Sac Fire Academy Enters the Kettlebell!

A good time had by all! Coach John Hoffman has done a great job so far with his recruits, and many thanks for letting me come out and train with them.

FOUR BRIDGES HALF MARATHON-DONE!

Sunday morning was a beautiful morning for a 13.1 mile run from the City of Folsom around Lake Natoma and back. This was the first time I ever participated in any kind of organized race/run. This was also the furthest I have ever run. 13.1 miles in 2:31. Not a fast pace by any means, but my personal best. :)My daughter participated in the "Scary Scamper-mile "run" which gave her a race shirt/bib number and finisher ribbon- she had fun and enjoyed having a bib number like her dad.Start them enjoying fitness early on and avoid the health hazards of later years.

Now let the healing process begin! Ice baths are my friend.

Off-Topic... A little Pinoy Pride :)

Rock on Arnel! What a heck of a story. Even if you're not a Journey fan, it is definitely a human success story. The top video is what they found on You Tube. The second is the full story.

TEST DAY!

It is 0400 hrs. and I am preparing for my final exam for the SPEAR course. It has been a great experience, and definitely an enlightening experience with regards to combatives (both coaching and participating). I truly regret not attending the Tony Blauer/Pavel seminar when it occurred. That was a one-shot deal that probably would never happen again. There is a lot of commonality when it comes to their approach to combatives and strength training, specifically the biomechanical and physiological approach that maximizes anyone's potential.

The challenge is given at the course and it is summed up by these two symbols: 1*

One asterisk or spoken a little slower, one ass t' risk. Whose "ass"? Apparently anyone trying to change the status quo in combatives.

BTS explains that Physiology precedes the cognitive EVERY TIME. You tube has a lot of videos showing what people do when they are surprised by an ambush; their hands come up between them and the perceived the threat and pushes away danger. Check out the videos of people playing the scary maze game. It is not age specific, in fact, (although I don't understand why people would allow their small children to knowingly play a frightening game for a laugh)one child playing it (probably age 5-6) shows the perfect display of a physiological and biomechanical response to a sudden threat- his hands come up between him and the threat, protects his command center (head) and pushes away danger (even though it is a video screen) and then his feet move him away from the threat.

If that is what an untrained person does when surprised/ambushed, why not train the physiological and biomechanical response into a combative response as well? It is perfect for anyone wishing to defend themselves, not just LEO/Military. A Blauer trademark is "Be Your Own Bodyguard". What a great mindset!

Blauer Tactical Systems Maxim

"Don't show your students what you can do; show them what they can do".

This is a pretty deep maxim, especially in the arena of self defense. All you need to do is go onto Youtube and there are plenty of videos of "senseis" performing "one touch" knockouts on their student who is passively standing there. (I can't embed the video but here is an example of crap being taught and money being taken by some unsuspecting person who will actually believe in this garbage.- click on the title)

One thing I am very impressed with by the Blauer instruction team is that they are passionate about SPEAR (Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response), they made it very clear that you must earn your certificate (no "I attended the cert, so I get the shirt" mentality)they use realistic drills based from realistic scenarios using movements really used in a street situation. They also used alot of realtime fight/attack videos and broke down the physiology of the fight. There is no " you attacked me wrong" mentality. In addition, everyone attending the certification came from a variety of law enforcement entities, local, state and federal. Everyone picked up the drills quickly, and received quality attention/instruction from the instructors. I can't recommend this course highly enough.

Q: What is the most important aspect in a fight?

A:"The result."- Tony Blauer

I love these men!

I love the fact that he started when he was 40. It is never too late to start getting physical. I never tire of hearing the Team Hoyt story. I love the drive, the sense of humor, and the tireless positive nature of Dick Hoyt. I can't imagine how many times he has probably told this story, and yet he is happy to tell the story after so many years.

DOES IT FEEL WE HAVE SOLDIERS IN A WARZONE?

Being prior military during the first Desert War, I feel for our soldiers overseas doing a tough job when all people seem to be talking about are mundane things such as the new Fall lineup. Love him or hate him, I came across this story about President Bush I thought worth mentioning. I am not a big fan of what has happened over the course of his presidency, but I thought this story was very decent. Click on the above link if you want a different view of the man.

SPEAR

I am in Carlsbad this week getting trained with Tony Blauer's SPEAR Instructor course. Should be a good time training. Tony certainly has done his homework with regards to reality vs. dojo training. More to follow. Less than 2 months left until the four bridges marathon. Also, I am planning to assist at the February RKC in 2009 in San Jose! Good times to come.

Do you remember this Olympic moment?

Never give up.

OK..something a little more masculine

Kurt Angle wins Olympic gold against Iranian wrestler, Abbas Jadidi...and he did it with a broken neck. Amazing.

THE OLYMPICS ARE ON!!!!

Remember this Olympic moment? 1:30

I am looking forward to more intense moments of human spirit.

Update

I have been running 7.5 mile hill runs on the weekends, and I range 4-5 miles during the week. I will get 3-4 training runs in during the week, and I will do some basic kettlebell lifting/push-pull weight training on a non run day. Nutrition is getting better as I see a major difference in my ability to run further each week. I am a tortoise, no doubt about it, but I am slowly getting faster, and I do not hurt the way I used to in previous running attempts. I am up to almost 20 miles a week now.

I view this simply as a new experience. I am still not a huge running fan, but I am certainly more understanding why people are fans. I enjoy running with a group, but I find that I also really enjoy the solitude of a solo run, especially surrounded by nature.

