Flat Earth Knowledge: Our Arrogance Over Knowing What Ain't So by Marc MacYoung

"The trouble with people is not that they don't know, but that they know so much that ain't so."  ~Josh Billings

That's an important distinction, but, if you haven't made it yet, it's pretty easy to just think of people as ignorant. What I'm going to do with this article is to get you thinking about what you know that ain't so.

I recently came across a keen commentary. One that only seems to work if you haven't made the 'ignorance' and 'ain't so' distinction. The comment is: There are lots of ignorant people in the world and with ignorance comes great confidence.

I'm going to suggest that statement applies to both, ignorance and knowing so much that ain't so.

In fact, it especially applies to the latter. In that case, it's not just confidence, it crosses over to arrogance about what we think we know. In other words, flawed knowledge is just the tip of the iceberg. There's an entire phenomenon that comes attached to our beloved misinformation.

I call this bundle of behaviors 'flat earth knowledge.'

In the West, there is a persistent myth that our ancestors thought the world was flat. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_Flat_Earth )

What a lot of people don't know is this idea was popularized by writer Washington Irving. He wrote a *cough cough* 'history' of Christopher Columbus. To give the voyage a more epic bent, Irving claimed people of the time believed the earth was flat. Like a rumor in the blogsphere today-- but at horse-and-buggy speed -- this flat earth idea spread until it became 'common knowledge.' This so-called 'knowledge' has hung around almost 200 years.

While there is some basis to the idea, mostly the whole flat earth myth is a conceit of the Industrial Age. It largely involved how superior people of the late 1800s -- with their vast scientific knowledge -- thought they were to the ignorance and stupidity of their ancestors. (There's that 'confidence,' again.)

The Greeks, Egyptians and Muslims knew the world was round -- as did navigators, scholars, astronomers and merchants of the Middle Ages. In fact, a whole lot of people did. The question for Christopher Columbus wasn't was the world flat. It was, "Is the globe small enough for us to sail across it to reach India?" The economics and faster time for shipping by sea vs. the cost of caravans made this a really important question. (Gee, faster service for less money, sound familiar?)

Having established it as a myth, I want to play with the idea of people thinking the world was flat in order to show you something bigger.

But first let's look at the significance of knowing the earth was round. Even back in ye olde days, if you lived by the sea, you knew about ships disappearing over the horizon and then coming back. They didn't fall off the edge. Ships coming over the horizon were about as common as seagull shit and -- for the average person on the shore -- about as important.

"Yeah, yeah, it's round. So what? We have to get back to loading and unloading cargo from the ships that didn't fall off the edge."

If you were a navigator, though, knowing the earth was round was an important part of finding your way and not dying because you got lost. It wasn't all there was to navigating, but it was a significant issue. The position of the stars in the sky told you where you were on a round planet. Or more specifically out in the middle of the ocean on a round planet

But what about a peasant in a landlocked country? Let's call him Holger. From where he's standing things look pretty flat to him. One day someone mentions, in passing, the whole flat vs. round issue. Holger started thinking about it and decided to go to the smartest person he knew, the village priest.  "Hey, padre, flat or round?"

Uhhh ....err... homina, homina, homina.

Well, that would be the case, except, the priest had a reputation of being smart, all knowing and the source for answers. In short, he had a reputation and position to uphold. A big part of that was having confidence in his answers. So the answer was immediate, "Flat."

It was an answer that was delivered with complete confidence. This despite the fact that the priest was from the same land locked country and didn't have a clue either way. But boy did he sound confident about what he 'knew' about the shape of the planet. (That's the problem with someone who thinks he has to be all-knowing. He sounds just as confident about  the BS he's making up as the stuff he does know for sure.)

I want to step back for a second and point something out. Right or wrong, flat or round, the accuracy of the information meant exactly NOTHING to Holger's life. He was a peasant who spent a lot of time looking at the ass end of an ox when plowing fields and standing knee deep in barnyard poop. While our boy Holger had a pretty good working knowledge of things that did pertain to his life, the shape of the world wasn't one of those pertinent issues.

Therefore, on one level, the accuracy of the information was meaningless. Right or wrong, it made no difference.
What did matter was:
1) By knowing, Holger got cool points from the other peasants (some of the priest's confidence rubbed off on him).
2) He got AN  answer.

This last one is important in a couple of ways. First because now, instead of wasting time wondering  (or actually learning) about such things, Holger could turn his attention to things relevant to his life. Like what the pig ate that gave it that color poop. In light of Holger's need to eat that winter, a sick and potentially dead pig was an important issue. Plants toxic to livestock and cures were something our boy did have a solid, in-depth knowledge about.

Second, the 'answer' -- whether right or wrong -- became part of his 'world view.'

Now those are a simple couple of words for a very big concept. A concept that entailed a lot of other stuff. His world view wasn't just about what Holger believed about life, the universe and everything, it was also about who Holger thought he was and where he fit into the scheme of things.


The things you need to know about people's world views:
1) Everyone has them
2) Folks can be mighty tetchy about having them challenged
3) Most of them are made up of information that, if not flat out wrong, is so simplistic as to be useless.

Number 3 can be summed up as: It doesn't matter if the answer is right or wrong, what matters is there's an answer in place.

Now in theory this is information on a big ticket item, but, in truth, it really doesn't have much to do with your everyday life. That's why accuracy isn't necessarily an issue. There are lots of examples: Homosexuality is wrong. Violence is wrong. Corporations are evil. The war in the Middle East is about oil and profits. I'm a good person. ******** (my political party) is good, ******** (another political party) are selfish, out of touch idiots.

Any of these simplistic summations save people from having to actually think about the issue. (Remember, a conclusion marks where most people got tired of thinking.) These answers 'work' because such topics are pretty meaningless to their everyday lives.

But, if the issue does come up, these pre-existing responses guide them with pat answers about the subject. And yes, you'll find a lot of cultural memes are examples of flat earth knowledge.(But then, so too are political agendas ... just sayin.') We mistake soundbites and clichés for indepth knowledge, just as we mistake 'judgment' for knowledge (take another look at that list of examples and see if you can spot the judgment factor).

Since I've opened up this can of worms, let's look at the idea from some distance. To do this, we'll go back to Holgerstadt.

Two points come up about this. First, is  a glaring inconsistency between flat earth knowledge and what we do know about something that  is so. Incredibly, a gaping hole slides past our notice when it comes to our cherished flat earth knowledge.

Take a look at Holger's extensive knowledge of the interaction between pig poop and the local flora. That's a lot of complex and indepth information; information he posses about a specific topic. It's not just Holger. We ALL have lots of sophisticated knowledge about the complexities, subtleties, complications and problems of topics relevant to our lives.

So why is it we believe 'big ticket' subjects have simplistic, flat earth answers?

Take another look at that list of examples. Contrast those simplistic conclusions about extremely complex subjects against Holger's encyclopedic knowledge of the nuances of pig shit.  Then look at a subject that is relevant to your life (like your profession) and how much complex knowledge you have about it. Want to guess which one is actual knowledge vs. knowing something that ain't so?

The appeal of flat earth knowledge is that you can pretend you know something about big issues when you don't know (insert Holger's area of expertise).

Second point. What do you think would happen if a traveler came to Holger's little hamlet and heard Holger talking about how the earth was flat? Let's also say this wasn't a merchant (who knew not to piss off his customers by correcting their flat earth knowledge) or a navigator (whose job it was to actually know). It was, instead, someone else. A traveler who had heard the earth was round. How well do you think Holger and the rest of the village was going to react to being told, "Wrong answer. It's round"?

Not likely to go over well was it?

But let's complicate this a bit. What if the traveler said the earth was a square? The traveler knew this because he'd listened to a lecture by the great and wise naturalist philosopher, Crap-olius.

