Bring it on ...

Lately, life has been unusually hectic. For seven weekends in a row, I have been in airports, on planes and working interstate - making the trip back home each sunday night or monday morning to see my family and teach my mid-week classes before heading off again the following friday. This coming weekend is no exception - I am preparing today for my last visit to New Zealand for the year. I have eight seminars to run for the all of my BJJ friends, plus a stint at the Police Academy in Wellington. Busy. But afterward, I am taking my annual 10 day flyfishing trip into the wilds of new Zealand's backcountry - can't wait!
When I come home from New Zealand, my good friend Dave Meyer will be here for a couple of weeks - can't wait for that either! And another good friend, Marc Herbert from South Africa wil be arriving the same time - good times ahead!!

On another note - I have literally had hundreds of requests for the third installment in my Rogue Black Belt series. So, buckling under the pressure, have penciled it into my diary for the first half of January. In fact, I have written about a third of it - and I have completed the cover (see pic) - so with good fortune (and planning) I'll get it done by mid January and hopefully printed by february. I am excited about having it done - and I need to do it to clear the way for other things I want to do. I only have about two dozen Fight Logic books left in stock - and rather than do a re-print, I am considering writing a whole new book on MMA.

I'd better go - seminar planning to do, bags to pack, classes to run. I'll get onto it after a brisk walk around the river with my wife - she's chaffing at the bit, to get out the door.
Best wishes all
JBW

My D.C.A.T work

Further to my last post, I thought I'd offer up a clarification on some of the Defensive Tactics design work that I do. I am often asked by the martial arts fraternity, about the work that I do in police and military circles. Usually, I am rather reluctant to talk about this - for the same reasons that I would not talk about the training I offer to private clients that I may be teaching. I simply do not view the subject matter to be of a public nature. However, I can talk about the approach I take, in very general and broad terms.
The most common question I am asked is whether or not I teach policing and military groups, BJJ? The simple answer is that I do not. Most often the various groups that I do work for, have very specific operational needs, and what I do is try my best to cater for those needs by designing training solutions that are equally specific - and BJJ (off the shelf) doesn't do much to fill this need. What does help tremendously though, is the solution-seeking mindset that I have developed over the years, through my BJJ training. In short, the study and development of BJJ - and more specifically, developing my BJJ coaching skills, has provided me with an aptitude for coming up with solutions for various physical and strategic problems that arise in the course of physical struggle. The understanding of angles, biomechanics, leverage and physics are a part of the toolkit that I bring to the Defensive Tsctics design-table. Apart from these things (learned from BJJ), I also need to come armed with communication and teaching skills, an understanding of management needs and a willingness to be transparent in my thinking and design process.
Usually, martial arts skill sets are the last thing that law enforcement and military orgs are looking for when they seek help from outside SME's (subject matter experts) - there are usually plenty of such people already embedded within their ranks. The one thing that is more difficult to find, is someone who is extremely task-oriented, with a talent for design; the right mix of communication, coaching and presentation skills, along with a broad enough range of cross-platform physical expertise from which to tease out the training solutions that they are looking for. The more of this kind of work that I do, the more deeply I understand the unique sets of needs that these professionals have. It is serious work, as ultimately, there are people's lives at stake - but it is also tremendously satisfying. The police officers and soldiers iof the world do the work that no-one else is willing to do - I freely admit, it is an honor to be asked to make my a contribution.
Stay safe all,
JBW

Northern Frontiers ...

Just back home after a big weekend in Darwin. I had to fly up on friday to deliver 15 sessions to the NT Police College trainers and members of the Tactical Response Team. Arrived home 1 am this morning - still slightly dehydrated. Spending today drinking water, eating food and napping.
Darwin is hot - hot and humid. But the people were great and my time there was thoroughly enjoyable. For those who don't know much about the Northern Territory - it's like the old wild west out there. Police can be stationed in remote aboriginal communities, where, for all intents and purposes, they are pretty much left to their own devices. When all is running along nicely, they may get some good fishing in - but when things go bad, they are alone and well beyond the reach of assistance. They have their own unique sets of problems and chellenges - and they have my utmost respect. For these people, Defensive Tactics is not a lifestyle choice - it is a means of survival - serious stuff!
I will enjoy tyhe rest of the day - indeed, the rest of the week at my school here in Geelong. I have a seminar at Hangar 4 in Melbourne this thursday night - and then four more in Sydney this weekend. I'd better hydrate ...
JBW

SELF ESTEEM: Theirs – Not Yours!

