Now with my new venture into new martial arts, I do what I normally do with any new venture: I seek out as much information as I can. Devour knowledge.
Found a nice website on basic Muay Thai techniques.
Author: hsoi
Racism is (unfortunately) alive and well
Roberta X goes off about the recent New Haven, CT firefighter racial discrimination lawsuit ruling.
This is the cold, dead hand of Woodrow Wilson’s Democratic Party, reaching out with the soft bigotry of low expectations. telling us, “that’s all they’re capable of, poor creatures.” Bullshit! Pure, unadulterated, triple-strength bilge and hokum! It’s 2009 and just about the only groups that have to be reminded of the countervailing examples all around ’em are unregenerate racists and liberals — but I repeat myself.
Like I said, most liberals aren’t.
Roberta X continues:
…But what still has my blood boiling is this burning desire to define tests down to achieve “balance.” It shows up in public safety jobs and the military these days but public safety is the most damaged by it — there are often different physical requirements for the boys and the girls, yet once they qualify, they do the same job. This is the worst sort of foolishness; if a fireman’s got to be able to carry X weight for Y distance under Z conditions, then a firewoman had better be able to do so, too, or she’s gonna have to leave someone to die that her brothers would’ve been able to save. Unfair? –It may have the effect of setting the bar higher for women than for men but it does not make it impossible, and it could be your loved ones or even you, left to burn by someone who only got in because the bar was lowered.
Some jobs take strength or stamina; some take great powers of concetration and fine motor control. Some — Supreme Court Justice, perhaps? — merely take good sitting-down muscles at both ends. And many jobs require some basic abilities that if you, personally, lack ’em, you had not ought to be doing that job. Not even if Justice Ginsburg thinks it would be “fair.”
Snubby ammo
Ooo….
In my continuing quest for a snub nose revolver, I come across this useful gem from New Jovian Thunderbolt discussing ammo for snubbies. It points to this article on some Speer Gold Dots, but I took have heard about using the .38 Special +P semi-wadcutters because they’ll be rather effective for contact and close-range shots, which is more likely what you’d be doing with a snub.
On fear
Last night I finished reading Col. Jeff Cooper‘s book To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth.
An interesting and enlightening book. Cooper, no question has his mind set in particular ways. You may not agree with him, but without question he’s been a major influence on the craft of shooting. The book comes across as a series of “talks” or stories on a topic. Some remembering past hunting trips, told as if you were sitting around a campfire having a beer and sharing with your mates. Some passages were Cooper’s take on pistols or rifles and how to use them properly. Certainly there was a dose of his philosophy, politics, and view on life and the world.
A common question from the hoplophobes (Cooper’s term) regarding gun ownership  is “What are you afraid of?”. Questions about your mental state and your level of paranoia inevitably arise. This passage from Cooper’s book struck me in this regard:
Danger, to be appreciated, must be known. Our lives were all forfeit when we were born, but the hour of our peril is not always apparent to us. As you read this you may be seconds away from a fatal heart attack, but you are not in danger – so to speak – since you do not know that you are. Danger, in this sense, is the awareness of the possibility of imminent death. It is always a shocking experience but it need not be terrifying – and it absolutely must not be allowed to become incapacitating.
“Fear” and “terror” are words too often used in the Age of the Common Man. When I was a lad they were not admissible. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan, for example, said, “I do not know what you mean by ‘fear’. I do not want to die, if that is what you mean, but you speak as if there were something more to it than that.” Fear that nullifies a man’s ability to cope with the danger which gives rise to the fear is an unacceptable emotion. The awareness of peril, however, is not the same thing at all, because in properly organized personalities it heightens perceptivity, sets the heart and mind to greater activity, and stimulates the entire consciousness in a way not otherwise realized.
I like Cooper’s distinction here on the effects of fear. That is, if fear paralyzes you, that’s not good. If instead you are aware, accept, and acknowledge peril exists and it motivates you to greater things, that’s good.
I don’t think the world is as horrible as the mainstream media paints for us and taints our perception. I don’t think there is evil lurking around every corner waiting to pounce on me, my wife, my children. But I do know evil is out there, and it only takes one incident to be too many. I work to make myself aware of peril and allow it to motivate my heart and mind to greater activity. Denying it exists doesn’t make it not exist, it merely puts you in a state of denial. Not being prepared puts you at a disadvantage, regardless of context or situation.
Some people find it odd that I study defensive pistolcraft and martial arts, but yet my sincere hope is to never use them in contexts beyond training, practice, and recreation. Why study them if you intend to never (truly) use them? We study language because we wish to communicate with others. We study math because we wish to engage in commerce. We tend to study and learn things specifically because we wish to directly use them. But this martial stuff…. that’s one of those “I’d rather have it (the knowledge and skill) and not need it, than need it and not have it” sort of things.
