Rory Miller, Ambushes and Thugs Seminar Review
// March 22nd, 2010 // Self Defense, Thoughts
I’ve been a martial artist for years. Tae Kwon Do, Shaolin Kung Fu, Aikido, Karate, Aikijutsu… What does it all mean? Why do I do it? I know this… I was told this past weekend that I do it for the following;
Manufacturing cripples and corpses.
Yep, the crisp clear reality of it. Even after working with Nick Guinn for years now I didn’t really truly get that part of it. Nick has gotten me close, but it was all a matter of semantics. The words strike a note. I’m not training to pull my punches. I’m not training to avoid seriously injuring an attacker. I’m training to defend myself, my friends, my family, maybe even my neighbor.
I attended a seminar on Saturday, March 20th in Independence Kansas. The title of the seminar was “Ambushes and Thugs”. Little did I know that I’d enter that building with one view of the world and leave with a completely altered view.
The day started as most others, with breakfast and a chat with the buddies. When we got to the college, I met Rory (link to his website). He was a little shorter than I expected but had a seasoned, almost weathered look in his eyes which overshadowed any physical perception of the man. He carried himself with confidence and even an attitude which coolly demonstrated his general outlook. The man had a great sense of humor to boot.
I won’t go into too much detail about the seminar but I will touch on a few points…
We started with a safety lecture and were advised to remove any weaponry on our person. People laughed (even he grinned) but I’m pretty sure Rory was dead serious. We proceeded to start in on a few drills. Rory presented an idea pertaining to “sparring” exchange that better emulated real life. This idea takes into account that there are three primary attributes of an attack/defense. Speed, power and accuracy. Take away one of these things and the attack is far less effective. The only one of the three that he was fairly sure wouldn’t be a problem responding with in a high intensity situation, even if you train without it, was speed. So, train with slower speed but keep your accuracy and your level of power commitment high. This will help you not train in a bad habit.
Interesting concept. One of many that we covered. We went on to add a few elements to the training regime, like using a punching mitt as a placeholder for a 2 month old baby. Boy, that changed things. Suddenly you go from “crush him” to “escape him” at all costs when faced with an assailant.
He lectured about the criminal mind, the “Monkey Dance” (a typically social exchange of words and light force), social and a-social behavior.
Then the videos came. Things I haven’t ever seen before. Real things. Real violence. If an image says a thousand words, these videos spoke volumes about the mind of the truly callous way people can act. These images drew the day’s lessons together and cemented them in my head.
It is amazing yet humbling to me what a human without a moral code is capable of. The reality is, too, that if faced with one of these individuals ever in my life, I must already have my ethical issues resolved. Just like Sgt. Miller said, I can’t have a moral crisis when facing a man lunging at my wife. I won’t.
All in all, a great day. A great man. A whole lot to digest. I plan to add more as the thoughts come to me. This may even be a new theme to the blog. It is without a doubt an important topic that directly affects EVERYONE.
I want to comment on the thing in my head. I’m going to make it fairly regular. My plan is, over the next few weeks, pick one topic of discussion from the seminar and from my interactions with my peers/training over the time to come and try to externalize my thoughts.
God bless,
Jeremy