I ask you this because now we have a throw-down between so-called 'experts.' In this corner, the village priest (representing the church and, by extension, his god). In that corner, the traveler (representing thought, philosophy and pseudo-science). Both these 'interests' were embattled over which wrong answer was the right one ... oops, excuse me, a battle over who was 'right.'

Notice the subtle shift. It really wasn't about the accuracy of information -- information not germane to either Holger's or the traveler's life. The argument became a battle over pride, status, authority, self-esteem and protecting what people believed (instead of knew).

Moving it up a notch, it was about the credibility and authority of the church vs. the credibility and authority of so-called 'science.' This was because both Holger and the traveler used a dinged up version of 'appeal to authority' (a logical fallacy). Which authority was more credible?  Who had the bigger 'right' on their side? This is what Holger and the traveler are going to be climbing the walls and going apeshit over as they argue.

All of which had absolutely NO bearing on the actual shape of the earth. But remember, above all else, flat or round didn't have a damned thing to do with the in-depth knowledge of pig poop and ox asses Holger and his homies needed in their everyday lives.

It did, however, have a whole lot to do with protecting Holger's and the traveler's world views. THAT is what they were fighting over. What was at stake was the power to 'control the universe' through your world model. And with those kinds of profits at stake... well ... to quote the movie "Robocop," "Who cares if it doesn't work?"

It should be pointed out that you don't actually control the universe through your world view, you just control your comfort zone -- something many people consider the same thing. This allows us to smugly stand knee deep in pig poop and not have to change a thing because we are RIGHT! We KNOW how the world works!

This is why I say flat earth knowledge doesn't just describe all the things we think we know. It also includes our smug self-satisfaction over all kinds of meaningless information 'that just ain't so,' as well as our tendency to fiercely defend it. This, no matter how how simplistic the information is or unrelated  to our day-to-day lives.

You'll see a lot of arguments over flat earth knowledge on the internet, in the media, on college campuses, in coffee shops and at truck stops. In fact, there's a lot more flat earth knowledge out there than there was in Holger's time. (Which might explain how smug we are about how much we know.) What  hasn't changed is disputes over flat earth knowledge aren't about the accuracy of the information.

"But, wait ... no... what we're really arguing over is whether the information is right or wrong. Really, that's what's important here, not all that other stuff. That other stuff ... well, that's not even happening. And I'll tell you this to your face!" (Read, 'I'm going to shout in your face or insult you while denying this is EXACTLY what it's about.)

Pay close attention to that tactic. Not only is it the elephant in the room, but -- due to a bunch of other 'flat earth knowledge' -- to most of us, it's an invisible pachyderm. It isn't that we aren't talking about the elephant in the room, but we don't really see it, even when we run into it face first. Or in this case, when it slaps us in the face.

Remember, flat earth knowledge helps define our world view. But, by carefully selecting which flat earth knowledge we accept, we use those ideas to reinforce who and what we believe we are.  Putting that another way, not only does our monkey brain love stories, but we use these stories to self-define who we are. We then use alleged knowledge to support these stories. We cling to these stories, regardless of what we actually do.

One of the more common 'stories' Americans tell ourselves is that we are educated, intelligent, informed and rational people; people capable of understanding all sorts of complicated topics at the drop of a hat. Then we use a boatload of flat earth knowledge to assure ourselves that is true. That's a really important part of our strategy to deny to ourselves what we're really fighting over is all that selfish 'other stuff' and protecting our world view.

In fact, let's take a look at our story about being intelligent, well informed and rational people. How much of that is flat earth knowledge pretending to be so?

I ask you this because it has a lot to do with getting knocked on your butt by an invisible elephant

That whole intelligent and knowledgeable self-identifier ... what does that mean exactly? I mean really?

We set our own standards of what an intellectual is, and then we tell ourselves that we meet that criteria ... when in fact, we spend most of our 'free time' vegging out in front of the TV or chatting it up on social networks. Yet, if your story is you are intelligent, educated and rational you'll believe it no matter how much time you spend in front of your TV and surfing the net. 

But what are you really doing to meet that standard? For example, how many logical fallacies do you know?  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies )  I ask you this because arguments over flat earth knowledge pretend to be logical. But also how many times do we defend our flat earth knowledge with these same logical fallacies? Not only to the other person, but worse to ourselves!

That's important when you're getting all emotional about someone being a jerk. This as you argue by throwing not only logical fallacies and insults at each other. Because when you are pretending to be logical, you can also pretend that your argument over flat earth knowledge is NOT about all that other stuff -- including preserving your world view. That's how and why we lie to ourselves that our flat earth knowledge is, not only true, but god's own truth. (Which is really ironic when you find an intellectual with the same conviction about what he/she believes as TRUE as a religious fanatic.)

If we really want to get uncomfortable, let's ask ourselves: How many of our arguments, flame wars and blogging are really over flat earth knowledge? (The specter of Holger's scatological knowledge looms over what we tell ourselves we 'know' about a subject.)

I freely admit that actually going out, researching and getting an in-depth knowledge of a subject is a lot of work, much less doing it on a whole bunch of subjects.

It really is easier to limit your flow of information to sound bytes by a pundit who confirms your world view.  After all, it doesn't matter if the answer is right. It only matters that we have an answer on that topic. That is the appeal of flat earth knowledge. It lets us keep our world view with the least amount of work.

That's our comfort zone. That's what makes flat earth knowledge so insidious. And it's why we fight so hard not only to preserve it, but to perpetuate it. If other people buy into in the same things, that proves we're right. (Think Kipling's Jungle Book with the monkeys dancing around chanting it's true because we say it's true.)

When it comes down to it, we love flat earth knowledge. It's damn near our hobby. Hell, for some people arguing over flat earth knowledge is their form of entertainment. You can get all excited and emotional, feel self-righteous, superior and contemptuous of those ignorant brutes who believe differently than you. Yippee! We're having a great time being all upset and arguing over useless *cough cough*  knowledge.

The truth is, in many situations, flat earth knowledge is pretty harmless. Like I said from a functional perspective, flat or round doesn't really mean much to our old pal Holger's way of life.  The same goes for us. We can believe what we want to believe. We can tell ourselves stories about who we are, how we're right about what we believe -- and in reality, it has very little to do with our survival.

There are subjects, however, where flat earth knowledge IS  bad news.

While these circumstances may not be normally germane to a person's everyday life, when the subject does become pertinent, the accuracy of what you know can be a life saver. Unfortunately, that is not hyperbole. In every survival training topic I have ever encountered, I have heard the mantra: "What you think you know will kill you."

Obviously, in my line of work, bad information can get you robbed, raped, beaten and -- if it's a real bad day -- your brains blown into a fine pink mist. Then there's the whole hassle of cops, courts, prison and someone gunnin' for you for revenge after an incident.

Fortunately, most people don't often encounter situations like these. Even if they train in a martial art or so-called 'self-defense,' they live nice, safe, middle class lives. (Never mind his Deep Survival, Laurence Gonzales's Everyday Survival is an interesting insight on how we exist in what he calls the "vacation state of mind.")  Most of these nice, middle class people can live in a vacation state of mind without negative consequences.  More than that, they can even believe flat earth knowledge about the martial arts, what self-defense is and what ultimate fighting system is 'street effective.'


(Gah! I hate that term as much as I do 'real fights.' Street effective is like the term 'hypoallergenic.' The latter is a scientific 'sounding' word that was made up by advertisers. Instead of asking a scientist or doctor, "What does this mean?" [and who would tell them it's bullshit] people ask the salesmen -- or they pretend to know what it means. Then they carry on as if they know something. This advertising campaign eventually becomes 'common knowledge' -- when in fact, it doesn't mean anything scientifically or medically. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoallergenic ] 'Street effective' is the same thing. It's a made up phrase that seems to make sense, but is, in fact, advertising and marketing. More than that, though, it is based entirely on your thinking you 'know' enough about violence to understand what is 'street effective.' In short, it's a marketing ploy to exploit your flat earth knowledge on a subject.)

