Natto Ninja

Calf Slicer Submission

2012-01-30T11:39:00.000-06:00

The UFC had another first on Saturday, the first Calf Slicer Submission. Charles Oliveira caught Eric Wisely in a four submission progression that ended with the Calf Slicer. Check out the gifs:

Another angle:

The first of the four we miss, Oliveira first attempted a heel hook, Wisely spun out of, and then, as seen in the gif, Olivera goes for the kneebar. Wisely is able to move his knee below the hips, thus defeating the kneebar submission. Olivera then goes for a toe hold. He doesn't really spend a lot of time on this submission as Wisely was able to step forward and move his foot out of position. That gave Oliveira a chance to do two things, he could go for the calf slicer, or take the back. Since Wisely's right foot was forward and his left was bent on top of Oliveira, the left leg was in a perfect position to attempt the submission. Why perfect? If Wisely was able to defend, and free his left foot, Oliveira would be in position to put in his hooks and start working chokes from the back mount. Or if Wisely was able to free AND able to hip away from Oliveira to defend the back mount, Oliveria would be able to easily move in to side control. There was no bad position consequence for Oliveira here.
So what Oliveira does is to take his left leg and put it just under Wisely's knee, directly on the biggest part of the calf. He then locks his leg down with his right leg, in to a figure four, triangle lock. Next, Oliveira grabs Wisely around the waist and pulls Wisely towards him, being careful to keep Wisely's foot in the center of his body. Most of the time the opponent will go along with this movement. They don't know that they are in danger, and just think that you are pulling them backward to take back mount. More often than not the opponent will put their hands on your hands to prevent you from moving upward and attacking their neck.
To complete the submission, Oliveira pulls Wisely all the way back while pushing his hips in to him. The pressure on the calf is tremendous. As the name implies, this submission tears the muscle apart. On top of that pressure is put on the interior ligaments and tendons of the knee. If the submission is done correctly to completion the person being submitted is looking at ACL and PCL tears, as well as extensive tissue damage to the calf muscles.

You see this submission a lot more in the gi game, as it is much easier to pull off when you can control the opponent's leg via his pants, and his waist via his belt; however, it can be done in the no-gi game as Oliveira demonstrated.

What you should take away here is not the submission itself, although that is the very cool part. You should take away the need to always be thinking ahead in your game. Oliveira did not just give up after his heel hook failed, he was thinking ahead and knew that if he missed the heel hook the kneebar would be there. He knew that if he missed the kneebar, the toe hold would be there, and he knew that if he missed the toe hold the calf slicer would be there, finally he knew that if he missed the calf slicer, the back would be there. This progression in submissions and positions allowed him to flow easily and confidently to the next submission and position. It also forced Wisely to be constantly defending until he made just one fatal mistake. This is how good Jiu Jitsu is played. Constantly setting up new positions, and flowing in to the next movement.
When you train, especially with those less experienced than you, try to practice your position flows rather than just tapping them out with whatever submission they give you. Allow them to escape and move in to your new position. Better yet, only give them one way out of the submission so that you can perfect flowing from a lower percentage submission in to a higher percentage submission. Not only will you learn to chain your submissions together, but you will learn to manipulate your opponent in to doing what YOU want them to do, in a cold calculated way, rather than simply taking advantage of whatever is there.

Do You Shoot? WARNING GRAPHIC**

2012-01-25T08:35:00.003-06:00

The video below is graphic. It shows a man with a crowbar threatening a police officer, and the police officer shoots him multiple times. Violence is never easy to watch, so take that in to consideration if you press play.

After watching the video, and ignoring the jackwagons that filmed it, what do we see here? The police have their weapons drawn on an obviously disturbed individual. He is belligerent and has been breaking the windows of the Carls Jr. restaurant that the police have found him at.
The police try to subdue the man by shooting him with a taser. The man simply shrugs off the taser. He then attempts to rush one of the officers and the shoot him.

What would you do if you were in this same situation?
I have to admit that I see nothing wrong with this shooting. I would have done exactly the same thing.

The primary complaint with this shooting is that the police used excessive force. After they brought the man down with the first shots, they shot him again while he was on the ground. This is viewed as excessive. While an argument surely will be made for this, I do not agree with it. They shot the guy with a taser and he shrugged it off. They then shot him five times, and he still tried to get up and go after them. They then shot him again to end the threat. The police did exactly what they were trained to do. You shoot until the threat is over.

Now we ask the question, if this would have happened to an armed citizen, would they be treated the same as the police? Unfortunately, the answer is no. The laws are different for ordinary people and police. If this had been an armed citizen instead of the police, the man with the crowbar would have actually had to have gotten up and came at the armed citizen again before the citizen could have fired a second volley.

What do we learn from this incident? When you are at the range you MUST reserve some time and ammunition to train multiple shot accuracy. You don't train this by simply spraying shots down range. You train this by slowly building up the number of shots you can send down range quickly. It takes a lot of time and ammunition, especially if you use a large caliber, like my beloved .45.

This is what I do:
First find a good sight picture on the center of your target. After you squeeze off the first shot bring the pistol back down and immediately reacquire your sight picture on the target. You will have to have very good shooting stance and technique to do this well. You have to be rock solid to minimize the muzzle flip.
After you can shoot one round, and get the sight picture back immediately, try two shots. Squeeze off the first round, reacquire your sight picture and immediately squeeze off the second, and get the sight picture back just as you did when you were just working with one shot.
This is when you will experience strange things. Shot anticipation can be a big problem when you are trying to get off that second round. Many people will flinch or rock forward in their stance anticipating the recoil. This will throw their aim completely off, normally low and to the left. To correct this, you need to practice your stance, and throw in some snap caps in to your magazines.
A snap cap is a dummy round that protects your firing pin during a dry fire (shooting the gun with no ammunition in the breech). It is an excellent training tool. They really helped me see what I was doing in my stance and in my grip.

After getting two shots quickly down range and accurate, go for a third, remembering to reacquire the sight picture after every round expended. After being able to do the accelerated pair, sending more quick succession shots down range should be easy. Slip some snap caps in to your magazine to check your technique and to practice clearing a jam or misfire.

Do not get ahead of yourself in your rapid fire training. Don't be the guy who just blows the whole magazine down range to impress his friends on how fast he can shoot. What is impressive is shooting rapidly and keeping the grouping inside a four inch diameter. That is what is impressive.

What Does Equal and Fair Mean?

2012-01-23T13:29:00.002-06:00

A couple of words that we will be hearing from the Democrats and the President this year are "Equal" and "Fair." They will use these words so often that they might start to loose their meaning. So, let's make sure to get down what their dictionary definitions are:

Equal - like for each member of a group, class, or society

Fair - conforming with the established rules

Why do I define the words? Because words have an established meaning. We must be reminded of this established meaning because then we know when the meanings are being twisted.
So now let's look at a quote from this video from the President:

"...an America where everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules"

That sounds great!!! I do want an America where everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules.

Will that happen? I very very much doubt it. Currently only 53% of Americans pay income taxes. About 30% of the 47% that do not pay taxes, actually make money in the form of tax credits. For instance, a single parent who makes $16,000 a year with two children, and pays NO taxes, before any other welfare or government assistance, will receive a tax "refund" of $5,044. So taxes actually BOOSTS their income to $21,044.
That is an extreme example you say. Ok, let's play with the numbers and figure out when this single person with two children actually has to start paying taxes... around $34,000. That is when this person starts to actually pay in to the system. That sounds hardly fair.

Holly Crap, I Am Over The Top Paranoid

2012-01-22T13:04:00.001-06:00

I think I am slipping in to crazy paranoia... I am not quite tinfoil hat crazy, but I am getting there. I am headed to a funeral today, and I found myself trying to figure out the best way to conceal my .45 on my suit. To a funeral...
Now, we have all heard about shootings that happen at funerals, but wow, am I really the guy that wants to be packing just in case a shooting breaks out at a funeral for an elderly doctor's wife?? What the hell is up with me?
While it is possible that something may break out at the funeral, it is also possible that an extraterrestrial being will decide to make first contact with the funeral party. Should I make sure to have the protocols for first contact with me during the service? On second thought if that happens, it might be a good idea to have some hardware on me just in case the aliens are less than friendly... SEE??????? WHAT THE FU@K???????

Pretty sure I need help, but when you are paranoid, who can you trust to go get help from? What if they are all out to sell my information?

Leg Locks

2012-01-16T11:02:00.000-06:00

I have a love/scared-to-death-of-them relationship with leg locks. I really like kneebars and toe holds, I threaten them all of the time, and it makes my opponent scramble to defend. That will, typically, allow me to improve my current position. A good example of this is the rolling kneebar from the turtle position.

Using the knee bar as a sweeping tool if the guy stands up an breaks your guard:

and one of my all time favorites the kneebar from half guard:

Another really good one is the toe hold from omoplata sweep.

But the toe hold can be used against you if you attempt the omoplata:

The lock I am most scared of, and one that I almost never attempt is one of the simplest and most effective submissions there are. It is the heel hook.

As you can see, heel hooks are easy to set up and easy to execute. The problem with them is that they are a twisting knee submission, and you really don't feel like you are in danger until all of the knee ligaments snap. They are extraordinarily dangerous. So dangerous in fact that most Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments do not allow them for any belts lower than brown belt. Even in the land of macho men and big egos, Brazil, the heel hook is a banned technique for those below brown belt. They are just too dangerous.
So, how do you train with heel hooks and not hurt anyone? Well, in active rolling, I like to go through the movements up until I get to actually hooking the heel. I will simply touch the heel and then let go of everything. I don't actually hook it or work the submission. More experiences guys will acknowledge the submission with a nod or, a good job, or whatever. Less experienced guys will wonder why I didn't finish it off.
It is important to recognize who you are rolling with when you attempt heel hooks. Often times, the one doing the leg lock will remind the opponent that they can do leg locks and you will start to trade them back and forth. If you attempt your heel hook on the gym spaz, you are going to walk away limping. Only work your heel hooks on guys you trust. The submission is very dangerous and the gym spaz will rip you knee apart when they go nuts trying to prove how much more of a man they are. Instead do them with the guy who is at class to have fun and to get a good work out in. He won't tear apart you knee, and will acknowledge your submission attempt.

There are many guys out there who are good at heel hooks. None, however, are as feared or as reviled as Rousimar Palhares.

The guy is a heel hook genius, gym spaz, meathead, and all around unstable crazy person. In his last three fights that he won in the UFC he has submitted his opponents with heel hooks... and in all three fights he didn't stop twisting until the knee was destroyed. What's worse was that he competed in the ADCC no-gi world championships in 2011, he advanced to the finals injuring all three of his opponents with heel hooks. He sent one of the guys, David Avellan, to the hospital for immediate knee reconstruction. Rafael Lovato Jr. limped away from the semi-final match but only suffered tissue damage.
It goes to show the immense damage that can be done by these kinds of submissions. I am too old to be messing around with knee reconstructions, so I am well known to tap out as people are setting up leg locks, rather than waiting until the lock is on and some guy is looking to tag my purple belt up on his submission wall. I don't care. I would rather have you bragging that you caught me in training than risk the cost of surgery, rehab, and go through all of the pain associated with everything.

Political Posts

2012-01-12T10:02:00.000-06:00

Some have noticed my lack of political posts lately. It is because I am heart broken, and I can barely stand to read any political stories anymore. The American people broke my heart when they voted in President Obama, but I can understand why they did it. McCain wasn't much of a choice, and his policies were so similar to GWB's. So, I forgave the American People for that. I forgave them, and they seemed to really come along with the election of many Tea Party and small government people on the off year election. But then the politician themselves broke my hear in to very tiny pieces.

