Month: March 2009

Tony Blauer on the Close Quarter Range

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Here’s a great article from Tony Blauer on the “Close Quarter Range“.

The more I read about Blauer’s approach to combat, the more I like it. It’s modern in approach, it builds upon natural body reactions and movements, but he also doesn’t totally dismiss more traditional arts. If there’s anything he dismisses it’s martial arts bullshit, which I appreciate.

For instance, Blauer understands the value of “forms” practice (kata, hyung, poomse). Many modern martial artists poo-poo the notion of it, but in the end any sort of repetitive practicing of movements is forms practice. IMHO there’s a lot of good in forms practice, so long as it’s a meaningful form and meaningful practice. If you’re just flailing and dancing, there’s no point to that other than perhaps some physical exercise and ego feeding. If however you are practicing actual martial movements to ingrain them as natural actions, if you train with the proper mindset, that has utility. Some forms practice is like moving meditation, and there’s utility in that as well (Kuk Sool’s Baek Pahl Ki Hyung is that for me). In the above-linked article, Blauer presents a “Close Quarter ‘Muscle Memory’ Form”. You must first obtain the correct mindset: visualizing where the strikes are landing, visualizing the reactions so you properly flow with their movement. Then imagine that you’re in a situation, you tried to avoid physical confrontation but the attacker/bully presses the issue and you must physically react.

Start from a “Submissive Posture”
Legend: YOUR ACTION ‑ opponent’s reaction

  1. SHORT LEAD FACE SLAP ‑ opponent flinches and closes his eyes.
  2. PALM STRIKE UNDER CHIN ‑ opponent steps back, growls and rushes in to nail you with a “big Haymaker.”
  3. Intercept with the S.P.E.A.R. ‑ opponent is jammed and hesitates.
  4. VERTICAL ELBOW ‑ catches opponent under the chin, snapping his head back.
  5. DOWNWARD RAKE (flows from same elbow #3) ‑ scratching attacker’s face, he flinches forward.
  6. HORIZONTAL ELBOW (opposite arm) ‑ hits opponent in the nose.
  7. REVERSE RAKE (same arm #5) ‑ causes opponent to clutch his face and turn away.
  8. DIAGONAL ELBOW (opposite arm/up and downward, slashing motion) ‑ hits attacker in the temple (clavicle, ear, etc.) region causing him to buckle.
  9. HAIR GRAB & KNEE ‑ grabbing the opponent’s hair, you drive a knee solidly into his face. He clutches his face and starts to stand up.
  10. LEAD FRONT KICK ‑ seizing the opportunity to attack the groin, you step in and snap a hard, quick kick to the groin. Your opponent doubles over, clutching his groin.
  11. REAR LEG FRONT KICK ‑ With the opponent doubled over, drive a powerful front kick, and use the shin as a striking surface, into his hands. Turn and run.

Is that a form? Sure is. Is it useless to practice? I don’t think so.

Blauer’s got an interesting approach. Well worth the read.

 

Updated: Found a video demonstrating the form. Tony himself made the video, narrates it.

Progress on SB 730

/ hsoi

Texas Senate Bill 730 has made some progress. “Local” coverage here. Official record here, but since action just happened there’s not a lot of detail other than “status: out of committee” and “vote: ayes=7 nays=0 pnv=0 abs=0”.

Not much update on the companion bill, HB 1301.

 

Updated: Yes, it’s actually out of the Senate now, not just committee (their website wasn’t fully updated when I posted… lag). An article. From that article:

The bill drew fire from business leaders, who called it an affront to property rights. Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business, warned that it could also spark more workplace gun crimes – particularly at a time when more and more people are losing their jobs.

“People could go out to their car, get their weapon and go after their supervisors or co-workers who hadn’t been laid off,” Hammond said.

I’m still torn on the property rights issue, I admit. But then, I’m OK with concealed carry so if I had a business with employees and an office building there’d be no 30.06 sign out front. I’d rather be surrounded by good guys and hope that all I hired were good guys.

As for the “people could go out to their car” argument well… remember that people could also go out to their car to get their gun and stop the carnage created by someone “going postal”. As well, if someone wanted to go postal but they knew lots of armed employees were around so their little rampage wouldn’t be that productive, it just might serve to deter the rampage in the first place. But in the end, someone bent on going crazy is going to go crazy and we can’t do much to stop it. What we can do is stop abridging law-abiding citizens.

Sugar, sweet sweet sugar

/ hsoi

The wife and kids went grocery shopping. They come home, I go downstairs to see what goodies have been brought.

Seems the kids talked my wife into buying Kool-Aid and mini marshmallows.

How do I know this?

I see the children… mixing a purple powder in a glass… then adding marshmallows on top of it.

So… we have sugar drink topped with fluffy sugar pellets.

I think it’s time for the kids to go outside and run a few hundred laps around the house, eh?

