SifuGazz

I think one should always be trapping. For me trapping range begins when I can touch their hand as extended in fighting position, but they cannot land a punch without stepping in. Tactically this is the best ranges to engage, it allows you to control the situation, move in, trap, and take them out. Do yourself a favor and learn some tai chi push hands or bagua rou-shou, WC / JKD trapping is good, but has some mechanical failings and other gaps to be filled. G

I have found martial artists in general become a bit abrasive when they are of different styles and high in rank. They have so much time invested their style becomes like a religion, and people are trying to convert one another, sometimes not so pleasantly. Musicians are the opposite (I am a musician), they are fast friends, and want to join forces. Many other hobbies are the same, not as abrasive. This is unfortunate, but it is the nature of the game. I let the material speak for itself, and be as nice as possible. G Proof is on the floor!! EXACTLY!!! Well put.

Exactly, I was going to say something similar.

I have found martial artists in general become a bit abrasive when they are of different styles and high in rank. They have so much time invested their style becomes like a religion, and people are trying to convert one another, sometimes not so pleasantly. Musicians are the opposite (I am a musician), they are fast friends, and want to join forces. Many other hobbies are the same, not as abrasive. This is unfortunate, but it is the nature of the game. I let the material speak for itself, and be as nice as possible. G

An old military saying we had - if you have to use your rank to lead properly or gain respect, you have already failed. This is the same in martial arts. It is also why I do not have my students even wear rank in class. It divides IMO. It should be apparent who has more skill than who, it doesn't have to be formalized into rank worship. Showing respect to someone is free, I do so until they prove they deserve otherwise. G

Having a years worth of costs saved is a great idea. Have insurance. Incorporate. If you were in the US I'd say:Maybe an LLC, they are easier to form / maintain formalities, and give a degree of personal liability protection. Also pass through taxation--makes for easier taxes. Have a separate bank account with LLC name on it. This will protect you from "commingling funds" and prevent someone from piercing the corporate veil to you assets should you get sued. (make them sign a waiver drafted by an attorney-I'd do it, but I'm not licensed in your country). See an attorney about this, could be well worth it. Maybe find one that will trade you lessons! Advertise -- Google adwords is good, flyers, craigslist ads, offer free seminars, coupons, etc. I recommend a book called "guerrilla marketing". As a customer I don't like contracts, but they are better for business. Perhaps offer a lower rate to induce people into contracts, also maybe give them a month to back out if they don't like it. I have a tiered pricing system for 6-9-12 month contracts. This can ensure a long-term cash-flow, required if you need to pay rent. Get an auto-deduct on peoples accounts, they are less likely to feel the pain of writing you a check. Don't let them not pay for classes missed unless for illness. It's too easy to cast this sort of activity aside and expect credit for classes too lazy to be attended. Give them more for the money. Better to under promise and over deliver than the reverse. Don't gouge for testing fees, etc. Get a merchant account at Century Martial arts supply or another like company for supplies. They will cut costs something fierce, and you can even save your students money from retail, while making a profit for yourself if needed. Have a pristine website, business card, and flyer and/or brochure. Don't cheap out on these things with free hosting / ads, and vista print cards. Ipowerweb has site hosting that is like 5 bucks a month, go to sign up then abandon your cart, they will have a pop-up offering a significant discount. T-shirts-are cool and free advertising. Word of mouth is a powerful tool and a shirt on a student is a conversation starter. Curriculum-- I really don't think your 10 styles and non-mixing of any of them is feasible nor desirable from a martial or business perspective. It appears you are a jack of all trades and a master of none (even if this is not true). Plus, unless you have hundreds of students, your classes are going to be very small / divided, it can create style conflict and bias among students as opposed to a cohesive togetherness classes like to feel, that is what keeps them coming back. I also think you should mix styles so you are utilizing all your knowledge and martial tools more efficiently. People like Mixed Martial Arts these days, and know that they are very effective. Being a "purist" with that many arts makes you quite frankly look silly--its ok for you to learn and practice so many but not a student?? Why would you need so many arts if the student need learn only one? I can't re-iterate enough how bad of an idea teaching 10 styles is. If you need that many styles I think you need to find new teachers in all of them yourself. I understand students may have different goals--workout, sport, combat as the main three categories. But 10 styles is excessive. Perhaps lump a few into those categories and offer the classes based on the students goals. Hope that helps. best, G

I think that TKD is at large is probably at the very bottom of the list, right next to tae bo. (no offense). JJ is much more viable, but the ground is really the last place you want to be. Obviously for multiple attacker situations it is less than ideal. Additionally, even in a one on one situation ground fighting can lead to a use of force escalation--it can put people more into survival, kill-or-be-killed mode. It also slows the escape. Judo / shui jiao for throwing is more helpful. As far as TKD, if you are in kicking range, you should probably be De-escalating and leaving. The range in-between kicking and ground is the sweet spot of skill that is the best tactical engagement range. The best arts for stand up are probably wing chun, muay thai, kenpo, JKD, and if you can find a competent instructor-Bagua, Xingyi, and even more rare, is someone with a mix and combat focus with Taijiquan. G

It's very helpful training. It can also help stimulate the adrenal dump, which is vital to good combat training. Being disoriented is very possible. Using tactile sensitivity drills to build applications on is helpful in dark situations. Loud music, strobe lights, profanity, not knowing if a person will jump around a dark corner, all good stuff. Also good to practice this material after some degree of sleep deprivation. G