Self Esteem is one of the many purported benefits of martial arts training. So often is the term bantered around, that I think it has become standard phrasing for almost every martial arts pamphlet on the planet. IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM!
Well, I certainly cannot deny that improved self esteem is probably one of the most important benefits of martial arts practice – but I think that we mostly focus on our own self esteem, when thinking about the subject, and not perhaps so much on how other people’s self esteem (or lack thereof) can play a part in how they relate to us in everyday life.
A friend of mine recently pointed out an interesting thing – and it is this: No-one’s self esteem is on a continually upward trend – or for that matter, on a continually even keel. The truth of it is that our self-esteem, like everything else in life, rises and falls, dips and peeks, depending on how our lives are playing out at the time. Our health can improve or deteriorate, our relationships can improve or deteriorate, our finances can improve or deteriorate, our life-enjoyment can improve or deteriorate – everything is in a state of flux. Our self-esteem can be effected by all of these external and internal factors – and in turn, can effect how we interact with others.
You may have a very good friend for example, who normally when his or her self esteem was in good shape would take the time to compliment you on your new car, new house or new project you may be embarking on. That self-same friend though, if their self esteem is temporarily in a ‘trough’, may not only fail to compliment you on your success, but may even feel envy or jealousy and view your success as some kind of reflection of their failure. The reason behind this is simple – when someone’s self esteem is taking a pounding, they look for validation from external sources – namely, their friends and family. When their friends and family ‘fail’ – or should I say, neglect, to give them that validation, they can perceive this as a ‘mild attack – when objectively, it may be nothing of the kind.
So the moral of this blog I guess, is that when other people, students or friends seem to over-react to some imagined indiscretion that you may or may not have committed – it may well be because their Self Esteem has taken a few blows of late. So give them a little of what they need – VALIDATION – and you may well find, things will take a turn for the better.

JBW

Beating the Blues ..

Perhaps I should entitle this blog ... SO YOU WANNA BE A PURPLE BELT? If this is the case, be careful what you wish for.The nicest rank of all is WHITE Belt - there's no pressure, no wild and crazy expectations .... there's just training and learning. Oh, what a nice place to be!
Once you get blue belt around your waist, the pressure starts to mount. The blue belt is supposed to innoculate you against all white belt efforts ... and then, there's the dreaded purple belt. To be a purple belt is easy ... just tap out all of the blue belts! maybe on a good day, this is an achievable task ... but on other days, it can be a challenging task indeed. Those pesky blues are getting better each year.
jean Jacques Machado told me something one day, that really stuck in my head; he said "Always remember - we are NOT Supermen. Somedays we win, sometimes we lose ... and sometimes we lose to even white belts."
it is my belief that the pressures we experience as we work our way up through the ranks - are largely, self-imposed. We are, after all ... only human.
JBW

Commitment ...

If you begin your BJJ training with the idea of one day earning your Black Belt, I would say that you are an unusual person. For myself, the idea of earning a Black Belt was such vague notion, such a far-off goal, that in truth, I gave it little or no thought - instead, I just immersed myself in the training process - and of course, the passage of time took care of the rest. In fact, when I was eventually offered my blue, purple, brown and black belts respectively, I pleaded for more time to get my skills up to scratch!

If you start out wanting to earn a Black Belt in BJJ, you should understand that this is a very big commitment. Only the most serious, passionate and steadfast can hope to acheive this prestigious goal. I say this, not to come across as elitist - but merely to underline it as a fact.

