I will be in Petaluma, CA on August 3rd at Esteem BJJ teaching how to make sure our BJJ skills are street ready, including dealing with the possibility of multiple opponents and weapons.
Not sure of the price, but the owner of the Academy likes to keep it low, so it will most likely be under$100. Text him at
(707)292-9457
And jump on in! If you want to understand the tiny tweaks we need to be truly ready to apply our BJJ in the real world, you will dig it.
There are many positive things about training in BJJ. Perhaps the single best one is that the mat does not lie.
Far too often, and historically speaking, self-defense training was based largely on faith. We had to trust that what we were learning would work, because we could not test them particularly well. They were “too deadly to spar”, or in the case of firearms, no one wants to get shot in practice. We did not have the gear or even a good framework to attempt to apply them.
As students, we had to accept the stories told by our teachers. That this particular technique worked 300 years ago in SE Asia to fight off pirates or marauding invading samurai, or that this other technique was really successful in killing Nazi sentries in WW2. Any martial art geek (this writer right there among that crowd) can talk about legends of people who came before, especially if said person was in the same lineage. I remember reading a ton of stories about legendary rooftop fights that happened all the time in Hong Kong in the 50’s and 60’s. A number of Chinese martial artists, including Bruce Lee, had some their laurels stemming from these encounters. Then, thanks to the wonders of the internet age, someone found actual film of some of these fights and put it online for the world to see. I cannot begin to tell you of my disappointment at seeing them. A bunch of 12 year olds fighting in the school yard had better skills and technique than these “masters” exhibited. But prior to that, we had to accept the myth that these were amazing fights and only gods among men could emerge triumphant from them.
Thankfully, there were three concurrent events happening. One, the rise of the information age made it easier to trade facts and truth rather than legends. Two, the advent of better training gear, ranging from headgear and gloves all the way to firearm marking cartridges (simunitions and UTM) allowing us to be more safe in applying real force and pressure on training partners and coming as close as possible to experiencing what a fight for your life may feel like, and three, the arrival of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu into the US and then the rest of the world.
What BJJ did, outside of giving us a functional and safe grappling methodology accessible to anyone, was to give up a template and framework in which we could truly test things. Every single time you step on the BJJ mat to train, the truth will be revealed. No longer can a “master” who is too fat to even climb a flight of stairs without stroking out can pretend to be a fighting god. No longer can someone say that all it takes to win a fight is to eye gouge or groin grab someone. It is no longer possible to pretend to know something about the mysteries of fighting without being able to demo the ability to apply that mystery.
That extends to the world inside BJJ as well. Anyone can go on Amazon and buy a black belt, put it on and walk into a BJJ academy. But they will be kindly asked to show what they can do. And it will be evident quickly if they are a phony or not. Royce Gracie once said “A belt covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.” And truer words were never said. There have been some cases of a phony belt getting caught publicly and sometimes the video even goes viral. More often, it is a quieter and more private affair where someone comes to an academy and says they are a purple belt (or any belt lower than black). But it only takes a couple of rolls to find out if that is fact or fiction. Sometimes the person does not know he is not at that rank. He was given it for some other reason by a higher belt (probably for financial or student retention reasons by the instructor – and shame on him for doing so), and moves to another school and after a bit of training realizes he is out of his depth. At a good school, they will help him to grow into that belt rather than punish him for someone else’s mistake and make him take it off. That has happened multiple times at my Professor’s academy. We know it is not his fault, and can help him, but we don’t have to tell him what is up. The mat does not lie and shows him the truth.
Sadly, there are still people out there who try to fool the world, but if they have not been caught, they will be. My favorite is the guy who never really out and out says he is a black belt in BJJ, but wears a black belt because he is a black belt in some other art like Tae Kwon Do. He knowingly knows he is being deceitful, but is desperate to get away with it. Nothing ever good comes from that, because eventually, the truth will tell, because the mat does not lie. It is fine to tell the world you are awesome, but the mat says prove it. And you either can, or cannot.
