MARTIAL ARTS

{R}EVOLUTION

No styles, no systems, no rituals, no lineages, no masters, no labels, no belts, no katas, no uniforms, no dogmas;

Only the process of self actualization & personal expression of truth through functional combative movement and fitness.

On a purely physical level, we share how to individually and collectively use all of our natural tools as well as extended ones, offensively and defensively in a strategic and tactical manner and in all ranges of combat.

We're put through functional physical fitness training where we learn to push ourselves through our own perceived limitations. We also have much to offer on nutrition, health and optimum performance.

On a more cerebral level we learn about the psychology of violence, fear, stress & confrontation management skills, deescalation strategies and holistic survival tactics.

As the mind navigates the body; by challenging personal self defense dogmas and individual & core belief systems, personal growth and evolution occurs.

On a human level, we learn about the ripple effect and the moral, legal, and ethical consequences of our chosen actions while self examining our darkest emotions. We are encouraged to question everything, to learn to think for ourselves, to be more accountable and research everything we learn and to be open and responsive to life without judgment.

On a personal level, the training can make you face and slay your own demons.

Everything shared here is highly encouraged to be individually researched, to “absorb what is useful, add what is specifically of your own and disregard the rest.”

Monday, January 25, 2010

"The mind is the best weapon." - John Rambo ;`)




The 3 most neglected, unrealized and over looked truths of self defense: 1. You and your ego are indeed, your absolute worst enemies. 2. Your mind and spirit are your best weapons & stronger than your physical body will ever be. 3. Careful when fighting 'evil' not to become the very thing you are so righteously defending against.

That was one of my ‘status updates’ on facebook a couple of weeks ago… I decided to expand on it some.

If the essence of personal safety is avoidance, not being there, not have it happen to you, then shouldn’t we be working more on the ways to recognize, avoid & defuse then the actual defend part? Would think it makes sense to spend more time working at not being involved with violence than at spending as much time or more working on how to defend directly against it. Least, I believe so.

That’s not to say one shouldn’t spend any time or even undermine the necessary physical skills should all else fail… absolutely not, but more time needs to be spent on the underlying issues of violence, the recognition of it on a higher level, the why’s of it and the how’s to defuse it. One has to be aware of the ripple effect on a greater scale than that of the immediate moment while living the immediate moment. Some would say that is attaining mastery in the martial arts… being at ‘one’ in the moment while having a vested awareness to the ramifications of one’s actions.

Self defense on a purely physical perspective becomes nothing more than a band-aid on an infected wound. Sure, it can help you ‘beat up the bad guy’ then and there, but what happens after that? Do we even care? Should we?

Let’s take a look at possibilities that have actually occurred to others. For starters, let’s take a look at the threat of vengeance. Revenge is an ugly and powerful ego based emotion we’ve all felt at one time or another in our lives, but nothing good ever comes from revenge except more of what it is most try and avoid. What happens when the guy you just ‘defended’ yourself against sees you a week or month later walking with a loved one perhaps, and he happens to be with friends? What then? For many, it leads to loss of life.

Then one has to look at the very thing they may have unleashed by purely going physical if the choice of avoidance and de-escalation were indeed a prior option not considered or taken, on the would be attacker… instead of trying to re-write it, I’ll cut and paste an example a good friend of mine Robert Magio wrote on the subject on our online forum:

“However in my experience when a bully is confronted he will stop harassing that victim and he will simply find another victim. So what have we accomplished? However if we understand the bully's motivation and get him rehabilitated then he will not create more victims and he will not get married and bully his wife and 3 children. And what do you think his 3 children will learn? So now we have 3 bullies to deal with who will have 3 kids each, now we have 9 more to deal with and the cycle continues. We cannot simply confront, we must not just deal with the symptoms you must deal with the cause. Statistically 75% of criminals return to prison within 3 years of their release.”

We were using school bullies as an example as well as a metaphor for all violence. And the most pertinent part of that quote there is:

“We cannot simply confront, we must not just deal with the symptoms you must deal with the cause.”

Now this doesn’t mean to try and coach your attacker into sanity there and then, but understand that when violence is the option chosen, it should be because all other venues were indeed shut down. As Judge William Phillip Morris said (and I could very well be getting his name wrong cause I never get it right, sorry Judge :`) he said “Violence when there are alternatives is immoral, violence when there are NO OTHER alternatives, is justifiable.”

