Way of the Mantis Immersion Weekend - Promo Video

Here's a peek at some of the things we'll be working on during the Way of the Mantis Immersion Weekend

Max and Don helped put this together to promote the event. Thanks guys! We had a blast shooting this for everyone. Lot's of laughing. I'm really looking forward to hosting this event.

Xiao Da - The Truth on Effective Strike

Effective Strike (Xiao Da), is the Kung Fu principle of striking to vital targets, or targets that have more destructive impact than other areas of the body.  This is a common concept in many styles of martial arts.  I recall the first time I showed up for Tae Kwon Do/Hapkido class back in 1991, my teacher said - "want to kill a man, hit here, here, here, or here."  I was stunned.

I thought to myself - "WOW!  Cool!!!"  Followed by later thinking - "wait...why would you tell someone that in their first class?  Isn't that dangerous information to hand out to strangers?  After all even US Army Basic Training Hand to Hand Combat didn't teach us that!".  I chalked it up to him just being half psychopath since he spent most of his life training elite South Korean Special Forces Soldiers in Hand-to-Hand Combat.

It was some time later in my martial arts career that I realized why this information wasn't so dangerous after all.  The reason is simple. If you don't train it, you won't use it.  Effective Strike is a skill like any other. It needs extensive practice and proper training in order to be effective in real combat, or in other words - to manifest itself under stress.  In said Tae Kwon Do class, we never used finger strikes, throat chops, or did any sort of training that incorporated strikes to these vital areas; we simply kicked, punched (less), blocked, and smashed our shins and forearms on one another till bruised an battered.

"Knowledge doesn't make you a badass. Training makes you a badass."

Brachial Stun

Train Like You Fight, Fight Like You Train
 
I like to use the terminology - train like you fight, fight like you train.  In our training, the constant focus of hitting to Effective Strike targets is crucial to making this habitual.  There is no time to think in a fight. One must react and react appropriately; which is the whole objective of proper training.

So when should you learn this skill? Ideally the sooner the better, especially for smaller fighters.  Smaller fighters lack the power that a larger or heavier opponent can produce, so this skill is crucial for us. Being able to hit someone in a targeted area means that your strikes pack more bang for the buck.

With that said, one needs to learn how to properly punch first, before focusing on Effective Strike. Trying to perform Xiao Da from Day One, gives the brain too much to focus on at one time.  A beginner should be more concerned with proper striking, blocking, guard principle, and defense first. 
Once properly introduced, aim for these targets with every strike in your arsenal.

After you have learned it, you can then veer off to other non-effective targets that may lure or distract your opponent; creating what we call Open Doors to the effective targets we want.  This is necessary because an opponent with a good defense will 'require' you to 'open doors' in order to perform Effective Strike.

Ear Claw

How to train Effective Strike
This varies based on whether or not you have a training partner.  I did not have a partner to use when I wanted to integrate this into my fighting so I took colored price stickers used in yard sales, and I plastered them on my heavy bag in the general target areas on the human body.  I then practiced various combinations striking to these targets.  To test them, I sparred with other people.

For those with a partner I recommend a great technique called 'Walk the Body' passed down to me from Master Puyot. Walk the Body has one person standing still (in their fighting stance is fine) while the other practices slow and very low power combinations to targets on their partners body. As you grow comfortable with the targets, the complexity increases by having your partner put their hands up in a defensive fighting position. Following that, you need combinations that the partner blocks so you can open doors to the targets you wish to hit using Effective Strike.

Note: this is not a fast paced exercise and requires patience, cooperation, and hours of practice to become second nature. It challenges your critical thinking skills once you add the complexity of combinations versus defense. Done properly however these strikes will become automatic and ingrained in your skill set.

Knee Break

DIM MAK - The fallacy of pressure point based combat.
Early in my training I met people, and still do from time to time, that have little knowledge of martial arts, but they talk about Dim Mak (pressure point striking) from books they've read, or videos they've watched, or even some Hollywood movie.

You can find videos online of teachers knocking out students at demonstrations to show Dim Mak, and all the supposed power one can have over other human beings by hitting them in these targets. People are fascinated by this and very enthusiastic. I can understand why...the idea of knocking out someone else with such ease! The mystery is alluring. Unfortunately, while some of these are legitimate strikes to real targets, some are incredibly finite and difficult to get to.

Kidney Strike

In a previous article, Size Matters - In Chin Na I discuss 'gross' versus 'fine' motor function in combat - high precision striking is less reliable when we are under stress, AND when our opponent is trying to hit us back. That's the live, active, and moving opponent that is also trying to take YOUR head off component.

This complicates things and makes it much more difficult to perform a finite strike to a small target area. So unless you're Luke Skywalker firing your torpedo at the Death Star, give up on the idea. In addition, a human being under the affects of adrenaline in combat (never mind the affects of drugs), is more resilient to these strikes. It really sucks when you're in the thick of it and your silver bullet doesn't really kill the werewolf!

This is why it is better to learn multiple targets, strike in combinations that you would normally throw, and cover your bases in case you miss the first target.  Meaning, you missed but it still hurts them like hell!!

