People often send me emails asking me why I'm so hard on traditional martial arts -- like karate, kung fu, aikido, etc. Only problem is, I'm not hard on them. In fact, I have nothing but respect for them -- as did Bruce Lee and all the other street-fighting masters who have emerged in the past 30 years. The street-fighting philosophy I teach literally has elements from some 30 different kinds of traditional martial arts. If I didn't like or respect them, I wouldn't be teaching them. But at the same time...Bruce Lee had this saying: "absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own." In other words, take a good look at what's out there, extract what you can actually use in a street-fight -- where there are no rules, regulations or referees -- and leave all the fancy stuff out. Like, for example, the much revered spinning high kick you see performed on TV and in the dojos all the time. Totally useless in a real fight. Don't believe me? Then go ahead and try it for yourself in a real fight. Chances are you will either severely injure yourself, or leave yourself wide open to an attack. Why? Because unless you're a phenomenal athlete, with an almost supernatural sense of balance, timing and power...and unless you perform your "super kick" at just the right angle and distance...you'll fall flat on your face. Happens all the time. Reason why is because that particular kick -- which is enormously popular in some of the traditional martial arts -- was invented hundreds of years ago to kick people off their horses. Not take out a thug in the back alley high on meth, with a knife in his hand. You see, the violent criminals stalking our streets today are meaner, nastier and tougher than ever before in history. They have no sense of honor, fair play or morality whatsoever. And to make matters worse, many of them also abuse mind-altering drugs and even steroids -- making them almost immune to pain and pumped with an almost freakish kind of brute strength. And so, to really defend yourself against these violent criminals you need fighting tactics that are "monkey simple" to learn, work almost automatically when you need them, and that can quickly do a lot of damage -- whether you're in shape, out of shape, or have any natural athletic ability whatsoever. Bottom line: When you're in a violent altercation on the street, leave the fancy "Jackie Chan" moves and Van Dam roundhouse kicks for Hollywood where they belong. |
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