Responding to violence with immediate violence if other options were available, and often they are; whether be it through verbal aggression, assault or downright attack, is an ego-based response, it is a response stemming from fear taking over and not the consciousness, it feeds anger and much more often than not, hatred.

As 2 of our Team members, Phil and Athena Thompson wrote:

“If revenge, hatred, anger is what you are focusing on, guess what is going to manifest into your life…more revenge, hatred, anger. And the ripple effect (Butterfly effect as Big Rob calls it) will ensure that everyone around you is also affected. All of your loved ones will feel it. You are a pebble, and when you hit the water you create ripples which touch all of the shores, and something else I notice about that is that when the ripples hit the shore they turn and come right back at you. What do you want to be “putting out there”?

Nope. Real self protection deals with much more than just striking or pre-empting an attacker. It deals with deeper issues, as well it should, it is indeed about protection isn’t it? About safety.

Nietzsche once said that "whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster." I tend to agree. More time needs to be spent on the “knowing of thy enemy” as Sun Tzu wrote, in understanding our enemy, he becomes more vulnerable to us. This can be efficiently used in resolving the matter without the escalation of violence if one can communicate with the ego without using their own as the springboard. Not an easy task… people read the word ‘ego’ and immediately their defences/ego comes up. It’s normal, it is the lie we sell ourselves daily and have been living with forever… but once grasped, once the awareness of the ego exists as a separate ‘entity’ if you will, within, it becomes easier to deal with, ours and others…

This in turn arms us with greater tools and much better odds in avoiding, defusing and if need be defending against violence… make no mistake about it though, the real bad guy and root of all unjustifiable violence is indeed ego.

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of ALL humanity." ~ Martin Luther King, jr.

Since the mind does indeed navigate the body, train the mind first and foremost and never neglect the heart.

Sincerely,
Rich

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Senshido Liege Belgium March 27/28 2010 Seminars

French version below:

Once more in 2010, we will have the pleasure of having Rich back in Belgium for another 2 days of training!

The dates:

Saturday 27th of March 2010:

Walk the Talk

It is a prerequisite to have completed the Fundamentals of Personal Protection and/or Safe for Life seminar prior. This seminar delves deeper into enhancing perception time, decreasing reaction time, dealing with & managing powerful emotions and the adrenal stress condition phase, enhanced (auditory and visual) awareness, Senshido’s Emotional Invocation Drill, the complete Opportunity Drill and much more...

Sunday 28th of March 2010:

Get Real

It is a prerequisites to have completed the following 3 seminars prior: 1) The Fundamentals of Personal Protection, 2) The Walk the Talk and 3) The Shredder seminars. This seminar deals with Scenario Replications. Scenarios are created & reflect the participant’s lifestyle and are based on Senshido’s world renowned Scenario Replication Package used by law enforcement & martial artists the world over. Your opponent always picks and chooses the time, place, and setting of the confrontation. This seminar breaks down and demystifies a confrontation including time frames, mindsets, clothing, environment, unforeseen variables, concealed/improvised weapons and more.

The schedule for both days is from 12:00 pm till 5:00 pm

Location:
Ecole Communale de Juprelle
rue du Tige 142
4450 Juprelle
Belgium

COST:
120 € for both days for the first ten persons to register and for the person which have attended last year seminar if they register before the 31st of January
150 € for 2 days/80 € per day before the 28th of February
200 € for 2 days /110 € per day after that date

beware : limited number of space available!

For more information and registration:
rodpersonalprotection@yahoo.fr

Best regards,

Rodolphe

-------------------------------------

Bonjour,

Une fois de plus en 2010 nous aurons le plaisir de recevoir Rich Dimitri pour 2 jours d’entraînements.
.
Les dates:

Samedi 27 mars 2010

Walk the Talk
Se fait de préférence après les Fondamentaux de la Protection Personnelle. Ce séminaire vise à affiner d'avantages les capacités de perception (auditives et visuelles), diminuer les temps de réaction, mieux gérer les émotions (les siennes et celles des autres) ainsi que la décharge d'adrénaline.On y travaillera entre autre le Drill Senshido d'Evocation Emotionnelle et le Drill d'Opportunité...

