As I watch all the ninja videos on IG and the web, I am struck by one extremely troubling constant:   videos of art(s) displaying technique against a non-resistant opponent and/or dummies.  The best part though is said video being used or shown as PROOF TO THE SYSTEMS SUPERIORITY!  I would say the worst culprits are those of the edged-weapon arts (too dangerous to spar), but I'm sure there are some old school DIM MAK guys out there selling a "Death Touch" program using videos much like the ones I'm describing.  With that said, I have studied Kali and various similar arts for a couple decades and understand the use of "dead patterns" as a training tool.  This is something different.  It appears to be a vetting of the program of sorts.  I have no problem with someone trying to make a buck, even off a dumbass.  I do have a problem with "Snake Oil" systems that make unbelievable claims or that are just insulting to those of us that KNOW what real violence is and how it behaves.  I have never punched anyone, no matter how many times, and had them stop resisting unless I knocked them unconscious.  Until that lapse in consciousness, they fought like hell, counter-attacking and looking for any opportunity.  In some cases like their life or freedom depended on it because it did.  I, however, have never stabbed anyone but I have BEEN STABBED and let me tell you true believers, I was all over that dude, swinging, grabbing, and if  I'd had an opportunity to gouge his eyes out of his head or bite his ear or fucking nose off I would have done it.  BECAUSE HE STABBED ME!!!  You can't believe everything you read and even less of what you see on "The 'Gram" .  
I felt obliged to offer seven little gems on the subject of knife fighting in particular and violence in general.  These come from "Put'Em Down, Take'Em Out! Knife Fighting Techniques from Folsom Prison" by Don Pentecost. 
1. Ruthless determination will over shadow technique or choice of weapon every time. 
2.The will to win is more important than the skill to win. 
3. When you experience pain of any kind your first and immediate reaction must be anger. 
4. REMEMBER RESISTANCE IS WHAT SEPARATES REALITY FROM FANTASY.
5. In a life threatening situation get whatever you can, whenever you can, as many times as you can.
6. As long as your opponent is physically capable of harming you, there is no such thing as excessive force. 
7. Any person has the capacity for violence if he has the motivation, right environment, and the situation warrants violence.  

​What does it mean to be “Friendly”?

I was scrolling through IG today, and stopped on an ad for campers/mobile homes. At the bottom of the image of an old Airstream Trailer, it read “Friendly”. Now there is a word that I rarely use, if ever. I also rarely hear it. It used to be a word I used. But that was in another life, a long time ago. In that other life, “friendly” was not an adjective, it was a noun. It meant: “We’re comin’ in”, We’re on the same side”, “Where do you need us?”, or “We’re here to get you the fuck up outta here.” It meant tons of things. But the gist was always this: we’re here, we’re united, we can do this, we will win together. 

Oddly enough, some months back I stumbled on a word while researching the Rhodesian bush war, and it’s a hashtag I now use: “Pamwe chete”. It’s a phrase from the African Shona language. It means “Forward together”, or “All Together Forward”. At first, I just thought it sounded cool, but when I found out what it meant, it was no wonder to me. Words and language can be funny things. And the meanings we attached of them may have absolutely nothing to do with the word itself except in some ancillary disconnected way. Or they could just have different meanings in different lives. The fact that this is the day after Memorial day is not lost on me either. It’s just one more way that old life reaches out and steers this one. 

So here’s to those other lives. Those long ago times when our whole vocabulary may have been different, and it’s meaning something other than the obvious. Those lives shaped this one and gave us granite foundations to build it on. Lives we won’t squander. Lives we will wring out together for those waiting on us somewhere else.

As I sit here typing, I'm about eighteen hours from rotator cuff surgery. Most people I've talked to respond somewhere between, "Dude, that sucks," and "Man, you're going to have to slow down." To which I reply, "It's no biggie," and "Nope!"
This will be my ninth surgery since 2005. Being down is not necessarily out in my book. I intend on utilizing my time wisely; writing more and reading a long list of books I've had earmarked for a long time.
​I was not near this calm, cool, and collected before my first bicep surgery twelve years ago. Over the next few weeks and months I will get into how and why my attitude has changed and keep trying to motivate and help those who might be going through or getting ready to have similar things done.
That is all.

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As I pulled this coffee cup out of the cabinet today I just felt like I need to talk about this.

This bulldog is a mere shadow of its ancestors, the bull and bear baiting badasses that showed heart and grit in the dark forests and dingy slums.  It has "evolved" into a trainwreck of health problems and contradictions. It's evolution being driven by the political correctness of the time.

We cannot let ourselves "evolve" in the same manner.   Push yourselves and those around you. Get your asses to the gym and take that BJJ class or Thai Boxing class. Spend a little of your green to keep all of your RED!!!

I have had six ortho surgeries in the last nine years and have shoulder surgery scheduled for this August.  I will listen to my doc and do as I'm supposed to, but I already have my training schedule layed out for the next six months.

I'm not special; I just don't quit. We can't afford to - any of us. The only reason to stop is when they start throwing dirt on you. Do not go softly into that good night...  that is all.

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