I tend to be overly passionate about trying to help people become more – more safer, more capable, and more dangerous. I realize it sounds a bit too self-righteous, but I cannot think of a better description than I feel it is a calling to teach functional fighting concepts and do it in a way that anyone can benefit from them. Not only does every single person deserve the right and the capability to defend themselves purely for their own intrinsic worth, but also because it makes society as a whole better. When all the good guys can defend themselves from the bad guys, the bad guys lose their power.
I know it can be done. I am living proof. I have no special abilities. In fact, I have a long list of things that hold me back, and they are things that I have lived with all my life. But in can be done if you do the work.
One thing that continually comes up though is this idea that you “have to get in shape for X”. I hear these things all the time – “I will take a few months to get in shape for BJJ” – Why? Nothing will get you in BJJ shape like actually doing BJJ! Or this one – “I need to spend a couple months working my shooting before taking a pistol class” – again, why? You know how you get better at shooting? Taking a training class! Here is a classic – “I need to get prepped for ECQC” – no; you need to go through ECQC so you can know what you need to do to prep for a fight.
Generally there are two reasons for these excuses.
One, the person genuinely thinks he needs to have some kind of preparation before doing one of these things. This person is afraid of not being able to do something during the training, or looking bad, or not doing well. Guess what? All those things will happen regardless! And who cares? Its training! There is not one legitimate instructor who expects a student to do everything perfectly after being told once. That is not how this works at all. Show up in whatever condition/capability you are currently at, and work to get better. It is a simple process.
The other reason for excuses like these is because the speaker is trying to get himself mentally ready to go and make the commitment. It is easy to put it off – “I need to lose 25 pounds so I am going to start eating right next month” – that is the path to failure. The commitment happens on a daily basis. It is not a thing in and of itself. Each day you say to yourself “I am going to do this” and the next day you have to repeat it. Your mind does not acclimate and make it easier. There is no magic line in the sand where it just happens. YOU have to make it happen, every day.
So what do we do? JUST START. TODAY. I don’t care what, or how much, but start right now. Don’t know hwo to start? Cool. Here are some suggestions.
There are tons more you can do. The point being to just start right now, and do what you can, with what you have, for as long a time as you can, and don’t quit.
The search to become safer, better, and more capable as a self-defender and as a human being is incredibly difficult. There are no easy steps or paths. It requires a lot of blood, sweat, tears, time, and money. One way that the path can be eased somewhat is to have mentors. But what does that mean?
The term Mentor comes from the Odyssey and it was a character who was Odysseus’ son’s teacher and advisor. He came to epitomize the concept of passing wisdom to someone younger and less experienced, but did it in a personal and direct way. A mentor is not just someone you learn from, especially if there is no contact with them. While we can learn many things from books and history and the words of those who came before us, a mentor is someone who takes an intense and direct interest in us. It might be for a narrow field, or it may be for life in general.
For example, I cannot begin to get across to people how important Theodore Roosevelt was to me growing up. It was reading about him and how he fought asthma that gave me the strength at 12 years old to undertake the same fight in an aggressive and dedicated way. Without that, it is highly doubtful if I would have accomplished most of the things I have done Martial Art wise in my life. But that does not mean he was a mentor. He was dead 40 some years before I was born. My life and my path in it was not something he could have ever taken a direct interest in. He was an inspiring hero, but he was not a mentor.
I would also argue that family and friends are not mentors. Them helping and aiding you is part of what makes family and is part of friendship.
Probably the key hallmark of mentorship is an active and continuous interaction between the mentor and the mentored. Being able to constantly ask questions and seek advice on a regular basis is how you navigate difficult waters, not just get a one-and-done answer.
