Kung Fu Secrets of Bass Guitar.

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My first class with Sigung Clear…

(We talked about that on Monday)

…was just like learning to play Bass.

I had decided I wanted to learn Bass Guitar. So, I made an appointment at the local music shop and went to meet their teacher.

He had a Celtics cap & was originally from the Boston area.

Here’s what he said,

“I could teach you to play a song each week. That’s what a lot of teachers do. And in a year you’ll be able to play 52 songs.

That may sound like a lot, but if you want to be a musician, you’ve got to know a lot more.

So instead I can teach you how this instrument works. I can teach you the skills you need, the principles and the theory behind it.

Once you understand that you won’t need to memorize a bunch of songs. You’ll be able to hear what’s going on and just jump in and play with anybody.”

The martial arts are plagued with teachers who only teach songs.

Their students learns form after form but when it comes time to play everything falls apart.

…because in self defense no two songs are ever the same.

With Clear’s Silat you learn how to play.

Sigung Clear breaks everything down, note by note, so you can understand the pieces.

You learn the theory behind it. And you learn how to listen. How to read your attackers & understand what’s happening around you.

So when the time comes to jam you just jump right in. You may not know this song but you know what’s going on.

You can improvise and take it wherever you need to.

We need more martial arts teachers like my Bass teacher.

Folks who want to teach people how to really use these arts instead of just teaching form after form. People who love to learn, to work hard and who love to play.

We need you. (Celtics cap is optional.) Your mind and body is your instrument.

Don’t just memorize more songs.

To learn how to really play go here:

http://www.clearsilat.com/clears-kun-tao-silat

Take Care,
Ben Sterling
Ben@ClearSilat.com

P.S. We’ll be in Peoria IL this coming weekend and Albany NY two weeks after that. Email me for details.

Filed Under: Self Defense

5 Self defense blades you must know inside & out

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“Everything is a Knife.”

That’s the good news & the bad news.

First the bad news,

The opponent is always armed.

Even if they don’t realize it…

…they always have lethal weapons at their fingertips.

Do you trust your opponent not to use them?

The Good News!

You are always armed,

…If you understand how to use the tools at your disposal.

Here’s a quick checklist of self defense blades you should be familiar with:

1. Pocket Knife. – The obvious one.

2. Pens. – There is very little difference between a knife and a pen.

3. Fingers. – These are great for cutting, ripping and tearing. With a little work you’ll think about your fingers the same way you would a knife.

4. Elbows and Knees. – These are more great tools for slicing and dicing.

5. Corners & Edges. – You find these everywhere. Doorways, Counters, Benches etc And they’re great for. The only difference is you bring the opponent to the blade instead of bringing the blade to the opponent.

To use these weapons you must understand them.

To protect yourself from them you must understand them as well.

Learn how to use ALL the tools at your disposal with Clear’s Kun Tao Silat.

Get started here:

http://www.amazon.com/Internal-Combat-Arts/lm/R1UC5HE1OL0KAK/

 

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Action Beats Reaction – Free Video Lesson

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Here’s another free Silat lesson. This one is brought to you by Phase 1 Vol 7

http://youtu.be/rczmMMDk73M

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5 Keys to Surviving Against Multiple Attackers

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Training to survive against multiple attackers is an essential part of self defense training.

In Clear’s Silat we always assume there is more than one opponent.

Any time you see a principle being shown against one attacker this is only being done to keep the lesson simple so you can learn faster. As soon as you have a technique down begin training it against multiple opponents.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind while training for multiple attackers. [Read more...]

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Action Beats Reaction Problem & Self Defense solution

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The Action Beats Reaction Problem is actually on your side most of the time in a physical altercation if you are the attacker / offending party. But, as stated in my last post in America we are desirous of a self defense method where we have the legal, moral and ethical high ground as well as being able to competently defend ourselves.

This puts the average person at quite a disadvantage because it forces most of us to react to an action that has already been taken by an aggressor.

The reality of the Action Beats Reaction Problem is that it is only a problem for those who are stuck in a fist fighting mindset for self defense. If you are going to stand toe to toe with an attacker and they attack and you react then you are probably going to get hit first, second and most likely last because against a serious threat the fight is now over!

Ponder the next question for a moment before you read on. When does your self defense method kick in? If it is near the point of physical contact then you are almost always going to be late to the party and so will almost always lose in a serious confrontation. The reason for this is because a real criminal attacker will begin attacking as soon as they think they can reach you with as much suddenness and as viciously as they can with everything they have.

If you are not already attacking before the criminal can open fire on you then you are almost certainly going to lose the battle/war for your safety and maybe your life!

For a Clear’s Silat student self defense begins by applying Action beats Reaction and solving the physical Action Beats Reaction Problem. The first step is to keep as much distance between you and a potential attacker as humanly possible. Awareness is the first tool and the first Action. The second Action is avoidance. Keep distance between you and a possible attacker so that they can never physically reach you without it being obvious to you well in advance that they are trying to get close to you and may well be planning to attack. Awareness and avoidance are key.

Of course a serious attacker will continue to approach you and even if they are hiding their actions it will become more and more obvious what their intentions are.

This is where the Action Beats Reaction Problem becomes a little more crucial to understand. It is really important that you work to keep the potential attacker at a distance so that they are forced to reveal themselves before physically being able to reach you.

At this point you want to utilize deterrence skills. One type of deterrence is to throw your fists up. But, this simply communicates that you are willing or worse yet desiring to fight which, although possibly a good physical self defense tactic, fails to work within the desired legal and moral self defense constraints that our society tends to require opening you up to criminal and civil liability. (By the way, I am not a lawyer/attorney and I am not giving you legal advice here. Please seek out appropriate legal counsel from a certified attorney for such things.)

Instead of throwing our fists up Clear’s Silat stylists will tend to hold up our arms and Open Hands in a back off / stay away / what do you want / keep your distance sort of posture that we refer to as Clear’s Silat Welcoming Posture #1. This gives us a certain positional advantage and helps keep the distance including expanding the area that we can refer to as our personal space. We hold our hands up high enough that an attacker cannot reach our body without stepping underneath our hands and that our hands can not be easily reached either. This helps to make it very difficult for an attacker to attack and reach us with any force without telegraphing their intent from over several feet away.

Another part of solving the Action Beats Reaction Problem is that we are moving our arms a bit and we are also moving our body a bit in the same way that someone yelling get back would emphasize and punctuate their words with their body or in a slight swaying waving motion if you have had the benefit of physically training it.

Constant motion  is a key to solving the Action Beats Reaction Problem. So that we are in Action first even though we are not aggressively attacking we are ready in the same way that animals in nature are ready to strike before striking. Because our hands are up in the air with the hands open the communication of our bodies to the would be attacker is much more of a “Back Off / Get Away!” message than a “Come on let’s do it!” message. Come on and fight may not be easily defended in a court of law but “I do not want this get away from me” is typically considered an appropriate social response to unwanted aggression.

The good news is the same movement that communicates this message is also the same movement that really effectively puts you in constant motion and in a completely ready position for effective physical self defense.

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Action Beats Reaction – Self Defense Principle

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Action Beats Reaction is a fairly simple principle to understand and apply. If two people are within reach of one another, in a stationary position, the one who moves first wins.

Following is a drill that illustrates the Action Beats Reaction principle quite well.

Partner A holds a finger less than 3 inches from the chest of Partner B and demonstrates that they can easily touch Partner B without hindrance at full speed. Partner B holds an arm out to the side several feet away from Partner A’s hand but that is clearly visible to Partner A. Partner B gets to move first and has to traverse several feet to get to Partner A’s hand. As soon as Partner A can tell that Partner B is moving they touch Partner B’s chest as fast as they can. Partner A’ hand only has to travel 3 inches.

Partner B’s hand has to travel several feet but Partner B gets to act first.

Partner A only gets to react.

If I am Partner B I only move when Partner A is standing still.

It would seem that Partner A still has the advantage since they only have to move 3 inches but the vast majority of the time Partner B will win the contest and if Partner B moves well and when Partner A is least ready and most still then most of the time Partner A will not move at all.

Several feet to several inches is quite a contrast and illustrates why the Action Beats Reaction principle is so important to understand and apply.

In a self defense situation where you are already within reach Action Beats Reaction is a very important principle to know and apply because it can truly give you a serious advantage even when you start out at quite a disadvantage. If I stick my finger in a would be attacker’s eye before he even realizes I have moved then he is already hurt and I am on my way to my next move by the time he is responding. You can imagine the surprise and disorientation that the person who is playing catchup is feeling because they were caught before they could respond. Although this does not guarantee victory it certainly lends itself heavily to it.

Part of the reason that Action Beats Reaction works is that for most people it takes the mind the better part of half a second or longer to realize what has happened in a situation. In the jungle this principle is fairly simple to apply. Strike first with lethal intent. Kill or be Killed.

But, for self defense in America Action Beats Reaction must be used differently in order to follow the law of our civilized society as opposed to the law of the jungle. Responding to every situation with a strike first and kill or be killed manner will eventually cause you to be incarcerated without parole. In most places in the civilized world there is a civic duty to avoid conflict when possible and although the law allows for self defense it does not allow the defender to be aggressively proactively offensive. Essentially and unfortunately, the criminal gets the opportunity to attack us first and then we can respond in order for most self defense to be legal. In a real self defense situation this actually causes Action Beats Reaction to work against the law abiding person and makes it what I call the Action Beats Reaction Problem.

In my next post I will post our Clear’s Silat basic solution to this problem and how to legally use Action Beats Reaction for self defense. There is also some very nice video footage of our solution and approach to this problem on our Self Defense Tactics for the street video. Our approach to the self defense legal reality on American streets is really the primary difference between Clear’s Silat as it is practiced in the United States and Silat as it is practiced in its true form in the jungles from which it originates.

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Programming an Attacker

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Programming for fighting purposes is simply the idea of getting an opponent used to something and then doing something different so that it catches them by surprise.

There are quite a few different ways to program and catch someone. I will include a few examples here. Have your partner field your techniques while you are moving around them in a circular pattern.

1. Move rhythmically and then while continuing to move rhythmically hit to a different area than where you have been striking. For example: Throw a punch to the head followed by a kick to the leg several times in a row and then on the 3rd or 4th repetition throw a punch to hit the arm that your training partner has been blocking with.

2. Throw the same punch but use a broken rhythm so that your training partner knows that you are throwing a punch but they do not know when you are going to throw it so that they have to really focus and work on catching the punch. After a moment or two throw a surprise kick.

3. Move around your partner throwing a pattern of several hits and kicks and then throw something that is not in the pattern or / and that has a different timing in order to catch them by surprise.

A typical street programming strategy is to fake a hit and when they see how the victim is going to naturally react and how fast and if they stop (the most common reaction) then they throw a real hit designed to catch the intended victim.

In Clear’s Silat we have several different basic responses to the attempt to program in order to throw a successful sucker punch. I will include 2 of the basic strategies here:

The first is if the person attempts to throw a strike at us we either get moving away and / or around the person and do not stop until satisfied that we are safe or we simply attack the attacker’s feint and position as if it is real so that we can not so easily be sucker punched.

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The Myth of “Pressure Testing”

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Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there (even 20 & 30 year martial artists) who who do not understand how extreme the differences between self defense training and competition training really are.

Here is an excellent article that describes a few of these differences in detail.

You can read it here: The Myth of “Pressure Testing” by Phil Elmore

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Krav Maga Complaints

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In the media over the last few years there have been more than a few raving reviews about Krav Maga and some reviews listing Krav Maga complaints.

Following is a critique of Krav Maga with some Pros & Cons.

The Definition of the words Krav Maga is Close Combat or Hand To Hand Combat. The main Krav Maga instructors in Israel take a very Jeet Kun Do approach to learning and simply want to find the best training they can that works. In the last few years they have been studying Russian Systema, have had Michael Ryabko in to teach and have sent at least one active duty soldier to a Systema camp to learn (I was at the camp and it was a big deal because they released him from an active conflict with Lebanon at the time so that he could attend.). So the Israeli’s do seem to be very committed to getting the best instruction they can for their troops. However, due to the necessity to learn only what can be picked up in a very short period of time such as in a seminar environment a lot of advanced techniques and methods are not generally present in the art because they simply do not get past basic skills in the amount of time that is allotted for training. Also, camps and seminars tend to cover a lot of material which gives great exposure to an art form but often does not impart very many skills to the participants because very little time is spent on any one thing making retention of the material very difficult.

There are some credible Krav Maga instructors and organizations that have strict advancement requirements and make sure that their instructors have quality training. However, one of the main Krav Maga programs offered in the United States is a 2 week instructor training camp whereby participants pay to become certified instructors with only 2 weeks of training. People can learn to defend themselves relatively quickly as in a few days or a week. To master the material in a way that you can reliably teach others to defend themselves takes a lot longer. All I can say is that this is very unfortunate and a real bad mark against the credibility of Krav Maga and that legitimate instructors pay the price for this kind of cheap marketing scheme of self defense.

Krav Maga is one of the few martial arts that spends a fair amount of time on Gun Techniques. Unfortunately two of the favorite techniques that every Krav Maga instructor that I have seen demonstrate are exceptionally likely to get you killed and was the primary reason that I never put much serious time into this art.

There does seem to be a great difference between what is taught to the Israeli military and American Civilians. Personally I go out of my way to avoid watered down versions of self defense.

In conclusion the thing I like best about Krav Maga is that the better practitioners of the art train very hard and seriously in an attempt to make sure that they can really apply what they have in a self defense situation. Of course most other serious martial artists do likewise.

I find that Krav Maga is an art still in progress and that the Israeli military is still training in other forms of martial arts to try and fill the gaps in their art. Many other arts have been around a lot longer and are much better suited to real self defense as they have been created and modified by people who have been using their arts in conflicts for centuries as opposed to decades. Of course I always use Silat as my benchmark for what constitutes a truly effective self defense art.

This review is by no means definitive and only reflects my exposure to the art at the time of this writing.

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Violent Street Attack

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When you cannot avoid a violent street attack then your response needs to be brutal and decisive.  In real street self defense there is no thought of fair play and in fact quite the opposite is true.  The main thought in training about this is to generally train and consider how brutally unfair and surprising I can be in order to take the aggressor out and get away before they even realize what I have done to them.  Remember this is a response to a violent, sickening and illegal street attack against me.  It is not a fight that I sought out or want in any way, shape or form.

I have been attacked this way approximately 15 times.  More often that not I have avoided my attackers.  But I have purposely pushed an attacker down a flight of steps.  I have pushed an attacker into oncoming traffic.  I have knocked an attacker out with an overwhelming flurry of strikes.  I have ran an attacker off at gunpoint and if he had continued to progress towards me and my wife I would have shot him dead.  My goal was and is survival and is not any attempt on my part to be the bigger he-man.  All of these situations began with my trying to avoid them.

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Deterrence

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Deterrence is one of the important aspects of street defense.  First you try to avoid situations.  If you can not avoid a situation then you try to deter it. If you cannot deter it then end it as fast as possible.

Part of deterrence is showing that I am ready able and willing to put up a serious fight in order to defend myself. This can be done using your eyes, voice and body motion.

Your eyes need to be focused either through them or on their forehead between their eyes.  Your voice should be loud and direct with commanding tones of “Get Back” or “NO’ etc.  Your body motion (not stationary) should be similar to how you can fight and also keep the attacker at a distance.

Clear’s Silat Welcoming postures are very good for this.  They tend to convey non-verbal body language that is easily understood as “Stay back, I don’t want to fight” while also creating a barrier between you and the attacker. This kind of positioning done correctly also makes it easy for you to walk or run away if there is an opportunity to do so.

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Avoiding an Attack

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Avoiding an attack is a key part of any real self defense system.  The primary key to Avoiding an Attack is    Awareness.  The second aspect of Avoiding an Attack is actually responding to the information you see or feel.

Several of the early attacks I personally experienced were a direct result of not taking action.  I saw or felt something that told me that there was a potentially bad situation and then ignored my own awareness and / or observation.

A big part of taking action and Avoiding an Attack is learning to consider your options in any given situation.  For example considering alternate routes you can take if there is something or someone(s) blocking your path, knowing more than one way to exit from where you are at any given time, learning to consider the potential of bad scenarios and taking appropriate steps to avoid them before they can even become an issue.  For example parking in an area during the day that after dark is not well lit or that is off of the beaten path enough that a crime can occur there without anyone seeing it.

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Situation Awareness

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What is your current level of Situation  Awareness?  Do you always immediately know about how many people are within 20 feet of you?  How about 50 feet from you?  How many people are 2-300 feet away from you in an area such as parking lot or a park?  You do not need to know an exact number if there are a lot of people.  But if there are only a few people then with just a glance you should immediately have a general idea of about how many and about how far away they are from you.

