The Art of the KO

    This will be my last blog post for the year.  I hope everyone has a healthy and happy new year and look forward to connecting with you in 2017!      Is there a Gold Standard in Education?      I would have to say that this is subjective, based up on to whom you are talking to.      You see...as soon as one sets the "standard" for all to follow, they are outdated and/or the next person who comes along builds upon what the previous generations have done and hopefully does it better.      They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this could not be more true when it comes to education.      Everything can look great when it stands alone, some not so great when compared to others.      When people make claims as being the best, the first, the greatest, I never have a problem with that because they should believe that since they are hopefully putting their best work out there for people to use, debate, criticize, etc.      Their work should sta

     There is that old saying, "Ask and you shall receive."      Yes, I agree that you will receive something, but what that something is can be based on the wording and/or interpretation of the question.      People think that this time of year is about giving and/or receiving.  You give, you get...right?  Not exactly.      You can give and give and that does not mean that the person on the receiving end understands what you are giving or if they can even use what you have been giving, based on what you asked for.      Let's look at a quote attributed to Jesus.  "Give a man a fish he eats for a day.  Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime."      Most people don't know what they want to begin with...myself included at times.      Earlier today I was looking at an app for my iPad Pro.  It looks great!  There is a lot of functionality, etc.  It was not too expensive.  I did a little research and then asked myself...what am I going to d

As you move from one technique to another, the goal is as smooth a transition as possible.   This takes time, patience, and being in the "now" as you practice to firmly install your techniques. Today I want to talk about Transitioning to Online Learning. FIRST...this is in no way a substitute for hands on learning with a qualified instructor in the art you want to pursue. WHAT IT IS... - A supplement to your current training - A way to get back into training or find those with similar interests as yours - You don't have anyone you care to train with in your area, but can now start or restart your journey. There is more, but you get the point. Now with the internet being more and more prevalent in our daily lives, you can learn anything from the internet these days.  I learned how to peel a pomegranate faster over the weekend...less mess, more pomegranate! What are the pitfalls of online education? The main thing I would say is that it is hard to

Growing up my parents had a friend from Ohio that they had met in Barbados.  He would keep all of us entertained all day as we hung out at the pool with him and his wife and then the whole family would go to room 105 for drinks and canned cheese and crackers. Uncle Wil would tell us story after story about him growing up and the trouble he got in growing up during the depression.  He kept us in stitches and to this day, when someone in the family starts part of one of his sayings...someone else is sure to finish it. "What's the matter Wilbur (Uncle Wil)? Got rocks in your feedbag?" I guess this was the depression era equivalent of asking someone if they have just have too much clutter in their attic So what does this have to do with Kyusho and martial arts training in general? There are many different ways to train martial arts...as you already know.  When I first started on this journey, and I have spoken about this in the past...there were many in ou

Should a product speak for itself or the other way around? Everyone must market their material or else no one would know about it.  Anyone who markets anything is doing so to: 1. Solve a problem (perceived and otherwise) 2. Fill a void in the marketplace (based on their perception) 3. Make money There is more that can be added to the list, but I think you get the point. For the sake of brevity...lets look at this from the above list. 1. Solve a problem Many products are developed to solve a problem or perceived problem in the marketplace.  Some actually solve a problem that people did not realize was a problem until it was pointed out. Lets look at the martial arts world..more specifically Kyusho...something near and dear to my heart. One issue for many is that they want to learn more about this, but cannot find a competent instructor to study with directly so in the past they were relegated to one off purchases via video tape, then DVD, now video download.  One

 Is your product or service a commodity like sugar, coffee, etc? or Do you have something unique to offer the world? We all think we have the best this, the most effective that, etc., but do we really know? We actually do not, until we put our "stuff" out there and see what the marketplace says. I know from experience because I have been marketing my materials for over 20 years with almost 150 published titles & a hugely successful online Kyusho Education Program being studied in 30 + countries. I started with VHS/DVD and then moved into the purely digital world a few years ago and continue to expand on that. We all want a good deal...me included. There are just some things where what you get is sometimes more important that what you pay...within reason. Years ago, a student told me what an instructor from another school in our area said about the tuition I was charging.  This instructor said that I was too expensive and that they charged 1/2 of wha