First, they ignored Rand Paul's plan to cut really cut, not base line budget cut, government spending. Then they signed on to this ridiculous plan to extend the debt ceiling that created a "Super Committee" to make additional budget cuts. There was no way no how that anything was going to get done in the Super Committee, because all of the "cuts" that the Democrats wanted were automatically triggered if nothing was done. So, what was their incentive to do something?
Oh, and the "cuts" that they made with the debt ceiling mess were all over 10 years and only cuts in to the proposed INCREASES in spending. In other words, there were no actual cuts in budgets, and the reductions made were made so long term that they will never happen. So, the debt ceiling was raised and NOTHING was done to abate the growth of government.

The politicians then took a nice long whiz on the broken pieces of my heart when they passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 that actually gave the Executive the right to indefinitely detain American Citizens with out trial! Hold on... I think there is some superseding law that prevented that kind of thing... Oh yeah THE BILL OF FREAKING RIGHTS!! The very people that were sent to Washington to bring the government back to the Constitution blatantly passed something that takes a shit on it. How many amendments were violated with this act??

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. -- Fifth Amendment

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. -- Sixth Amendment

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. -- Seventh Amendment

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. -- Eighth Amendment

What only FOUR amendments??? You couldn't throw in there that American Citizens could be seized without warrants just so you could torch a good half of the Bill of Rights?? OH WAIT, they did that earlier when they renewed the "Patriot Act."

The presidential election goes on now and it looks like the GOP candidate will be Mitt Romney. I don't mind Mitt when it comes to growing business. I think that he would be a very pro business president. However, what will he do to change the regulation mess in Washington? Nothing. He is the type of person who would fit very well in the existing Washington power structure. He won't change the tax code, he won't eliminate useless departments of Government, he won't root out redundant programs, and he certainly won't advocate grater freedom for the people. He will just be there... If elected, he will make history as the first Mormon president. He won't make history anywhere it counts. He will simply be another cog in the machine.

The worst part is, the American People don't care. They are pissing what little freedoms they have left away, and they just don't care. They want big brother government to be there for them. I get so angry when the Democrats get in front of crowds and mention that their opposition just want everyone to "Go it alone," and the crowd goes wild. I do want to go it alone. I do want the federal government out of my life. I would much rather the state or local government be the one to act on these issues. I can change local government by simply convincing my neighbors. To change federal law I need to convince my neighbors, my state, my region, the next region, the region next to that, and finally the President of the United States. It is difficult for a reason.

So I don't write about it because my feelings are so hurt. I am so outside the mainstream with my thoughts of freedom, that I am considered "radical." No one wants me on their side, because I piss off everybody. Democrats don't want me because I want smaller government. Republicans don't want me because I want to legalize drugs. All based on the answer to a very simple question... Who owns me? I want ME to own me. But if I own me, I have to take the risk of failure. That is freedom. Freedom is NOT having 99 weeks of unemployment payments. Freedom is NOT banning contraception practices that I disagree with. Freedom is me standing alone, with the government protecting my rights. Not the government watching over me and involved in to the very minutia of my life, like what kind of light bulb I can buy, or what substance I can put in to my body.

I just want to be free.

No-gi Chokes

2012-01-10T09:55:00.000-06:00

Jason Scully does it again! Very good stuff.

Good Advice

2012-01-05T13:34:00.000-06:00

Japanese Internment Hero Dies

2012-01-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

In the wake of the bombing of Perl Harbor, after the humiliating defeat of the American military presence on the Philippine Islands, the country made the worst choice in its history (slavery was an inherited problem, not a choice that the country made). The country decided that it needed to round up all people of Japanese decent and put them in camps.

Rounded up, and put behind fences. These were not Japanese nationals. These were American citizens. Their Constitutionally guaranteed rights striped from them. Their homes confiscated.

I often wonder if anyone stood up for them. Did anyone say this is wrong?
Yes. One man did. He is a great hero of freedom, and the Constitution. Just as those who died during the revolution were heroes of freedom, so is this man. In 1942 Gordon Hirabayashi said:

"This order for the mass evacuation of all persons of Japanese descent denies them the right to live. I consider it my duty to maintain the democratic standards for which this nation lives. Therefore, I must refuse this order of evacuation."

For his refusal to go to the camp, Dr. Hirabayashi spent over a year in jail. He was vindicated nearly 40 years later when the Supreme Court upheld that the interment of American citizens violated the Constitution.

In the face of such an evacuation, would you be able to stand up and say "No"? Would you have the courage in the face of such hate to say, "I am an American, and this is wrong."?
"It doesn't matter now a days." You say "This could never happen again."
Last week the President of the United States signed a law that gives the Executive Branch the power to apprehend and intern, American Citizens without charges and without trial. Sound familiar?

Dr. Hirabayashi died today. He was 93. He will be sorely missed.

Story

Inside The Waist Band Carry Positions

2012-01-03T15:07:00.000-06:00

Talking back and forth with a friend got me thinking about the various positions for inside the waistband carry. Essentially there are five positions that you can use:

Appendix
Strong side hip
Strong side kidney
Small of the back
cross carry

Each one has their advantages and disadvantages, and before purchasing a holster, you should conciser each one. Before I get in to the particulars, the main term that will be used is "printing." What is Printing? It is when the pistol, or some distinguishing outline of the pistol is exposed. Essentially, printing is what tells people that you are carrying. If you are carrying outside the waist band and are using a jacket as you cover garment, and the jacket comes open exposing your gun, that is a print. If you bend over and the handle of your gun shows through your shirt, that is a print.
You want to keep printing to a minimum, because, after all, you don't want the people around you to know you are packing heat. That will give you attention you don't want, more often than not, from the police.

Appendix Carry

This carry position has the pistol sitting in the front of the hip on the strong side. Since most people are right handed, it is called the appendix carry. The position of the pistol is straight up and down. The draw for this position is done, just like this:

Advantages:

Speed
No printing, full range of movement allowed.
Ease of movement in a struggle, the large muscles of the upper body are used to draw
Unless somebody grabs your junk, you don't have to worry about people stealing your pistol unbeknownst to you.
There is no need to protect your hips or make socially awkward movements to avoid people bumping in to your gun.

Disadvantages:

The business end of the pistol is very near what makes a man a man... Negligent discharge may emasculate you.
Pistol can not be drawn from a seated position.
Pistol can only be drawn when the upper body is moved upright relative to the waist.
Full size pistols are difficult to conceal.
Extra magazines must be stored elsewhere.

This is the method that I use when I am using on the body carry. I believe it offers the greatest amount of flexibility, without sacrificing wardrobe or movement.
One major disadvantage is that you have to either stand all the way up, or lay all the way down in order to draw the pistol. If you are in a crouch taking cover, you can't get to your pistol, with out exposing yourself to fire.

Strong Side Hip Carry

This is the most common form of carry. Pistol is right there on your hip, with the cant, or angle, of the holster again at neutral, or straight up and down. Draw:

Advantages:

Natural draw movement
Drawing from a seated position is awkward, but possible.
Very comfortable carry position.
A negligent discharge is unlikely to hit any vital area.
Easy to carry a full size pistol
Easy to carry extra magazines with the holster.

Disadvantages:

Gun prints when you bend over, and when you move to the opposite side
Prominent gun bulge on the strong side.
Very loose shirt or over garment needs to be worn to even out the strong side gun bulge.
Tendency to protect the gun as people pass by the strong side, giving away that you are carrying.
In a struggle it is easy for someone to prevent the draw, as the small muscles of the arm are used.
Easy for the gun to be detected and stolen in a struggle.

This carry method is very comfortable. I know guys who carry full size 1911 .45s on their strong hip with two extra magazines on their weak hip and have fallen asleep forgetting they were carrying.
The draw is also the most natural movement as the hand naturally sits directly on the hip when it is at rest, and you can draw from almost any position.
The two major glaring disadvantages come from printing and the vulnerability of the draw.
Printing is a big problem when you are carrying on the hip. You have this unnatural bulge on your hip that your arm will constantly be bumping in to. You have to adjust your wardrobe specifically around hip carry, so you end up wearing a lot of shirts that are two big for you, or doing the tucked in TShirt, flannel shirt over the top thing. Not to mention the little dance that you start doing when anyone gets close to your strong side hip. Granted, most people are not going to be looking for a bulge on the hip of anyone, but when you bend over, there is the unmistakable print of a pistol grip. So, you end up squatting instead of bending at the waist. This is not a normal movement, and it does attract strange looks.
The other disadvantage comes with the draw. You need to reach upward on the hip to draw the pistol. The draw is then done by moving the elbow upward. What major muscle group is doing that? The anterior deltoid. This is not a strong muscle group, and the draw can be defeated by simply holding down on the elbow doing the draw. It is a common technique taught at police academies and self defense schools all over the country. The arm is then taken behind the back, for cuffing or a positional submission hold, not unlike a standing Kimura.

Strong Side Kidney Carry

The kidney carry position is very similar to the strong side hip position, however the gun is placed behind the hip. Because of the position of the gun relative to the body, the holster should be canted slightly backward to allow for an easier draw. The main reason for the kidney draw is to reduce printing from the side. Because the pistol is no longer directly on the side, the telltale bulge is no longer present, and elaborate actions no longer need to be taken to avoid bumping in to people with your pistol. Draw:

Advantages:

Very comfortable carry position.
A negligent discharge, in the holstered position, is unlikely to hit any vital area.
Easy to carry a full size pistol
Easy to carry extra magazines with the holster.
Motion from side to side can be done without printing.

Disadvantages:

Draw is awkward.
Negligent discharge during draw can cause you to shoot yourself in the kidney.
Printing is obvious when you bend from the waist.
Wardrobe needs to be selected that will draw attention away from the rear waist.
Draw uses very small, weak muscle groups, and puts the drawing arm in a very vulnerable position.
Draw is slow.
Stealing of the pistol by someone approaching from behind is difficult but not impossible.

This position is becoming very popular as it keeps the gun close to the hip, where the hand is, and eliminates most of the printing issues that the hip carry position has. All the while, the comfort of the hip carry position is maintained. I almost called this the "FBI" position or the "Plainclothes Cop" position because this is where EVERY FBI agent and plainclothes cop that I have ever met, know, or interacted with, carry their pistol. It keeps the gun out the way, and it is very easy to cove up with a suit or other jacket.
The problems I have with it are virtually the same as with the hip carry, the printing when bending over, and how very easy it is to stop the draw if you are close enough.
Additional problems with this draw is that you have to cove a section of the body before you can even bring the gun to bear on the target. Moving the pistol takes time, and that may be time you don't have.

Small of the Back Carry

This is the favorite position of all those who have ever watched Magnum P.I. The holster is canted so that the angle is almost 90 degrees relative to the center line of the body. Draw:

Advantages:

Almost no printing. When bending over a bump may be shown, but it is likely not to be noticed.
Very comfortable.
Easy to carry full size pistol.
All but the tightest shirts can be worn with out printing.

Disadvantages:

Very slow draw.
Negligent discharge during the draw, or in the holster is likely to go directly through the spine.
Draw is extremely awkward, and easy to defeat.
Very easy for someone to approach from behind and steal pistol.

I really hate this draw. It is very awkward, and just plain dangerous. For a good half of the draw you are pointing the gun at one of the most vulnerable parts of your body. It is just stupid. Sure, it is great for concealment, but what you give up?? Nope.

Cross Carry Position

This is also called the cross draw or offhand carry, I have even heard it called the Wild Bill carry because this is how Mr. Hickok used to carry his iron.

Like a fracking BOSS!!

