Boulder, Colorado now has a Reality Based School

[Brent Tibbetts]

I agree with Ryan......Richard has a great seminar on tape. I have it and highly reccomend it. Also the Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker. Most men could benefit from this material too. I was teaching last night to a male student who I feel is very good at many different martial arts. We put on gear and role played. We had been working gross motor tools and I said do what ever you want on top of that (meaning BJJ, Hapkido, TKD, MT....whatever he had done in the past). If you see an opening use it. Guess what I saw none of those techniques. I had him stand at the door like he was going home and then had him acting like he was shopping and etc.....During the shopping scenario (we were wearing gear and we both could strike each other) I tapped him on the shoulder and the second he turned around I popped him and then kept my hand on his helmet. Talk about screwing up a game plan. No kicks no locks no nothing....just that struggle to survive. He did great.....and I am sure he will work on his effectiveness with simple tools. In one scenario we went to the ground and has he struggled for position I shredded his face, bit him, took out his eyes, and such in seconds. He still tried for position and stopped and I saw the light bulb go off. He kinda figured he got his ass handed to him. Great stuff when you test it. A martial arts never wins a fight it is always the man.

Take care and stay safe,

Brent Tibbetts

[Builderofmuscle]

I was talking to my sensei about the arguments that I've been having on this forum, and another forum. Mostly it was about training. Unfortunately, this topic didn't come up, but I should definetely metion it to him. He might be able to start another class just for the purpost of street self defense. We once had a class where the three black belts would spar everyone else, about 5 minute matches. That's a long time.

We started out great, but then my sensei started tripping everyone, and he put all his weight on one 12 year old. He wanted to see what he would do to get out of the situation. Well, then everyone started doing that. It was no longer a sparring class, but an allout brawl., I remember, I had so much fun, no one through any kicks or punches, the blackblets had us on the ground in a matter of seconds.

I remember a black belt took me down, but my feet were up, so I put my feet on his chest, and pulled him towards me. I through him, and he went down. Then we both got up unbeleivably fast. The adrenaline was rushing, and I couldn't beleive my own speed.

[Brent Tibbetts]

Cool.......your right sparring for five minutes is a long time and a great workout. I think you are on to something. If you want to really get the most from the experience I suggest a couple of videos from www.senshido.com or www.tonyblauer.com ask questions and don't jump to video at first that sounds cool just get a good base and then move on (check your library for books by Sammy Franco). You will notice that what you do in the fight is way different than what you thought. With that said you will grow very quickly. Remember learning how to use physical skills is lower end of what happens in the chain of events. Have scenario planned. Work the dialogue. Gear up and hold off on power at first and just let everything fly. Have a plan, what is the goal of the bad guy and where or what are you trying to do ( get home, call for help). Have the bad guy be a bad guy and not a martial artist. Have him act and react like a bad guy. A bad guy doesn't know BJJ or Karate or whatever so take those tools away. Are they high or broke and want money, do they have a weapon. Develop the skit and it will dictate the action you need. Remeber gear will reduce what might really happen if you eye gauge or whatever but keep going as if it didn't happen, do overkill, keep going and video tape the situation, review not analize, later on lay obstacles on the floor. Isolate the drill and start from the ground pretending you both fell, this way you can work a specific area and may be able to do it on real concrete or asphalt with out getting seriously hurt. Groundifghting on the real ground can be very eye opening and painful. Best of luck
and feel free to email me with any questions?

I grew up my high school years on the Rosebud Reservation outside of Mission, SD. Great place but sad and tough. Also I teach my adults from my garage. It is amazing what some paint and carpet and mirrors can do for a place. It looks awesome and better than most places I have trained. We aren't so different my friend are we.

Brent Tibbetts

[Builderofmuscle]

Interesting post. I'm not really interested in videos, and seminars, and books, but if you really recommened them I may check it out. Thanks, maybe I should get in touch with the self defense aspect. That could be what is missing from my training.