Solar Plexus

Head Targets

• Throat - Crush the larynx making it difficult to impossible for opponent to breathe
• Side of Neck (Brachial Stun) - Knock out blow, or excrutiating pain at the least
• Back of Neck (Occipital Lobe) - Knock out blow
• Jaw - Break or Dislocation. Extreme pain.
• Nose - Pain. Bleeding. Watery Eyes causing reduced vision.
• Eyes - Loss of sight. Extreme pain.
• Ears - Tear them off for extreme pain.
• Temple - Knock out blow. Extreme pain. Disorientation.

Body Targets

• Shin - Extreme pain and discomfort.
• Knee - Break/Dislocation. Extreme pain. Loss of Mobility.
• Outer Thigh - A solid kick to this target can cripple a fighter and make them think twice about closing distance.
• Inner Thigh (Femoral Nerve) - Identical to the Outer Thigh, this target causes excruciating pain.
• Groin - Extreme pain and discomfort. Potentially cripple opponent.
• Bladder - Pain and discomfort. Possible bladder release. (you figure it out)
• Rib - Break. Extreme pain and discomfort. Possible breathing effects.
• Kidney - Potential knock out as well as extreme pain.
• Liver - Knock out blow. Extreme pain/discomfort.
• Stomach - Knock out blow. Extreme pain/discomfort.
• Solar Plexus - High concentration of nerves. Also the meeting point of the heart, liver.
• Collar Bone - Break. Extreme pain. Loss of use of arm on that side. Harder target to hit and not effective on everyone. 

Temple Strike

Way of the Mantis Immersion Weekend

Join us for an action packed weekend of Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Mantis Kicking, Striking
Throws/Trips/Takedowns, Joint Locks, Bridging Tactics, and more. Step inside the world of the mantis and learn the way it controls, grapples, and defeats it's opponents.

• Train in an outdoor setting (weather permitting).
• Immerse yourself in Traditional Kung Fu.
• Meet new people and train with like minded people.
• Easy learning format - Train in 4 two hour sessions throughout the weekend starting Friday night through Sunday morning.
• Group Dinner Saturday night.
• Q&A time. 
• Technique Review.
• Free Mantis Patch.
• Free uniform for non-members.
• Member discount for current students of PBFMA.

Schedule of Events - July 19, 20, 21
Friday 6 to 8 PM
Saturday 10 to 12 & 2:30 to 4:30
Sunday 10 to 12

Entire Weekend - $199

$50 off Member Discount

Register Today!

Ages 13 and up. Some martial arts or wrestling experience required. 

Location
Plum Blossom Fitness Martial Arts
222 Great Rd., #13
Littleton, MA 01460
978-486-3095
www.plumblossomfitnessmartialarts.com

Your Prince is but a Pauper in a Foreign Land

A couple weeks ago I received a phone call that was sadly a repeat of conversations I have had many times before. Same conversation, same outcome, different people. What conversation is that? It goes something like this -

<<After introductions, etc.>>
Caller: My son is interested in taking Karate at your place. (we don't teach Karate but I go along with them)
Me: Great, how old is he?
Caller: He is __ years old. He has been doing Karate since he was ___ years old. He studies/d with ___________. He is _____________ Belt and he is very good. 
Me: <already knowing what is coming next I say> Oh, that is excellent. How can we help you?
Caller: Well, my son would like to take classes there. <here it comes> Will he be able to keep his current rank? 
Me: No, I'm sorry, but he will have to start over, it is a completely different style, and different school.
Caller: <A sigh of disappointment is followed by a question of defiance> But, why? He has earned his rank?

It does not matter how the conversation continued, you get the idea. No matter what I say in these conversations with various people, it always ends the same -- they never sign up at my school, and they invariably find some school that will take them in and let them keep their current rank. Personally, I question the integrity of any teacher that does that for a buck, but to each their own, it is not my point in this post.

I find this situation discouraging of course; as losing potential students is always a downer. But more importantly, I find this extremely disappointing on a societal level. With our current culture of - 'every child gets a trophy just for showing up, or even if they lose', or in martial arts specifically - 'you get promoted just for showing up'.  Now there is a creeping expectation that successes in one field/area automatically guarantee the same credentials in another art/trade/field?

A carpenter with 5 years experience doesn't take up plumbing and automatically get 5 years of experience in plumbing. Both are trades, both use tools, both require some technical skills/background, but the two are completely different. The same exists with a doctor who graduates school in the field of Radiology. They don't just switch to Orthopedic Surgery without going back to school/training. A Chemist doesn't become a Physicist just because they switched careers/companies no matter how successful they were in Chemistry.

I write this to hopefully educate people, as well as do my part to prevent some creeping expectation, that is wholly unreasonable, from worming it's way into the societal norm. There are 100's of different styles of martial arts in the world. There are 10's of thousands of teachers and schools. When you earn a rank in one style it will typically help you to learn a new style, but not guarantee it.