This draw is demonstrated by a douchebag, but he does cover all of the bases:

Advantages:

Easily draw in any situation.
Easy to get to in a struggle.
Draw speed is fast
Draw is difficult to defeat.
Very difficult to steal pistol.
Negligent discharge is unlikely to cause any damage.

Disadvantages:

Draw is long.
Draw is obvious.
Draw is easily defeated by tackling.

This draw position is very unusual. I haven't drilled it much at all, and it is kind of difficult to pull off with IWB holsters. It is a good way to hide the pistol having virtually all of the advantages of the appendix carry.

Goals For The New Year

2011-12-31T14:21:00.000-06:00

Last year's goals and their results:

Maintain a weight of 185lbs or lower.
- I weighed 178lbs at my last weigh in.
Go to the gym at least 3 times a week
- From February on I was at the gym 5 to 6 times a week ending this week when I only made it twice... I think I will call this one achieved.
Fly at least 3 hours a month
- I only went flying once this whole year... I failed.
Take Microsoft Certification Tests for SharePoint 2010
- I passed three of the four tests I wanted to take, however I succeeded in getting a MCITP in SharePoint. I passed one developer test, so I guess that makes me a MCTS in that regard...

This Year's Goals:

Mantian a weight of 180lbs or lower.
Go to the gym at least 4 times a week.
- At least two BJJ and two Muay Thai work outs per week.
Fly at least three hours a month.
Complete MCPD SharePoint certification.
- Apply for Certified Master courses.

Magazine Change

2011-12-31T12:22:00.002-06:00

Really good demonstration of different ways to do a magazine change. I always try to do the third way. Keep the weapon up and visible as you bring the magazine to the well. Situation awareness is not affected and you are not surprised by things that pop up as you switch mags.

42 Half Guard Positions

2011-12-27T18:10:00.002-06:00

Gold!!!!

Beretta PX4 Storm First Dance Review

2011-12-27T11:28:00.000-06:00

The wife was feeling generous this Christmas and allowed me to purchase the Beretta that I have been wanting for... forever. You can see me mention it in this post, this post, AND this post.
I got the standard "F" type of the PX4 Storm in .45, because... Well because I wanted to take it home right away, and not bother with special ordering the "C" type.

Type F has an external safety and a hammer. It shoots Double Action/Single Action.

Type C has no external safety and no hammer. It shoots Double Action Only (yeah Beretta has a fancy name for it, and it isn't a true DAO, but for all intents and purposes, there is a long trigger pull associated with DAO pistols. Get over yourself...)

The biggest differences between the F and C types is that with the F type, you have a big trigger pull on the first shot, then a short trigger pull on subsequent shots. The C type has the same trigger pull no mater what. With the F type you need to physically move the safety lever in to the "shoot" position before you can fire. The C type is ready to rock and roll as soon as you rack the slide. Your index finger is your safety.
The C type is designed in the less is better school of thought that in a self defense situation you want as few things as possible for your fine motor skills to do. So things like cocking a pistol or switching to "fire" are simple one more thing that you have to do before you can get your gun in to the fight. Therefore, it is one more thing that can go wrong. But, my wife was more comfortable with the external safety, and I wanted the gun right away, so we went with the F type. The F type did incorporate the 92F's integrated safety and de-cocker, so there are no extra leavers on the side of the pistol. That is a nice addition.

If you have ever fired the Beretta 92F, not the Military M9 variant, you know the pleasure of the smooth Beretta action. This pistol is all about smooth. When you buy a pistol from Beretta, and it has been made in Italy at Brescia, you know you are getting a product that has 500 years of tradition and pride behind it. Everything that is on that pistol has been made at the Beretta factory, specifically for that firearms line. They forge their own steel, hammer forge their own barrels, mill their own blocks, and they bake their own ceramic. Nearly every part of the pistol is created in a high tech automated environment where precision is the name of the game. It is then assembled by individuals who have been working for Beretta for generations. The pistol shoots like you are challenging all of that tradition and talent.

The biggest feature that separates the PX4 Storm from the other full size pistols out there is the innovative and unique way it addresses recoil. In a traditional Browning pistol action, like the 92F or Glock or 1911, the pistol uses the recoil of the round to push the slide back, eject the spent casing, and load a new round. To load this new round, the barrel is moved slightly upward to receive the new round from the magazine. Take a look at this video and note how the barrel back moves down and the muzzle is moved up:

What this barrel movement tends to do is flip the muzzle upward. The bigger and more powerful the bullet, the more pronounced the muzzle flip. The problem that most people have with a .45 is that the muzzle flip is so pronounced it discourages them from firing it. This is one of the reasons that the military has moved away from the .45, non-shooters have a much more positive experience shooting the smaller, weaker 9mm round. So, what do you do if you want the muzzle flip of the 9mm in a .45? Beretta went WAY outside the box and developed a rotating barrel lock. What this design does is instead of rocking the barrel upwards, they rotate the barrel about a quarter turn. What this does is it drives the recoil straight back in to the arm of the shooter rather than flip it up in to the sky. So, when shooting the PX4 Storm, the recoil is much more manageable, and is much more comfortable to shoot than the standard Browning short recoil operation pistol.

Note how the barrel does not move from the horizontal in this illustration. Check out the videos on this page for cut away videos.

Getting back to my shooting experience...
I wanted to make sure I was getting a good approximation with the different actions, so I brought my Glock 30, 200 rounds of target ammo, and 80 rounds of self defense ammo. The target ammo was Winchester's standard FMJ, 230 grain .45 target load. I went a little nuts with the self defense stuff, so I had my standard Glaeser Pow'R'Ball 165 grain +P hollow points, Winchester's 230 grain Bonded PDX1, and, because I fell for the marketing name, Hornady's 186 grain Zombie Max.

I loaded up the two pistols and fired away. The ammo performed about the same, except I could really tell when I had just shot a PDX1 round. The heavier bullet under the +P pressure gave it a distinctive recoil. I was pleased when I found that all of the ammo that I threw at the Beretta and the Glock fed through with no problems at all. They both went BOOM every squeeze of the trigger. Despite all of the marketing and hype, you are still shooting a .45. The recoil is heavy. What I did notice is that my wrist did not break upwards nearly as much as it did with the Glock. I was able to bring the PX4 back on to target for the follow up shot. One thing I like about the Glock over the Beretta is the Glock's rear sight.

As you can see from the picture the Glock's rear sight has a white outlining border that gives grater contrast, making it very easy to bring the font sight back down in to the sight picture. The Beretta uses a three dot system, that is more difficult to pick up and put back on target.

So, while the PX4 had less muzzle flip than the Glock, I was able to reacquire my sight picture, and therefore fire faster with the Glock. This may just be to unfamiliarity with my new Beretta, but I am going to look in to getting better sights for it.

One unanticipated hang up with the Beretta was with chambering a round after a magazine reload. I don't like to use slide release leavers during a reload. The release is in a different place depending on the pistol you are shooting, and each pistol has its own spring tension on the release. It is also a different movement than if you have to rack the slide to chamber a round from the closed bolt position or if you need to clear a jam.
What IS the same for all automatic pistols, is the same movement for clearing a jam, or chambering a round from the closed bolt position is simply reaching up and pulling the slide all the way back. If there is a round in the magazine waiting to be fed in to the chamber, the slide catch will not engage and the slide will close in to battery. So, no mater what pistol you are using, for any type of feed or charging issue, you only need to practice a single movement. Reach up, pull the slide all the way back, release, shoot.
A nice feature that the Beretta has is an ambidextrous safety leaver. So if you are left handed or right handed, you can flip the safety up, no problem. But then you have a big thing on both sides of the slide, and they can get in the way when you reach up to rack the slide. With the external safety-less Glock this action is smooth and easy, the Beretta, not so much. Having the safety there encourages you to use the slide release. I know not a big deal, but it was something that I noticed.

Groupings were similar with the Glock and with the Beretta at 20 yards. Interestingly enough the best groupings of the day came from the Hornady Zombie Max. Beyond 20 yards the advantage of the longer barrel on the full sized PX4 became clear. I am confident with the short Glock 30 up to 20 yards, but anything over that, I would want the longer more stable platform offered by the PX4 Storm.

Over all the smoothness of the action and the reduced muzzle flip makes the Beretta PX4 Storm a lot of fun, and very comfortable to shoot. After putting 100 rounds through the Glock and 100 rounds through the Beretta, I came up with the simile that shooting the Glock is like sitting on a very hard straight backed wooden chair, and shooting the PX4 is like sitting in an overstuffed recliner. You really want to be done sitting in the wooden char, but the longer you stay in the recliner, the longer you want to sit. I am very pleased with the PX4, and I think it will be a favorite of mine for a long time to come.

38 Closed Guard Attacks

2011-12-22T14:58:00.002-06:00

Really excellent!!

Concealed Carry... Useless?

2011-12-21T17:24:00.000-06:00

In this video filed by Diane Sawyer we see several hapless "concealed carry" people immediately gunned down by assailants. Certainly, it would seem that concealed carry in this situation is absolutely useless, and that, as the YouTube host suggests, civilians who carry concealed weapons are living in a fantasy world. First let's take a look at the test itself, the results, and then analyze lessons learned.

First and foremost, Diane Sawyer is a liberal, and an anti-gun advocate. This is common knowledge, blah, blah, blah, water is wet. Let's get past that. We are about the truth here not about protecting any one view point... Well, I am about protecting my viewpoint... So it is good to note that I am a Freedom loving guy who believes that everybody should be packing at all times. Or not, who cares, keep the Government out of it. Moving on...

Let's take a look at how the test was set up, who the participants were, and what we can learn from it.
The show selected three people to have do their little test. Two of which were absolutely new to firearms, their use, and their concealment. One had some range firearms experience. All seemed to be not versed at all in any type of tactical deployment.
They are then allowed to carry the gun, in an outside the waist band holster with a securing strap that actually snaps over the back strap of the pistol. In other words, the absolute worst type of holster you can buy... I don't think I can even find this type of holster any more...

The test consists of putting the armed person in a class where they would learn about safety equipment. At a certain point in time a gunman will enter and start shooting up the place.
Who are the gunmen? Two SWAT police instructors. In other words they make their living by teaching other SWAT officers how to shoot, and firearms tactical deployments.
In addition to this, the armed people are sitting in the exact same place each time the test is run, and the "gunmen" know exactly where they are sitting. Oh, and the class is an amphitheater style classroom where a person on the ground has an unobstructed view of everyone in the class... And there is only one entrance and exit easily controlled by someone on the ground.
What happens? The first one was shot as he stupidly stood up, and tried to draw his gun through his shirt. He is shot before he can get his gun out of the holster.
The second appears to be in better shape as she takes some cover, but is shot as she stands to shoot.
The third... Our firearms guy... It seems that the show was not comfortable enough with this guy just failing, they wanted him to super fail. The send in TWO SWAT trained officers. Turns out this guy is a pussy and is drilled multiple times as he cowers in and indefeasible position.

What do we learn? First, we learn that trained people defeat untrained people every time. The trained SWAT officers who knew where and who to shoot were very effective in taking out their target.
Next we learn that when a gunman knows that there is an armed person in the room, the armed person is the first to be shot. Conciel your weapon, never open carry. That gun on your hip paints a target on your chest that says "Shoot me first!!!"
We learn the first rule of surviving an armed encounter. GET SAFE!!! If someone comes in to a room shooting, you must must must must find cover or concealment. After you are safe, you can then think about returning fire. The only participant who had any luck at all was the one who first got safe.