I have been blessed to have had actual mentors. My BJJ professor, Megaton Dias, is a key one. His lessons (many of which were physically and emotionally painful!) have helped me more than I can express. Craig Douglas, while he is also one of my closest and dearest friends, is another one. Tom Givens has gone out of his way to offer much guidance as an instructor in general and a firearms instructor in particular. Countless others have offered help and thoughts along the way, and even if they have not been on-going mentors, they have certainly helped.
So make the effort to find a mentor, and to cultivate that relationship. It takes work, but it is worth every bit you put into it.
It is not a secret to many people that know me that I am not a huge fan of no-gi training, especially in a self-defense context.
Mostly my opposition to it revolves around a couple of things.
Does that mean I am dead set against no-gi, or that I believe that is has no value at all for self-defense? I am in no way saying that. I think there are some spots that no-gi training shines, and while those spots may be less important or less necessary, does not meant they should be ignored.
Where no-gi shines is:
Even though I dislike no-gi, I do think that not only does it offer some value for self-defense, but it also is just good practice to work it on its own anyway. I follow Stephen Kesting’s dictum that BJJ training should be 80/20. 80% of the time do your preferred type or work, and 20% do the other, regardless of personal taste or preference.
This is one of my most used guard attacks. It works across all contexts – sport competition (gi or no-gi), MMA/Vale Tudo, and self-defense, even in a weapons based environment. Note a few things: 1) with his arm locked down and in my closed guard, he is effectively limited in what he can do. Even the dreaded headbutt (a potential issue in closed guard generally) is completely prevented 2) if he tries to free his trapped arm, he gives me plenty of space to hip out to that side and presents me with multiple attacks 3) I have my other hand free to control his free arm preventing strikes, and along with the fact that the closed guard positioning of legs makes it really hard for him to access weapons, I keep safe from almost any offensive thing he can do.
In short, this is a very powerful control, and the sweep that I show flows easily from it, and typically arises from my opponent’s actions to get out of that control. It is one of my favorites.
Bob Hoffman was a pioneer of strength and conditioning training in the US. He was possibly the single most important person when it came to the dominance of the US Olympic weightlifting program from the 20’s through the late 60’s. He published a long running magazine called Strength and Health (a clear reflection on his fitness beliefs), and wrote numerous books and strength programs throughout his life. It is truly sad to me that few people, even ones intimately involved in strength and conditioning, barely know him.
One of my favorite books (and training programs) he wrote was called The Daily Dozen. It was a two part program where the first six exercises were done everyday no matter what, and the second set of six, made up of barbell exercises, were done three times a week. What is so fascinating to me about the program is the emphasis on health, not just physical prowess. Hoffman had almost a religious fervor about making everyone more fit and healthy, not just competitive athletes. That is something that tends to get lost in the desire to improve. We get hyper-focused on what the perfect routine is to make us swole and massively strong, but few of us are professional athletes, and we have to deal with the issues of being an everyday person. Hoffman’s Daily Dozen is a nice way to address this.
I have been doing (unknowingly) a version of this for years. I do some training every day. While this may entail two to three hours on a jiu-jitsu mat, it may also only be a five minute dry fire program, or a handful of exercises that take a couple of minutes. Regardless, I do something every day. Even when traveling, I manage to fit in something. A few months ago, I decided to be a little more consistent in what they would be, and follow Hoffman, at least conceptually.
I did his half-dozen every day, but rather than his exercises (forward fold, twist, twisting toe touch, waist circle, squat, and up/down dog) I picked some more specific and directed ones. Since January 1, either I was on the mats teaching or training or I did this workout – hip lift (upas) – 10 reps, hip escapes – 5 reps to each side, hip lift to turnover to base/posture – 5 reps to each side, hip heist – 5 each side, technical stand up – 5 each side, and squats (goblet style without the goblet) – and holding the deep position for extra time each rep for 10 total. This entire sequence takes no more than five minutes when you are used to the moves, and needs no equipment and very little space.