Dimanche 28 mars 2010

Get Real
Se fait de préférence après les Fondamentaux de la Protection Personnelle, Walk the Talk et le Shredder. Ce séminaire est principalement placé sur le travail en scénario. Ces scénarios seront créés en fonction du style de vie des participants. Il vise à décomposer et démystifier la phase de confrontation en travaillant sur les notions de temps, d'état d'esprit, de vêtements, d'environnement, des variables inconnues ainsi que des armes improvisées et/ou dissimulées...

Horaire et lieu du stage :
Samedi et dimanche de 12h à 17h


Le lieu:
Ecole Communale de Juprelle
rue du Tige 142
4450 Juprelle

Tarifs :
120 € pour les 2 jours pour les 10 premiers inscrits ainsi que pour les personnes ayant participé au stage de l'an passé et s'inscrivant avant le 31 janvier
150 € pour les 2 jours/80 € par jour avant le 28 février
200 € pour les 2 jours/110 € par jour après cette date
Le stage se donnera en Anglais et en Français
Le nombre de place sera comme d'habitude limité.

RENSEIGNEMENTS :
rodpersonalprotection@yahoo.fr

Bien à vous,

Rodolphe

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Avoiding Dangerous Liaisons

By Georges Z. Fahmy – Senshido International

Ladies, you all know the fairytale classic: Beautiful Princess meets Prince Charming, they get married, and live happily ever after. Sadly, many of you know also, from personal experience or hearsay, of situations where a girl starts living the fairytale, only to discover after the first kiss (or much later in the relationship) that Mr. Charming is, in fact, a horrible frog. Ouch!

Prevention is always better than cure, and our aim is more about helping you get rid of Mr. Wrong than finding Mr. Right. This short article will provide teenage girls and adult women with a basic understanding of the dangerous behaviors and pre-incident indicators that less savory men display during the various dating phases.

As taught in Senshido’s “Safe for Life” women self defense seminars, most violence can be avoided and escaped if detected. The key word here is “detect”, so how does one keep bad guys away? Simple: Understand what they look for, how they operate, what they avoid, and use that information to your advantage.

Women in general are attracted to men who display confidence, humor, healthy aggressiveness, a fun personality, and interest in some type of sexy danger, be it sports, martial arts, skydiving, etc. These people make relationships fun and couple life worth living.

The problem arises when a woman meets a “Bad Boy”, as these men have similar traits to the ones listed earlier, along with some not-so-attractive features such as self destructive habits, sunstance abuse, extreme selfishness, short fused, general criminal behaviour amongst others that makes dating them unhealthy and hazardous.

We strongly recommend avoiding relationships with men exhibiting the following personality traits:

- Selfish: He doesn’t care about anything or anyone but himself. Not fun for you.
- Has an oversized ego or the Napoleon complex: He thinks he’s God’s gift to women, and that you are lucky to be with him. He doesn’t consider you as an equal, therefore will treat you like dirt and cheat on you. Dump him.
- Controlling personality: He is the dictator of his own little world and wants you to be a citizen there. Decline nationality fast.
- Insecure: He doesn’t believe in his own worth, which makes him prone to violence to keep what he assumes is “his”. Often bundled up with jealousy or nagging. Pass.
- Nagging: He’s a killjoy and will manipulate you to feel better about being a loser. Wish him luck with someone else.
- Jealous: He is possessed by the Green Beast. Run away. Jealousy is a symptom of insecurity, and while not contagious, both diseases will mess up your life.
- Stingy: He will make you pay for the cab you both took to go to your place (cars are so expensive these days!). Thank you Mr. Scrooge, that was a lovely evening, you’ll understand why I don't invite you for a cup of coffee. Have a good life.
- Abusive: He will use violence, be it physical, emotional, psychological, and behavioral to keep you under his control. VERY bad.
- Paranoid: He thinks you’re an Alien Mastermind here to take his brain and dissect it. Run away before he gets to his improvised laser rifle and blows up his house with you in it.
- Emotionally unstable: Do I really need to explain why it’s a bad idea?
- Overtly religious: Will treat you badly and use his belief system to justify it and convince you that “it’s meant to be because {XYZ BS reason}”. Like most nutcases out there, this guy has an imaginary friend. Only problem is that his goddy-buddy wants you subjugated, dead, or both, for some very valid spiritual reason. What are you still doing here? RUN FORREST RUN!
- Hates women: He is a bully who is pissed at womenfolk for real or alleged wrongs experienced in his past. Violence, very probably sexual, will be used against you and others. Very Very bad.
- Overtly attached to mother: You will never be as good as mommy. Not a problem, like Oedipus, he can marry her and enjoy his incestuous relationship without you. Oh yeah: LEAVE HIM NOW!
- Substance abuser: He will mess up his physical and mental health, and hurt you emotionally or physically and blame the alcohol/ drugs/ catnip. Say goodbye in Russian and escape while he tries to learn the language.
- Compulsive liar: He isn’t a Vice President at J.P Morgan, the yacht he said he owns belongs to a Saudi Prince, and the diamond necklace he bought you is fake. Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? The Shadow knows, but you may not want to know more about that specific man. Break the relationship before his piling-up lies break your heart.
- Criminal element: If the guy you’re interested in or are currently dating is a con artist, a kidnapper, a drug dealer, member of a biker gang, a gangbanger, a pimp, or any related jobs, you’ re going to be in trouble now and later. Just say “no thank you”.