What this video really shows those of us who choose to carry concealed weapons is that we need to practice. Practice your draw from your concealment. That means moving your shirt pulling and firing. It means going to the range and instead of just blowing through 200 rounds, do 100 rounds drawing from concealment first.
We must practice shooting from concealment and shooting from the kneeling position. And we MUST train ourselves to find the best places for cover and concealment in a room every time, without exception, we enter. Without exception, we must find all of the exits to a building so that we can quickly get to safety.
We must train our bodies to deal with high stress situations. That means going to IPSC night at the range and running through the course. It means training your body in the Martial Arts gym and fighting somebody better than you. It means doing things that force your body in to the fight or flight mode, and learning to function in that mode.

I learned about this mode when I was in Primary Flight School. Back when I was learning how to fly, there was a spin requirement. The airplane had to be put in to a spin, and the student pilot had to recover from that spin. The first time we did it, I froze. I could not function, and the instructor had to pull the plane out of the spin. We talked about what happened, and for the first time in my very young life I realized that I could die in that airplane if I made the wrong choice, or froze like I just did.
My flight instructor was not the type to ever end on a bad note so we did the spin again. This time I recovered properly from the spin. It did not freak me out any less, I just was able to force my body to do the recovery that I practiced.
From that point on I have looked to find that Fight or Flight response. When I know I am getting rusty, I will do something stupid... Like rent an aerobatic airplane with an instructor and run through spins. Or participate in a Martial Arts tournament, or get in to the ring for an actual fight... something I won't be doing again.
With the gun however, I do make it a point to go and do at least one IPSC night a year. It forces that fight or flight in me, and I have a loaded gun on my hip. IPSC forces you to bite down on that fight or flight response and put rounds safely on target. It is the closest thing I can get to actual police SWAT training.

That brings me back to the video... I wonder what would have happened if a trained IPSC guy would have been in that room, in a place unknown to the SWAT officers... Or better yet if the gunman was one of the untrained people told that there would be no one armed in that room. This would be a much better approximation to real life. Because you see, in real life, gunmen don't attack places where there will be armed people to shoot back at them. The hit places where they believe NO ONE is armed. When the police show up, they kill themselves.

This is a good video. First it shows us that the opposition to concealed carry believes that the public are complete morons. It also shows us what happens to the unprepared and the untrained when the unthinkable occurs. Be prepared for when the Fit Hits the Shan. Train yourself for the worst.

Bow and Arrow Choke Defense

2011-12-21T11:21:00.002-06:00

I get caught in the Bow and Arrow choke all of the time. My defense for the back mount is pretty good, so my upper level opponents will go to this choke because it gives them an option for an armbar, as well as changing the angle on the choke attack to negate the typical back mount defense (removing one hook and sitting on it...)
My problem has been, what to do when I feel them go for the Bow and Arrow choke? I
Check out this very simple, yet very effective defense!

Ground Skill Is The Equalizer

2011-12-21T11:02:00.000-06:00

"I don't want to get choked."
"The arm locks scare me."
"The boys will just overpower me."
"I'll just get smashed in to the ground."
"I don't want to do all of that... touching."

These are the excuses I hear from women on the subject of taking Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes. I have to admit that they are all valid concerns. However the thread running through all of the above excuses, and the other ones that you hear is always: "I am afraid of the great strength difference between men and women." Well... Except for the touching ones... That we can address later.

I am all about truth here, so let us face the truth. As a woman, going in to a BJJ class you will be easily overpowered by the men in the class. They will out weigh you by 20lbs to 100lbs. Even if you find a man your own weight in the class, he is going to be stronger than you are. That is the way the sexes are built, and there is nothing you can do about that. The only thing you can change is your attitude and your mind set.

I have always been a relatively large man. I have never weighed less than 175lbs in my adult life. Most of my adult life I have weighed between 190lbs and 210lbs. However I have had women, who weigh less than 110lbs, tap me out, pass my guard, and render my pin positions worthless. How were they able to do this? Perfect technique.
Men are at an inherent mental disadvantage when it comes to technique. Their entire lives men, especially large men, have used their size and strength to overcome physical challenges. It is ingrained in their psyche that if they can't do something the reason is that they are not strong enough, or the other person was too strong for them to succeed. Therefore, when they are working on something that is technique centric, like golf, or BJJ, it takes quite a while for them to come around to the thinking that they can't just muscle their way to success.
Women, on the other hand, grasp technique centric tasks very quickly. Quite unlike the men, women understand that there are many ways to skin a cat, not just bash away at it.
I have always been amazed at how women, using perfect technique, overcome larger and much stronger male opponents. If they go in to their training looking for the best technique, they always seem to come out on top.

However, in BJJ class, what happens when the technically perfect woman runs in to the technically perfect man? Size and strength win again. With all training being equal, the woman looses. Women must accept this as truth, and work to perfect strategy and deception to prevail against an equally proficient male opponent.

What about all of the touching, and the possibility of injury? Well... If you are hung up on this there is little that can be done.
There is the possibility of injury in any athletic setting, especially in Martial Arts. In my experience, purely anecdotal evidence, I have seen more people injured kickboxing and doing Tae Kwon Do than I have ever seen injured doing BJJ.
With the touching aspect and the fear of one of your training partners injuring you, it comes down to one thing... Trust. Do you trust the other members of your gym? If not, why are you training there? Find a place where you can trust the people you train with. Nobody, including the men, want to get an injury. It is up to you to tap out at any point where you feel uncomfortable, or if you feel you are in danger of injury. There is no shame it tapping. I do it all of the time.
After a while you know what is simply uncomfortable (pain), and what can cause an injury. In the beginning, I tapped to side control. Don't worry if you do to.
Touching... Again it comes down to trust. Everybody is there to learn Jiu Jitsu, not to grope anybody or to get a cheap thrill. Know that the vast majority of the men working out with you in class are not thinking of you in a sexual way. They are trying to practice their BJJ. If you feel that one of the guys IS trying to touch you inappropriately, tell the instructor or one of the senior students IMMEDIATELY. I, and every single guy I know who have women in their classes, would never allow this kind of thing to stand, ever. It comes down to having respect for everyone in the class. If you don't think that the people in your gym would give you respect, don't train there. Find a place that will.

Just for fun, here is a video of a woman versus a man in a grappling event. The woman uses perfect technique to choke her opponent completely out. It is a thing of utter awesomeness!!

Weight Loss

2011-12-20T09:37:00.002-06:00

As the year ends, thoughts go to New Year's Resolutions. One that is always on the list is "loose weight." Gyms do their biggest membership drives Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers put ads on TV proclaiming to help. Diet books are pushed and "healthy lifestyle" is even in at McDonald's.

I am 37 years old, 6 feet tall, and I weigh about 175lbs - 180lbs. I used to weigh about 220lbs, probably more before I decided I needed to loose weight. Some of my progress I noted in this very blog. Because I am in pretty good shape, I get asked a lot about diet and exercise. Nobody likes my responses, because they are simple and, most importantly, they are difficult.

Loosing weight is a numbers game. You burn a certain amount of calories a day. You take in a certain amount of calories a day. If you take in more calories than you burn, your body will store the excess as fat. If you take in fewer calories than you burn, your body will burn your excess as needed. It is a numbers game. Just like a pilot figuring out how far he can fly on the amount of fuel he carries, fuel in = energy out.

Now, we are talking about weight loss, not nutrition and not general health. They are loosely related, but not interdependent. Weight loss is about how many calories you take in, health is about WHAT you eat. Make sense? Don't give me the whole song and dance about protein calories versus sugar calories. For weight loss a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. For general nutrition then your protein and sugar and whatever else you eat matters. As has been proven time and again, you can get super fat from eating the healthiest of foods, and you can loose weight eating absolute crap.

So, what is my system? Reduce my caloric intake and increase my caloric burn. Said less fancy, eat less and exercise more. That's it. That's all. Anyone who is trying to sell you on some fancy super magic bean diet is blowing smoke up your ass. Now, again, this is about weight loss, not fitness. Weight loss is determined by how many calories you burn, fitness is what you do to burn those calories. You can be thin and not fit, and you can be very fit, and be fat. Weight loss is about calories. Is that sinking in yet?

How do I do this "eat less and exercise more" plan? First things first. Go to the gym or to a licensed dietitian and get your metabolism baselined. This will tell you how many calories you body burns at rest. This is a quasi scientific number, and the only reason we want it is to give us a general number of what your maximum allowed calories for a day is. This is kind of an important number because the fitter you are, and the faster your metabolism, the bigger the number of calories you body burns at rest is, and the easier it will be for you to loose weight. The smaller the number is... well the more work you have to put in.

Armed with this number, you now have an upper limit on the amount of calories that you can consume in a day. Count calories with EVERYTHING you put in to your body. There are smart phone apps that can help you with this. There are all sorts of suggestions out there on when you should eat. Personally, I am hungry almost constantly during the day, so I like to eat lots of small meals. I take in the same amount of calories as I would if I was having one normal meal, but eating lots of small meals helps slate my hunger so that I do not attempt to over consume when the time comes to eat.
What to eat? Just eat what you normally do. Unless you have a real reason for changing your everyday diet, don't. Again this is about weigh loss, not about nutrition. A lot of people think dieting means completely changing what they eat. It doesn't have to be. You can loose weight by eating the same things that you normally do.

Now comes the hard part... Stop eating so much. This is easy to say, difficult to do. The rule I used when I was REALLY trying hard to loose weight was to think about how much food I would normally take, then take half of that amount. I would then attempt to leave some food on my plate. For me, this was the most difficult thing of all.
I was raised to clean my plate. It is extraordinarily hard to break that kind of conditioning. It takes will power. At first I just left crumbs. Then small chunks. Finally, recognizable pieces of the food.
Again this is not easy, especially if a loved one is preparing your food. If you don't clean your plate, many times the person preparing the food will think that you did not like the dish, and they will become upset... EVEN if they know what you are trying to do and support your efforts. Food is social, and the preparation of it is an act of love. You not eating all of what you are given can be interpreted as a rejection of the love that the food preparer put in to the dish. This puts TREMENDOUS amounts of pressure on those that eat to eat everything up.
My suggestion is to try and put less on your plate, and to complement the taste of the food throughout the meal. Food left on the serving dishes is easier to accept than food on the plate.
So, as an example of eating less, say my meal is pizza. Typically I would eat about 4 slices. So, instead of taking 4 slices, I only take two. I then eat one full slice and MOST of the second. I attempt to leave some of the second slice on the plate. I then push away from the table. If you typically have desert after your meal, say ice cream, you play the same game. If I have two scoops of ice cream, I only have one, I then eat MOST of that scoop, leaving some in the bowl. I then push away from the table. You have effectively halved your caloric intake from that meal.

Exercise is a little bit more complex... but not much. Lots of studies have been done on what exercise is best for fat loss, but if you are not working out ANYTHING is better than doing nothing. If you already have a workout routine, try to mix in something extra so that you will burn more calories. If you don't run, add a one mile run to the end of your work out. If you run, stop one mile earlier and work in some free weights.
Try to work in little workouts during your day. I like to do about 100 or so pushups during the day, spread out. I also work in one minute planks a couple of times during the day. If you are in an office, don't use the elevators. If you work in a building that only has one floor, walk around it a couple of times during the day. Do SOMETHING that burns calories, don't just sit at your desk like a bump on a log.

I do not count the calories I burned during exercise against my total calorie intake. Those burned calories are just bounuses. The real work for weight loss is in what you eat, so have your max number and stick to it. Never go over that number, and a bad day is when you reach that number. When you reach the number, that means that for that day you didn't gain any weight, but you didn't loose any either. It was a tie, and we don't like ties!!

