Musashi’s: Book of Five Rings

Bibliography:

Quinn, Peyton. “Musashi’s: Book of Five Rings” Quinn Communications. Amazon Digital Services, inc. 2011.

Review: I have several interpretations of the book by Miyamoto Musashi, the sword saint. All of them are about translation of the original text, if the text is truly original to Musashi but in this instance it is a perspective, perception and contest toward modern fighting and self-defense. In his colorful way he provides the modern martial arts community, the modern self-defense community, with his rendition toward Musashi’s tenants on war, combat, and fighting in general. He does well in pulling those ancient anecdotes to a modern perspective that assists in creating a mind-set/mind-state of the modern SD warrior.

I can say, emphatically, that the prose as well as the substance of this book is amazing. The following quotes, redacted to fit a modern form called karate, will help tell this story of most excellent substantial prose that speaks to both a historical understanding of a great warriors writings as well as applicable substance of combat in modern times.

“Modern dojo are too far removed from the reality and simplicity of defeating an adversary and ten to make it ore complex that it really is. Sensei do this to maintain students and their fees. There are not that many ways to fight a person. You don’t need the many techniques such as martial arts schools might teach when you are in a real violent situation. Develop a since spirit, a willingness to engage and enter on the adversary and end the fight.” - Redacted from a quote by Peyton Quinn, Musashi’s Book of Five Rings

“Styles are just styles, styles of practice created by people who often have no real or limited experience in actual fights or self-defense situations. Practitioners who look good in the dojo but who would be defeated by a true fighter if that practitioner’s training had been NOT directed toward adherence to a style, but only on the pragmatic ways to fight and defeat an adversary. The practitioner must perfect the few techniques/tactics actually needed in a fight as the fight dictates, those that are not fancy or complex.”  - Redacted from a quote by Peyton Quinn, Musashi’s Book of Five Rings

“One develops skill in martial arts by awareness, observation and above all the correct practice.”  - Redacted from a quote by Peyton Quinn, Musashi’s Book of Five Rings

"A pleasant surprise and a wonderful addition to a martial art library. Upon choosing this as my next read I was somewhat hesitant but only after a few minutes found it to be one of the more important additions to my martial art library and martial philosophy." - Me 

Just finished the book of five rings as presented from the point of expertise Peyton Quinn, the author. I am starting from the beginning again to work through the entire thing and that says a lot. Normally, I wait a while then re-read to get a fresher perspective that sees from another angle but this one is just plain good and just plain relevant to modern martial systems be they sport, the Way or combative.

I really appreciate how Mr. Quinn related and inter-connected the historical aspects so that the modern martial practitioner can see and feel how closely history has repeated itself in the training, practice and teaching of modern martial systems. There were many, many "Oh Shit" moments through out the read.

Stay tuned, more to come ….

Real Fighting

Bibliography:

Quinn, Peyton. “Real Fighting: Adrenaline Stress Conditioning through Scenario-Based Training.” Paladin Press. Colorado. 1996.

Review: Mr. Quinn came to my attention through other books by such as Marc MacYoung, Rory Miller and Lawrence A. Kane. My interest was because I felt a huge gap between martial arts as a means of self-defense and reality based training with the goal of introducing to the martial arts community those concepts and perspectives necessary to bring any MA into the SD square (self-defense square coined by Mr. MacYoung).

Like the other authors, Mr. Quinn’s prose in this subject is colorful but solid as to conveying the content in a manner that makes it impressionable to those who feel, think and believe they are practicing reality based self-defense. Chock full of anecdotes and real-life stories he conveys the truth of fighting where a martial arts instructor can readily seeing the now glaring gaps in the study of things like karate. 

Stay tuned, more to come …..

Is Isshinryu a Self-Defense Martial Art?

Caveat: This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding.)

Actually, except in some very rare cases, no it is not a self-defense system as it has and is taught today. At least from where I sit and I am sure there are going to be hundreds, maybe even thousands, that will adamantly refute this view of the Isshinryu system. To be a self-defense system Isshinryu must have and teach the following things:

Seven things you must cover in a self-defense class (Rory Miller article):

• Legal and ethical aspects

• Violence Dynamics

• Avoidance, Escape and Evasion, and De-escalation (not fighting)

• Counter-assault (operant conditioning goes here, definitely)

• Breaking the freeze

• The fight itself

• Aftermath -- retaliation, medical, legal and psychological

Teaching Self Defense in Isshinryu?

I have been a proponent of the Isshinryu system for nigh on thirty-nine years. I believed in a traditional form of learning, practicing and teaching. I also believed that it was primo for self-defense. I was wrong on so many levels. 

