Self Defense Technique Collecting by Eric Taimanglo

With kind permission of my friend Eric Taimanglo, I'm reposting his article here.

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Self Defense Technique Collecting

by Eric Taimanglo

 

 

Years ago when I was vacationing at a friend's house, I was watching martial arts VHS tapes I had recently purchased. I had all kinds of arts on tape: Capoeira, Jujitsu, Kali, etc. My friend's father, who was a Korean martial artist, watched along with me for a while, and then said, "You know, all these arts are good. But if your expression is diluted in one because you're chasing the others, then all of them, and you, will be no good." From then on I decided to stick with just Kali.

Forward to the present: I teach Kali at the park on weekends for free. I have a facebook page and a craigslist ad. This has led to many interesting encounters, such as people who show up once or twice, and then never come back, people who want to meet me with no intention of training at all but want to recruit me as a building block for a pyramid marketing scheme, and those who want to learn "in order to add some stuff to what I already know". People who "hop" from instructor to instructor, from place to place, grabbing what seems "cool", and then traipsing off to the next training venue. I call these people "collectors".

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that one art, system, style or instructor has all the solutions. Far from it. Bruce Lee made a LOT of people angry when he said that no range of combat was superior to any other, and that skills in weapons, kicking, punching, trapping and grappling were necessary to be successful. The problem arises when individuals believe that they can forge a good foundation by taking a little bit from column A, adding a dash from column B, sprinkle a little from column C, and then call what they have a working knowledge base of self defense.

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Self Defense Case Study: Parking Lot Argument by Eric Taimanglo

With kind permission of my friend Eric Taimanglo, I'm reposting his article here.

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Self Defense Case Study: Parking Lot Argument 

by Eric Taimanglo

I was listening to the radio while driving one day and happened across a survey where the DJ was asking callers to share what made them angry. A woman answered and related how lack of manners were her pet peeve. She then went on to tell a story about an encounter with a local lout in a parking lot. Apparently, she was returning to her vehicle, with her children in tow. She opened the car door and accidentally made contact with the vehicle in the space next to her. According to the caller, there was no damage to the vehicle. The man came out and became verbally belligerent. She said she apologized, but the man continued to berate her, asking her how would she feel if someone banged her vehicle by careless opening of a car door. At this point she became defensive and said that it wouldn't be much of a problem, as she drove a (insert derogatory name for less than aesthetically pleasing vehicle). She wound the energy up further, scolding him for being so verbally abusive in front of her children. It all ended with no physical contact, save for the supposed "tap" on the man's car, and both parties went about the rest of their day.

Some might say that she was in the right. She apologized, but the man wouldn't accept it and kept going down his mouthy route. How dare this man launch verbal attacks on her in front of her children. Civilized people accept apologies, why couldn't this man do the same?

In my opinion, there are no such things as rights. If you find this hard to believe, please look up a place called Pyongyang, or better yet, Libya. We all have our own little worlds organized and packaged to fit our perceptions. We have to, otherwise we wouldn't get anything done. However, a lot of us have the tendency to clutch too tightly to our parceled ways, so much that we don't realize that there are other people, with other ways, some of which are very different from our own. To assume that the world will conform to our ways is, well, rather foolish.

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Mobile phones and self defense by Eric Taimanglo

With kind permission of my friend Eric Taimanglo, I'm reposting his article here.

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Mobile phones and self defense

by Eric Taimanglo

To clarify, this is not an article on how to use your mobile phone as an improvised weapon (although it is entirely possible). No, we will be discussing the use of mobile phones in everyday life and how they impact our ability to protect ourselves.

Mobile phones are great. At the turn of the millennium, perhaps even a few years before that, people were dumping landlines in favor of the mobile phone. And why not? Convenience is the mantra of the modern consumer. And what is more convenient than these pieces of plastic, metal wafers and microprocessors? It's easier to keep in touch with family, with friends, with bosses, co-workers. In the span of a few seconds, we can glimpse at our favorite social network, read breaking news, check the weather, and pay a bill.

It also takes a few seconds for a potential predator to see that you are completely and utterly oblivious to your surroundings.

Try walking down a busy street while writing a comment about this article, and see how many people you bump into, or how many obstacles such as a street lamp post or fire hydrant seem to magically materialize and get in your way.

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Self-defense, Martial Arts, and other dangerous words by Eric Taimanglo

With kind permission of my friend Eric Taimanglo, I'm reposting his article here.

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Self-defense, Martial Arts, and other dangerous words 

by Eric Taimanglo

Best block, no be there. - Mr. Miyagi

What is self-defense?

According to the Random House Dictionary, the definition of self-defense is:

1. The act of defending one's person when physically attacked, as by countering blows or overcoming an assailant: the art of self-defense.
2. A claim or plea that the use of force or injuring or killing another was necessary in defending one's own person from physical attack: He shot the man who was trying to stab him and pleaded self-defense at the murder trial.
3. An act or instance of defending or protecting one's own interests, property, ideas, etc., as by argument or strategy.

The first definition might be the most popular one that comes to mind. The second might be brought up during a discussion of legal issues. The third is an interesting one, which I suspect is one that does not enter into most people's minds. While all three are correct and have their place and time, what concerns us right now is the question of how we protect ourselves against negative elements bent on our depletion of life, health, or resources. In other words, what is our goal concerning self-defense?

It is taking responsibility to ensure that we continue to live happy, healthy lives.

But, wait, I thought we were going to learn some kick butt -- take-no-prisoners moves that I could perform on the local alcoholic strongman! Sorry to disappoint, but “kicking butt” is merely a small part of a total self-defense strategy. Think about it. In the grand scheme of things, looking at the big picture, isn't the end goal of truly successful self-defense the simple act of going about our daily lives in walking through the door and coming home to our family and friends, smiling and retaining all our bodily functions?

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