Interesting Open Guard Sweep

2011-12-16T14:33:00.000-06:00

Typically I don't like complex sweeps. They take too long to set up and they have too many moving parts where things can go wrong. This particular sweep from Jason Scully is just simple enough and inovateive enough to try out...

My main worry with this sweep would be after I get to my knees, being able to keep the hand on the mat.

Underestimate NO ONE!! or Even a Guy With a Purse Can Be a Bad Ass

2011-12-12T13:50:00.001-06:00

I walked in to the gym the other day to see that I had no training partners. I expected this, because the majority of the guys were at a tournament. I kind of like these alone days because I can work on my kicking and punching technique. I can feel how my hips are turning and what I need to do to increase my accuracy and power, all the while watching that I am using the best technique to preserve what is left of the cartilage in my knees and hips.

As I am warming up a guy walked in to the gym and asked if he could join the pro team. One of the perks of my gym is that the pros train for a percentage of their winnings. If they are on the pro team, they MUST compete regularly, and they MUST attend regular practice. Practice times are set everyday at 11am to 1pm. Because fighters, for the most part, don't have a lot of money, this set up is a good deal for them. They get to take advantage of the training, but they don't have to pay for it until after they fight.
The catch is that they have to "try out" for the team. In other words they have to show that they are serious about training i.e. they need to have decent cardo, and need to have some technique. If they don't have basic technique they will be asked to join the gym and take some of the technique classes to get themselves up to speed before they are invited to train with the pros.

Back to the story... So, me being the only one in the gym, and being a senior student, I was asked to come over and work with the new guy so he could prove his skills. I don't like doing this. The guy is looking for a spot on the team, he has come in to a new place where he knows he will be challenged to impress the other pros. I am just some shlub who came in to kick the bag for a while. I know that this guy is going to come after me, and I really didn't come in to the gym to get roughed up today... BUT, I say sure and walk over to the mats so he can show us his stuff.
The kid is at least 15 years or better younger than me, and he out weighs me by at least 20 lbs. Wow, I think to myself, this is going to suck.

They start to warm him up in our usual way, just to be nice I do the warm up with him. We run around the mat a few times, do some shuffle steps, bear crawls, then do some movement drills up and down the mat. Forward rolls, backward rolls, shrimp escapes that kind of thing. That takes about 10 minutes then we do some sports specific calisthenics. Burpies with a sprawl, sit outs, and the BJJ basic stand up. Not tough stuff, but I notice that when we get done with the 15 minute warm up that the guy is starting to suck wind.
We take a short water break and decide to start him off with some kickboxing. He agrees to three three minute rounds, one minute rest periods. He looks me up and down kind of snickers, and we touch gloves to start the first round.

Right from the start, the guy did exactly as I expected he would. He wanted to put on a show by trying to rough me up. But I could also tell that this guy had not had a lot of stand up training. He threw wild overhand rights that left him way off balance. To make up for his loss of balance , he would throw an off balance, again wild, left hook that would leave him open the other way. He was wading in throwing bolos trying to intimidate me, knock me out, or look good in a street fight, I don't know which. I did what I always do when I am trying to keep my head attached to my shoulders against a guy who doesn't know what he is doing. I used the jab, the front teep, and circular movement away from his power. So I move to my right throw one or two quick jabs to his face and move again. If he ever gets close or is able to square up on me I nail him with the teep and keep circling. I start to get comfortable with his style and I start letting him throw his big punches again, I avoid or block them and I start working my leg kicking game.
Now, I admit that I got a little mean here. It was pretty obvious after I hit him with the first or second leg kick that he was not used to receiving them. I didn't like how he was trying to hurt me with the big punches so I wanted to remove some of their pep... I kicked his legs hard. I started working his legs inside and out, landing any chance I could. What was really effective was landing the left teep knocking him back then dropping the big right leg kick as he shifted his weight back on to his front foot to recover balance. At the end of the first round he was limping.
The second round was much like the first, except I started to open up a little bit with my hands, throwing crosses and left hooks. He still wanted to land the big punches so I kept drilling his legs. I also tried to work in the left leg liver kick, but he had an OK defense, keeping his elbows tucked in to his sides to protect his liver.
At the end of the second the guy was visibly tired, sucking wind and obviously frustrated. He was favoring his front leg pretty obviously now. I started to feel bad for him. He said he wanted to continue on in to the third round so we touched gloves for the last three minute stanza.
As I said, I started to feel bad for him a little bit, and that was my mistake. He caught me right off with a big right hand that made me see stars. That pissed me off. I was treating his head nicely, and he came off and clocked me. I suppose you could make an argument that it was payback for all of the damage I did to his legs... I might even agree with you on that point in hindsight... At the time, I wanted to show him who was boss...
I had not bothered with head kicks, because... well after the first and second rounds I knew he would have a hard time with them, and I felt bad for him. But I was mad now. He was well primed for the head kick, because I had been bashing his legs pretty steadily for the last six minutes or so. I was also keeping to the Dutch kickboxing rules of throwing the leg opposite of the hand you just threw (left hook is followed up with right kick, right cross is followed up with left switch kick, etc.). I don't typically throw my head kicks like that. I typically kick to the head with my right leg, and it almost always follows the right cross. I throw a jab cross combo and follow it up with the right kick to the melon. I land flush, and to my surprise, I stagger him. I don't follow up on the attack, and the time keeper calls time. The round wasn't finished, but we don't want it getting out that we knock you out during your trial, and, even worse, we don't want this guy suing the school later on for injuries received. We don't know who this joker is, and he might be the litigious type.

Typically at this point in the tryout, we would move to the ground phase and roll around with them to gauge their ground skill. After a bit of rest, our hero says that he can go on, and that he would like to show us his ground skill. We ask him if he is sure, and if he has recovered, because he took a pretty good shot. He said that he was fine and that he wanted to continue. The coach said OK, let's roll for 5 minutes and see how you feel.

I get down on my knees and get ready for this guy to spaz out on the ground. He was a spaz standing up, and there is no reason why I should think he isn't a spaz on the ground. Just before we start, he says that he is happy he gets to roll with me, because he is a much better grappler than a stand up fighter. I smiled and silently hoped the guy wasn't some NCAA Div I wrestler that would hulk smash me in to the ground.

Since I have been working out at this gym, the head BJJ instructor has really been having me focus on the basic control positions, and transferring between those positions. I have gotten very good at holding side control, mount, and north south positions. I have found that when I hold those positions perfectly submissions seem to fall in to my lap as the guy attempts to escape. So I have found that I have be come a "top" BJJ stylist, in that I work my submission game from top positions, and not from the guard or half guard positions. When I am forced to put someone in to my guard, or half guard, my game is to look for sweeps so that I can attain the top position and work my submission game. Rolling with a "top" is difficult because he is going to force you to work your escapes from the bottom and he will be looking to wear you out while he rests and waits for the submission to come. It can be very frustrating, especially if you are a spaz; because you waste a lot of energy spazing out underneath as the top simply holds you down and maintains position.

The timekeeper calls time and we start our roll. He immediately grabs behind my neck, and tries to slam my face in to the mat. I don't have a problem with this, I simply reach forward wrap up his far leg and push forward while pulling his leg. He is way off balance, so I easily complete the sweep and lock down side control.
Turtle Single Leg Escape from Side Mount by TechniquePrevails
These guys show the sweep as an escape from side control, but you can see that the sweep starts from the turtle.

That is when the fun begins. The dude is strong and he starts to spaz out in a way that I have rarely seen. Unfortunately for him, I have side control locked in and he is going nowhere. I just let him spaz for about a minuite until he wares himself out to the point where he stops moving for a second. I transition to north south and almost immediately hit the north south, or Munson, choke. He taps.

Here is a cool instructional video on the north south choke.

Time is not up, so we start again. Again he snaps my neck down and I go for the same sweep as before. Again, I get it without much trouble. Again he spazes out like it is the new thing that all of the kids are doing. Again, I wait until he tires out and stops moving. This time I transition to a knee ride position intending to go for mount, BUT he pushes on my knee with his elbow wide open. I hook the elbow, pivot over his body and sink the armbar. He taps.

Wander Braga shows this in the gi, and I was doing it no-gi, but the technique is the same.

Time still hasn't expired, so we start again. He gets smart this time around and pulls guard, but he telegraphs it so I move forward to prevent it. I end up with one leg pined underneath mine and one leg on my shoulder. This position sets up one of the most uncomfortable sweeps there is. You lean forward and grab his head all the while keeping his leg pinned to the ground and his other leg on your shoulder. The stretch is too much for most guys to take and they will actually start to turn to allow you to pass. This guy just taps. I almost didn't let him go it was so surprising... It was the first time anyone had ever tapped to a guard pass.

As I was moving the the middle of the mat to go again, time was called. The guy starts dropping f-bombs and saying that he didn't get a fair try out. We asked him why he thought so, and he said that we threw our best guy at him, and that he should get to try out with the other regular pros. I told him that I wasn't a pro. I was just one of the guys in the gym. This made the coach laugh, because... well I am not really just another guy in the gym.

The guy gets ready to leave, after getting a gym schedule and a price list. He looks over at me and says, that he thought that I would be someone he could easily take. Actually, he said that he thought I looked like a "bitch." I told him that next time he should not underestimate any opponent. He looked like he was going to say something back, but he didn't... He might have thought the better of it because he just got his ass handed to him for the last hour or so.

I gather my stuff up and get ready to leave soon after. The coach stops me at the door and says that most of the time I am a nice guy and a good teacher for the other guys, but I can be a real mean son of a bitch when I want to be. We both laughed and I went home for my weekend.

I thought that would be the end of this little lesson on not underestimating your opponents, but the universe, or Karma, or the Jesus, or the Great Spaghetti Monster had other plans.
I walked in to my Monday morning class to find that the only other guy that was attending the class with me was a lower ranked guy who I typically smash through. He tries hard, but he is new and makes new guy mistakes. His only advantage on me is that he speaks Portuguese, and can communicate effectively with the head BJJ instructor in his native tongue. We went through our normal class, focusing on attacks from mount. I got some good details on holding the mount and forcing the bottom guy to transition one way or the other.
It was then time to roll, and I was feeling like this guy has nothing for me, so I should just focus on my technique and attempt to use what was taught in class today. We slap hands and fist bump and we start our little match. Right out of the gate, just like the spaz, he snaps a hand to my neck and tries to put my face in to the mat. I go to turtle position only to find that the guy I should be destroying has moved off to the side and has his arm around my neck in perfect position for a clock choke. He kicks his legs out and snaps on the choke just as he has been taught. The choke is tight, and I am forced to tap. He goes nuts with celebration and the instructor falls on the floor he is laughing so hard at my mistake.

The clock choke that made me tap.

The moral of this story is that first, don't underestimate your opponent because you think he looks like a "bitch." It might turn out that he has 20 years of Martial Arts experience and is a purple belt that trains his ground game everyday. And if you are a guy who has 20 years of Martial Arts experience, and is a purple belt that trains his game everyday, you should treat every opponent just as you would treat rolling with the highest level black belt...

Awesome Pedro Sauer Reversal

2011-12-07T10:20:00.001-06:00

Really good reversal here from Pedro Sauer. Simple yet very effective. I use the mounting technique used by the guy getting swept all of the time, because it is one of the safest and best ways to mount. The demonstrated technique is a great way to counter the mount... I hope none of my training partners see this!

Armbar From Guard in MMA

2011-12-05T12:41:00.001-06:00

In MMA, unlike in regular BJJ competition, you can punch. This makes it very difficult sometimes to execute submissions and other techniques, as you must always be protecting yourself. However, much of the time, if you are willing to take a little damage, strikes open up many submission opportunities.