Our past experience: coordination we gained, balance, flexibility; strength, endurance, familiarity with and exposure to martial arts, will all help us to gain skill and thereby rank, in our new school/style/art. It does not however grant us skills by proxy, or guarantee that we are a superstar in that style.

Nowhere should there exist an automatic transfer of rank in martial arts, except possibly, and not always, from one school to another. If said school teaches the same style, and is preferably in the same system then I can see the relevance of course.

I have two female students that were both Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do before coming to my school. Both of them emptied their cups and hung up their previous ranks when starting new arts. They threw out their egos and humbly put on White Belts when they started Kung Fu and Tai Chi with me. Amazing example.

At the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school I attend, a student came from another BJJ school with a Brown Belt. They let him keep his rank (as it was the same style) and he joined the class and proceeded to roll (spar) with his new classmates. After rolling with people, he took off his Brown Belt, handed it to the teacher, and asked the teacher to give him a Purple Belt to wear (a step down in rank). He knew he didn't deserve the rank he had, even though it was the same style, and that he had that earned rank in another school. This is the ULTIMATE in humility, and to be highly praised and respected.

I have another student that was granted an intermediate rank. He later turned it in saying he wasn't ready for it. I had tightened standards since the time he received his, and he humbly traded his belt in for the next one down. He is still working hard to this day to earn back that rank.

"A full cup can hold no more tea..."

One of my students said at graduation when they messed up a demonstration - "Like a first day student" (I paraphrase). I chuckled and said - "we should always be like a first day student". When changing from one thing to the next, we must empty that cup of ours. Just because we are a Prince in our land, doesn't mean we are anything more than a Pauper in someone else's.

Way of the Mantis Workshop

Way of the Mantis Workshop

March 2nd - 1 to 3 PM

(Right before Adult Belt Ceremony/Graduation)

The Praying Mantis, a fierce predator in the insect kingdom that hooks, grabs, and topples it's opponent; then shreds them apart on the ground. 350 years ago, Wong Long studied the way of the Mantis and indoctrinated it's superior fighting methods into his Kung Fu.

Enter the world of the Mantis, and become the bug.  In this rich and historic workshop, Master Brown will lead you on a journey into the 'Way of the Mantis'. Learn some of the Mantis Kung Fu fighting techniques, holds, counters, and more, in this action packed workshop. All skill levels welcome.

Kids Kung Fu students may attend if they are Orange Sash or above.  Don't miss it - SIGN UP TODAY

Kids Kung Fu Sword Workshop

Praying Mantis Saber for Kids 

March 2nd - 9:30 - 10:30am

The Saber is considered the Tiger of Kung Fu weapons. It’s ferocious and vicious attack methods are why it became one of the more popular weapons in China and used across all styles of Kung Fu. Learn to wield this mighty weapon, becoming a whirling dervish with this blade in your hand. Workshop is scheduled right before the kids graduation/belt ceremony. Saber must be purchased separately.

Call, email, stop by the desk, or click here to SIGN UP TODAY

Madhouse Retreat 2012

I picked up a nasty cold while traveling to Austin so I haven't been with it enough to write this follow-up.  I did want to tell all of you at Austin Fitness Martial Arts, what a great job you did in my Striking/Mantis Boxing workshop at the Madhouse Retreat 2012.  Thanks for a great time and awesome hospitality as usual.  Great food, excellent training, and even better...the students.

It was a pleasure to work with all of you and I look forward to returning.  Long live the Mantis!  -

--

Master Randy Brown

Plum Blossom Fitness Martial Arts
'Strength through Adversity.'
222 Great Rd.
Littleton, MA 01460
978-486-3095
http://www.PlumBlossomFitnessMartialArts.com

Find us on Facebook

Find us on Google+

NEW VIDEO - Power Building Boxing (Gong Li Quan)

We're excited to announce that a new video is now available through Plum Blossom Fitness Martial Arts video store.  Use this video to help you practice between classes, or learn the form - Power Building Boxing (Gong Li Quan) as taught by Master Brown.  Master Brown has studied 5 or more different versions of Gong Li Quan over the years, and created this hybrid for his students to learn from and pass on.

You can find the video available for download from here - http://plumblossomfitnessmartialarts.mindbites.com/lesson/21385-power-building-boxing-gong-li-quan

Guyana Mugging - Mantis Kung Fu to the Rescue

Some bad news with a good outcome arrived tonight.  We received a 'Thank You' letter tonight from a long time student that was recently visiting Guyana in South America.  Vincent studied with me for years before, and off and on, during college.  He has recently begun traveling for various research projects post college and ended up in South America.

One night while there, he was escorting a friend home late at night in the city and someone tried to mug them with an object he never saw, but felt.  After being pushed, grabbed, threatened to be killed, and poked with said object, Vincent reacted with a couple blocks and a punch to the guys face, giving him time to pull his own knife.  The guy took off running.

Vincent's friend was in shock but Vincent remained calm and said his training kicked in and he was able to deal with the situation.  Way to go Vincent!  Glad things worked out and good news was the result!

Long live the Mantis!