What I have found is that the couple of chronic things that have bugged me the last few years – lower back, knees – have not been bothering much, if at all. In fact, there are times I go days before realizing that I had felt no tightness or pain in those areas. I am going to keep playing with this idea (maybe tweak a few exercises or amounts) and see where it takes me.
I strongly suggest you look into something similar, whether you already have chronic issues, or just want to prevent that from even coming up as an issue.
Link to a PDF version of Hoffman’s program:
https://sites.google.com/site/l7xeminentassistanygy/free-daily-dozen-by-bob-hoffman-ebook
If you are unfamiliar with the BJJ exercises I talked about above (this is a playlist so the first two videos are the ones to watch):
goblet squat:
I try to not let it bother me, but when people who have only a passing familiarity (if even that) with ECQC/entangled fighting comment on things they do not understand, I get irritated.
Part of the problem is that I, and a few friends along with an exceptionally tiny number of a handful of other folks, have been studying, working and teaching solutions to this problem for decades, and it is more than mildly annoying to have words put in my mouth. We all have put an incredible amount of effort and study into this, and not one of us has ever come to a conclusion in an intellectually lazy manner. We challenge each other and our ideas constantly, and put it all up for grabs in the crucible of legitimate pressure testing over and over again. Frankly, it is personally insulting to hear someone say that I say this or that or that I endorse this or that and implies that I have put little thought into those opinions.
Take hardware/gear as an example. I have heard more than a few times someone opine that those who teach 0-5 feet gunfighting don’t like clips on holsters because they break rolling around in contact. That is a complete falsehood. Not one of us has ever made that statement. As a matter of fact, most of us even personally carry at least some of the time in holsters with clips. My “take the dogs for a walk/go to the store/gym/gas ‘n sip” holster is the Dark Star Gear Hitchhiker with a large metal clip. I trust that thing implicitly. I have rolled against high level grapplers who know I have it on, and are asked to try to take it away or break it, and have not been able to do so. The actual hook on the clip itself digs in to soft material and can withstand really hard contact. The smaller metal clips from Discrete Carry Concepts are almost as sturdy and I know of a number of switched on guys who use them. So we don’t reject clips. There is not a shred of fact in saying different.
We do, almost to a person, reject plastic clips. However, it has almost zero to do with them breaking! That does happen, and too often for comfort, but you can go plenty of sessions without a properly made plastic clip breaking. What does happen time after time is that the clips fail at their most basic function – to hold the holster in place. As you fight in contact with another adrenalized human who wants to harm you, your body torques and compresses in odd ways and stressors happen in angles and positions that never occur when you are just standing upright on a flat shooting range (or even just walking around day to day). And the result is that those clips which have little tensile strength inward cannot fight the pressure and start to shift. Then the issue is that when you need to access your pistol, it is not in the orientation you think it is. How many times have we fumbled a draw standing with no movement doing a shooting drill? Now amplify that 1,000 times and have your life dependent on that draw. A little disconcerting don’t you think? Sometimes that holster shift is so drastic that the gun actually comes out and falls away, or the holster itself comes off. I cannot begin to list the number of times I have seen that happen during countless force-on-force sessions with quite literally thousands of people at this point. It is not a random or occasional thing at all. It is something that can pretty much be counted on. That and that alone is the issue with plastic clips and why those of us who have depth and breadth of knowledge and decades of experience in this area stay away from them. It is a deeply informed and learned opinion. Not some throw away lazy thought.