A big one is when the guy in guard posts his left arm on the chest or the neck, and punches with the right hand exclusively. When he does this, the guard player has an opportunity to armbar the posting arm. As was seen by Diego Brando in the TUF final this last Saturday. Here is an animated gif of the final moments:

As you can see here, Bermudez is posting with his left hand and pounding away with his right. Brando pivots, throws his leg over the head, sweeps and extends. The tap happens immediately afterward. This is textbook Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and, if you train, you have had it done, or have done it on many guys when they post their hands on your body and try to open your guard by pushing on your knee with their other hand.

This is an important technique to work with, because in a street fight or in MMA competition, these opportunities will arise. Often untrained guys, and guys that do not train in gyms where submissions are heavily trained and used, will make the mistake of posting one arm and pounding away with the other.

In guard, you always need to be aware of the threat that the guy on the bottom poses. If you can punch do so by alternating arms or, be sure that you are in a safe position before dropping your bombs. Only post on the neck if you are immediately going to attempt a pass. Never just stay there in that position, as you are vulnerable to the guard player's submission attack.

Just for fun, here is another angle:

Bolt Barrel Breech Bullet... What?? Terms and Structures Guide For New Shooters Part III - Gun Types

2011-12-01T13:32:00.000-06:00

This is part three of my series for new shooters. Part one dealt with the parts of guns, part two dealt with ammo, and this post deals with types of guns.
This is a guide designed to educate new shooters, or those who wish to become shooters, with the terms, and the basics of guns. I will deal exclusively with modern, breech loading firearms.

There are many gun types for all sorts of different uses. Just as there are many different types of screwdrivers, there are many different types of guns, specifically created for their job.

We will start with the very basic of breakdowns. The bore. If you remember from Part I, the bore is the inside of the barrel. All projectile firing weapons, from a tank to a derringer, can be broken down in to two categories. The smooth bore and the rifle.

The smooth bore is just like it sounds. The bore is smooth all of the way down. The rifle, in direct contrast, has twisting groves that spin the projectile. Both types serve a purpose.

The smooth bore now a days is found in shotguns. What is a shotgun? A shotgun, or a scatter gun, is a type of firearm that instead of firing a single solid metal piece, fires several spheres called shot. This type of gun is used for close engagements. Why? As the shot leaves the barrel of the gun, the shot begins to expand. At about 50 feet, the shot is so spread out that it is effectively useless. This type of firearm is nearly impossible to put directly on target, so the idea is to get the shot in the general area of the target. This is why the sights of a shot gun are, typically, a little sphere on the end of the barrel.
Because of their limited range, and the spreading effect of their shot, shotguns are mainly used for foul hunting. They can knock a bird out of the air with relative ease, where the hunter can finish off the bird by breaking its neck.
Shotguns are also very very good urban warfare tools. They are absolutely lethal close in, but harmless as the shot expands, thus the danger of killing anything behind your target is significantly reduced. Good stuff if you are shooting at a bad guy and you don't want to kill your kids in the next room.
Shotguns can fire metal slugs, but, again, their range is very limited. It is difficult to determine where your slug will end up outside of about 50 yards. The smooth bore that makes the shotgun so versatile, also severely limits its range.

Shotguns are classified by action. A pump gun, or a pump action shotgun is one that has a tubular magazine under the barrel, and fresh rounds are cycled by moving a handle back (the "pump"), opening the bolt and ejecting the spent shell (if there is one), and then moving the handle forward, putting a fresh shell in the chamber and closing the bolt. The pump action shotgun can only fire once per pump.

Semi automatic shotguns are also very popular. They work by using the recoil of the shell to open the bolt, eject the shell, then feed a fresh shell, and finally closing the bolt. This automatic loading procedure enables the shotgun to fire multiple times, simply by pulling the trigger.

The final type of commonly seen shotgun is the double barrel shot gun. This gun has two barrels, either side-by-side, or one underneath the other (called an under over). These types of shotguns are typically break action, and use two triggers, one for each barrel. If you pull both triggers at the same time, both barrels go off, letting lose with twice the amount of shot. Thus the phrase I gave them "both barrels."

Shotguns, of course, come with many different types of action, but the above three kinds are the most common.

Rifled bores are by far the most commonly used bore. The rifling puts a spin on the bullet, and causes it to fly straighter, making the bullet fly straight to its target. I am going to break down the rifled bores down in to several different categories.

Rifles
When the generic term "rifle" is used, it is generally referring to the long gun rather than the handgun. A rifle is a type of long gun that fires a bullet, and has a super sonic muzzle velocity (the speed of the projectile as it leaves the muzzle). Rifles are used to take down land animals at a range from very close up to excess of 1000 yards. Normal people will use a rifle between 10 and 200 yards. After about 200 yards, the wind and bullet drop (gravity still works, the bullet will fall at 9.2m/s^2) become significant factors.

Rifles are generally broken down by the action that they use. There are generally three types of action that you will see most commonly. Two are single shot, and one auto loading.

Leaver Action
This was the first type of repeating rifle. The ammo is kept in a tubular magazine underneath the barrel of the rifle. A round put in to the chamber by a simple natural process. First the leaver is moved forward, opening the bolt, and ejecting a spent round (if there is one). Then a fresh round is put in to the chamber, and the bolt is locked, by moving the leaver back in to the starting position. Each time the rifle is fired, the leaver must be cycled for the rifle to be ready to shoot again.

Bolt Action
Up until after WWII, the bolt action rifle was the choice of the world's militaries (except for the US, but we will get in to that later). The bolt action is the most accurate of all of the rifle action designs. It allows for the best lock behind the round, and the stablest platform to shoot from. The United States Marines still use essentially the same bolt action rifle for their sniping operations that the front line solder used in WWI. Goes to the accuracy and durability of this action design.

The bolt action rifle typically stores its rounds in either a detectable or internal magazine underneath the action. The bolt is unlocked, and drawn rearward. This ejects the spent casing (if there is one), and brings up the next round. The bolt is then moved forward feeding the new round in to the chamber, and the bolt is locked in to place.
The bolt must be cycled each time for the rifle to fire.

Auto loading
The auto loading rifle uses the recoil, or the spent gases of the ammo to work the action. The first round is loaded manually, by "charging" the rifle. The action is manually worked by pulling back and releasing the bolt, feeding the first round in to the chamber. After that all the shooter need do is pull the trigger. The action will work to eject the spent casing, and feed in a new round.
You many have heard the term "Assault Rifle" essentially, in a military setting, an assault rifle has multiple settings one for semi automatic fire and one for a burst or for fully automatic fire. The "assault rifle" is always an auto loading firearm.
In the civilian world, the clueless media will typically call any semi-automatic rifle an "Assault Rifle"... What am I saying?? The media will often call any gun an assault rifle.

Handguns
The place where the most confusion occurs is in handguns, so I will go over the two most common forms of handgun actions.
First a handgun is a gun that fits in your hand. Easy right? They are used primarily for self defense. You can hunt with them, sure. I have carried handguns when hunting animals that can hunt me back just in case I needed to put some lead in the air fast.
The handgun's range is quite limited. It is difficult to accurately shoot anything with a handgun at greater than 50 yards, and 50 yards is pushing it. In my opinion if it is a man sized target at anything greater than 30 yards, you need a rifle.

Revolvers
A Revolver is a type of handgun that uses a revolving cylinder. This cylinder contains the cartridges, and also acts to contain the pressures of the explosion. Where the cartridge resides is also called the "chamber."

What is interesting about the revolver is that the the chamber and the barrel are two separate components. The cylinder revolves until it is aligned with the barrel, but leaving a small gap between chamber and barrel. When the trigger is pulled, the gun fires and the bullet travels from the chamber in to the barrel where it is spun by the rifling and on to the target. You have to be careful when shooting revolvers, because if your fingers are near that little gap, the escaping gases will burn your fingers!!

Automatics
The automatic in automatic handgun means that the action is auto loading. What that means is that the slide is pulled back to feed a round in to the chamber. When the trigger is pulled the recoil of the shot will force the slide back, ejecting the spent casing, and then forward, feeding the fresh round in to the chamber. The gun loaded itself. Thus the automatically loading handgun. The automatic for short.

Now... Remember from my first post in this series about what the definition of single shot, semi-automatic, and fully automatic? Single shot means that the action has to be worked manually before another shot can be made. Semi-Automatic means that one shot is fired for each pull of the trigger. Fully automatic is where the gun continues to fire as long as the trigger remains depressed. Now some confusing stuff... all automatic handguns are semi-automatic. Some, but not all revolvers are semi-automatic. That is where a lot of confusion happens. It is incorrect to call automatic handguns, semi-automatics, because revolvers can be semi-automatic as well. The "automatic" refers to the action only. So there are two types of hand guns, automatics (auto loading handguns), and revolvers. Ok?

Automatic Weapons
There are two types of automatic weapons, ones that fire a supersonic rifle round and those that fire a sub-sonic pistol round. The ones that fire the sub-sonic pistol round are called "sub machine guns." So guns like the Uzi, and the H&K MP5 are considered to be sub machine guns, because they fire the 9 mm Parabellum pistol round. These are for close combat, pistol range engagements.
Supersonic rifle round automatic weapons fall in to a number of categories. You have your standard infantry assault rifles, like the ones I described earlier, and then you have the machine guns. Machine guns only fire automatically, and typically take their ammunition in a long "belt" of strung together bullets. For that reason, they are often referred to as "belt fed" weapons.

Motorcycles?

2011-11-28T15:37:00.001-06:00

On the way back to Dumbfuckville the wife mentioned that she might want to start riding motorcycles again. So, I started thinking about what kinds of bikes I could buy for us.
She wants something in the midsize range of cruisers, no more 250cc bikes for her. I think that if I bought another bike it would be a cruiser as well, but something more like a drag bike, or sporty chopper.

For the Wife

My wife weighs under 115lbs so, the size and weight of the motorcycle is of prime concern. I would like to see her on something under 600cc, but it really doesn't look like the manufactures do that size of bike anymore. The midline bikes seem to be around 650cc to 900cc. I think that is too much bike for such a small woman, especially one who last owned a 250cc 330lb bike...

Honda Shadow Spirit 750

The 745cc Shadow Spirits are the midline cruisers that Honda makes. They are a little heavier that I would have liked, but they have all of the features that the wife likes. Smooth ride, easy to handle and more than enough power.
536lbs
$8,240

Yamaha V Star Custom

This bike clocks in at 650cc and seems to be more of my liking in terms of style. I am a big fan of the single interior shock on the rear wheel, than the dual exterior shocks. A tiny bit lighter than the Honda, but a lot lighter in the price.
513lbs
$6,890

Suzuki Boulevard S40
Suzuki's midline Boulevard S40 is... well... plain. At 652cc it has plenty of power, but its look is just so... outdated. It is a belt drive rather than the other two shaft bikes. Personally, I like the shaft drive for my wife, the chains and belts can catch loose clothing that my wife will surely trail.
The Boulevard S40 also weighs the least amount, and is the cheapest of all the motorcycles I have looked at. I like very much that it is just a few pounds heavier than her old Honda Rebel. However, being lighter with a bigger engine means that it has much more pep than she will be used to. Not a good combination.381lbs
$5,399

For Me

My last bike was a Yamaha YZF R1, and I really REALLY liked the power and quickness of that motorcycle. It was uncomfortable to ride, and that made me like it less. But all of those ponies attached to a little twist of the throttle is exceedingly hard to give up.
For that reason, I would be looking for something that would give me the same pep, in a more comfortable package. This pushes me to the "dragster" type motorcycles and the sporty chopper style bikes.