Sometimes that can be true. But sometimes the others don't just run, they take an opportunity to get an easy and cheap shot in to protect their "leader", pack mentality can go a few different ways. Sometimes the big guy, or perceived leader isn't the "fighter" per se in the group. Think of the group of guys like doors you have to walk through, if there is a door made of Styrofoam its most likely faster to run through for safety, if you run at the steel door it may just delay you long enough for the others to whack you down. Even if you run through the Styrofoam and still can't quite escape, well, that's one less door to walk through, and now others may have to trip over the body. Either way, maximize damage in a minimal amount of time. Scare and gore works--Rip his ear off in the midst of it and bite down on it and give them the crazy eyes, might make them think twice....or you could just get shot, everything is situationally dependent, threat assessments must be made, no single option like "take out the leader" should be relied upon. G

I have stepped in several times when a guy(s) were messing w/girls. One situation was just a few months ago. If it is two guys fighting, it can be hard to tell who was the initial aggressor, perhaps the guy beating the other down was the guy who was accosted initially. Depending on the State you are in this can be a legal problem, some states allow a reasonable mistake of fact in the defense of others, and some do not... (I have a law degree). If a fight is about to happen, I would call the cops, and perhaps try and De-escalate the situation, especially if one of the parties does not want to fight. In the case of a mutual aggression combat situation, I would stay completely out of it, except of course for the call to the police. G

It looks like you have a base (10 yrs and 1st Dan), so my advice would be to cross-train ASAP. One could always use a little ground game (BJJ / MJJ), but that only requires a limited time--maybe a few months, then you will know enough to get by. Also the joint locks from your system will have some translation into that. Something with more relaxed type of power that makes use of circles better, and uses what the Chinese call "ting jin"--listening skill, basically tactile sensitivity. You can get this through Tai Chi push hands, san-sao, Bagua rou-shou (spelling might be off). Along with that will make locks and throws flow a bit easier. One should never "chase a lock", but tactile sensitivity drills help build them in naturally. Wing Chun has sticky hands, but the Tai Chi, Bagua is better provided you can find a decent teacher. Another gap could be modern weapons training. Kali guys are good for this, and there are others. Find something with a different body-method, a different way of generating power and dealing with an attack, then your perspective will widen and you will find your own medium that will take you up the ladder in skill. I also find it's good to cross-train just to have others test your stuff. It's easier to read / counter other moves when you know what is coming style wise. This change up will help, I also recommend finding a really good boxer to test striking skills... Best, Gary

Well as far as Krav USA, it could be wrong, but I have heard from multiple sources over the years the founder Darren Levine, only trained for 2-6 weeks in Israel and paid a hefty fee for his rank....and went there with no MA background. http://martialartslies.blogspot.com/ As far as the rest? Not sure, I don't think the system has any depth of skill from anything I've seen. Perhaps a system to learn if you only have a few weeks. But, I haven't been to Israel, or sought out "legit" people not under Levine's umbrella I don't think, so who knows.... G

Yes I did, "Flowing Combat", to answer your questions briefly; 1) Why? A few reasons a."lineage queens"-- when I say I practice Tai Chi, or Bagua, etc. it can become a lineage battle fest, who's style is better, who's teacher learned the "real deal". The material becomes less about standing on its own merit, and more about who's black and white picture is hanging on the schools wall. I got sick of such debates, and preferred the new label to stop the cycle. b. No system is complete (not even mine)--each style has it's own pro's and con's. Once a few are learned quite well, and notes can be compared amongst very skilled practitioners, this is apparent. I find the internal arts (taiji, xingyi, bagua) are complimentary, they bring out the best in the tools of the other, and allow for the blend to exponentialize the skill sets. Also, Military unarmed combat was added because I felt the weapons disarmament methods were up to snuff, and the weapons trained (sword, etc.) have no real place in modern combat. Better to learn situational shooting, how to deploy and use a combat blade, etc. 2) Yes, necessarily I teach the things contained in the individual styles. Just not in the same way, and not always the same order. 3) The material becomes combat viable at a much higher rate. There are more basic drills used from each system, and combined basic motion drills that are more workable and offer a better range of skill sets. Two man tactile sensitively drills are also more numerous from the combination, and the material is more dynamic by doing the foregoing. That being said, as another poster mentioned, each person in a way creates their own style to a degree. Mimicking your instructor at some point should stop. Concepts should be learned, and techniques should flow from the basics you already know. Things can be adapted to your own body style, and preferences. In the end what matters is that you pressure test what works, discard what doesn't, and never assume you are done learning.

Video feedback is effective in many different aspects. 1) Self Critique --the minds eye can fool you into thinking something is right, also easier to see your movement as a whole from the outside. 2) Showing Students how they can improve: There are mark up programs that one can draw on, slow down, ect that are great tools for teachers. (check itunes store) 3) Almost essential for distance learning--if one doesn't have a good local teacher, or wants supplemental training, sending back video for review is critical for feedback before bad habits are engrained. I have used all three extensively, very helpful. G

I think there is big difference between learning a technique v learning a concept. Perhaps the poster meant the latter...if so disregard. From one type of motion(s), done with certain body mechanics countless techniques can flow. It is not the specific technique that is important, it is the motion, the mechanics, the ability to react dynamically with that motion, and apply it in one of the infinite variables of a chaotic situation. Focus on single techniques gives one a huge index of choices as a response to different stimuli, yes. But this is hard to manifest real-time. Obviously fitness level is also very important among the other factors listed. Best, G