People like to jump around from today's "next best thing" to tomorrow's "next best thing." This is true from the fitness industry to the martial arts industry and actually is just about every phase of our lives.  This is not to say that I am downplaying progress. This whole "next best thing" is marketing. So why do you think that people jump around so much?  Are they bored?  Easily distracted?  Just not serious? These could be possible answers.  What about the fact that those marketing the "next best thing" could very well be just regurgitating anything and everything to make a buck with that being their only strategy...a short term one?  This too could be a possible answer. From the development side, sitting down and developing a strategy...AND THEN STICKING TO IT (but flexible enough to pivot when necessary) is really important. One reason I believe that people jump around so much is that the promises of expertise repe

All around us are some kind of opportunities...if you ask the right questions. For example...when we say something like, "I can't do it."...the brain goes into shutdown mode and says, ok...lets just quit and find something easier, different, etc. Now...if you change the above statement into a question like, "How can I do this?" or "What can I do to simplify the learning of this material."...then the brain goes into search mode and starts searching for answers how to do X, Y, or Z. So to make this short..."The quality of your life is based on the quality of the questions you ask yourself." I first heard this quote almost 30 years ago from Anthony Robbins through his Personal Power program and it still rings true today.  Whenever I hear people say they cannot do something...and I am guilty of this myself...I ask this, "What can you do to make this possible?" This change in verbiage changes everything about the situatio

We hear of the KeyBoard Warrior all too often, but this is a recent phenomena of the last 20 years. Prior to that you had people actually standing face to face discussing and actually training in the differences of "how they would do the technique" in a polite manner and usually they could come to some agreement as to who was right, or that they just agreed to disagree. I have attended many seminars over the years, all over the world long before I was a featured Instructor. One thing I would notice when looking around is that if the instructor talked for too long...he (There were mostly men teaching at that time and I am going on my personal experience) would start to lose the crowd. Am I guilty of this?  I can be and I always try to keep in mind that the best way for the majority to learn is by doing...NOT BY SITTING OR STANDING AND LISTENING. There is a time to lecture and story tell, and a time to do your job and help the people who are there to learn...LE

Hillary Clinton famously said, "What difference at this point does it make?" This was during the Benghazi congressional hearings where she left 4 Americans to die at the hands of terrorists that she was in bed with. So what is the difference between online and offline (dojo) training? The obvious difference is that dojo training you get hands one training for a certain amount of time per week or so. Online training, is really online education that can be used to help you train when you get together with a partner or group of like minded people who are looking to supplement their dojo training with more focused educational material that after studying, they can go back to class and practice "installing" the info into their minds and bodys. Online training is a supplement to regular classes, or what you do not have time for during regular class time where the focus is on the physical gross motor movements and then those are refined over time. This is what I have

I don't care how many points you know.  I really don't. There are some great martial talkers out there who can amaze you with their knowledge of the body, the points, the names, the colors, the sounds, and which wine goes best with each technique. There are some great martial artists out there that can make just about anything work...and have not much of a clue as to why. Then there are those martial arts INSTRUCTORS who can not only teach you the physical, but the other aspects as well....now when I say the other aspects...I am only including things that can be used in a real confrontation.  For those who wish to talk about the colors and the time of day, etc....just move on as you do not have time to figure out which phase the moon is in while attempting to stop someone from taking your head off. So again...back to the start of this post. You can know a ton of things...and not be able to do anything with them. When I started...there was a group of guys wh

We all like something on sale!  Who doesn't? What is more important...the price or the VALUE? Price is something we pay for a product or service. VALUE is what we get, or more importantly...the perception of what we get for a given price. We all have different perceptions of value.  Price is price...nothing to perceive here...just the exchange for pieces of paper with famous dead people on them. For me personally...price is secondary to the VALUE I will get if I decide to purchase that product or service. So here is my question for you today...What drives your purchase of things...price or VALUE?  Only you can answer that. Until next time KO your obstacles by keeping it simple, keeping it safe, and train with PinPoint™ accuracy.   Mark Kline is a short, bald, professional martial artist from NJ.  He is the architect of the PinPoint™ Method of Pressure Point Education for Martial Arts which is hosted by the Kyusho Institute.  He has tho