Yamaha Warrior

I put the Warrior first, because it is closest to what I am looking for. Yamaha has not made them since 2009, and the style has become a bit dated, but it still has all of the lines that I like. Single interior shock, wide back tire, and 1670ccs of power!
$13,190

Victory Hammer S

The Hammer S sits a little high for my taste, but it has everything else that I like. Big power with a 106 cubic inch (1737cc) power plant. Victory has been going over to the chopper look for a while now, so the big back tire is standard on nearly all of their bikes. However, the price of the bike is so much that I would want two more wheels, AC, and cruise control.
$18,499

Honda Fury

The Fury is Honda's attempt to crack in to the popular chopper market. I have to admit, they did a great job mass producing something that is supposed to be custom. It is a bit under powered at 1312cc, but the look of the bike more than makes up for a lack of zip in the throttle.
$13,390

In the end, I don't believe that we will be buying any bikes anytime soon. It is nice to look, but I think that the wife was just messing with me when she said she wanted another bike. She has a long commute everyday, and I don't see her tackling that on two wheels. Especially when she has to look forward to that same commute after a 17 hour shift.

Gordon Ramsay Gives You Some Dating Tips

2011-11-18T15:27:00.001-06:00

OUTSTANDING!!!

Choose Your Own Adventure Books You Wish You Had

2011-11-18T15:21:00.001-06:00

Watered Down Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

2011-11-16T07:37:00.001-06:00

I have several gym mates who when to tournaments over the past few weekends. My gym is a very new gym, so many of the guys haven't been training very long, 9 months to a year at the very most. These guys have been destroying guys from other gyms. Not just guys in their own belt ranks and skill levels, but guys who have been training a while, and have advanced belts. Most recently, one of the guys, who has only been training for about 10 months, beat a purple belt at a tournament in Tennessee.
Now, I am not a great BJJ guy. I do ok, I have been training a while, and I have built up some skill over the years. The guys at my gym are progressing at a rate that I have seen at other schools, but they are nothing special. The guy that did the tournament in Tennessee, is a guy I normally smear all over the mat on a daily basis. This is not knocking his skill or pumping up my own, however this is as it should be. I have been training BJJ for almost 8 years now, and it is expected that I do this to a low ranked beginner.
So, what is the deal? Why have my gym mates had so much success over much higher ranks in competition?
The reason is the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has become as watered down and diluted as the other traditional martial arts. It is very difficult to find a karate or taekwondo school in the US that is worth the price of admission. Most are belt factories that will turn out black belts with out really looking at the skill that they are pushing out. Why is that? Because guys who did not deserve to teach opened schools and started handing out belts.
Case in point... We have a guy at the gym who just started BJJ a couple of months ago, let's call him Bill. Bill sucks. As well he should after training for just couple of months. A couple of days ago we learn that Bill owns his own school in a nearby town, and, incredibly, is teaching a BJJ class. This guy who barely knows a sweep from a submission is teaching other people Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wearing a black belt, and PROMOTING his own students.
Now say I am a guy who trains at Bill's school. I don't know any better. To me, Bill seems like a guy who knows what he is talking about. I train for about a month with, Bill and Bill promotes me to blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
I work hard, and in another two months Bill promotes me to purple belt.I decide that I want to test myself against others of my same skill level, so I go to a BJJ tournament as a purple belt, that is my rank after all. My first match I line up against a white belt in the absolute division. I get smashed and then submitted within the first two minutes of the tournament. Later on I learn that the white belt has been training for 3 months at a school run by a true black belt.
In the most embarrassing, humiliating way possible I have been exposed as a complete fraud. Why? Because I was taught, and promoted, by a guy didn't know squat about BJJ.

This is not the student's fault. He didn't know any better. He trained at a gym that, to the best of his knowledge, was lead by an experienced, skilled instructor, and taught the proper technique. It is the fault of the instructor. He KNOWS that he isn't qualified to teach that class. He KNOWS that what he is teaching is not the best technique. He knows it, because he knows he is incompetent.

It is very important when you look for a place to train that you are getting what you are paying for. If the guy leading class wears a black belt, he will be able to tell you who he earned his belt under. From there it is VERY easy to verify his status. If the guy is cagey about where he got his belt, doesn't tell you right away, or says he will get back to you, he is a fake. You don't have to even think about who you got your belt from. More than likely, you are good friends with this person, as you have been training with them for years. So why would you have to get back to someone about them? Why would you be cagey? You wouldn't because where and from whom you got your belt is a point of pride.

I will give you an example from my own experience. About a year ago, I started at a new school in Oklahoma City. The BJJ instructor is a black belt, and I asked him where he trained, and who was his instructor. He immediately smiled said he was a Nova Uniao Black Belt under Leonardo Tapias. A quick Google search later, and I found pictures of him with Leonardo, articles about his tournament wins and losses in major Brazilian BJJ magazines. Very easy verification. If I ran in to someone tougher to nail down, you just get on the phone and call the school that he was associated with. Easy, and it ensures that your getting the most out of your training dollars.

This watering down of the belts is something that is sad to see, but was inevitable. Before martial art movies became so popular, martial art schools were very tough to find. Almost all of them were good, because the community was so tight, that the faker would be exposed and shunned. Then the craze hit, and everybody and their little sister was teaching karate. Finding a school wasn't difficult, but finding a good one was. As more and more people want to get involved in an activity, the more people will rush to provide that activity. Some will simply be looking to line their pockets while providing the least amount of content as possible.
Now with the success of the UFC, and MMA as a whole, the styles of BJJ and Muay Thai are getting their watering down as well. People not qualified to teach are now presenting classes in both arts to grab the unsuspecting student.
I find it sad that the belt around my waist is becoming less and less meaningful due to the actions of the unscrupulous and incompetent. However it is best to remember Royce Gracie famously saying "A belt only covers 2 inches of your ass. The rest is up to you."

Killing American Citizens Overseas

2011-11-14T14:41:00.001-06:00

On September 30th of this year, a terrorist, traitor to his country, and an all around despicable man was killed by a United States air strike. Typically, I would be forgetting my normal position on the divine to celebrate another terrorist rotting forever in hell. The problem is that this man, Anwar al-Awlaki, was an American Citizen, and the United States of America is not currently engaged in a declared war.
Now, we have been happily killing American Citizens overseas in declared wars since... well, since we first became a country. Famously, in both world wars citizens of German decent went back to Germany to fight for the Fatherland. They were killed right along with the other German soldiers. Ironically, it was only those of Japanese decent who were interned against their will...
However, then, just as now, a question is raised, were those killings legal? In other words, does the Executive Branch, for the President is the Commander in Chief of the Military, have the legal right to kill American Citizens who have taken up arms against the United States of America? Is that not a treasonous act? Are these people not enemy combatants?

We first have to define what treason is. The Constitution of the United States of America in Article III Section 3 clearly states the critera for treason:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Constitution also gives Congress the power to declare punishments for treason in the same artilce and section:

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

On this matter the Constitution is seemingly very clear. To be convicted of Treason, you need to be brought to court where two witnesses must be produced to testify against you. In the United States, there is no such thing as In absentia convictions. You must be given a chance to face your accusers in public. A trial can not be held if you arn't there to answer the charges. So how can the President think that he can simply drop a bomb on an American Citizen's brain box?
During a Republican debate, Newt Gingrich was asked this very question. Despite the smug look on the moderator's face, he makes a valid point. Here is what Newt had to say:As an enemy combatant DO you give up the right to a trial? The Constitution says no. The Supreme Court says... no. In the famous Hamdi v Rumsfeld SCOUS said that enemy combatants under due process principles were entitled to a written statement of the basis for that declaration, as well as a right to challenge it before a neutral decision-maker in a timely manner. Was Anwar al-Awlaki given that chance? Nope.
Here is what our buddy Congressman Ron Paul said in a letter to the New York Daily News:

As President, I would not hesitate to use decisive force to repel any imminent threat. National defense is a primary function of Congress and the commander-in-chief, and, as chief executive, I would carry out my duties as outlined in the Constitution and in accordance with the rule of law.
President Obama apparently believes he is not bound by the Constitution or the rule of law. When it was reported that Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by U.S. drone strikes in Yemen last week, certainly no one felt remorse for his fate. Awlaki was a detestable person we believe helped recruit and inspire others to kill Americans through terrorist acts.We have to take the fight against terrorism very seriously. In 2001, I supported the authority to capture and kill the thugs responsible for 9/11. In our efforts we must, however, work hard to preserve and respect our great American constitutional principles.
Awlaki was a U.S. citizen. Under our Constitution, American citizens, even those living abroad, must be charged with a crime before being sentenced. As President, I would have arrested Awlaki, brought him to the U.S., tried him and pushed for the stiffest punishment allowed by law. Treason has historically been judged to be the worst of crimes, deserving of the harshest sentencing. But what I would not do as President is what Obama has done and continues to do in spectacular fashion: circumvent the rule of law.
On Feb. 3, 2010, Dennis Blair, then the country's director of national intelligence, admitted before the House Intelligence Committee that "Being a U.S. citizen will not spare an American from getting assassinated by military or intelligence operatives." This open admission by an Obama administration official, not even attempting to keep it classified or top secret, sets a dangerous new precedent in our history.
The precedent set by the killing of Awlaki establishes the frightening legal premise that any suspected enemy of the United States - even if they are a citizen - can be taken out on the President's say-so alone. Part of the very concept of citizenship is the protection of due process and the rule of law. The President wants to spread American values around the world but continues to do great damage to them here at home, appointing himself judge, jury and executioner by presidential decree.
When Nazi leader and Holocaust mastermind Adolf Eichmann was convicted and executed by the Israeli government in 1962, it was after he was captured, extradited and tried. Respect for the rule of law never has been for the protection of monsters like Eichmann or Awlaki, who should meet their just fate - but for the protection of the vast majority of innocent citizens who should never become subject to mere governmental whim.

Dr. Paul seems to be on the right side of the law here, and if so... Then President Obama has seemingly committed high crimes, thus subject to impeachment. Dr. Paul did, for a time, pursue support for impeachment charges against the President. He ceased his efforts when it became evident that virtually no one in congress would support an impeachment over the killing of a terrorist.

So... where do I stand? This is one of those issues that is just so messed up it is difficult to come out with a view you can live with. On the one hand, if you agree that Anwar al-Awlaki was protected under the Constitution as a citizen of this country, then you must voice protest against his assassination, and petition for the impeachment of the President. On the other hand, he was a terrorist actively working to destroy the very country who is debating if his killing is legal. Very very difficult choice, and, assuredly if you come down against the killing, you are most assuredly helping our enemies slowly achieve their goals.
Again, where do I stand?? When in doubt I default to freedom, and freedom in this case demands that Anwar al-Awlaki be brought in for trial on treason and other criminal charges. His killing, however it may have helped the war effort, was wrong. Just as we must set a child murder free because the evidence that damns him was obtained improperly, so we must hamper our war effort so that every effort can be made to bring American Citizens engaged in acts of war to trial.

What is Your Favorite Beer?

2011-11-13T13:09:00.001-06:00

Being a beer snob, you get this question quite a bit. The question is innocent, and, most of the time, asked by those who only know of the major American breweries. The answer is actually very complex, and can't just be answered with a single beer. The more proper question is, What is your favorite STYLE of beer? Even beer snobs will have a favorite style that they gravitate to. I have three styles in particular that always seem to be in my refrigerator.
Most of what I am going to talk about is going to do with hops. Hops are the soul of the beer, and the easiest thing to screw up. If the brewer goes too hop crazy, the beer lacks the sweetness and flavor complexity that comes from the grains. Not enough hop, and the beer tastes like syrup.

