Willett at Tracy’s Karate. Later we amicably split off from Tracy’s Karate and Dick formed American Kenpo Karate. In this post I will give a brief bio of each of us and speak more on the Gathering of Eagles 2009. Here is a picture of my instructor, Richard “Dick” Willett and myself.
You are the proverbial 98 pound weakling at Jones beach one summer day but rather than responding to that Joe Weider ad at the back of the comic book last fall, you sent away for the KETSUGO book! Yes you launched your pseudo martial arts training but now find yourself in a sandy situation! What do you do?
Before we explore that question – consider the ramifications? To what level of adversity must a confrontation rise before you respond? If you respond, how will you respond? Verbally? In kind? Or very aggressively? Are you concerned with your ego? Morally, Legally, Ethically, or do you just want to get even-steven?
In this post we will examine some of these issues as when to fight is every bit as important as how to fight. While you are framing your response, look at this video basically showing the logic of the comic book ad.
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