I tell you this because a lot of what is out there these days regarding 'training' in self-defense, defensive tactics and martial arts is itself flat earth knowledge. It's not only dangerously shallow for application, but there's a lot of pride and ego involved in knowing it. Much of it is presented with the image of all-knowing confidence -- except it's from  people who have no actual experience with violence (or just a limited spectrum). We're talking Holger's priest and Crap-olius as the sources.

But there are a LOT of Holgers and travelers willing to argue over which form of flat earth knowledge is 'right.'  They're going to spend a lot of time squealing, squabbling, badmouthing each other as well as the others' 'sources' and all the while they'll both swear they're being reasonable and that it's about the topic at hand.

At the same time, legitimate information and discussions regarding the complications arising from violence are dismissed as not relevant to the issue. I'm not talking about being treated like a third version of flat earth knowledge. I'm talking about claiming legitimate information about the subject is meaningless to the subject. This is like them claiming they can walk onto the train tracks and that freight train coming at them isn't important.  You can believe that in the safety of an internet forum or in the dojo, but when you're standing on those tracks that train is real damned important.

One particular form of this ignorance that scares the beejeebers out of me is military combatives being 'sold' as self-defense. Talk about flat earth knowledge being passed off as what you need to know in order to function in a dangerous environment.  This may come as a surprise to you, but the rules of engagement that the military operates under are entirely different than what you are allowed to do in the streets of your hometown.  But, boy howdy, are these urban commandos excited to be the possessors of this deadly -- and elite-- hand to hand combatives. (BTW, ever notice it's never the secret fighting systems used by camp cooks or clerks?) Oh, yeah, and when it comes to actual combat, the military shoots people ... from a great distance. It's actually both a preferred and proven strategy.

As long as people remain ensconced in their nice middle class (and non-violent) lifestyle, they can love, cuddle and cherish their flat earth knowledge about violence. But, if you want to actually navigate the dangerous waters of violence, you need to not only know that the world is round, but a lot of other detailed information. Information that you have to get from other sources than martial artists, self-defense studs and -- most importantly -- internet forums.
That also means not setting your standards and living up to them about what it takes to be an uber-bad ass by knowing some ultimate fighting system.

Mostly it's knowing pig shit details about how violence happens, the legal restraints on use of force, how to accurately assess how much force to  use, how to make a statement to police, when it's time to shut up when dealing with the police, what the court system is going to do to you, how criminals operate, what works (and doesn't) as a deterrent to violence, how to de-escalate a conflict and -- most importantly -- how not to piss off people so they want to pop you one in the nose. 

Oh BTW, these are things that people who are familiar with and who deal with violence on a regular basis know about and face all the time. Those complicating issues about violence are the equivalents of the whole flora and pig poop details Holger knew.

I know it's not as uber-cool as believing you know some deadly fighting system and telling yourself that you can beat Godzilla to death with your dick. But that kind of flat earth knowledge is only safe if your life doesn't depend on it. (Read, if you live a lifestyle that you never have to use it.)

When it comes to actually engaging in violence (instead of just playing in the gym or dojo) you need accurate information for the situations you will be facing. In other words, you can neither be ignorant nor know so much that ain't so. This no matter how much you want to believe it, have your ego invested in it or gain confidence from knowing the earth is flat.

Pre-attack behavior cues for Police at goinglegal.com

Assaults on officers are running at more than 57,000 a year, according to the latest FBI statistics. Trainer Marcus Young is convinced that many of these could be averted if targeted officers were alert for certain common cues that indicate an attack may be imminent.

Formerly a patrol sergeant in northern California, Young himself is a survivor of a horrendous assault. While dealing with a seemingly low-risk call, he was viciously set upon by an ex-con neo-Nazi and shot five times before killing his assailant. His remarkable fight for life is detailed in the book Blood Lessons.

Now Young teaches officer safety courses offered free throughout the U.S. by the FBI’s LEOKA (Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted) section. Included in his interactive presentations is a roster of easily observed warning signs that often precede an attack.

“These are compiled from FBI studies of violent offenders and officers they have assaulted, as well as from officers who’ve discussed their personal experiences and observations at the LEOKA classes,” Young explains.

“Any veteran street officer will recognize these behavior cues, but we all get complacent from time to time and need to be reminded that in many cases threats are signaled in advance. If you’re vigilant and understand the implications of what you’re seeing and hearing, you may disrupt an offender’s plans before he or she can move against you.”

Here are 10 indicators of a pending attack to watch for. Please comment at the end of this article if you have others to add, and consider periodically reviewing the list below at roll call or during in-service training. “These are ideas to consider,” Young points out, “but when it comes to street confrontations, there are no absolutes.”

1. Overt Threats
This seems obvious, but too often when a suspect says, “I’m gonna kick your ass!” or “I’m not going back to jail!” he’s dismissed as “just runnin’ his mouth.” Actually, says Young, “this is a time you should seriously consider what a suspect is telling you.”

Similarly, beware the offender who urges you to use force against him, daring you, for example, to “go ahead and shoot me” when you have your gun pointed at him. “This may be a suicide-by-cop situation or just an irrational determination to fight against all odds,” Young says.

2. Non-compliance
This can take many forms: failing to obey repeated direct commands from you; repeating back simple questions that you ask (“What’s my name?” “You want me to sit down?”); being argumentative or trying to bargain with you. “These all can indicate stalling for time to formulate a plan of attack or escape,” Young says.

“People may get upset when you ask them to do anything in their own home, and there the danger of non-compliance can be especially high. There are always potential weapons throughout their own environment that they are familiar with and could use to attack you.”

Indeed, the latest FBI statistics show that the largest percentage of victim officers (nearly one-third) were assaulted on disturbance calls, which frequently involve family fights in residences. To raise your consciousness of this threat, Young recommends walking through your own living quarters room by room and ask yourself how many items are in each within easy reach that could be used as improvised weapons.

3. Removing Clothing
Subjects who are peeling off clothing or are stark naked are sometimes regarded as amusing by officers, but that can be a grievous error. The person may be reacting to a highly elevated body temperature. That’s a common symptom of excited delirium, a psychological meltdown also associated with enhanced strength, paranoia, and assaults on authority figures.

Other suspects may take off jackets, remove jewelry, or set aside clothing they especially value—“like a $200 cowboy hat”—as a prelude to mixing it up, Young says. “They may be freeing themselves to move more effectively against you or to protect their personal property.”

4. Tactical Maneuvering
“Be particularly on guard for this when attempting to deal simultaneously with multiple suspects,” Young warns. “They may triangulate to split your focus, or one may engage you in arguments or conversation as a distraction while others move out of your peripheral vision to flank or circle behind you. In effect, they may use some of the same tactical moves law enforcement officers like to use against them when working with a cover officer or partner.”

On traffic stops, an attack cue may be one or more passengers exiting the vehicle along with the driver and moving quickly toward you and your unit. “That scenario is beyond the norm,” Young says.

5. Furtive Communication
Another possible tip-off with multiple subjects. This can include hand signals, gestures, or code words you don’t understand, possibly talking in a foreign language. “You may be giving clear communication that a subject should be responding to, but he’s more focused on communicating with a companion—be careful!” Young cautions.

6. Mental Alteration
“When subjects are under the influence of drugs, alcohol, and/or have a mental health issue, such as being off their meds, they may have a diminished capacity to think clearly and comply with lawful commands,” Young says. “They may have good core values, but in their altered mental state they may act impulsively without thinking of their behavior and consequences.

“You never know what level of desperation someone may have on a DUI stop, for instance. They may be fearful of losing their license, losing their job, going to jail, being publicly humiliated—or something you can’t even imagine. In their diminished state of mind, attacking you may seem like a reasonable way out of their situation.”

7. “Boiling Point” Physiology
More than 80 percent of suspects who attack officers use personal weapons—hands, feet, head, other body parts. So watch for signs that an angry subject is reaching his boiling point and getting ready to fight or flee.

Cues may include:

• Blading into a boxer’s stance
• Quickened breathing and flared nostrils
• Dilation of pupils from an adrenalin dump
• Clenched fists
• Excessive animation, like the flinging of arms
• Profuse sweating

“Someone with a martial arts background or a lot of fighting experience or a sociopathic personality may not exhibit many outward signs,” Young says. “They may just bide their time, waiting for the right moment. Sometimes an indicator with them may be excessive cooperation. They may be more polite and apparently compliant than what you know to be normal, trying to lull you into dropping your guard while they close distance toward you.”

8. Target Glances
Is a suspect staring or repeatedly glancing at your gun, your chest, or some other particular part of your body or duty belt? “Why? There’s no legitimate reason for that,” Young says. “They may be evaluating your weapon for a grab or fixing a target for a physical attack.

“If a subject is obviously looking around or sneaking furtive glances while you’re talking to him, he may be checking for an escape route or to see if any witnesses are present. If he’s planning to reach for a weapon nearby, chances are he’ll look there first and not just blindly grab for it.”

9. Thousand-yard Stare
“Suspects sometimes seem to blank out just before they strike,” Young says. “They get a vacant, ‘nobody’s home’ stare that looks right through you and shows they’ve disengaged mentally from reality. When they ignore you and don’t respond to questions as if you’re not even there, it may be indication of a behavioral problem.”

10. Violent History
Intel from your computer may alert you to a subject’s violent criminal background, if you don’t already know about his fighting proclivities from prior contact. Watch, too, for visible indicators such as gang-type clothing, jailhouse tatts, and distinctive shoes issued in some states to inmates who have just been released. “A subject wearing long sleeves and buttoned up collar in hot weather may be hiding prison tattoos on his arms or neck,” Young says.

He advises asking a critical question early on: “Are you on probation or parole?”

“If he repeats the question or hesitates at all, you can be pretty sure that the next thing you hear from him could be a lie,” he says. For more information on Police and Law Enforcement, visit PoliceOne - for Police Officers, Cops and Law Enforcement.

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.goinglegal.com/preattack-behavior-cues-2097273.html

Common Sense and Analytical Thinking.

It has often been said that an opinion is like an asshole that everybody has one. So it would reason that this asshole has a few of his own. As someone who is open minded I spend alot of time listening to the point of view of others and sometimes I regret it, then again sometimes I don't. There are alot of well meaning naive people in the world today that just don't seem to understand the world isn't black and white. It isn't supposed to be. Regardless of what side your on both sides are right and wrong at the same time. No one is right all the time and no one is always wrong either. I tend to find with common sense and analytical thinking when you look at either side the truth tends to lie somewhere in between where they are not looking. So i want to take this time and this space to talk a little bit instead of listening and give my perspective.

Boys vs Girls..Who Sucks the most?

The answer is both and neither. Why do some women take advantage of men? The answer is simple....because they can. There's no rhyme or reason to it. When they can't take advantage of you anymore they'll just find someone else to take advantage of anyway. Eventually the men they know will move on and get tired of them and someday when they lose their leverage it'll be over. Why does your boyfriend treat you like crap? Because you allow it. Stand up for yourself if he leaves you'll find somebody else. You'll never get more unless you demand it. In truth men and women aren't that different they just express things differently. An immature man or woman is self centered and won't think about anyone else but themselves. They seek out partners that will validate their bullshit behavior. When they fall off that ladder a few times and learn the universe doesn't revolve around them then things may get better. Most don't truly learn how to win until they lose because they can't appreciate anything.

Politics

This is something that is so simple as far as how the government runs people have to screw it up. Ignorant people should be forced to wear a muzzle. In the area that I live in you tend to have the ignorant leading the ignorant. I once dated a girl in the area who was a die hard republican. She would quote things that she saw on television that someone just made up but she believed that it was true. Certain forms of media count on the fact that you will be lazy and never do your own research. They prey on the ignorant with propaganda. The enemy of propaganda of course is education. She loved politics but couldn't name the 3 branches of government(executive,legislative and judicial) or the purpose of each. She once posted on facebook calling Houston,TX a cradle of filth because of some immigration law and talked about how great it used to be. Now she has never been to Houston,TX. She's never left the state of Alabama. She doesn't even know anyone in Houston she grew up in an all white town and doesn't even know any minorities. She just saw the story on Fox News. She's a politician's dream..someone who can't think for themselves but others may believe her. Democrats think it would be better without Republicans and Republicans think the exact opposite. They fight in bars over it and all this other silly stuff when neither knows their ass from a toilet seat. I'm gonna break it down for you. In this country we have two parties and they have differing views on economics both of which are a complete failure. First we have the Democrats. Now Republicans will accuse Democrats of being Socialists because it's true. They believe in distribution of wealth in some form or another. The rich are making too much money and the poor need it so let's close that gap where everyone has money. It doesn't work and this is why. If everyone basically gets the same then there is no incentive to try harder for things. If someone who does nothing gets the same as I do then why should I work harder for anything so they can continue to bleed me dry? Some people have nothing because they've done nothing. We all have to have something to aspire to. Some people are really trying and need the help and won't be able to get it because someone that didn't need it took it. That brings me to the Republicans. Republicans at the core believe in what's called trickle down economics. This is the belief where all the money is given to the "job creators" so they can expand and hire more people while paying them a higher wage. Ain't going to happen. As we've seen corporations are greedy. They won't hire more people or pay them a higher wage. They'll pocket that money and if anything use it to move operations to another country so they can pay even lower wages and throw you into the street. So neither on their own will work. You have to have both to balance each other out and theoretically it works as long as neither has control. If you follow this theory when you have a republican president then you must have a democratic congress and vice versa a democratic president should have a republican congress. During the Bush administration part of that time the republicans controlled everything. How did that work out? When Obama got into office the democrats ran the show. How did that work out? They both blew it to shit. Republicans and Democrats hate on each other but without the other each would would sink like the titanic. So political arguments are stupid.

The War on Terror

This has become a huge powderkeg of emotion on all sides. In all sides there is some truth and falsehood. I hear the war is about nothing but oil we should just pull out of there and leave. I'm sure oil has something to do with it but it isn't everything. To just pull out of there however is pretty poorly thought out. This war was a long time in the making. I'm not touching that Iraq thing with a 10 ft pole I'm going to focus on terrorists. So where does this start. Well it pretty much starts with Israel. Israel of course has religious significance to the west but that isn't really it. You see we are friends with Israel and help them out because they are the most like us. Israeli's don't post youtube videos on how to beat your wife to death  or just beat her up like the other countries in their area. We help Israel in alot of ways. Now just like individuals Israel isn't perfect they do some bad things just like we do. Well when Clinton was in office they bombed an American Embassy in Africa killing alot of people because of our support for Israel. So we bombed them back but we didn't go to war. People over here protested that we bombed these peaceful people working in a pharmaceutical  factory then the media reported it a little less when a ton of missiles were found in an underground bunker under that peaceful factory. We bombed them back but didn't go to war. So they tried to bomb the world trade center in the early nineties. Messed up the bottom floor but that was about it. We arrested the guy that done it but after two acts of war we basically still took it and didn't go to war. Fast forward to 2001 and they take out the world trade center killing over 3000 people. After the third act of war we finally went to war. We overthrew a government that sponsored them and killed their leaders. They were launching terrorist attacks against America over 10 years before we fought back and went to war. Do you think if we pulled out the attacks would stop? Of course they wouldn't stop if anything they would get worse they would see it as a victory for themselves. The fact is we actually did not start this war and it has to be finished. To say we should pull out is naive and overly emotional. In wars like this civilians get killed. All death is horrible. People look at pictures of dead children over there and it tugs at the heart strings. Their heart strings were not pulled when our children were murdered. The world trade center had a couple daycare centers did you forget? No one likes to see children murdered or anyone murdered for that matter. Does anyone really think our soldiers even like being over there? If they had a choice I'm sure they'd rather be here drinking a beer that's why I buy them one when I see them. Will the war on terror ever end? I honestly don't think so.

Flash Mobs

 Flash Mobs are all the new rage these days and can spring up everywhere protesting various things under our freedom of speech. While alot of things of course need to be protested the people don't seem to understand that other people also have rights. The most famous example of this was recently at the Jefferson Memorial where a russian television station and another group raising money for Hugo Chavez called Code Pink staged a rally protesting the right to dance in public which a court had ruled was illegal because it infringed on the rights of others to enjoy the solemn monument. They edited together some film afterward and cut out the parts where they were raising total hell and causing a public disturbance and even assaulted people so they could get arrested and have it shown on russian television accusing the country of being a police state. People have the right to peaceful protest in this country and permits are issued in every town in the country for them to do so. That insures the rights of others are not infringed. What flash mobs do is a slippery slope. The fact is that most of these people quote the constitution and have most likely not read it. You see freedom of speech is an individual right. So what exactly does that mean? Well I'll spell this out. Groups or organizations are not protected by the freedom of speech statute  in this country. At no time in our nation's history has a group ever had any freedom of speech rights in any way shape or form according to the constitution that they claim to have read. They are not exercising their rights to freedom of speech because by law they never had that right. They however are abusing the constitution and could cause ill effects down the road. You see rights can be taken away. During the Civil War Lincoln famously abolished the Second Amendment because alot of northern newspapers were pro south. It can be taken away when it gets abused. These people tend to think themselves revolutionaries and that they are going to make some kind of positive change. People the 60's are over. The best they can do is get on tv before going to jail. Che Guerra who helped Castro overthrow the Batista regime in Cuba famously said in his book on guerrilla warfare that it is impossible to have a successful revolution in a country where the leaders are democratically elected because it will never have the majority public support. Apparently these pseudo revolutionaries didn't read their history. A great man once said unjust laws should be disobeyed. That great man will not pay your legal fees and bail you out of jail or help you find another job when you get fired for not showing up for work due to being in jail. You gotta use your head people these mobs can't do anything other than get you arrested. Hassling cops won't do you any good cops don't pass laws legislature passes laws. Get your head out of your ass.

Islam

Let's have a look at Islam but a real one. You have many different sects of Islam the way you have many different Christians(Baptist, Catholic, Holiness, Freaky snake people,etc). Some follow the Koran. Some follow an extremist version of the prophet Mohammed(called Elijah in the Hebrew Bible), who teaches many things not actually found in the Koran or part of Islam(like the whole 70 virgins thing, that's right it's not part of the actual Islamic religion). The Koran and the Bible are pretty similar until you get to Abraham. After that the Bible follows Issac and the Koran follows Ismael to Mecca. Muslims who follow Mohammed will drive a truck filled with bombs into your shit. Muslims who follow the Koran only will probably give you a great deal on some beef jerky and cash a two party check for you when others won't. That's a pretty big difference. How would you like it if everyone thought you practiced bigamy and played with snakes because you are a christian. Yes it really is THAT different. Of course Mohammed is part of all Muslim religions but not everything he said is part of every Muslim sect. It's not a good idea to lump them all together because it just shows ignorance. Not all Muslims follow the teachings of a known pedophile. You know like Scientologists do.

Government and Blind Allegiance 

Some people get really mad at you when you question the government. Personally I believe the government should always be questioned. I remember a town hall on tv years ago when someone asked Newt Gingrich if we should trust our leaders. He said absolutely not. Governments are run by people and people are greedy and untrustworthy by nature. Let me ask you a question? If someone comes up to you and asks you to hand them some money don't you ask them why? Do you just hand out money for the hell of it? You see we always here about freedom but freedom is just an ideal. You really aren't free. If you saw a sign on the road that said Free televisions and you pulled over to get one. Before you got that TV you were told as part of getting that free TV you may have to leave the country and be shot to death. But if you don't then you still gotta pay a little bit of money for stuff as long as you live. Would you still think that TV was free? That's one expensive free TV to pay all that but that's what your doing. You pay rent to live here except it's called tax instead. I pay rent on my apartment and because of that I'll say any damn thing I want to inside it. The government does some shady stuff man. Some people may think it's anti-american to say that. Well folks America isn't a big white building north of Virginia. America is the people in it. We are America. The people that founded this country didn't believe in the status quo and blind allegiance. They didn't like it in England so they said screw it and left then fought them in a war and defeated them. You see that was an actual revolution so you flash mobs can take notes. England's leaders weren't democratically elected at the time either(1 point for Che). The point is we are a defiant country and we were meant to question everything. The big one recently is why does the government allow corporations to do unethical things. Have you ever wondered why prescription drug companies advertise on television? They shouldn't have to I mean if it's the right drug your doctor would prescribe it right? Well you see these drug companies give doctor's deals like if they sell so much of one company's drugs they get a free vacation somewhere and stuff like that. Think some doctors might be selling you drugs you don't need to get that vacation? You bet your ass they are. Why are lobbyists allowed to bribe politicians legally. We all know that money doesn't stay in the campaign fund. These things should be questioned. It's more American to question these things than it is to not question. For that matter corporations they pay these congressman should also be questioned. Congressmen make less than a half million a year but most leave office multi-millionaires. I guess you don't think that should be questioned either. Our military can fight terrorists in the desert. They can't bust into Enron and shoot up the place or Bank of America. So we have to question it and speak out against it here otherwise when they are done fighting over there the country they come home to won't be worth as much as they one they fought for. Blind allegiance doesn't help make our future better. Speaking out very well could as long as it's done the right way(not in a flash mob).

In closing these are my opinions I'm sure some will agree and some won't but hopefully everyone will think about it for a moment but whenever you read something including this everything you read may be wrong. Enjoy that!

 

How Defensive Tactics Instructors Let Departments Down

   I speak with alot of police officers in my line of work. It pays to listen to them. They are the ones out on the street doing the job not me so every time I teach them I learn from them at the same time. I learn how to improve my programs and I learn how to be a better instructor and how to give them what they need. Need and want is a different thing. This article isn't focused so much on the internal defensive tactics instructors as it is the outside training organizations that. Internal instructors can basically only teach what they are offered to certify in. The outside vendors are more of the problem I think.
   I hear complaints all the time from officers that they believe their departments care more about liability than they do protecting officers. I can understand why they would feel that way but at the same time that isn't completely fair either. We all want action we are self motivated people. We see someone doing wrong and want to sock it to them. I want to tell you part of a conversation I had with an older officer with lots of experience once. We were talking about the old SAP gloves(gloves with lead shot loaded into the knuckles). I was just kind of talking out of my butt and said I bet you wished you could still carry those and his answer surprised me. He said really they were better off without them. He said that police brutality was running rampant at one time and it made it harder on everyone. He gave the example of a nerd in high school that had been picked on then becoming a cop and using the badge to sock it to people. Now I've actually seen that happen myself and I know for a fact it still goes on. we had this long conversation about why departments there were better off without them.
  You see what you have here is two sides that are the center of their own universe. On one side you have the officers that want better training to protect themselves. They see this state sponsored stuff and they know it doesn't get the job done. It's like the states are going a little overboard and officers have to go out there with one hand behind their backs.  Then you have the other side. When a police department gets sued and loses that money doesn't just pop up out of nowhere that money comes from somewhere and somewhere someone else is having to suffer because an officer lost it and went overboard on some guy. It causes the public to lose faith in the departments and not trust them. The media doesn't help because they are all too willing to blow it up and make national news for ratings. The admins have to deal with that so that's why certain things are not allowed. So yes I believe that affects decision making and alot of times officers suffer from these decisions.
   The biggest failure however in this is by outside training organizations. They seem to have no understanding of what officers can do and what they need. They sit in a room and come up with some program without taking any of this into account. We can sit and bitch all we want about what we aren't allowed to do but you know what? It's never going to change and there is nothing that you are ever going to do to change it. That is a fact and you better just get used to it. The powers that be have presented us with a challenge. The vendors need to answer that challenge. Vendors for these organizations could've looked at this problem and looked at what  could be done and make it work. I know a coordinator who sent an officer to do a police krav maga program. It cost hundreds of dollars. When he got back he was all excited about the program and loved it. Guess what? He wasn't allowed to use half of what was taught in that program. Therefore what he learned was completely useless that money was just thrown into the toilet and flushed. Now I'm not familiar with the program I'm only repeating what the admin told me so don't be shooting me any weird hate mail over it.
  As DT instructors it is our jobs to teach these guys ways they can protect themselves without getting them fired. Now you know it's fashionable for some people to say I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.  Frankly, that is a lame cop out. The simple fact is people who say that are either ignorant of proper training or they just don't give a damn and would rather do things the sloppy way.  There are ways to stay within use of force protecting the departments from liability as well as protecting the officers on the job I know because I teach them and they work at an incredibly high level with officers and admins both loving it. I'm not going to get into why certain programs are better than others I covered that in the article An Article Every Defensive Tactics Instructor Should Read and I'll put a link to that at the bottom of this article. My point is the vendors have to be more creative and more educated about the issues before they step in front of a police department to teach. They have been failing miserably falling to one side or the other. Either admins love them because they take care of liability and cops hate it because the tactics don't work very well in real combat or the officers love them and the admins hate them because the tactics are overly aggressive. You can't just be some so-called reality based guy and put together a program for cops it's a little more complicated than that. You guys need to get a clue and get it in gear and get these officers something they can actually use without getting someone fired. I know it can be done because I've done it. So drop the mumbo jumbo and get it right.

An Article Every Defensive Tactics Instructor Should Read

http://stonewalltactical.blogspot.com/2011/06/article-every-defensive-tactics.html

The program that gets it done

http://www.stonewalltactical.com/star.html

The Verbal Judo Seminar

This is the film of George Thompson's seminar on Verbal Judo. Dr. Thompson is the head of The Verbal Judo Institute and this footage was taken from a lecture at Columbia Business School but I feel it has great value in all forms of De-escalation during violent conflicts whether it be LEO or civilian

Classic Catch Wrestling

A couple weeks ago we did one of these black and white preservation deal on Judo and people really liked it alot and still go back and look at it. I thought it may be fun to do one on Catch As Catch Can Wrestling. It actually predates Judo and was also practiced by Maeda in and before he went to Brazil. It is currently enjoying a new interest among grapplers as well as MMA competitors. I've been doing Catchwrestling for many years and I for one love it and hope everyone enjoys these old film clips.

The above film is from 1903 the next one is from 1920 so the quality is obviously deteriorating which is all the more reason to try and preserve it.  To give you an idea of how old this art is I will give you a little known fact. What became the old NWA pro wrestling with Ric Flair and all that actually started in Illinois in the 1800's. Believe it or not the first ever champion was none other than Abraham Lincoln who of course went on to become president. George Washington defeated 10 other wrestlers back to back in his military unit to get his rank. another little known fact.

Now this next video features the first ever sanctioned MMA match in the United  States in 1963 Gene Lebell vs Milo Savage. Yes Gene Lebell did Judo too but everyone that follows grappling knows Gene Lebell was a Catchwrestler.

Gee do any of these submission attempts below look familiar in this vid from 1934?

Check out this old wrestling footage from France in 1906

The Venom and Why by Venom

     You know I write alot of articles on different things and I'm very passionate about what I do. As in some of the articles I can be very aggressive. Those articles are very truthful but aggressive nonetheless. I even made a little joke about it on the side of the blog using the comic book character Venom. So why are some of the articles so venomous going after these instructors and programs. I do it because someone has got to do it. I do it to bring attention to something greater not to just be a dick. I thought I would take this time to explain a few things and maybe help some people understand why I get so angry in these articles at times. These examples I give are not isolated they are very typical of what is happening all across the United States and I'm told by my international friends that it is the same in Europe.
    I've been a technical director for 10 years for an organization called the American Budo Society. Before that I was the Historical Director for the Midori Yama Judokai. It's one of the many hats I've worn over my long career. Don't let my age fool you at the time of this article I'm 37 but I've been involved in martial arts since I was 4 years old way back in 1977. I promise you there isn't much I haven't seen I've cross-trained like a fiend. That is why even at a young age the Hanshi over the entire worldwide organization appointed me to those positions. In my position I've traveled around to alot of schools helping them with their curriculum. Some loved it some didn't. People martial arts is not what it used to be. There's not much martial to it anymore and it's a sad thing because most just don't get it. They aren't all bad they just don't understand. Then again some are that bad. I'm going to rehash a few things from a couple other articles but I feel that it's needed.
   I was asked by an instructor a little south of where I live to come teach him some private classes. This was a couple years ago. So I went and looked at his curriculum. Now I'm not just picking on karate this could be many different martial arts this time it just happened to be this one. The curriculum had alot of techniques. I mean ALOT of techniques and needed to be streamlined badly. I went ahead and gave him some free classes over the course of a couple months to help him out. I thought it was odd that he claimed he was running out of things to teach his higher ranked students and was worried they'd leave. I just kind of shrugged that off and asked them about their jujutsu program. Well in their jujutsu program they didn't teach throws because it scared people off. Say What!!? How can you have a jujutsu program without knowing some type of breakfalls. Well they had a jujutsu program because the name brought in money but they actually didn't do any jujutsu. He had some talented people that could teach it but he ran them off and fired them because he saw them as a threat and didn't want to teach anything hard. Guess what? He now has the most successful school in the entire organization so the Hanshi can't even step in because losing that school would damage the organization.
   This is very typical. All those poor students are going in there and blowing there money thinking they are learning self defense and they are  just learning techniques with no concepts. So they'll never be able to adapt to anything. They don't allow sparring so these students will never be able to do anything under stress they'll panic and freeze up when the situation turns violent. All the while the money rolls in for this instructor as he walks around thinking he's Miyamoto Musashi  and ripping these people off and committing a huge fraud. I feel sorry for the people that fall for this fraud. Getting a black belt from a place like this is like winning a gold medal at the Special Olympics. Yes you win a gold medal and feel great but at the end of the day your still retarded.
  
Note: I want to address the above statement before I continue the article. Frankly, saying what I said is the best way to get my point across. I don't mean to be insensitive to the disabled. My heart goes out to these children they are courageous and an inspiration to us all and the Special Olympics is an incredible organization but I have to make people understand what I am trying to say here.

   The point is this instructor doesn't give a damn about his students. He only cares about money. He wants the prestige of walking around thumbing his nose at people without working for it and earning that respect and selling a lie to his students. He takes the true martial arts out of it and basically turns it into a low impact fitness workout and gives nothing. I've found in my life that the more you give to people in the end the more that flows back to you. You don't have to dumb down something and make it worthless for people so you can get money out off them. In that instance you are just a taker and your not giving anything your just giving a lie. Your just a thief and that's all. Now let's look at some martial myths that thieves like this try to sell you.

Myth #1-Schools like this help build character in students and help the community

The claim is they dumb down the requirements to make them attainable for everyone. They do make people feel good about themselves this much is true. However, it is a false empowerment that also puts them in great danger. In violent situations they may falsely believe they can handle something that they cannot. They will fight when they very well should have run like hell and be seriously injured or killed all the while these schools make more and more money. Martial arts is a great tool for building character but the idea you have to dumb down the requirements to do it is a ridiculous farce. The military has done wonders for people without direction since it's inception and I'm pretty sure they don't dumb down the training to make the recruits feel better. When people push themselves they gain a greater knowledge of who they are as a person. People can accomplish more than they get credit for it's an insult to humanity to just assume they cannot.

Myth#2 You need lots of techniques for the toolbox

    This is also a dangerous myth which contradicts pretty much every major scientific study ever done. In other words, it's bullshit. It is a proven scientific fact that the more choices a person has to make the longer it will take them to make an individual choice. Violence happens quickly. What this basically causes is that during a violent conflict the person just freezes up because the brain can't figure out what to do because there are so many things they could do. The key here is concepts over techniques. If they learn a concept first then they can adapt a couple techniques to work for them in any situation and they don't have to learn a book full of techniques. Then they just do what they do and don't freeze up during a conflict. As martial arts legend Big John Bluming(he trained with Donn Draeger) put it the reason you have a bunch of techniques is so they can keep you there longer and month by month the money just rolls in. I bet you probably get a little more attention from the assistant instructors when your contract is almost up? Yeah I think you see where I'm going here.

Myth#3 Students need alot of techniques to keep them interested.

     Yes I could've included this in Myth #2 but it's kind of it's own thing as well. First of all it shouldn't be about necessarily keeping them interested it should be about keeping them safe on the street. It's a bogus argument anyway because boxing has like 5 punches and people do that for a lifetime. If it's good and it's real then people will want to keep doing it. It's really just about money. You know I had a dojo for 2 years in Pulaski,TN.  I walked away from that dojo and stopped teaching publicly and just taught my students privately. The owner kept pushing me to water things down to bring in more people and teach other stuff and I wouldn't do it. I put quality first I wouldn't sell a lie for money. I worked a regular job so teaching wouldn't be my primary income. That way I could keep teaching the correct way. I'd rather be truthful, honest, and giving than make a bunch of money. My ethics are worth more.

Myth #4 Black belts are great masters who are very knowledgeable like the Samurai

    Some are and some aren't. It has less to do with the system and more to do with the individual instructor. As I've said in another article when  you do a traditional martial art you are doing a historic system which may or may not be self defense depending on how it's taught. Samurai had alot of battlefield experience and were tough as nails. I know instructors who can't even throw a punch correctly. Some have never been in a fight in their lives and don't know the first thing about what's involved in it. On top of that some of those had instructors who'd never been in a fight either. I promise you they aren't like the samurai, they aren't even close. Some may have done fine in a sport setting but that has nothing to do with realistic self defense it's apples and oranges.

   Myth#5 It's rude to question the instructor

   Actually you should always question everything your instructor does. If they get offended by it they probably just don't have the answers. Either that or they are teaching something outdated and they are close minded about changing it. They want to put some ideal above your safety and can't handle the fact they may be wrong about something. Your paying these people money to teach you how to protect yourself and you damn well deserve an honest answer to your questions it isn't respectful at all. If the instructor gets offended by your questioning of a technique then he's an idiot you should find a better instructor. He should have done the research and had better techniques. It shouldn't be about promoting some damn system it should be about giving you the best they can give you. If they can't give you enough respect to do that then they don't deserve any respect from you. I'm always looking for better stuff to constantly improve what I do.

   You know for good instructors this can be a very frustrating thing. You may be offering great training but the public looks at it as being all the same. They don't want to do the hard training with you because they think they can go down the road and train soft and get a black belt in a couple years as long as they pay their money and they don't know it isn't the same. They don't know that belt isn't worth the dye used to make it. That's why I write articles like this. It isn't for the people who already agree with me it's to try in some way to get this to the public to educate them and give them something they can use. I want everyone safe I don't want to see anyone getting ripped off or getting killed because they believed in one of these idiots. They do nothing more than take advantage of deteriorating values in our society. 

    Yes this is bigger than just martial arts it's indicative of a larger social problem. People don't want to work for anything anymore they just want things giving to them. Nothing has any value anymore. If you look back in history in a way it mimics the Roman Empire. They got lazy and didn't want to fight anymore so they hired people to fight for them. In case you didn't know Rome was destroyed completely and damn near into oblivion. If you don't have to work for it then it's probably not worth having in the first place. In the end nothing in life is really free. Freedom isn't free alot of people died for it and you pay taxes for it. Religion isn't really free you give money and time every Sunday.  A real black belt isn't free you have to work hard for it. Skill isn't free either you have to sacrifice other things to have the time to develop it. People can buy black belts today like buying soup at the general store. Personally in my system I teach modern combatives so we don't use belts the belt is just a universal symbol so people will understand what I mean.

   I want people to actually reach their real potential. I want them to see they can be more than they ever thought they could be. We can accomplish more than we thought we could ever accomplish. To do that however you can't take the easy road there's nothing down it but an illusion of what you could be instead of really being that thing you admire. The path less traveled is the way to go and we can all go there together. Stand out in the crowd don't just fall in line. A my friend Richard Dimitri  says,"Do Some Shit!" I think that sounds pretty good to me just do some shit and be somebody.

  You know sometimes I have to make strong statements or use bad language. It just infuriates me so much to see the terrible things that go on in our society, but you know if I didn't care so much it wouldn't bother me at all. I'd be just like everyone else. Falling in line doing what people tell me never questioning anything never growing. I will never just fall in line. I will continue to stand a fight for you no matter what. You may not like what I say but it doesn't make it any less true. I use the language that I use to get your attention. If enough of us demand better then we can get better. We can get people the training they need and we can save lives. So I will continue to bring the venom to those that deserve it and shine a light on the corruption that has infested martial arts today. If your offended by it your probably a corrupt instructor so you can go screw yourself with a jackhammer. You haven't seen anything yet.

NOTE: As is always the hope with any article or commentary this one hit alot of nerves with people and lead to a great thread in the Senshido International group on Facebook.  The following is a repost of that thread.

Mark Lee Couldn't have said it better. It's time to draw a line in the sand. Quality needs to come first.

John Lew Unfortunately alot of schools are like this. I think it would be better to call them daycares or some thing else because if they are saying they are teaching MA they arent....watch the students and the picture becomes very different. I have helped by assisting in several seminars on stick, knife, empty hand in TKD/karate schools and it makes me cringe at times to get these people to learn. In all due respect when i hear the line "my child is learning discipline," again i cringe. Most these kids arent there to do MA in most of these schools they are there to work out. If that is the case get them into a sport than a dojo. I could go on and on, those that do really want to learn and are ready to work are diamonds in the rough...but they are getting to be even rarer now.

Paul Green exactly right John it's a symptom of a greater problem as well I didn't even mention the parents that dump their kids off in those places in the after school classes so they don't have to deal with them right after work here they even got fans that pick them up from the schools.

John Lew When i hear these kids reciting there school creeds make me think, "what in the world!". These are the same kids that are goofing off and just dont really want to be there....again just get them into sports. I give a lot of respect to those that do take the plunge and open a gym because sooner or later if you dont keep a business mindset you will go under especially with the economy. As far as parents i dont think its the same image of past of people who "were" responsible. That itself is another topic for another day.

Paul Green I agree with ya there that's I kinda left it out on this one..lol

John Lew Been looking over some of your past write up on you blog, interesting stuff :)

Paul Green thanks I appreciate it

Nat McDonald Sigh...

Paul Green why the sigh Nat?

Mauro Mezzina good article, these types of schools are homecoming more and more popular. When I was a kid I got started with the "sport" of wtf
taekwondo. There was no reciting school creeds, little dragons programs, or b-day parties. A black belt meant you were there for a long time and most likely won a bunch of competitions. You would get in there, warm up, then spar your ass off then stretch at the end. Now 95% of tkd instructions are there are BS. I see kids in tkd classes with blackbelts at 4 years old training in weapons (there are no friggin nunchaks or bo's in tkd) and grappling :/ I stopped practicing that discipline at about 14 but it's sad how mcdojos have ruined the reputation of such martial arts like tkd and karate. I'm already seeing a trend with rbsd and combatives schools. Everyone wants to teach stuff with the words "reality based" and "tactical" ...get ready for a whole lot of karate classes in Krav maga shirts..

Nat McDonald The points you make just remind me of what's sorely missing in so many training programs. You and I share a great passion for the "setting up for failure," "the okie doke," we too often witness and hear about. Sigh.....

Paul Green Yeah a good buddy of mine did TKD as as kid and I did Tang Soo Do myself it was a different time back then everyone fought for what they got. It really is more about the instructor than the art. I do see it happening with RBSD now as well and Krav Maga. There's great Krav Maga out there but there's alot of bad stuff too. I use the term solution based martial arts to describe what i do now to differentiate myself now the term RBSD is headed for the toilet. But yeah when they are making excuses for why what they do is ok nobody ever thinks about the okie doke it gets frustrating when they don't see it.

Richard Dimitri Great piece bro.... this group is getting tons of great information, do keep em coming folks... the discussions alone are thought provoking...

Paul Green thanks yeah we got a decent thread going on this one

Mark Fitzsimmons-Cann shared

Paul Green thanks Mark the support is always appreciated this group is full of great people I feel right at home here

John Lew I stopped practicing that discipline at about 14 but it's sad how mcdojos have ruined the reputation of such martial arts like tkd and karate.( Mauro Mezzina)

I would agree with it, I cringe when i have to enter a dojo.

Paul Green The ones that kill me are the ones that know they are teaching worthless stuff and don't care because it brings in money

Mauro Mezzina yeah I guess you can have all the best intentions but once you start getting your rent bill for your school, utilities, insurance..you got to get creative and probably relax your standards a bit. In my opinion learning how to fight is not for everyone, you really need to be committed to both physical and psychological training, pay your monthly tuition for years and chances are you will never be the subject of an attack (and don't forget your chances to get hurt during training). We (as in us here on this discussion tread) do what we do out of passion, we look at "fighting" in ways most people don't, we read about it, talk, train and really go after quality of instruction. The martial arts industry makes money off the paranoia that some parents develop about their kids getting bullied and beat up. They don't know the first thing about karate, Judo, etc..they think putting a white pajama on a totally out of shape kid and have them jump up and down in a dojo is going to turn them into Jet Li. Sad thing is they usually pay big money for that..

John Lew ‎@Mauro and Paul both of you made valid points. I will reply later in-depth, or I will write a note and put it on here.

Paul Green Yeah Mauro I think you hit it spot on there as well there are well intended uneducated instructors then there are just money hungry people that prey on people's paranoia and ignorance it's the reason these last few articles have been so angry. I find that one of the greatest problems in society can be traced back to people just not knowing who they are and even if they can't be a martial artist at least they'll know and can take other steps.

Paul Green John if you write a note let me know I'm thinking about adding all these comments to the article as well and I'd like to add it as well if you write it

John Lew ‎@Paul, it will be a note cause it will be lengthy seen I too have seen many of the issues u have brought up!

Paul Green cool my plan is to add this thread to the article as kinda a roundtable discussion and then I'd like to add your note to it as well as part of that discussion blogger.com will let me edit it again and republish it and all that

   NOTE:

Speaking of which here is that incredibly insightful follow up note by John Lew       

The Venom and Why -Thought on this changing problem 

Paul Green of Stonewall Tactical Defense Systems has written in his blog "Stonewall Tactical" a post called "The Venom and Why". I would suggest you read it first if you haven't to get a better understand of the points which we be discussed here.

Myth #1-Schools like this help build character in students and help the community

In alot of school that teach kids if you sit down and watch a class you will probably see the instructor having them say there creed out loud which is mostly said with conviction. They may use games to help kids learn movements and the instructors talk about life lessons hoping that the kids will remember them throughout their life.  If you are able to watch those classes and not get lost in the moment you start to question if character is really being built. Words are powerful and creeds can be helpful. Yet, if one just speaks them loudly but afterwards just forgets it and returns to their normal behavior nothing really changes or starts to change. Action must be mixed with words to have a true effect especially with young minds.

"The martial arts industry makes money off the paranoia that some parents develop about their kids getting bullied and beat up. They don't know the first thing about karate, Judo, etc..they think putting a white pajama on a totally out of shape kid and have them jump up and down in a dojo is going to turn them into Jet Li. Sad thing is they usually pay big money for that.  "                   
  Mauro Mezzina

There was a story a couple of months ago about a video of a kid that had taken enough abuse from a bully and stood up for himself. The kid picked up the bully and slammed him into the concrete floor which stooped the bullying and sent a clear message to stop abusing me. Fighting is one answer but it is not the only answer. As many people or experts would say other avenues should be used to stop bullying if possible. If those possibilities are  tried and the person is feeling threatened they must do what is needed to stop the abuse. Various martial arts can teach a child movements to defend themselves but it would be foolish to think that itself will stop bullying all the time.

In the past few years we have seen many stories on children and health problems. Getting them involved in sports or martial arts can help them lose weight and gain confidence but it takes alot of work to become skilled. Every person has a talent but every kid that is in martial arts will not be the next superstar. We can hope it can inspire them to find what there good at but we forget it will not make them untouchable. In fact since Mario brought up Jet Li if you do your research he worked very hard to become good at martial arts it did not happen overnight.

Myth #4 Black belts are great masters who are very knowledgeable like the Samurai
Myth#5 It's rude to question the instructor

I have put these two myths together because the both deal with teachers and i feel it should be looked at as a human problem which i will explain. Teachers are still human meaning they make mistakes, forget things, just like everyone else on this earth. Thanks to media and many other sources we forget and fall into the image of the supposed  "all wise knowledgeable teacher." Yes, some are very knowledgeable and teach while others are not and just used that image to fool people. I used the word untouchable earlier and we should not forget that when we look at instructors they may be great at martial arts but that is only one side of that person.  We have read about athletes, singers, etc that were talented but had problems that affected them. We forget that while a person may have talent in one area it may not cross over to the rest of their lives.

There was a time where it was normal not to question the instructor but that time is gone. It again has to do with image of the "all wise" teacher. Everything progress and things change but to some instructors that is the stake in the heart to their image. I dont know everything, the person reading this doesnt know everything, a college professor doesnt know everything.  To give you an example most people in martial arts should understand think about these two names: Dan Inosanto and Erik Paulson. These two men are legends in martial arts and have gone to learn with numerous instructors. If both of them knew it all do you really think they would go and learn from another teacher? Here is something said by Paul Green of Stonewall tactical that will have you thinking:

"It has less to do with the system and more to do with the individual instructor."

 "Yes this is bigger than just martial arts it's indicative of a larger social problem."  (Paul Green)

I  can probably bet every person reading this could write there own chapter after reading Paul Green's blog and my own little write up that you have been reading. I could go for hours because this problem has many branches and they are all intertwined and change. I do feel that there are some main problems or roots to this problem but again its a changing animal.

We (as in us here on this discussion tread) do what we do out of passion, we look at "fighting" in ways most people don't, we read about it, talk, train and really go after quality of instruction. ­­      (Mauro Mezzina)

Mauro used the word  "quality" and would like to add the word sincerity to that sentence. Anything that is doing with sincerity has a certain quality about it that most people recognize. A ballet dancer that is truly in touch while dancing and doing that with sincerity is something that most people can tell is done with honesty. If that same dancer was just doing the moves it could look well but it would lacking something to the first example.  If you do something that you love with that "sincerity" it will bother you when others do what you love and give no attempt for it to be real. So my write up will end here but the problem continues and changes. So what will YOU do when this problem shows up in your life....only you can answer and deal with that.

"You better check yourself before you wreck yourself "