If your Kyusho Training feels like a giant   ...then maybe you are in the wrong program. The question I have for you today is, Even though we know there is a learning process...do you just feel jerked around without any real focus, without any real attainable skills that can be learned easily and implemented quickly?...if the answer is yes...maybe it is time to find a new path where you can actually attain the skills promised. Until next time KO your obstacles by keeping it simple, keeping it safe, and train with PinPoint™ accuracy.   Mark Kline is a short, bald, professional martial artist from NJ.  He is the architect of the PinPoint™ Method of Pressure Point Education for Martial Arts which is hosted by the Kyusho Institute.  He has thousands students and followers around the globe training in his unique method of learning through a combination of live seminars and online education.  You can can find more information about this unparalleled Ky

Supposedly Christopher Columbus, a Portuguese National, living in Genoa, Italy, hired by the Spanish Queen Isabella discovered America. Not so fast! 1. There were people already living there. 2. He never set foot on the continent of North America...that we know of. 3. The Knights Templar (or Poor Knights of Christ (Portugal) were in NA dating back to the late 1200's 4. He supposedly was looking for a new route to India...hence...calling the natives he walked in on...Indians. These are all generalizations, but I think you get the gist of this. Not much new is discovered as you can see from the above. Methodology and execution are where differences are made. With regards to Kyusho training...there are many really good teachers out there. What sets them apart? Are they just regurgitation what someone else taught them or have they really put together something comprehensive that can is easy to learn and quickly implemented?  Are they adding a whole bunch of

Growing up there were so many cereals that were the worst things to eat...but they had great marketing! They were nothing more than a sugary coating wrapped in more sugary BS, but hey...there was a prize in the box for subjecting ourselves to this dietary abuse:-) The same is true today of education and online courses. There are many quality online courses out there.  Some have a great combination of great marketing and equally great content.  Others...well...they have really good marketing.  Did I say that they have really good marketing? On the surface cereals like Coco Puffs, Captain Crunch, Frankenberry, Boo Berry, etc. were a collection of sugary garbage that did nothing for you...but your dentist was extremely busy! When looking at online programs...one must look to see is the content is relevant and that there is a comprehensive long term educational strategy..or else what good is it? Sadly...most programs do not have a long term strategy...they are just look

When I opened my school 25 years ago, there were two truths.  1. I had a full head of hair. 2 There were not many martial arts schools in the area. There have been some who have tried over the years to get established, but like the wind...they were shortly gone. There was a martial arts pioneer in my area who just through my presence, I helped to put him out of business.  I was not concerned with him and I would have rather he stayed in business because any advertising he did was helping me.  He was raising awareness, but due to his attitude...now that people had another choice...they were not choosing him. About 20 years ago my mother had given me a book called the E-Myth by Michael Gerber.  The E stands for Entrepreneurial.  His description...and I am paraphrasing here, "When a technician (employee) suffers from and Entrepreneurial Seizure and think he can do it better...he opens his own shop." Martial artists are the same.  I was like that as well.  I st

Are you easily distracted?  Get bored quickly? What is your track record for doing something... other than normal bodily functions... for a prolonged period of time The problem may not be entirely your fault. So let's look at this from the perspective of martial arts Student first. You train and train for years until you get your black belt and then you just stop.  One reason is that there is  such an emphasis on getting your Black Belt that when you "arrive"...you think it's time to go because after all...you have "arrived." Most student quit because so much hype has been put on getting that belt that it just cannot get any better after that...right? Now let's look at this from the Instructor Perspective. The average instructor has to pile so much crap into their curriculum, and yes...I was guilty of this as well when I first opened my school 25 years ago...just to keep students chasing the next new thing to come along, just