I peeked my head in on the kettlebell world that I have quietly grown silent in. I saw that there are still very positive people out there, training hard and having fun. And then there are the other negatives that plague it. Quite humorous, really.

I have been studying hostage negotiations/crisis intervention. Good stuff, much applications in dealing with regular people as well!

Enjoy the clip...it is "Transmission" by Joy Division. yes, I am a retro kind of person! If you didn't know...Joy Division lost its lead singer to suicide, then they became New Order.

Kicking it 2-tone

Ok, it is summertime in Sac...time to get some Specials on the radio. This reminds me of living back in Southern Cal circa 1984, vespa and all! (Watch for Terry Hall throwing the tambourine at someone...he is pissed because the bouncers were roughing up a fan. Terry ends up inviting the people onstage, and off they go!)

Anyways....I am training for a half marathon, the Four Bridges Half Marathon in Folsom, Ca. Just trying something that I have never done before. I work with a colleague who has run the Boston Marathon, and we are trading training information, me with kbs and strength, him with his running expertise. Now, I am not a big fan of running, but just like most everything else, an infectious practitioner can make most anything fun.

Enjoy the summer!

K9 training

BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com

Think what you will about our French counterparts....they have some tough K9s! I especially was amazed by the tag team takedown (near the end). I have NEVER seen that before in k9 training.

Reality Knife Training

I saw an excellent video on Shook's blog on the reality of fighting edged weapons. Unfortunately, too many defense systems may as well use this tactic. Enjoy!

Police Suicide

I was debating about writing about it, but I guess it certainly is cathartic to write it out even if no one reads it.

A former student of mine and officer of two years committed suicide a couple of weeks ago. He certainly fit the bill of the last person that you would expect to do something like that. As I sat through his memorial and watched the photos of him as a baby, young child, student, athlete, son, brother, soldier, and officer, it left me even more sad for his family and the rest of us as well. He was funny, outgoing, everyone liked or loved him. He always tried to find the humor. I wonder how or why he lost his sense of humor at such a young age (Under 30).

Police suicide is a phenomenon that is still hard to understand for a community of people who pride themselves on being able to handle any situation.

LE Training and Physical Training

I am attending some LE training in the beautiful northern coast. Brought my kettlebells and my Lifeline gym to keep me moving, but a jog along the beach is pretty awesome as well.

Life has been very busy...more LE training to come. I have been listening to Dr. Thomas Strentz (author of Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiations, and retired FBI)for half the day. Brilliant stuff.

More to tell when I come back. Workout of swings, snatches, Band work, 20 minute Yoga with DDP, and a 20 minute jog. Simple, basic, good.

Academy Workout

I work as a PT instructor for the Los Rios Community College Police acdaemy as well. They are a motivated bunch of recruits who pay their own way through the academy. This academy has a special place in my heart since this is the same academy that I had went through as a recruit in 1993. (many moons ago, grasshoppa). In the back of their classroom is an award I am proud of, "Most Inspirational" voted on by my academy classmates of Class 13. It reminds me of the great importance we can have on influencing others in a positive (or negative) way.

A circuit both classes did last week. 30 seconds work/30 seconds rest. 90 seconds rest per round/4 rounds.

1. Concept II row
2. DB or KB press/ alt. press
3. Jump rope
4. Physioball situps
5. KB around the body pass
6. Dynamax ball burpee/sprawl wall slam
7. D-ball slams

I did the workout with my recruits while I let my second handle the whistle. It was a good day!

YOU HAVE IT BETTER THAN YOU THINK

My blog is changing, and does life. If no one else reads my blog, it will be fine, this will serve as a reminder to me to stay focused.

My wife asked me the other day what motivates me. I was surprised when I did not have an immediate passioned response. I realized many things, that I was letting myself go through the motions. Stress was reigning supreme, and I was letting it take me for the ride.

I am extremely fortunate to have a partner and soulmate who can check me into reality with one question.

Hick's Law

Tony Blauer. Good Stuff to study.

I'M BACK!

Alot has happened since Nov. 2007. I became a POST Master Instructor, saw my PT project not get certified by POST (that's a long and bitter story to tell), so I ran the project in-house instead. Graduated an academy, started a new academy class, and also teach at the Los Rios Community COllege police academy. (They get KBs too!) Here's a little bit of irony, the same people who would not certify my course also gave me high marks for my lesson plans and approach at the academy. Bittersweet.

I was fortunate to see John Giduck present a debrief of the Virginia Tech shooting. If you have not heard of John Giduck, he has an extensive background in Russian studies/O.C from St. Petersburg. Anyways, he wrote a very intense book about the hostage/murder school siege at Beslan. (Terror at Beslan). I think every American should read that book, especially those that think we are safe here in mainland USA. John Giduck has a greate foreward in the book by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, another great American who has lived and researched the warrior mentality/mindset. The officers of VA Tech and Blacksburg were erroneously and negligently portrayed in the media as slow to respond/cowardly. They arrived on the scene in 2 minutes! No one could have responded better than they did. It was criminal how they were portrayed in the press. Much respect to those officers who entered that bloodbath and did the job that they were trained to do the best way they could.

With regards to physical training, I am not training solely with kettlebells, but looking at the whole buffet of PT. I had a severe low back strain recently that had me review my training. I believed that this should not have happened had I been paying attention to strict form. I was leading the class in Tabata squats (my score: 22), but in the 2nd round (out of 8) I felt a jerk/slip in my low back. A more prudent person would have stopped. A foolish person continued.

I am back whole, and going back to my foundation: kettlebells, barbells, and bodyweight exercises. I am even running again. (I am not fond of running-it is a necessary evil!)

Peace-out!