Attempted range suicide?

/ hsoi

Wow… this is fucked up. Apparently yesterday a woman attempted to commit suicide at a local gun range.

Red’s Indoor Range is the only indoor range in Austin (there are 2 locations). I am closest to the south location, where the incident occurred, and go there on occasion. I actually don’t like to go there because I don’t like indoor ranges (too loud, too much crap to breathe in), and I don’t like how some of the clientele lacks gun handling discipline (it’s not fun having a gun pointed at you) and the “range officers” aren’t consistent about enforcement of rules. You also can’t do much practical shooting there: no drawing from holster, no movement, slow fire, can only use their approved targets, etc.. The guys that work there are generally nice tho. I do like the ease of adjusting distances and benchrest ability, good for checking the state of a gun, a scope zero, and so on. They also provide rental services, which is nice for new gun owners to be able to try before they buy. Red’s also provides a Ladies Day, which is a welcome thing. So like I said, I do go there on occasion, but try to keep it to weekday mornings if I do go.

Does the incident change how I’ll look at Red’s? No. The sad situation is this was a woman that was suicidal. She was crying out for help, crying out for attention, and was determined in her course of action. It is not Red’s fault (the owner, the employees, the store). It is not the fault of gun owners. It is not the fault of guns. I know there are those that use incidents like this to further their political agenda… the blood still flowing, the body still warm, and they jump at the opportunity to advance their politics. I think that’s distasteful and wrong, and it serves no constructive purpose. It was a woman in need of help, and if she recovers from her injuries I hope she’s able to get the help that she needs. 

If you’re into such things, say a prayer for all involved: the patrons that witnessed the event, the employees that have to deal with it, the store/range owner whose business will be adversely affected (i.e. affects his ability to provide for his family), the police and medical personnel exposed to it, and the woman and her family. I hope they can find peace.

One of those happy moments

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Here I am. Sitting at my computer working (or pretending to). One of our cats, the “weird one”, opts to seek me out. Jumps up in my lap, spends a few minutes getting her head scratched. Then she opts to park it in my lap and take a nap. Purring away. Happy. Content. This is rare behavior from her… she’s not a lap cat.

But it’s welcome, both by her and by me. The wife and kids are out of the house, so it’s just me and the cats. It’s a nice, warm, peaceful moment.

I’m fortunate to work from home.

Strength from your center

/ hsoi

Many of the techniques in Kuk Sool (and many other martial arts that involve more than striking) involve grabbing, trapping, locking… basically that you’re grabbing your opponent and then manipulating them in some way. There’s no denying that some degree of strength is involved in these actions. You hear the stories claiming a 90# woman can disable a 300# man… well, maybe. Let’s be honest, there’s certainly a size and strength disparity here that is difficult to overcome; difficult, but not impossible. It’s a matter of knowing how to use what strength and size you have to its maximum advantage. I’m not going to say it will allow that little woman to out-muscle the big man, but at least perhaps she can use what she has to its fullest.

One key aspect to this is to use your center. Bring things to your center, as this is where you are strongest. The best analogy is the pickle jar. When you have to open a jar (pickles or otherwise) and the lid is stuck and tough to get off, what do you do? Most people bring that jar into their center, somewhere around their belly button. You’re able to apply more strength to the lid by holding and working the jar in this location as opposed to say holding the jar at arms length and working on it there. So when you apply physical techniques to people, bring them to your center. If you cannot bring the person/joint/lock to your center, move yourself in a manner that places your center closer to the point at which you are trying to work. So you move yourself or you move them, either way it’s putting what you’re working on closer to your center. Your center is where you can best apply your strength. 

Related to this, don’t forget to keep yourself towards your center. Try this experiment. Have a friend hold their forearms vertically in front of their chest, forearms pressed together, hands clenched in fists, fists in front of their chin, elbows in front of their belly button. Now you come up to your friend and place your hands atop their fists and press down as hard as you can; your friend should resist, not so much as to throw you off but just enough to counter your force. When you press down, first try pressing down holding your elbows out to the side (your forearms parallel to the ground). Then try pressing again, this time with your elbows pointing down (perpendicular to the ground). If I described this correctly and all goes well, you ought to be able to exert more force when your elbows are in. You’ve kept your elbows in, towards your center. This isn’t saying there’s magic about the center, but it’s about how our body physiology is set up and how much more effective we can work when we angle ourselves in a manner that allows our body to work to its maximum potential.

Of course, there’s a lot of philosophical implications of “finding strength from your center” as well, but that’s perhaps a discussion topic for another time. 🙂

So as you work, consider your center and keeping to it. This is where you can find much strength.

CHL saves the day?

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

It’s a breaking news story… details are slim at this point, but it seems a Florida citizen with a concealed weapons permit foiled a robbery in a Miami Burger King. Another story here and here but apart from listing the CWP holder as a Good Samaritan, not much more detail.