Another aspect of the attempt by some people to belittle or diminish this concern with clips is to say something along the lines of “well, the ECQC event does not happen that often so it does not really matter if you wear those clips. You won’t run into the situation where they fail.” That is arguable, but not something I will comment on here (a brief aside – you know what else is a rare event? A private citizen using his firearm for self-defense, and yet that low risk does not seem to bother these critics. They will scream until they are blue in the face that you need to carry 24/7, but ignore working the skill set to deal with a non-gun focused event that also can occur. I find it interesting how they mentally cherry pick with their risk analysis and only bother with the things they choose to concern themselves with, rather than a true assessment) but I will address this aspect. Why would I dismiss equipment that can withstand the worst situations and use equipment that is far more likely to fail? Do you not want to know that your seatbelt has been subjected to multiple high impact crashes by the carmakers, and will still work? Do you really want a seatbelt that can hold up to a fender bender but may not work when you need it to save your life? That just makes zero sense to me. If the ECQC approved gear is hard to get or costs substantially more, than you may possibly have some room to argue, but the fact is that exact gear is no harder to get and costs the same as the lesser gear. So why would you choose the lesser? Laziness is the only conclusion I can come to.
In sum, I personally don’t care what you carry. I am not the Tactical Gestapo. Do whatever makes you comfortable. However, do not put words in my or my peers’ mouths in order to let you validate your personal choice. It is offensive and insulting.
One of the best and most satisfying trends in the tactical/self-defense/firearms training community is the move to understand the importance of medical care.
While carrying a firearm and training it its use is important, the fact is that for non-professionals who follow noted trainer John Farnham’s (modified) dictum of “don’t go to stupid places at stupid time and do stupid things with stupid people”, the fact remains that the chance of having to use one to defend your life is pretty small. On the other hand, it is fairly likely that we will all either face an emergency medical situation to ourselves or to someone we know and being able to handle that situation deserves the same effort and thought that we put into working our defensive handgun or hand-to-hand fighting skills.
Fortunately, there is a surge in courses that teach “dirt medicine” and dealing with traumatic injuries, and a concurrent rise in the carry of specific gear. For the most part, the piece of equipment most often seen is some kind of functional tourniquet. For those who dive a bit deeper, you will sometimes see a pressure bandage, chest seal, or some sort of blood clotting agent. All terrific trends and it makes us all a bit safer.
There is one thing however that is sadly underplayed along these lines. That too often overlooked topic is CPR (and the related aspect of running an AED machine). I am not so sure why these things are rarely, if ever, mentioned, but I suspect part of the reason is that there is no way to virtue signal that you know how to do CPR the way you can show by carrying a TQ that you are “in the club”.
The sad part is that we are far more likely to need CPR or an AED machine that a tourniquet. That is not arguable in any way. The numbers – most likely cause of death in the US – prove it. I think we need to prioritize CPR and AED by reframing how we think of them. They are to the heart and lungs what a TQ is to bleeding. Like the TQ, CPR or even an AED machine is not the cure, or the final fix, but it may keep someone alive long enough for the higher level of medical professionals to come into play.
If you know how to run a tourniquet or a pressure bandage, but can’t do CPR, or operate an AED, please rectify that. Now. Ac
Some of you may know my affinity for what I believe to be the most functional self-defense knife, the Craig Douglas designed Clinchpick. I have carried one almost everyday for over twelve years. It fits the niche of a knife that can be used in the real world for a specific fighting purpose better than anything I have seen.
One problem I had with it was the original sheath that came with it was developed with speed and ease of access/deployment in mind, and less about concealment. A later sheath that did a great job of dealing with this is the one from Dark Star Gear. I have used that extensively since it first came out (I was probably one of the first handful of people who had one). It is much better than the original, and it is super comfortable to use because it has some flex on the belt. The drawback for some people though is that shirts can drag on it while accessing it fouling the draw, or the concealment is still a bit compromised.
When Tony Mayer of JM Custom Kydex asked me if there was any improvements I could think of for a Clinchpick carry mode, I realized it was my opportunity to maybe take care of this need. So I designed one with some input from Tony, and the result is exactly what I wanted. The access and deployment of the blade is still there, but it is extremely concealable and is set up so clothing rarely interferes. I am very happy that we pulled it off.
And now you can buy it for yourself. Here is the direct link:
https://www.jmcustomkydex.com/p/CT-ClinchPick-Sheath.html
And here is a short video where I go over some of the features of the sheath, as well as some tips on setting it up:
