The Problem is Gun Laws--ALL Gun Laws

I am frankly fed up with all of this back-and-forth drivel.

The obvious problem is gun laws. ALL gun laws.

There was a time when everyone could (and many did) carry arms — everywhere and most of the time. THAT is the proper state of affairs.

Not only "teachers", but janitors, receptionists, counsellors, and anyone on the school premises (except young children) should be free to go armed. Period. Just like they should be free to go armed in theaters, on planes, on ships, or ANYWHERE.

Some teachers might wish to carry a handgun, others might not. But some decent human beings in every school would be armed, and that's sufficient to:

a) Deter armed scumbags from going after what they believe to be a "soft" target. —and—

b) Provide a near certainty that any armed lunatic who did make the attempt to murder people in a school would be shot dead either before accomplishing his objective, or at least before completing all of the murders that he had in mind.

Anyone who argues at all with anti-gunners is a well-intentioned but misguided person. Those socialist/liberal creatures DO NOT WANT TO SEE GUNS IN PEOPLE'S HANDS. That's it. They do not care about logic, reason, or facts. Their motive is NOT fighting crime, making the cities safe, or persons being able to defend themselves. THEY WANT PEOPLE CONTROLLED.

When Larry Pratt was "interviewed" by Piers Morgan he absolutely stood out with facts and patient, well-articulated argument. The result? Morgan once again demonstrated what a rude, arrogant, self-important ass he is by attempting not only to shout down Mr. Pratt, but also to insult him. This is the tactic of socialistically-inclined power-mongers and their servants.

DO NOT ARGUE WITH ANTI-GUNNERS (or with socialists of  any ilk).

Piers Morgan will never be deported (as the well-intenioned, and understandably outraged people who signed a petition to have him tossed out of our Country would like to see happen). Why not? Because he touts the party line. This (i.e. Morgan) is precisely what the mainstream wants, feeds on, finances, and encourages.

I cannot help but wonder what is wrong with all of those who, properly, believe in private citizens being armed? Can't they understand that those who do not want private citizens armed simply do not want them armed. They don't care about lower crime rates where citizens are armed; about lives saved because of private citizens being armed; about the incredible almost non-existent violent crime record of armed citizens . . . etc. Nor do they even hear it when people — rightly — speak of how tyrannies demand  a disarmed populace, because you cannot enslave armed citizens.

Just the fact that these power-lusters ignore, distort, pillory, and decry the Second Constitutional Amendment should send the message loud and clear that they are the ENEMIES OF LIBERTY. But, the message just isn't understood, apparently.

C A N ' T   Y O U   G E T   I T   Y E T????????????????????????

--Prof. Brad Steiner
President, International Combat Martial Arts Federation
http://seattlecombatives.com/

NY Newspaper Publishes List of CCP holders

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/12/foghorn/new-york-newspaper-publishes-list-of-concealed-carry-permit-holders-names-addresses/#more-182019

Not sure if this is illegal...Many states have banned giving this info out...This was given to our newspaper for publication in 2000...Then supposedly taken down but too late...If someone can get this info through freedom of information act then why not get everyone's car registration information? How about everyone's driving record information? How about just the driver's licenses of folks just cause you may feel like it?....One reason I hate "radical" leftist or fascists…No use for radicals of any sort...Not talking about folks worried about the global warming but why not get the information on what cars folks are driving and if they don't get over 34 mpg maybe they should get put on the internet....How about folks who don't vaccinate their kids...Some folks don't want unvaccinated kids around theirs....etc...Nuts....Scumbags of all kinds don't get the punishment they deserve so there are no consequences when privacy rights are involved...I just had to fill out a new required form at my doctor's office which eventually goes to the government so that they can coordinate my records for me...How helpful of them...asked my mother's maiden name and other information that I never had to fill out for any doctors before...Have no idea what that meant...Only the beginning...1984 late but making it's arrival...Imagine if you or one of your family members needed something to calm their nerves and this becomes public information?...Not too good for getting a job...Or getting a gun...Or maybe they shouldn't be able to drive...Just getting started...
--J Perkins

Video: Proof that Concealed Carry Permit Holders Live in a Dream World, Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjZY3WiO9s


"The controlled study documented in these videos show that concealed carry permit holders are fooling themselves if they think they will be able to react effectively to armed aggressors. Most CCW holders won't even be able to un-holster their gun. They will more likely be killed themselves or kill innocent bystanders than stop the aggressor."

This was an obvious set up...Imagine trying to get your gun out from under a very large loose shirt while wearing gloves...What a terrible joke to play on folks who don't know any better...The  police trainer should be ashamed of himself allowing the totally biased media to use him as a tool....I guess he is one of those police officers who doesn't think civilians can fend for themselves...He might have a big hero complex...He should devote his time to training folks correctly if he is really interested in real safety....I have half a mind to make this one of the Martial Myths to show far better ways to teach for this and other gun related emergencies...
--John Perkins

What They Can't Take From You...

Whatever your political persuasion, the fact is that government has been working hard to take things from us: among them habeus corpus, privacy, and guns. Whether you favor stricter gun laws or looser the fact is there is one weapon of last resort they can't take from you: your physical and mental self-defense training.

There will be new GC training opportunities coming in 2013. Train hard.

UK Seminar?

Attention GC-Europe fans: Possible Lt Col Ridenhour GC Seminar at Mick's in the UK. Putting out feelers for a time frame...how many people are for Mid-November, early December or mid-January? Let us know which...

More On "Unavailable Yet Unavoidable"

It seems that there is some misunderstanding of what I mean by "Unavailable Yet Unavoidable".

Some folks think it is the same as the Tai Chi Chuan principle of simply absorbing or letting energy pass and then returning.

This means when a person either pushes, pulls or strikes the Tai Chi Chuan practitioner allows the other person to pass and then return. This is done while not losing connection with the opponent.

In Guided Chaos the idea of being unavailable yet unavoidable is somewhat different: In GC we feel the movement or intention of the attacker and move in such a way as to immediately absorb and return simultaneously. This is accomplished by absorbing and moving slightly off line as you either strike, push or pulse the attacker either causing him/her to be injured or loose balance or both simultaneously. There is no feeling of waiting for the completion of any movement from the attacker. Return and absorption are simultaneous.

The advantage to this is when dealing with multiple attackers there is no time to simply absorb and return because the attack may come from many angles at once. You can only keep your balance on one angle at a time for a hundredth of a second at a time, so you must learn to strike or pulse from various angles all at the same time while moving from one point of balance to another at the speed of lightning so to speak.

There is often no time for rooted adjustment but more of a "falling" into each split second position as you use the energy of falling and the simultaneous plyometric energy transfer with each return or avoidance. In other words you learn to create your stance and multiple strikes as you go in response to any movement from any angle at the same time or you move from a "causal" point. This means you move before the attacker moves using intuition or set up the circumstances for the attacker to "mismove", then you return with whatever response is necessary for your goal whether to strike, unbalance or both at the same time in various directions if needed. This is where I work with more than one opponent and move them in various directions both away from me or into each other while simultaneously striking them as the dynamic attack/defense occurs. Remember your return can and often may be an unrooted strike because you may not have time to find a root all the time so a strike to vulnerable targets like eyes, groin, throat etc may be necessary as well as "rooted" strikes, pushes etc.--John Perkins

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Hi John,

I found this a really useful distinction to make. I recognize it from my time in NY, but seeing it in black and white like this drives home the completely different mindset of GC. In comparison, my own mindset has prioritized the block/counter mentality which as I discovered is way too slow.... It's become an automatism that's difficult to change, but perhaps worse than that it seems to breed a passivity that allows people to attack - because I think I can block and stay safe .... uggh, sad!? So, your comments were a great wake-up call to re-calibrate and adjust this mindset 'before it's too late....' (just watched Deliverance with Burt Reynolds & co....there's a lesson; where passivity leads to victimization....). I'm still digesting the second half of [your post] - may take a while!

Many thanks,Paul

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John,

When I was at the workshop I saw first hand how important it is to get the Unavailable yet Unavoidable concept right, even against one person. I am working on this and answering the questions below will be extremely helpful.

1. In what you wrote, is there a difference between being balanced and rooting? It seems to me that rooting is stopping, at least for an instant, where as one can be moving and balanced but not rooted. Is that correct? If not please explain what is wrong with my understanding and/or elaborate in any other way you think will help me to get this.

--When you are rooted you are balanced and vice versa. The important point here is that Guided Chaos develops "Dynamic Balance"--meaning you can be balanced while stationary or moving under chaotic conditions and have a functional root in either or both feet as necessary. Similarly, you can drop and hit off either or both feet. Separating the Yin from the Yang includes plyometrically loading and releasing from foot to foot, using one-legged balance to step wherever you need to to maximize power, exploit entry angles and elude incoming strikes and pressure. The distinction is important because tai chi tends to develop a stubborn, though powerful double footed, slowly changeable and thus a sometimes non-adaptive root that under super fast multi-angled conditions is not as adaptive as GC for combat. This is not to say that Tai Chi does not move from one root to the other but it is not practiced with the idea of rootedness coming from instant step to step root change in any direction almost at once...Can they do it? I am sure they can given the practice and stimulus of an attacker moving from various positions and striking or pushing from many angles within split seconds such as is the training method of GC.
--J Perkins, M. Kovsky

2. I find that when I am not striking, pulsing, pushing or taking some other action from my root, that it is best to operate, most of the time, like a mid engine sports car. That is I generally try to keep my center in my lower abdomen and not let it rise or sink to the floor. I only let the energy go to the floor if I am bouncing it off the floor to use it. Is this correct? Please let me know and also tell me anything else I need to know in order to understand the difference between being balanced and rooting.

--Rather than think about my tantien or some other esoteric concept, I prefer a more mundane but visceral image: I like to "feel my feet in my hands". In other words, my entire balanced body unity giving me a direct line of power through every joint from foot to fist (knee, hip, spine, shoulder, elbow, etc.). This is no different from any other full body sport (football, tennis, etc.) and is similar to the boxing adage to "punch from the legs". Then again, I just gave the definition of "Threading the Nine Pearl Gates" as explained in the Tai Chi Boxing Chronicles so you could call this esoteric as well. And Dropping supercharges all of this. So line up your joints for power and balance and practice your Ninja Walk and wobble board...separately and together, as well as your Anywhere Strikes on the BOB.
--M. Kovsky

3. I am not sure what you mean by 'causal' point. Would you please explain that further.

--The Causal point is where even the opponent is not actually aware of what he is going to do next but you feel it and deal with him before he knows what happened...It is not clairvoyance but extreme sensitivity born of lots of experience working with many people in the most subtle way possible...Deep internal listening etc....JPerkins

--My take on what John is saying is that any connection you have with the opponent becomes like a thumb drive plugged into his Operating System where you download everything about his balance, intent, looseness, etc. (Actually I've heard John use the "download analogy" many times). Well, coincidentally, this again sounds like a modern paraphrase of the definition of "chi"--also found in the Tai Chi Boxing Chronicles: "The circulating point of finesse in the body." So everything old is new again.
--M. Kovsky

4. Patrick demonstrated the concept of "spring steel." I am not sure what he did to create that feeling. What it seems like he did was to pass/absorb and return simultaneously, without completely following through on return, and doing it slowly, so I could feel it. He also allowed me to begin to absorb/pass and return simultaneously, but he then started his pass/absorb return, after me, arriving before me, so that he always seemed to be attacking. Am I correct in my understanding of this? Please correct my misconceptions here and/or add anything you can that might help me understand this better, so I can train it properly. Thanks again for the information and offering to answer my questions, Michael

--Instead of thinking of "pass and return" as two separate actions, try the analogy of the "collapsing sphere": you're always moving in, often obliquely, into areas of lower structure. Imagine you're a bucket of water thrown at the attacker: the water mindlessly penetrates any openings in his defense while simultaneously molding to any incoming attack. This requires an adaptive, dynamic root, supreme looseness and sensitivity. Examples: folding an elbow into his face against hand pressure or pivoting a hammer fist to his liver against elbow pressure; skimming in a strike to the eyes while simultaneously deflecting/absorbing/eluding a punch to your throat, all with the same arm; turning in to hit on one side while being pressured on the other; tool replacing; "weaseling" your way through a thicket of defensive moves with no force; destroying a limb with combat boxing while ricocheting into a 2nd and 3rd strike...etc., etc.
--M. Kovsky

There is much more that can be written on these subjects but for now this should suffice until more experience is gained....JPerkins

Unavailable Yet Unavoidable

It seems that there is some misunderstanding of what I mean by Unavailable yet Unavoidable....Some folks think it is the same as the Tai Chi Chuan principle of simply absorbing or letting energy pass and then returning...This means when a person either pushes, pulls or strikes the Tai Chi Chuan practitioner allows the other person to pass and then return...This is done while not loosing connection with the opponent...In Guided Chaos the idea of being unavailable yet unavoidable is somewhat different...In GC we feel the movement or intention of the attacker and move in such a way as to immediately absorb and return simultaneously...This is accomplished by absorbing and moving slightly off line as you either strike, push or pulse the attacker either causing him/her to be injured or loose balance or both simultaneously...There is no feeling of waiting for the completion of any movement from the attacker...Return and absorption are simultaneous...The advantage to this is when dealing with multiple attackers there is no time to simply absorb and return because the attack may come from many angle at once...You can only keep your balance on one angle at a time for a hundredth of a second at a time...So you must learn to strike or pulse from various angles all at the same time while moving from one point of balance to another at the speed of lightning so to speak...There is often no time for rooted adjustment but more of a "falling" into each split second position as you use the energy of falling and the simultaneous plyometric energy transfer with each return or avoidance... In other words you learn to create your stance and multiple strikes as you go in response to any movement from any angle at the same time or you move from a "causal" point...This means you move before the attacker moves using intuition or set up the circumstances for the attacker to "mismove"....Then you return with whatever response is necessary for your goal weather to strike, unbalance or both at the same time in various directions if needed...This is where I work with more than one opponent and move them in various directions both away from me or into each other while simultaneously striking them as the dynamic attack/defense occurs....Remember your return can and often may be an unrooted strike because you may not have time to find a root all the time so a strike to vulnerable targets like eyes, groin, throat etc may be necessary as well as "rooted" strikes, pushes etc...JP Send me your comments or questions...(It's all fun and games till someone looses and eye LOL).....Thanks, John Perkins

The Failure of Most Self Defense Systems and Teachers--by GM Perkins

Can anyone tell me why most self defense and martial arts teachers and students fail to take into consideration the fact that there is a constant flow of instantaneous change of dynamics during any real life and death altercation? Is there some natural law that blinds people to this fact?

Why is it that the automobile industry gets this and has computers attached to each wheel of some upscale sport vehicles which can detect thousands of changes in road dynamics per second which enhances the performance of these cars and people watching these commercials don't make the connection when it comes to dynamics of violence? Is it that folks think that humans cannot process information quickly enough to make a difference in a life and death fight?

Most human beings are able to tell the direction of the source of sound because the brain can distinguish to 1/50,000 of a second when that sound reaches each ear and gives a corresponding answer to it. If the brain can do this on a subconscious level then how fast can the brain deal with the sub-cortical stimuli and the various other kinesthetic stimuli along with the sounds and other indications of real time events?

It is only when we rely on the limited function of the linear/conscious part of our brain that we loose the ability to respond instantaneously to the real time events....

Fear is a main culprit when it comes to reacting to what is happening to us in real time...

Fear can also be used as a catalyst to explosive instantaneous correct reaction in saving our lives...This is what Guided Chaos training is meant to do....Enhance the subconscious mechanisms we all have which allow humans to perform seemingly super human feats....GC fighting can be likened to this...

How can an older man with bad knees, and many physical weaknesses prevail against men who are either a foot or more taller or many pounds heavier or many years younger? He or, in some instances, she relies upon the principles of Guided Chaos to get past the normal "natural" advantages of these others...What other martial art/sport teaches this?

Why is it that the prevailing method of teaching is to show a technique of attack and a corresponding action when it can be scientifically proven beyond doubt that this is a fallacious methodology? I am puzzled by this since my youth...

I see the best that most can come up with is some form of combination attack/defense movements that will hopefully fit the bill...Will/can any of you respond to any part of my rambling unfettered train of thought here?....Act as if this is the question of some curious child which is not far from the truth...Help me see how others think...What emotions come up for any of you...Thanks for your patience, JPerkins

FOCUS: HOW CONTACT FLOW FEELS DIFFERENT FROM PUSH HANDS

A big disadvantage for distance learners is that it can be very difficult to develop the correct "feel" of GC Contact Flow. NY students have the benefit of access to upper belts and masters (not to mention GM Perkins himself) but even here sometimes the ultimate goal of what high-level GC "feels" like can be elusive.

Many have assumed (mostly incorrectly) that Contact Flow "looks" or feels like tai chi push hands and/or wing chun chi sao. You might expect this from those who have never felt it but this error in interpretation crops up even in those who have felt GC. If you have an external MA background (shotokan, etc.), the differences between push hands and Contact Flow may be indistinguishable but in order to really get it and progress to an upper belt, you need to see that the differences are in, in practice, immense.

Now granted, the internal principles as applied by any given individual can vary greatly but in my (and other GC masters') experience, some general patterns have become evident (so if this personally doesn't apply to your application, more power to you, but all we can go by is what we've actually felt).

By and large, every wing chun instructor I've flowed with has felt far more yang than those in GC. There is more over-commitment, more pushing and pulling within a constant hi-level of pressure. Again, this may not be the rule but this is what I have experienced--with people who were no slouches.

I've also done contact flow with many tai chi instructors, including one who was a national push hands champion. Despite being very sensitive and sticky (meaning they maintained contact well) they all had a heavy, gluey feel and a firm root. The push hands champion, in particular, felt like a sumo wrestler or NFL lineman. The only tai chi practitioner I've worked with who felt almost invisible while still able to maintain contact was a senior student of Master Wayson Liao's, but he was the exception.

I have also felt in people who have changed over to GC from tai chi, a feeling sort of like a progressive shock absorber, where they were light within the first 3 inches of absorbtion and then progressively more squishy until at close range they felt like you were moving them through rapidly drying chewing gum.

So--is this the way you want to feel in Guided Chaos? Absolutely not. I assume that you have followed your interest in GC this far because you thought something was different about it. There is.

I will descibe to you what doing Contact Flow with Lt Col Al, Grandmaster Carron and Grandmaster Perkins feels like to me. That "feel" is what I aspire to at all times and if it's something that perhaps you cannot feel yet, at least the analogies may be helpful in guiding your development.

All 3 of the above masters feel different, yet they are all more alike to each other than any of them are to any other internal stylists I've ever worked with, especially tai chi-ists.

Imagine being thrown into a pin ball machine where all the bumpers are made of hammers and knives instead of rubber...or a high speed washing machine filled with rocks and razor blades. You can't get out of the pinball machine or washer even though to you it feels like you're not being constantly pressed, like you might in a trash compactor. The key point here is that even though they feel nightmarishly loose, they never, ever lose contact with you. In fact, their contact is often invisible (hence, the old GC name "Ghostfist").

To me, they are all increasing degrees of the same scary formidability: Al is light as a butterfly and hits like a jack hammer...with a few whips thrown in for good measure. Tim feels like you're being torn limb from limb yet you cannot locate the source of the abuse even though he never breaks contact--even for a microsecond. And John...well...John feels like you're in a haunted house being pounded by angry ghosts. He is invisible yet all over you.

Read these descriptions over and over and try to understand the principles they embody: they do not absorb your energy; they reflect it instantaneously. There is no suppression, pushing, or drag on your own movement. Do you feel a beam of light as it reflects instantly off the mirrors in a funhouse? Are they slowed at all? Despite never losing contact with your partner, you never want your Contact Flow feeling like you're moving in a vat of molasses. As we describe in Attack Proof, your body should move like a well-oiled mannequin, with all joints free of restriction. An energy input here means an instant blow to the face there. Your careless push is instantly translated into your arm being pulled out of its socket. Your naive pull is instantly translated into a punch to the liver.

In tai chi, the principle is more passive, one of receiving and countering. GC is more about "block me or I'll take your head off". And if you do block me, I'll ricochet, skim, slide, fold, turn or tool replace into another strike with your reflected energy amplified.

The other main difference in feel I've experienced between tai chi practitioners and John or Al is the sense of their root. A high level tai chi man will have a root like a tree that cannot be easily moved. This takes many years of skill development. But understand this well: when you work with John, it feels like he has no root. This does not mean that he doesn't have one--it just means that you can't find it. This is because he changes his root in a microsecond in response to whatever energy he senses from you--and realigns himself to reflect your power back at you from a superior angle. This may manifest in anything from a minor pressure change in his feet, to a one inch readjustment, to a box step that has him suddenly behind you pulling your throat out with one hand and punching your liver in with the other. Note: all of this is covered in detail in the 6 hour Eye of the Storm DVD.

Hope this helps.
--Matt Kovsky