During my tenure in the Isshinryu system I have come to know the many variants studied in this singular martial community. Some through direct observation and experience while others through secondary sources, etc. This is my analysis through my filters of perception and assumption. 

When I first came across the seven things that must be covered in self-defense training, i.e., the type that encompasses any and all forms of martial arts or martial art type models I realized that a lot of peoples assumptions, especially those in the Isshinryu system, were inaccurate or just plain incorrect. 

First, item one of the seven, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching the legal and ethical aspects of self-defense. Most tend to teach the standard, “uke does this, you do this in response,” drills or kumite’s. 

Second, item two of the seven, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching violence dynamics as I have come to understand through my references and studies. 

Third, item three of the seven, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching “Avoidance, escape and evasion, and de-escalation.” Most of what I learned, experienced, etc., were actually strategies and tactics that would speed the process of judgement and sentencing toward jail time, etc. They teach fighting, fighting predominantly sport oriented. 

Fourth, item four of the seven, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching counter-assault. 

Fifth, item five of the seven, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching concerning the freeze or the OODA loop or the OO bounce, etc.

Sixth, item six of the seven, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching  about the fight itself as it relates to those defining aspects of violence dynamics, i.e., social vs. asocial, etc. There is a huge assumption that what is trained is actually fighting and/or self-defense when in reality it is a sport oriented competitive mutually safe endeavor. 

Seventh, item seven of the seven and probably the most important thing, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching about the before, during and especially the after of a fight/self-defense encounter. They don’t discuss let alone present, study or train to the possible retaliation, medical, legal and psychological ramifications to conflict that has physical violence attached. 

You see, the experts feel strongly due to their knowledge, experience and ability toward conflict and violence, that these seven things must be a part of self-defense to teach self-defense.

Now, I have added number eight, i.e., RBT or Reality Based Training with all that entails like handling the effects of the adrenal flood, etc. 

Eight, the eighth of the additional things you must cover and teach for it to be self defense, none of the Isshinryu’s programs I have witnessed, experienced or came to know be it any of the three main branches in the United States even comes close to teaching reality based training, drills or other reality based things necessary to handle and live through a violent situation/encounter. 

Many will adamantly dispute this point of view and will vehemently spout out how they are practicing a system that is combative and relevant toward combat forms of fighting but fail to realize they also seldom teach and practice those distinctions, i.e., distinctions between combat, sport and civil self-defense let alone differences between citizen and police distinctions, etc. 

Yes, Isshinryu just like almost all martial arts systems have a great deal to contribute toward self-defense or even combatives and sport competitions but they fail to make the distinctions and they fail to teach to those distinctions. 

Even all the above in place if they are not addressing the distinctions in the self-defense model they are not teaching self-defense. 

Yes, Isshinryu is practiced, trained and taught as a “Way” or “Traditional System” or “Classical System,” but those are not self-defense systems if they don’t have the seven (eight, my extra) things you need to know, understand and use to have self-defense and self-defense training. 

Those aspects taught by these non-defensives systems all have benefits and even benefits toward defenses such as structure, posture, centeredness, etc. but to be self-defense they need a lot more.

If you want your Isshinryu or any martial system to be a self-defense system then there are changes that must be accepted, incorporated and trained to work. 

Read Also: “Isshinryu and Self-Defense” http://mymartialselfdefensephilosophy.blogspot.com/2014/11/isshinryu-and-self-defense.html

Primary Bibliography of Self-Defense (Some titles have RBT drills included):

MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.

Miller, Rory Sgt. "Meditations of Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence" YMAA Publishing. 2008.

Secondary Bibliography of Self-Defense (Some titles have RBT drills included):

Ayoob, Massad. “Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self-Defense”Gun Digest Books. Krouse Publications. Wisconsin. 2014.

Goleman, Daniel. "Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition [Kindle Edition]." Bantam. January 11, 2012.

Miller, Rory. "ConCom: Conflict Communications A New Paradigm in Conscious Communication." Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 2014. 

Miller, Rory and Kane, Lawrence A. "Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision-making under Threat of Violence." YMAA Publisher. New Hampshire. 2012

Miller, Rory. "Force Decisions: A Citizen's Guide." YMAA Publications. NH. 2012.

Miller, Rory Sgt. "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected." YMAA Publishing. 2011.

Elgin, Suzette Haden, Ph.D. "More on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense." Prentice Hall. New Jersey. 1983.

Elgin, Suzette. "The Last Word on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1995

Morris, Desmond. “Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior.” Harry N. Abrams. April 1979.

MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #1: Getting Shot.” NNSD. Amazon Digital. 2014.

MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #2: Getting Stabbed.”  NNSD. Amazon Digital. 2015.

Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1993.

Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense" MJF Books. 1997.

Maffetone, Philip Dr. “The Maffetone Method: The Holistic, Low-stress, No-Pain Way to Exceptional Fitness.” McGraw Hill, New York. 2000

Strong, Sanford. “Strong on Defense_ Survival Rules to Protect you and your Family from Crime.” Pocket Books. New York. 1996.

and more … see blog bibliography.

Jahn, C. R. “FTW Self Defense.” iUniverse. Amazon Digital Services. 2012

Jahn, C. R. “Hardcore Self Defense.” iUniverse. Amazon Digital Services. 2002.

Bibliography of RBT Drills (Some titles have RBT drills included):

MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.

MacYoung, Marc (Animal). “Taking It to the Street: Making Your Martial Art Street Effective.” Paladin Press. Boulder, Colorado. 1999.

MacYoung, Marc. "A Professional's Guide to Ending Violence Quickly: How Bouncers, Bodyguards, and Other Security Professionals Handle Ugly Situations." Paladin Press. Boulder, Colorado. 1996.

Miller, Rory. “Drills: Training for the Sudden Violence.” Amazon Digital Services, inc. Smashwords. 2011.

Quinn, Peyton. “Real Fighting: Adrenaline Stress Conditioning Through Scenario-Based Training.” Paladin Press. Amazon Digital Services, inc. 1996

My Blog Bibliography

Chiron: http://chirontraining.blogspot.com

Cornered Cat (Scratching Post): http://www.corneredcat.com/scratching-post/

Kodokan Boston: http://kodokanboston.org

Mario McKenna (Kowakan): http://www.kowakan.com

Mokuren Dojo: http://www.mokurendojo.com

McYoung’s Musings: http://macyoungsmusings.blogspot.com

Martial Views: http://www.martialviews.com

Shinseidokan Dojo: http://shinseidokandojo.blogspot.com

The Classi Budoka: https://classicbudoka.wordpress.com

Wim Demeere’s Blog: http://www.wimsblog.com

Fair Use

Caveat: This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding.)

Wow, like self-defense I never realized what I thought I knew along with that, “I don’t know what I don’t know” thing I am discovering fast just how much I don’t know in martial arts, self-defense and writing. This post is on writing. Writers already have a good idea on the subject simply because of the title, “Fair Use.”

I made assumptions about how I use materials from the sources I am studying. As I got closer to completing my effort to write a book on martial arts I started to research writing and publishing. Since I do use quotes, etc., from my sources books I realized that at a “minimum” I needed to give them credit but just found out that “may not” be enough. 

Like the self-defense world, the world of writing is chock full of stuff that effects how you write especially when you publish. Note that publishing includes blogging and even FaceBool Wall posts. I will use one quote here for what I perceive is nonprofit educational purposes, i.e., mine and the readers who may want to write themselves. The quote is, “Fair Use is an “affirmative defense — the defendant copier has the burden of proof to show that Fair Use applies. Essentially he says, ‘Yes, I copied the work—but I am allowed to because my copying is Fair Use.’” - Excerpted/quoted from “What Every Writer Ought to Know about Fair Use and Copyright by JOEL FRIEDLANDER on FEBRUARY 8, 2010”

When I read the quote, it reminded me of all the quotes in all the books on self-defense where it is painfully and comprehensively explained that self-defense is an “affirmative defense.” Then upon considering all the ways one can find themselves outside the “Self-defense Square” I then realized that this is the same in the “Fair Use” arena. Granted, there is more and I have not researched it enough yet but it does make for a cautious approach to my writing especially if my book is going to be published for money.  

What I am saying is that my book is going to take a great deal more time in the editing stage. I have used my references to learn and to pass along that learning in an attempt to educate other like minded folks but I NEED to make sure that I am well within the “Fair Use Square (to borrow a bit from Marc MacYoung’s version of SD Square).

My ultimate goal in writing the book may have been altruistic in nature but the fact that it might infringe on my reference/source authors does not sit well with me. I respect and admire their work and do not want to even hint at some infringement even if they don’t really care because all my efforts are toward “getting it right.” It is a slow learning process but that is what I intend. 

The last thing I want to do is break copyright of these most excellent authors but that would include the fair use aspects in writing. I need to study about copyright and fair use then develop a check list to guide me toward creating a book that will, hopefully, provide some guidance to those martial artists out there who, like me, went so long training, practicing and teaching under a cloud of ignorance and misinformation with a strong emphasis toward the self-defense domain. 

