Glitch I hope the book gets some attention. Any chapters you can send me? I’d love to read what you have. What else are you doing these days?
Ever heard of Mark Macyoung? www.nononsenseselfdefense.com
He seems to have a fairly well-balanced view on self defense as well. He lives in the same town as my sister, but I wasn’t able to meet him in person the last time I was stateside. I like his views on knife fighting and have come to respect his opinion more than the one I was taught with kali.
Marc “The Animal” MacYoung is a well known figure in self defense. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting him, although I certainly would love to. IIRC, his background was being a street tough in his youth and then as a bouncer working some really nasty places, much like Peyton Quinn. I’ve recommended his works before, and own his books. His approach seems somewhat oriented to almost kind of becoming a street fighter, which, although can be effective might not be the best approach for all people. It is a more difficult mindset for most people to adopt, and it is already difficult enough to adopt a good defensive mindset.
As for chapters of the book. If give you chapters of the book, then why would you buy it? Seriously, if you’ve read my posts in the past you’ve pretty much read the book. I’ve covered most of the myths, lies and delusions on this board, several times over in most cases.
Glitch mate, I’ve sent you an email. Just to add my 2c on the whole extreme martial arts thing, I didn’t see it but I’ve seen lots of stuff which sounds pretty similar. My take on the whole thing is that martial art is exactly that - art, a form of self expression (didn’t Bruce Lee say something similar, “an expression of the human being”? anyway…), and as such the flashy stuff does have merit, and what else are you gonna call it? Forms/kata/poomse can be incredible to watch for one reason or another…the acrobatics of some of the Shaolin forms, the grace of Tai Chi forms etc. Martial arts can no longer be judged on their real life applicability - after all, if that was all that made an art good, i couldn’t imagine many people would study Capoeira for example, which I think would be a shame.
However, the presentation of untrue “facts” really bugs me. Seems that a lot of people present opinion as fact and rely on the fact that they’re wearing a black belt or whatever to have people accept them as a reputable source. Misinformation like this is potentially very dangerous, but what are you gonna do?
Seriously, if you’ve read my posts in the past you’ve pretty much read the book. I’ve covered most of the myths, lies and delusions on this board, several times over in most cases.