Here is something that many people fail to consider - the commiment I am talking about, is a two-way affair: the commitment the student needs to make, and the commitment that the instructor needs to make. So there needs to be commitment on both sides. The amount of knowledge the instructor needs to impart to the student to make the completion of this journey possible, is immense. If we take that knowledge, even without taking into considration, the vast amount of mat-time needed, just the sheer number of classes the instructor needs to guide the student through - is astounding. It's hard to put a number on it - but perhaps a good 1000 classes would fit the bill. That's a load of classes for the student - yes - but it's a load of classes for the instructor as well. This is probably the biggest commitment one can make - (for teacher and student both) in the study of the martial arts.

I am sometimes astounded by the odd student, who on one hand might make a lot of noise about wanting to get their Black Belt, and how serious they are with their training - but when all they need to do is make a time to train when the opportunity is offered they fail to leap up and grab it with both hands. Perhaps I am a bit old-school - but if my instructor Rigan MAchado, called and asked if I wanted to be there at midnight - mid-winter for a session on the 'ice' - I would be there, ear-muffs in hand. Nowadays, we live in a culture of 'easiness' - fast food, fast ranking, fast finance, etc. people want things the easy way - and sadly, this is becoming the 'norm' rather than the exception.

My adfvice to any students of BJJ - if you are serious, remember this: your instructor is serious as welll - if the oppoertunity to train is presented to you - TAKE IT - with both hands and full commitment.

JBW

Belt me Up ...

I have just returned from a round of seminars in Sydney ths past weekend. One particularly nice moment was when I was able to present Sam Dignam (in WIndang) with his Brown Belt. As my good friend Dave Meyer says, "You don't get a Belt in BJJ - you BECOME the belt!" Belt's are easy to get - you head to the store and hand over your $5 and you can get one of any colour you like - but to BECOME a BJJ Blue, Purple, Brown or Black Belt - well, this is another matter entirely.
The way I see it, the four different BJJ belts represent four very different stages of the students evolution ... and those stages are as follows:

BLUE: the Foundation ...
This stage is perhaps the most important in the journey as it provides the foundation upon which we load everything else we ever lear, In this stage, the student internalizes strong basics for every position on the ground. A good blue belt should have something to say about most positions that he or she will encounter during a grappling match. The better this foundation, the better the the blue belt - and as the saying goes, a technical Blue Belt will make for a technical Black Belt!

PURPLE:
This is the 'selfish' stage of the BJJ journey. By this time, the student has been exposed to a lot of technique and strategy. From this ever-expanding storehouse of knowledge, the student is beginning to really construct a 'personal game'. He or she fully understands their preferences, and is very clear about their 'go to' techniques for all positions that occur during the groundfight. Also, by this stage, the student has some working knowledge of takedowns - as e or she feels very confient of controlling the fight once it goes to the ground. We call it the selfish stage because it is all about the construction adn development of a personal game from the vast technical dta-bank that he or she has been exposed to by that time.

BROWN:
This is the apprentice 'teacher' stage - and as such is anything but 'selfish'. As a Brown Belt the student has a wealth of knowledge on wide variety of positions. By this time, the student has a 'depth' of knwledge on a wide vaiety of subjects, and not just a cursory or shallow understanding. The student, by this stage, should also know a lot about positions and techniques that he or she may personally not use in their 'game' - as an apprentice 'instructor', they can expect to be asked for help from people who are developing very differnet games from those they use themselves - and so, they must understand and be able to teach things that they may not necessarily like or use themeselves. Brown Belts are really junior black belts.

BLACK:
This is the instructor stage. The BJJ Black Belt, should pretty much have answers to most of the problems that occur on the ground. They should have a satrong working knowledge of takedowns and be able to deal with both sporting and 'real world' assault scenarios. The Black Belt should also have efective and powerful coaching/teaching skills - and be able to bring others along the path to Black Belt. The BJJ Black Belt should also have a good understanding of how the various ground techniques and positions relate to each other, they should be able to build unique combinations and solve unusual problems - all of these skill-sets, along with a profound understanding of applied bio-mechanics and leverage make the BJJ Black Beklt one of the most prestigious, sought-after and respected martial arts qualifications. perhaps, above all though - the BJJ Black Belt has returned full circle to the 'open' and 'eager for knowledge' student mind-set - the true BJJ Black Belt knows that his or her journey is always 'just beginning'.

JBW