Please remember that this list is not exhaustive, and that this is just the tip of the iceberg. We go in much more details in Senshido’s “Safe for Life” 6-hour seminar and in our book by the same name, where you learn the emotional, behavioral, psychological, and physical skills needed to survive violence.

For more information about Senshido, please visit www.senshido.net or contact us by phone (03 499712) or email (info@senshido.net).

Rich discusses what Self Defence is all about!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Wow... stunning...

Let it take the time to download, it is worth the wait for the imagery alone.



Peace,
Rich

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Will we learn before it's too late?

We still have a choice. Disbelieving this is incongruous to humanity's evolution and continued survival. It's also denial and it is being denied either through unconscious fear or personal gain. Do what you will with the information.

Peace,
Rich

The world isn't all that dark...









Having lived a good portion of my life concentrating on the dark side of our world, our lives, dealing with violence & crime, working with many a law enforcement officers who have witnessed various shades of hell through their chosen vocations, dealing with racism, hatred, back-stabbings and being a witness myself to the death of a few who were taken violently out of this world, I dwelled for a long time on the negative and less desirable aspects of our societies and very world we live in.

I have also had the chance to travel around our planet, fortunate enough through my very own vocation as well as personal travels, to have visited places like New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, Mexico, Finland, Italy, England, Scotland, most of North America, Libya, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Holland, Belgium, France and more and though I was locked into a very dark part of my own soul within my own life and work, I got to witness some pretty magnificent places and meet some very incredible people.

Some of these people I met have helped me see and understand that the world, though indeed plagued by many things, is also blessed and possesses much, much beauty and magnificence. I have visited the castles of Europe, seen the Grand Canyon, the Pyramids of Egypt, the incredible breath taking landscapes of New Zealand and Australia, the Sinai desert, the Rocky mountains, the coliseum and so much more taking me on such a ride that will leave me spinning for the rest of my life. And I have yet to see and do so much more...

In front of one of the 8 (don't forget Andre the Giant) wonders of the world. The history can be felt in the very air breathed.

There was a time where I couldn't see the beauty in the world because I so concentrated on wiping out the ugliness in it, wanting to fight it tooth and nail, head on and I did just that for most of my life. I've seen and done things that I am not very proud of, that had exposed me to much violence but at the same time, have helped shape me into the man I have become today. Along with several key people who were guiding angels if you will, who took me under their wing when mine were broken and soiled, and helped pick me up time and time again until I was able to finally see, realize and fundamentally understand that living the way I was, was indeed slowly eating me up inside without my even realizing it.

Hiking in New Zealand

These 'angels' taught me much about myself and life in general and they taught me how to begin to live life outside my dark veil, they showed me that there is beauty in this world, and that there are still many good, no... extraordinary people out there doing so much good. They taught me the balance of this world and allowed me to accept the bad as without it, the good would not exist as every single thing has it’s ‘Yin’ and its ‘Yang’. A good friend once said to me “You do not fight evil head on, you out birth it.” And the difference is monumental.

In essence, they showed me the proverbial light and I chose to finally accept to see it. For the longest time I fought it, arguing for the right to have violence in my life, arguing through my very own ego in the name of ‘justice’, I used to be a very vengeful person incapable of forgiveness, incapable of fully trusting people in general outside my very own personal circle.

The fear of change was almost crippling. I believed at the time that if I were to rid myself of this underlining anger I carried through the vehicle of guilt most of my life and used as the driving and motivational force to forge on and do the things I did, both good and bad, that if I were to put my proverbial ‘guns’ down, I would feel disarmed, like a declawed cat, complacent and unmotivated. How wrong I was.