Stupid is as stupid does says Forrest Gump and like him, I need to not be stupid and not do stupid. In closing I would like to express the following, “If I have written anything that misuse your materials let me know the post/article with your concerns. I will do one of two things, first I will correct the mistake or, second I will remove the post/article completely. 

Lessons learned: If you have a desire to write regardless of the venue, i.e., magazine articles, blogging, FB entries, books, etc., you really need to learn about writing completely, fully and as comprehensively as possible, i.e., start with copyright law along with fair use law and requirements so you don’t misuse and misrepresent what you write and what your sources “worked so damn hard and diligently to produce.” My mistake here comes under that misquote I use, “You need to learn what it is you don’t know you don’t know and DON’T MAKE ASSumptions!”

Thanks and have a great day!

Note: I immediately went to the Google images page to find a cool looking graphic to associate with this post then I stopped and asked, "Am I using this under a fair use thing? Is it copyright infringement? Do I need to ask permission? Does the use pass the four rules of fair use? Questions, questions, and more questions. I will use avoidance this instance until I acquire more knowledge on this fluid subject. 

Writing Violence

Bibliography:

MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #1: Getting Shot.” NNSD. Amazon Digital. 2014.

MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #2: Getting Stabbed.”  NNSD. Amazon Digital. 2015.
MacYoung, Marc. “Writing Violence #3: Getting Hit and Hitting.” Amason Digital Services, inc. NNSD. April 20. 2015. 

Review: I have found the writings of Marc MacYoung to be informative, inspirational and just plain humorously good. These are meant to help authors in bringing realism, reality based that is, to their actions scenes. These two are only the first two of a planned series he is gong to write and publish. I am very interested in writing, both fiction and non-fiction (the Non is for my martial arts stuff). When he first put out that he was going to write these I could hardly wait. 

Now, I have read the first two listed above and will tell you that I believe these books are just as relevant to those of us who want to fully and completely understand the world of self-defense and martial arts, i.e., the self-defense martial arts world. As I read these I could not help but connect what he presents as very, very relevant toward learning, teaching and practicing SDMA. It just made sense to me that although his intentions are to help writers that he either on purpose or indirectly addressed a lot of information that anyone who is in the self-defense community will benefit (in addition, wouldn’t it be cool that our fictions would also serve a dual purpose to entertain and to inform). In the book on getting stabbed it added a whole new realm of understanding that knives are, “DANGEROUS!” Dangerous is not enough to fully convey that in the SD world you just want to fully and completely avoid knives. 

Anyway, I look forward to the next edition on punching/striking because as a karate-ka who, as anyone in the community knows, the use of the hands/fists become personal. I will add those editions as they come out in the bibliography.

Strikers, punchers all, get ready to rock your world because this book (#3) provides you a lot of information that will change the way you look at your striking arts system, like karate.

Over the years I began to understand that what I perceived as power in karate or martial arts was not actually all that powerful. Then I read the short book by Marc MacYoung, Writing Violence: Getting Hit and Hitting where the following quote slapped me in the face and provided me a way to explain why what I was seeing and even practicing actually did NOT mean I was powerful. Mr. MacYoung’s quote,

“Just because it has the external form doesn’t mean it has the internal mechanics that make it work. To the untrained eye, every blow looks brutal, horrible, and damaging. In reality, the level of force is hardly more than pushing or slapping someone - if that.” - Mark MacYoung, Writing Violence: Getting Hit and Hitting

I am barely through one-third of his book and I not only understand my striking system a lot better I can also articulate things better as well. Sometimes coming up with the proper words to describe things that are right as well as the all important things that are wrong is critical in teaching and learning. This book may be a way to write fiction fighting with more realism but it also, in my view, adds truth and realty to how one practices, trains and applies their striking art in reality.

Get this one karate-ka, get this one you self-defense people and get this one you fledgling fiction action hero authors - it is worth all 2.99 pennies you spend for the kindle version :-)

Drills by Rory Miller

Bibliography:

Miller, Rory. “Drills: Training for Sudden Violence.” Amazon Digital Services. 2011

Review: We all are hearing the view that it is necessary to self-defense that our training has to take a shift and that shift is about reality based training that will do the job when sudden violence hits. Rory Miller, in this book, takes you there and it is a necessary trip if you want to learn, teach, train and practice for self-defense. 

Needless to say, Rory Miller has once again hit the ball out of the part - another home run! Yeaaaaa! Don’t let your SD training suffer and don’t allow your students to find out the hard way that what they think they know actually doesn’t work. Mr. Miller takes you on your way with this book and his books all provide you with sources for hands-on reality based no bullshit courses (coined by some famous author who I can’t remember - Eisler I think).

Add this to your library, you won’t regret it. :-)