Situation Awareness also involves having a general idea of what people are doing.  Are they running towards you?  Are they walking in your general direction.  If you change and walk in a different direction then do they change also?  What does their body language look like?  How do they make you feel?  Also, a good criminal does their best to make you feel like they are not a threat so listen to yourself if something feels wrong but do not always listen if everything feels okay because the criminal may be fooling you or you may not be paying enough attention etc..

In this post I have asked you to consider a lot of questions.  The next time you are out go through some of these.  Even if everything is okay and  most likely it will be the exercise is good for your Situation Awareness and your attention to detail.  In a bad situation forewarned is forearmed and just might save your life.

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Legal Ramifications of Self Defense

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The Legal Ramifications of Self Defense can be as brutal as if you lost the physical fight (bruised and battered and violated not dead or maimed of course).  You could easily find yourself arrested, facing charges for anything from excessive force to murder and paying many thousands of dollars for an attorney and bail.

The Legal Ramifications of Self Defense in individual states vary.  Please consult an attorney where you live for specifics as I am not an attorney and I am not giving you legal advice.

In many states you have a duty to retreat from an assailant and must be able to reasonably show that you did not try to engage in the encounter but instead tried to avoid it.  If you have to physically defend yourself then once the attacker is incapacitated you cannot repeatedly continue to stomp them to death.  If the police roll up and witness you doing this they will normally arrest you on the spot and they will be quite unfriendly about it and likely will be a witness testifying at your trial.

In real street self defense the legal and physical survival goals are usually the same.  Avoid the fight if possible.  If I am unable to avoid the fight then terminate the situation as quickly as possible and get away as quickly as possible.  Do not try to be humane in your response as this puts you at physical risk.  Do not be  overly intentionally and unnecessarily lethal (like continuing to stomp them with the goal of killing them) as this will most likely get you into legal trouble and also mean you did not try hard enough to physically get away.  Quickly ending the situation and getting away is also the smartest physical approach to the situation because you don’t know how many friends they have with them who may also be attacking you or who may choose to attack you once they see you have hurt their friend.

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Physical Safety

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In Street Self Defense physical safety refers to the idea that you must be able to think and perform in a way that helps you avoid fights and keeps you safely out of harms way if possible.  You only physically fight as a last resort when there are no other good options.  It also means that when you have to fight then you fight in a way that will end the situation as rapidly as possible doing everything you can so that you emerge from the fight with as little damage as possible.

In the case of defending yourself against a larger, stronger, faster, better armed or/and multiple attackers it means doing whatever you have to do to the attacker(s) in order to end the situation without getting injured or killed yourself.  This may mean killing or maiming the assailant in a brutal way as rapidly as you can so that the fight with them ends right now so you can get away.

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Street Self Defense

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We often refer to and market our Clear’s Silat & Street Kung Fu (Kun Tao) program as Street Self Defense.  What defines or is meant by Street Self Defense?  Well, first an art that claims to be an effective Street Self Defense has to take physical safety into account.  If you cannot defend and protect yourself with it then it is not Street Self Defense.   Secondly, it must take into account situations and scenarios.  This includes the fact that often the odds are against you and that sometimes the odds are overwhelming.   Thirdly, It must take into account the legal ramifications of your response to an intended assailant.

Real Street Self Defense has no sport component.  It is not a sport modified for the street and it is certainly nothing you can use in any contest such as an extreme fighting event.  It is brutal and there is nothing sportsman like about it.  Running can be and often is an option.  When you are forced to physically fight in order to protect yourself then going for vital targets designed to incapacitate the attacker is high on the list of immediate options.  Personal survival is the primary concern.

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Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA (part 3)

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Unfortunately, one real difference between Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA is that real attacks are generally brutally evil events that are designed to completely destroy and take advantage of the intended victim. Fairness and civility was NEVER a part of the equation for the attacker and the defender seriously risks their life if they do not take the situation as a potentially lethal event because the criminal does not care and is not constrained by any rules or regulations.

This is the primary difference between real Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA. In a real street situation if I am having a bad day where I am old, out of shape, injured, sick or tired and distracted I can not simply concede the fight. The attackers are very likely to laugh and then do their best to torture and humiliate me before they kill me. This is a simple difference between Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA. Street effective self defense is for my protection on bad days when the odds are truly against me and the criminal element is trying to harm or kill me and the fight can not be stopped because there are no referees in the street.

I wish the harsh reality of street situations and the crime wave we are currently experiencing here in America was different. But my wishing does not make it so. That being the case. I will stick to training and teaching real world self defense vs MMA.

An interesting side note: For a guy who does not train MMA I have been challenged a lot by MMA fighters. But I have never been challenged by someone who specifically trains for self defense. I think the reason for this is fairly simple. As soon as a challenger steps forward and makes a challenge he may be practicing fighting but he is definitely no longer practicing SELF DEFENSE.
Thank you MMA guys for putting on good tv. Please keep the show going and growing.

Be Safe
& God Bless
Sigung Clear

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Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA (part 2)

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My street real self defense arts  look at the primary weaknesses on a human body and make a study of the most expedient way to exploit them so that a 98 pound girl or middle aged business executive can have a hope of defending her or himself against an angry 250 pound muscle bound guy.  This means his eyes, throat, testicles, arteries, knees and life are all good attack options and major points of time and study.  She does not want to wrestle, trade hits or be in the situation any longer than absolutely necessary because she cannot afford to exchange blows with such a person without her risking her life.  By the way, the same can be said for the average person whether they be older, weaker (not lifting weights for a couple of hours every day), sicker such as being a diabetic or having parkinsons or just being the average person living a normal life.

The vast majority of MMA stylists who participate and train for competitions can not honestly say they train for the street because when was the last time you saw a fight in an octagon or ring match that was a real, true to life, ugly, no rules, street manner fight without the participants immediately getting disqualified?  How many times has an octagon or ring match opponent showed up to fight with a knife or baseball bat or had his friends inside  the ring to help him.  In fact if the MMA fighter showed up and did half of the things that a real street self defense art considers and trains for and against then they would get barred and eventually completely banned from competition.

After this explanation the typical response that I have received from most of the 15 MMA types who have challenged me amounts to them telling me that my idea of martial arts is messed up and not moral or ethical.  The problem is that they came to me thinking that their view of fighting is the reality of real self defense.  If MMA was the reality of street fights then life would be simple and there would be no need for real self defense arts. I could simply say “You Win and I concede the fight” and the conflict would be over.

to be continued…

My street real self defense arts vs MMA looks at the primary weaknesses on a human body and makes a study of the most expedient way to exploit them so that a 98 pound girl or middle aged business executive can have a hope of defending her or himself against an angry 250 pound muscle bound guy. This means his eyes, throat, testicles, arteries, knees and life are all good attack options and major points of time and study. She does not want to wrestle, trade hits or be in the situation any longer than absolutely necessary because she cannot afford to exchange blows with such a person without her risking her life. By the way, the same can be said for the average person whether they be older, weaker (not lifting weights for a couple of hours every day), sicker such as being a diabetic or having parkinsons or just being the average person living a normal life.

The vast majority of MMA stylists who participate and train for competitions can not honestly say they train for the street because when was the last time you saw a fight in an octagon or ring match that was a real, true to life, ugly, no rules, street manner fight without the participants immediately getting disqualified? How many times has an octagon or ring match opponent showed up to fight with a knife or baseball bat or had his friends inside the ring to help him. In fact if the MMA fighter showed up and did half of the things that a real street self defense art considers and trains for and against then they would get barred and eventually completely banned from competition.

After this explanation the typical response that I have received from most of the 15 MMA types who have challenged me amounts to them telling me that my idea of martial arts is messed up and not moral or ethical. The problem is that they came to me thinking that their view of fighting is the reality of real self defense. If MMA was the reality of street fights then life would be simple and there would be no need for real self defense arts. I could simply say “You Win and I concede the fight” and the conflict would be over.

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Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA (part 1)

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I have chosen to write about Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA for our blog because publicly there seems to be a lot of confusion about the difference between these two very different kinds of arts.  I find that a lot of people including a lot of MMA teachers simply do not know the difference between MMA and arts that are intended for real street self defense.  So, I hope to shed a little light on it here in a way that will help everyone.

The most interesting way I can think of to illustrate this point about the difference between Street Effective Self Defense & MMA is to publicly state how many times I have been challenged by MMA / UFC type  fighters and to explain a bit about the outcome of those challenges.  Over the years I have been challenged to fight (mostly by MMA /UFC type fighters and teachers) about 15 times or so.  My basic response to such challenges normally goes as follows.

First, I explain I do not train MMA and that because MMA is not what I do or train for that if I play by the rules in an MMA fight against an MMA fighter who is specifically training for such an event that I will probably lose although I do enjoy watching MMA and UFC events from time to time just like I like watching football, boxing or WWF wresting.

Secondly and much more important to me regarding the difference between Street Effective Self Defense vs MMA, is that all of my self defense training and the arts that I practice for self defense are life or death based arts with survival being the #1 goal.    This means that in an awful street attack, evading and escaping is a very acceptable option for me.  It also means that if I can not evade or escape the situation then I want to terminate the situation with extreme prejudice, as fast as I can, with as little injury to me or my loved ones as possible

This means that in an extremely violent street attack by someone young, strong and built such as an…  (describe your average well built testosterone filled MMA guy who doesn’t need a lot of training to hurt someone here) that I will do whatever I can as rapidly as I can to end the encounter and I will not stop until one of us is completely incapacitated or dead because that is the reality of a terrible street encounter.  If this means stabbing them with my knife, biting them, gouging, taking out one or both of his eyes, crushing his throat,   breaking whatever small joint I can, stomping, using whatever objects might be laying around as a weapon etc then that is all acceptable and trained in my martial art as a part of street real self defense vs MMA which primarily trains for the ring.  In real street self defense survival is the key and there is no such thing as cheating against a criminal attacker.

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Corporate Kung Fu

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Maryville man leading new executive training effort

(this article originally appeared in the Maryville Daily Times on Feb 8th 2006)

by Jennifer Hodson

A Maryville businessman is at the forefront of a growing corporate trend — kung fu.

Richard Clear of Clear’s Silat and Street Kung Fu in downtown Maryville has brought a martial arts program he created in Florida, one specifically tailored to business executives, to Blount County.

The price tag for Executive Transformations is nothing to sneeze at — one-on-one training starts at around $2,500 a day, while groups can train for about $450 a person — but Clear believes the investment is perhaps the smartest one a person can make.

Not only do people learn to defend themselves, but they gain added benefits such as increased confidence and focus, as well as an improved ability to make decisions quickly and under pressure.

Clear related the account of a doctor who spent a weekend in the Executive Transformations program in Florida. When Clear first met the doctor, he encountered a man he described as “quiet, withdrawn, timid and single.”

Six months later, the doctor came back to visit Clear and said he was engaged and had recently expanded his practice.

Was it the martial arts training?

Clear believes it was.

“When he walked in the door, it took me a second to recognize him because he had this healthy glow,” he recalled. “It was a night and day difference.”

Clear said his students’ increased confidence comes from real ability, and that new sense of confidence carries over to all a person’s other activities, including careers.

“There are people who have confidence that is false confidence, but it’s easily shaken,” he said. “This gives real confidence.”

He related another account of a financial planner, Michael Kluzinski, who took his course and soon doubled his productivity, boosting his sales to the million-dollar range.

“We’ve seen people take the courses, and it’s really changed their lives,” Clear said. “It goes right to the core of a person.”

Kluzinski was later attacked while traveling in Costa Rica and credited Clear’s course with saving his life.

Too often, Clear said, people have an “it-won’t-happen-to-me attitude” — until it’s too late.

Another benefit of his program, he said, is that it teaches “superior positioning skills,” or ways to defend oneself without being held liable for assault.

He teaches students how to move in ways so, ideally, they can avoid being hit. If they do have to fight back, he teaches them ways to maneuver so that it will be clear to any responding law enforcement that they were merely defending themselves.

“If you have to put hands on (attackers), then it will be very clear that they were attacking you first,” he said. “The average attacker’s not looking for that level of fight.”

Over the years, Clear has taught numerous corporate seminars in the United States and Canada and has had clients that included CEOs, attorneys, law enforcement officers and military personnel.

His Executive Transformations program was featured in the March 2000 issue of Millionaire magazine and his techniques, which draw heavily on processes he learned in Indonesia and Malaysia, have been featured in magazines such as Inside King Fu.

Though Executive Transformations is gaining popularity with corporate clients nationwide, Clear offers more affordable classes for the general public, generally starting at around $99 a month.

He does not teach children. His students typically range in age from 16 to 60, he said. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds require prior approval.

“I won’t teach a 16-year-old thug,” he said. Safety isn’t just for senior executives.

“The average person needs an action plan,” Clear said

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