In awe at the grand canyon... ok, maybe not in this pic, but definitely breath taking.

A friend made me look at it another way, instead of looking at it like I am putting my guns down completely, view it as simply holstering them, keeping them aside if the unfortunate need to arise ever presents itself again. You see, I used to walk around with my proverbial guns drawn at all times, ready to go on the spur of the moment if need be, concentrating on the many ways I can dismantle, subdue and incapacitate another human being with the greatest of ease, honing my combative skills, my, what I believed to be, ‘warrior mind set’… 24/7.

‘Holstering’ my guns resonated with me… hmmm I thought… makes sense. After all, they’ll always be there; they are now ingrained in me since the tender age of 6. Been through the battle fields, did the whole blood and guts routine, danced with devil and yada yada… why not be secure enough with myself to simply ‘holster my guns’?

And so I did… and things immediately began to change… almost instantly actually. I understood that the true warrior is a peaceful one as Dan Millman wrote in his famous series “Way of the Peaceful Warrior.” My life began attracting more positive things, things that prior to I believed or thought were not possible. I began to grow actually, not physically taller or anything but I began to feel my spirit, my soul if you will without the underlining sensation of pain attached to it. I began to see the world from a collective-centric point of view as opposed to the incredibly frequent and overused egocentric most, including myself have adopted for so long… it was like I found my place in the grand scheme of life, I understood my path, finally.

By the red sea in the Sinai desert. The colors are truly magnificent, the picture doesn't do it justice at all.

My life went from several confrontations per year to 2 since 2005. I began to attract unbelievable people from all four corners of the globe into my life and began to see the magnificent beauty of this world we live in. Life was happening all around and on every imaginable level, flowing naturally while most of humanity resisted it. It was astounding to see, to realize that I was doing the same thing… resisting life, fighting it, falling victim to it and then getting angrier at it. It was like a sonic boom in my head… and so the shift began and continues to go… it is a never ending one for every new place explored, every human being encountered every morsel of food and every breath taken expands on that shift.

I understood that the meaning of life, the true singular driving force, the very essence of life itself is love. Period. Nothing more, nothing less. Love is the essence of life. As I’ve stated before, imagine for one moment, if the whole world, every single one of us human beings truly, honestly and fully loved and were loved back at the exact same moment for a minute, an hour, a day… a week? Would we not have instant utopia? Would that not indeed be the heavens the major religions talk about? Instant worldwide peace. Idealistic? Perhaps… but if we’re capable of so much violence, so many wars and so much neglect, selfishness and general hatred of others unlike us (and this is mainly how we have been living as a species since the dawn of man) couldn’t we do the opposite for a while and see how it works out? I mean, we’ve tried it the other way forever… why not, as John Lennon prophetically stated, give peace a chance?

And as I watch many around make this shift, I also watch many others still stuck where I once was, painfully & perfectly understanding them in their anger and frustrations, the succumbing to the lies of their own egos, incapable still of ridding themselves of self righteousness… and yet, this is all a part of life’s grandmaster plan… everything is a choice that inevitably leads us to where we all should be, either via a rocky, jagged path or a more serene and majestic one, only we hold the key of choice…

There is beauty in this world, much of it. There are many great people doing great things, contributing to so much creating brilliant ripple effects worldwide, we, they, you are out there. Better to concentrate and focus on what the good people of our earth are doing than focus so much on the bad. Better to be a part of the positive ripple effects rather than sit and bitch about the shitty and crappy parts. Better to become the great person we all could be if we do chose and desired too. Better to contribute through positive actions and words than to enforce through constant vigil and threat from the bad.

These are the 2 cents of a man who has not only walked, but hiked, camped and rock climbed both sides of the road & bought the T-shirt. I have done some unspeakable things; I have done, witnessed and seen things with my own eyes that would make most cringe watching it on a movie screen.

I have also helped and continue to save, change and improve many lives worldwide (strangely enough, to many a few protestations and chagrins go figure) and since this incredible shift from dark to light… Senshido has shifted as well and has exponentially grown from a RBSD (reality based self defense system) to a worldwide movement for peace and unity through the vehicle of personal protection.

Take the time to experience life beyond your work, your ego and your habits and you will experience many fascinating and marvelling things… the choice is indeed yours.

“Become the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Ghandi

Peace,
Rich