I am not an early adopter
In the technology adoption lifecycle, I am not an early adopter. I used to be back in my younger days: early adopter, innovator, being on beta lists and other things to get in before the rest of the crowd. But the trouble with being an early adopter is you get to work out the bugs. I write/create enough of my own bugs in a day; why should I burden my life with someone else’s too? 🙂 Yeah, I finally see reason to get an iPhone, but the 3GS models overheating and turning pink? Yikes. No thank you, I’ll wait.
How they stand, what it tells you.
Former Texas State Representative Suzanna Gratia-Hupp:
How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual… as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of.
Rather an interesting litmus test, and it holds up.
A liberal examination
Linoge has an enlightening little piece examining the word “liberal”.
I’ve known many so-called Liberals in my life, especially when I was in undergrad, and certainly I know many today. The sad thing is, if you go by the true definition of “liberal”:
- open to new behavior or opinions (“open minded”)
- willing to discard traditional values
- favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms
- favoring maximum individual liberty in political and social reform
- non-interventionist
- tolerant
most Liberals aren’t; in fact, I’d say they’re just the opposite.
Remember that change…
Wow. Times like we have now, and they’re just going to keep screwing middle American harder and harder.
If you voted for Obama, Pelosi, or any of those listed in the “yes” column, can you please explain to me why you did so? Can you please explain to me how their track record over the past 6-9 months is going to have a long-term positive impact upon this country? How is this behavior making anything better?
Lack of posting
Not sure what gives, but something’s hoarked with t3h int3rw3bz for me today. Looks like something in one of Time Warner Cable’s backbones or maybe GBLX is failing. Something up in the DFW area, from what diagnostics I can run.
Of course, trying to get a hold of someone with a clue at TWC is impossible. Stupid voice response menus that navigate you to nowhere useful. The constant drone of “sorry, this department doesn’t handle that; let me transfer you to the department that does” and repeat that about 5 times and 20 minutes before I decide to just hang up. Be a sucker for punishment and try again (thank God for my office phone headset), and get the same clueless runaround.
Even getting to Google is a challenge.
It’s been too damn painful to be online all day. Not going to keep hurting myself with it tonight.
Going to go do something novel, like read a book. 🙂
Next Class – Wow!
I just got back from my first “stand up” session from Warrior’s Edge Martial Arts. On Monday night’s it’s 2 things: first class is “stand up” MMA with Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai, Kali, Silat sorts of empty hand skills and drills; second class is western boxing.
In a word: awesome.
So far, this feels like what I’ve been looking for.
The first class was taught by Guro Ray. We worked on various drills, working on getting inside and what we can do from there. For instance, right haymaker comes at you, shoot in and block, and from there various things could happen: a chicken-wing arm-bar, a bent-elbow shoulder lock, or other sorts of arm bars and locks. And as I’m doing this all I can think to myself is: ah, that’s Ki Bohn Soo #3, oh, that’s this other Kuk Sool thing. The key is that the body moves in only so many ways, so there’s only so many things you can really do. My Kuk Sool knowledge isn’t discarded; in fact, it came in quite handy in performing the locks, sweeps, and takedowns. Didn’t hurt my kicking skills either. Â But the key difference? Learning how to apply things.
I’ve always felt that the library of “techniques” you learn in Kuk Sool isn’t necessarily meant to be a literal library of movements. Sure the constant execution of them does teach you things, does teach you how to move, but it’s static and not very alive. I’ve always felt that what the “techniques” are more doing is teaching you a concept, teaching you about some way to move the body be it your body or more importantly your opponent’s body. So you’re being given an abstract notion. Trouble is, in most all of my 6 year Kuk Sool history, it never really went beyond that. There was never really any application, any “let’s get in there and work it”. Sure I attempted to do it now and again on my own, but in terms of it being a good part of how things were taught, it just wasn’t there. That was one reason I left. I’d say that tonight I got a good dose of how to actually apply and get in there and take the abstract knowledge of the body and work it from there.
Then the western boxing class.
Ouch. 🙂
It was drills. The teacher was a gentleman name Abel, and he took as a beginner and taught me accordingly. The drills? Good grief. I am in good condition and physical shape, but I am not in good condition for that particular activity. 🙂 My triceps, shoulders… they were  truly exhausted by the end of the class. But I got a good intro to western boxing, now I just need to practice and continue to apply. This was a nice start.
In the end, I walked out of there after 2 hours just drenched in sweat and thoroughly exhausted. It was awesome. 🙂  This is exactly the sort of thing that I’m looking for. I feel safe in saying that Warrior’s Edge Martial Arts will be my new home for the next however long.
Good stuff. Good stuff. Happy me.
