The Art of the KO

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 ...

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 ...

So you train diligently for years and years. One day your skills are needed to protect either yourself or your loved ones. At your funeral a few days later people speak of your character and what a nice person you were and how you will be sorely missed by your friends and family. in 1997 I was at the Jujitsu American Convention in Boston.  There was a high ranking martial artist there speaking about how a colleague of his had died while trying to stop a person with a knife. When the coroner did the autopsy, they found 27 slashes on his legs and the 28th...if I remember correctly was in the stomach.  He may have bled out from the leg wounds, but the knife to the stomach hastened his passing. So where did the wounds on his legs come from? Well...I am glad you asked! He was taught to kick the knife out of his opponent's hand and did exactly what he was taught and practiced in a controlled environment...by someone NOT trying to really kill him. I remember...

I bet I know what you are thinking...and I like the way you think...but that is not what we are here to discuss today:-) The question, "Does size matter?" can apply to many different topics, so for the time being, please get your head out of the gutter and focus. Are you you with me now? Ok...that's better:-) Years ago the late Prof. Wally Jay told me that what George Dillman is teaching (whether you agree with Dillman or not is really irrelevant), will force people to teach everything they know...just to keep students. Prof. Jay was right!  This happened within the Kyusho community as well as every other facet of martial art.   Remember the Tae Bo craze?  Everyone and everyone started teaching some kind of Kickboxing in their schools, including me to not only give their current students a new and different workout, but to attract a new clientele.  This craze has continued.  I don't have any issue with this as long as you provide a good servi...