12 Months of Hard Labour
Happy New Year everyone! Looking forward to another great 12 months with friends, students and hard martial arts training.
At the beginning of each year we look back at the changes and improvements over the years. As a young Rookie, I only had to carry a revolver, a spare ammo pouch and handcuffs; how is 
easy was that? Twenty nine years later, I am bombarded with so much stuff to carry around; a box trailer would be nice!
Technology is the cause of all this. Who would’ve ever thought you would be able to carry a phone in your pocket and call from anywhere around the world or own a computer a trillion times more powerful than that first black and white Wang computer of the 80’s? Now we have cars that reverse park by themselves! Nobody can resist technology or catch up with it. Technology is about constant improvement based on the demands and expectations of the world.
Fight technology is no different. It has to keep up with the demands of the times and the demands of people. The martial arts also have to advance or evolve. When I commenced martial arts training 35 years ago, our floor exercises were just push-ups, and sit-ups – even those were done the wrong way. Strectches were just based on the forward and side splits (that was it). Today, there's a lot of material out there.
Kickboxing in the early 70’s – what was that? Boxing with kicks? How stupid, that will never work, we thought. Ground fighting in the early 80’s? That was also stupid, who wants to get on the ground and get their clothes dirty!
If you try to resist technology it will only be for a short time. Look at the people who said they will never use the internet or carry a mobile phone. These are the same sort of people who said the same thing about BJJ and Kickboxing.
Shihan Richard and I were talking about how wonderful it would've been to have the technology of today available when we were young!
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of hard training and time put into something you like. Clearly, the results are shown from what you have learnt and how you look and feel.
Sargeant and Dr Chris; getting choked, armbared, figure 4’d and leg locked. I could've sworn I saw the ‘white light' when Dr Chris crushed me with that kneeride yesterday. But I have found a solution; the Taser Gun is just what I need. Seriously, I have to be grateful to Richard and Chris including Steve Perceval and Rob Naumoski who spend countless hours with me.
The picture is of Johnny Player which was advertised on billboards of a TRAIN DRIVER'S WORST NIGHTMARE about young people getting hit by trains whilst illegally crossing tracks. The JPL (Johnny Player look) has become cultural within my circles (especially at work) because it is the look of despair, unhappiness, misfortune, which happens to everyone of us and even seen it a number of times. My blogs may have a habit of doing that because of my controversial material but I believe people take on board what I say. One more JPL for this year about self defence: The more complicated the technique, the more time needed to get good at it and remember under pressure. The techniques we’d like to see work are more for training purposes to develop our knowledge and skills in the martial arts. However, a different approach is needed when training to deal with real opponents.
Martial Artists don’t usually have the experience but rely on theory when teaching self defence. The information is passed onto them by people who claim to have the experience but this cannot always be verified. When experimenting with or teaching self defence in class, the Instructor usually relies on their students in a clasroom environment which can give misleading results because of missing factors present in a real and hostile situation. Realistically, we are not going to go out there to see if things work but Instructors need to be cautious when offering solutions. My colleague, being very fit and strong, who was a riot squad officer, was not going to comply nor look bad in front of his mates so that made the situation more challenging and realistic. Mr John Will made a point of this when he was training Afghan soldiers; he realised how different they responded to his moves to that of a normal martial artist.
We’ve talked about a Black Belt being within anyone’s reach based on the minimum hours of training and conscientiousness, which always stands. What any Instructor wants their students not to think are, they are handed out; they wouldn’t be worth much if that happens. The grading system is a step by step process like a climbing a ladder one step at a time which is easier than 3 or 4 steps at a time. Most martial arts systems use the coloured belt system in which ranks are readily identifiable within each school. It’s great to advance to the next belt but what counts most is what you do when you get that belt. 
years of adulthood and, in most cases, when the brain no longer has challenges or makes important decisions which are prevalent when one retires and becomes mentally inactive. The symptoms include confusion, irritability and aggression, mood swings, language breakdown and long-term memory loss, and it only gets worse. 
stage to congratulate the girl and I said to her, “you don’t know me but … “ She interrupted and said, “I do know you, Sir.” I was a little stunned before I could go on. I told her how fascinated I was with her performance. I'm talking about kicks that knocked the other girl over and punches that rocked her head. She didn’t realize how well she went. I was truly astounded with the performance of all the girls in the ring; they can really fight. They all seem to enjoy the same hairdo – pleated with plats. 
in yourself. I said to him, "you make me feel young again" and I got a big smile out of him. I watched him very closely and listened hard because I knew he is not going to be around in Sydney much longer. Interestingly enough, I always tell my students to learn and train as if I am going to leave Sydney so I get their full undivided attention. We’re talking about 100% effort here. I was ringing wet at the end of the session but how enjoyable was that! I hope to get some of this across to our people but we're lucky enough to have Shihan Richard Norton, who has been a student of Sensei Benny, since 1984!