We’ll see what comes of it.

Hutchison on stimulus

/ hsoi

It took a while to get a response, but yesterday I received an emailed response from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison regarding H.R. 1, the “stimulus act”. Here’s her response in its entirety.

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

Our economy is facing dramatic challenges. Financial conditions are rapidly evolving, creating volatility and uncertainty for businesses, small and large, across the country. Tightening credit markets, mounting job losses, and decreased consumer spending are wreaking havoc on the bottom lines of small businesses and the savings of every American household.

In response to the economic crisis, Congressional Democrats unveiled H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus bill. After several weeks of debate, a $787 billion package filled with an array of funding for government healthcare, education, energy, and infrastructure programs was agreed upon.

The Stimulus bill passed on a party line vote, with all but three Senate Republicans opposing the bill, and was signed into law on February 17, 2009. I strongly opposed H.R. 1 for three primary reasons.

First, I believe the most effective way to stimulate the economy is to leave more money in taxpayers’ pockets. Instead of providing significant tax cuts, the vast majority of the Stimulus bill focused on dramatically expanding government programs. In fact, tax cut provisions in H.R. 1 only represented 27 percent of the total bill. Furthermore, the few tax relief provisions that were included are likely to be ineffective. The largest tax relief provision in the bill, the Making Work Pay Credit, is a $400 tax credit for individuals and an $800 tax credit for couples that will be distributed though decreased paycheck withholdings. For individuals, this amounts to only an additional $7.69 per week. This meager effort will not stimulate our economy out of the current recession.

Second, I believe any stimulus bill should attempt to expend funding immediately and effectively. Instead, in this bill, of the $311 billion in government discretionary spending, only 11.3 percent, or $35 billion, will be spent in 2009. The remainder of the spending will occur over the next ten years. Stimulating our economy over ten years will not bring immediate relief to those feeling the impact of the economic crisis today.

Lastly, this bill will saddle Americans with a significant amount of additional debt. Our national debt is currently above $10.9 trillion dollars. It is irresponsible for our government to wastefully spend taxpayer dollars by the billions when our nation is operating in the red. In addition, it is unfair to place this mounting financial burden on America’s future generations. I could not support a $787 billion bill that will not provide much-needed tax relief; will not spend the funding immediately and effectively; will not create sustainable, private-sector jobs; and will not address the mounting debt facing our country.

The economic downturn has had a pronounced impact on Texas families and businesses, and I would have supported stimulative measures that were balanced, reasonable in size, and targeted specifically to job creation, keeping people in their homes, and overall economic growth. A better proposal would have emphasized tax relief so that individuals and businesses can have more capital to inject into the economy, and it would have guarded against massive government expansion. History teaches that excessive spending may prolong a recession. Moving forward, Congress must carefully consider the long-term consequences of a fiscal policy premised on borrowing and spending. As Congress continues to consider legislation to address the financial crisis, you may be certain I will keep your thoughts in mind.

For more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, please visit http://www.recovery.gov <http://www.recovery.gov/&gt; .

I appreciate hearing from you. I hope you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue of concern to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message as it is not a valid e-mail address. Due to the tremendous volume of mail Senator Hutchison receives, she requests that all email messages be sent through the contact form found on her website at http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.cfm .

If you would like more information about issues pending before the Senate, please visit the Senator’s website at http://hutchison.senate.gov .  You will find articles, floor statements, and press releases, along with her weekly column and monthly television show on current events. You can also sign up to receive Senator Hutchison’s weekly e-newsletter.

Thank you.

 

Unclear on the concept

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

My sons like to wear Skechers shoes. To update on the shoe shopping situation, it wound up that the shoes we ended up with ultimately weren’t going to work out… so off we went looking for other shoes. But at least we knew Oldest’s shoe size so why not order online, right? Mom & Oldest went looking online and found just the shoes he wanted. So on the 16th I ordered from skechers.com.

Days went by. I received no status update on the shipping of the shoes. That’s odd. Any eCommerce these days lets you know at most within 48 hours about status. Their website said it was in stock, that all is good… but yet by Friday I still had no idea if they were shipping or not (order status still said “processing”). So on Friday I phoned their customer service to ask. I was told that the shoe was out of stock (huh? what happened to that policy of 48 pairs of every shoe in stock?) and my order would automatically be cancelled soon. O…K…. I broke the news to Oldest and said we’d find the shoes somewhere else. 

Then the FedEx man arrived on Saturday with Oldest’s shoes. Hrm.

Then what did I get in my email inbox this morning? A message saying my order had been processed and here’s the FedEx tracking number. I checked the tracking number and apparently the order shipped out of their facility on the 18th.

Wow. 

They may have great shoes, but methinks there’s a lot of disconnect in their order processing system. Bug, not feature.