American Pale Ales

If I had to pick one style of beer to live with my whole life, it would be the American Pale Ale.
This style is in my refrigerator more often than not, and my first choice of style when I am testing out a new brewery.
The American style of Pale Ale is a uniquely American derivative of the English Style Pale Ales. However, the American variety is an all grain brew that does not use syrups to sweeten the wort and kick up APV. They are also heavily hopped with modern American hops, and typically shun the traditional European "Noble" style hops. As such, the American version have a stronger hop bite, and less sweet malt front.
The hop bitterness should not overpower the malts, and the beer should always finish clean, meaning the after taste should be pleasantly malty, and not burn with hop oil.
The aroma of the American Pale Ale should be slightly piney from the hops, personally I like the dry hopped APAs the best, as there is a very strong aroma of hops left behind.
Of this style the best representatives, that I have tasted, and in my opinion, are
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Boulevard Pale Ale

Anchor Liberty Ale

Great Divide's Fresh Hop Pale Ale

Of these ales, my all time favorite of this style is Great Divide's Fresh Hop Ale

India Pale Ales

I freely admit that I am a hop head, and when I want a healthy dose of hops, I turn to IPAs to get my fix. Personally, I don't like the IPAs that are brewed with syrups to sweeten them up, and I like best the IPAs that finish as cleanly as possible. I like my IPAs to extensively use American hops, Cascade in particular. I also like my IPAs to be dry hopped. It only seems fitting that a beer that uses so much hop in the brewing process, smell like it is full of hoppy goodness.
The history of the IPA starts with the English trying to ship large barrels of Pale Ale to their colonies in India. The voyage was so long that much of the sugary Pale Ales spoiled on the trip. Something that the brewers discovered was that beer that had been more heavily hopped tended to spoil later than beers that had not. This is due to the antibiotic affect of the hop oils, but they didn't know about such things at the time...
Anyway, the brewers began to heavily hop the Pale Ale they sent to India so that it would last the voyage and be enjoyed at the other end of the trip. Thus the IPA was born.
Americans being Americans, took the idea of the IPA and went to the extreme. Using the much more potent American hops, American IPAs tend to be VERY bitter and all around awesome.

My favorite examples of this style of beer are:
Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA

Boulevard Single Wide IPA

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

Stone IPA

Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA

I don't think I can pick a favorite here... They are all just so awesome.

American Porter

The American Porter is what I start to grab when the weather turns colder... Or I just want to sip on something for a long while. I love the porter's complexity, its smoothness, its rich flavor. It is one of those styles of beer that you feel genuinely sad about finishing a glass of it, one because there is no more beer, and two because you have just taken something so beautiful out of the world.

The history of the porter is very strange, and kind of gross... Back in the good old days, a porter was someone who worked on the docks moving cargo on and off ships. It was back breaking work, literally and figuratively, and did not pay very much money... Remember that part, it plays a part in the grossness...
Tavern owners were loathe to waste any money at all, so after they finished a barrel of beer they would pour the remnants of the barrel, despite the style, in to another barrel.
Remember that beer was fermented and stored all in the same barrels, so the remnants would be heavy with yeast and whatever dregs of grain that got through the filters at the time. So... yuck.
After they closed, they would also pour all of the undrank beer from the mugs left on the tables in to the barrel... Ewwwwwwww...
So what you had left was a barrel that had a mix of styles in it. The Pale Ales, the dark and pale lagers, and the stouts all went in to this mixed barrel. Of course this mix was the cheapest drink in the house, and usually the ones who drank it were... You guessed it, our poor unappreciated Porters. Eventually the drink itself became known as a "Porter." Just... yuck...

Today's Porter, thankfully, has very little in common with its predecessor. What the porters of yesterday, and the porters of today share is that they hang somewhere between the pale ales and the super dark stouts. The Americans have taken their Porters and infused them with their strong hops to really make the dark brew sing. Many of the best porter brewers have added dark fruits to add rich sweet complexity to their brews.

My favorites of this style are:
Boulevard Bully! Porter

Sierra Nevada Porter

Anchor Porter

Maui Brewing Company Coconut Porter

I have a tie as to my favorite porter, between the Maui Coconut Porter and the Anchor Porter. They are just so good. The Anchor Porter has that rich sweetness that comes from using figs to the wort, and the bitter bite from using Cascade hops. The Maui Coconut Porter is so smooth and easy drinking that it almost wins you over with mouth-feel alone. The coconut complements the chocolate malt to a point that you wonder why all brewers don't use coconut in their porters. The hop usage by Maui leaves their porter just a bit wanting, but you hardly notice.

Nirvana...

2011-11-09T15:23:00.001-06:00

The Second Amendment Doesn't Fit

2011-11-08T09:35:00.000-06:00

MSNBC's Alex Wagner: Get Rid Of Second Amendment

Alex Wagner of the Huffington Post, and soon to be MSNBC host says that the Second Amendment should not be included in the Constitution. What Ms. Wagner, and other liberals, fail to realize is that Government will always move to reclaim liberty from the governed. Always. Want proof? Ask a banker to give you an application for a student loan. Ask a Pharmacist for a little cocaine. Ask Susette Kelo where her house is.

The Second Amendment is the final check on the government that the people have. The right to bear arms ensures that the people can overthrow their government should too much liberty be reclaimed. If this right is ever ceded, so goes our liberty.

Triangle to Armbar Submission

2011-11-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

I saw this vid on YouTube today and Dennis Asche really does a great job of showing the technique involved in switching from the triangle choke to the armbar. I use this combination all of the time, it just works so well. The great thing about this particular combination is the defense for each submission actually aids in the execution of the follow up submission. The defense for the triangle has the opponent making posture straight up. For an armbar, the defense is to push in to the opponent and stack him as much as possible to pull the arm out. However, if you are in a triangle the last thing you want to do is stack, and conversely, if you are in an armbar the last thing you want to do is posture up. This is why the triangle/armbar combination is so effective. What ever your opponent does it is the wrong move.

I was always taught to keep the triangle when going for the armbar. The reasoning is that you can switch easily between the two submissions with out changing your legs. However, my current instructor, and Dennis here, both say that bringing the leg over allows for more leverage on the arm, something critical to the armbar. If you keep your legs in the triangle, and go for the armbar, you are still giving up the choke for a less than ideal armbar. Switching the legs over makes a tighter armbar, and, by rolling up on to the shoulder, you give yourself additional power, by rolling back on to your back, when switching back to the triangle.

They triangle/armbar movement is used against very strong opponents, and very skilled opponents. The strong opponent will tap to the armbar as he attempts to posture up and power out of the triangle choke. It is an easy switch to the armbar to get the tap. The skilled opponent will be tripped up eventually in the switching between submissions as they attempt to escape the bad position. This is why it is important to get up on to your shoulder for better leverage in the armbar, and to powerfully knock the opponent off balance as you switch back to the triangle when the opponent begins the armbar defense.

What is Occupy DC After? Not Jobs...

2011-11-03T12:41:00.001-05:00

The Stars Align or I Tap a Brown Belt or When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Change Tactics

2011-11-01T14:31:00.000-05:00

There is a very good brown belt at the gym. I train with him nearly everyday, and we have a friendly rivalry going... It isn't really a rivalry, mostly it is him trying out new sweeps and me getting choked. Anyway, I use him as a reality check in my ground game. In any pursuit, the distribution of skill looks very much like a negative slope... really you don't know a negative slope? Grrrr... positive slope increases from left to right, and negative slope DEcreases from left to right, back to the point... You have a ton of people in the beginner skill levels, fewer at intermediate skill levels, and the fewest at the high skill levels. In Martial Arts, those at the right of the slope need to figure out a way to train with those on the left of the slope, and STILL improve their technique. How is that done?
The method I use is two fold, first I am looking for very specific techniques to perform. These techniques are typically things I have identified as areas I need to improve, or new techniques that I want to perfect before attempting them on greater skilled opposition. For instance, this week are am working on omoplata sweeps from closed guard. These sweeps require a bit of setting up to do, and if executed incorrectly can lead to loss of position. I want to get them to a point where I am comfortable enough to throw them on like I throw around my other sweeps.
The other part is to attempt to execute each position change, pass, and submission as perfectly as possible. This is MUCH harder than it seems. Many times lower skilled practitioners will let you get away with sloppy or muscled technique. You have to resist the impulse to take the easy sloppiness, and work for the perfect movement.

Anyway, I like rolling with this brown belt because our games just so happen to diametrically oppose one another. For the time being, I am a "top" player. I work to put my opponent on their back and pass their guard. Once passed I work the three main superior top positions (side control, north south, and mount) looking for my submissions. His game is centered upon sweeps and submissions from the major inferior bottom positions (guard and half guard). So, when we roll his natural inclination is to get to half guard and work the sweep, my natural inclination is to put him on his back and work the pass. What happens is we end up doing a lot of 3/4 guard and partial passes.

3/4 guard. One leg is up on the opponent's back while the other leg is not passed, but pinned underneath the opponent.

It usually ends when I get too greedy and attempt to muscle a pass and I get swept. He takes the back and it is me defending chokes until he gets one or until time runs out. I am currently working on being patient and executing very tight sweeps... It goes slowly.

Today, after working my omoplata sweeps on the lower belts, I faced this particular brown belt for the last go of the morning. I decided that this time, I would be the one who would get to guard, and put him off his normal game. I very very rarely attempt to do this kind of thing with skilled guys. I am not at all comfortable with my guard game. I much prefer the half guard, because the sweeps from half guard are sneakier, and they lead to my strengths, passing and attaining the top.
Because it is such an unusual move for me, I surprise the brown belt and attain guard. As he sets posture and starts his pass I notice something... His head is low to my chest and his left hand is not pushing down on my right hip. Instead his hand is resting against his abdomen as he is attempting to dig his elbow in to my thigh muscle to force my legs open. Anyone who has ever been in my friend Mike Martin's guard knows this is a mistake. All you need to do is give a little push on the elbow, and bring the right leg up and around the left arm, BANG triangle choke. So, this is what I do. Push the arm, hips come up, right leg goes over and locks behind the left knee. Again, I have surprised him. He tries to make posture, but I have his head and arm trapped to my chest. All he succeeds in doing is making space behind his legs. I use this to hook my right arm underneath his left leg. I pull on my new lever and get myself in to perfect triangle choke position. Right leg perpendicular and resting on his neck, his right arm across my chest resting on my right side, my left leg locking straight down, with my right foot under my left knee. Perfect. To end the submission I turn his right arm up so that his thumb is pointing at the ceiling and extend my hips, simultaneously tightening the choke, and hyper-extending the arm for the additional submission. He taps!

This was a big deal for me, because it was the first time that I caught this guy. It also could mark for me a change in my game. I don't necessarily need to be looking for the top position anymore. I can start to search for guard and the inferior positions if the opportunity presents itself. This will greatly expand my game, and make me much less predictable. Perhaps if I can threaten the guard positions, it will make this and the other brown belts think twice before slipping in to their comfortable sweep setups, giving me the edge I need to pass and reach the superior top positions that I am most comfortable with. The main thing that it teaches me is that I need to be able to switch tactics when I meet up with someone who may have a game to counter my tried and true moves. If I can do that, I might actually have a chance at improving my game to a point where I believe that I deserve the belt that I wear.

Bas Fights a Zombie

2011-11-01T10:15:00.002-05:00

Why Carry?

2011-10-26T09:14:00.001-05:00

Things I Want

2011-10-25T14:54:00.000-05:00

After watching some of the protests and realizing that it is close to Christmas, I have some things that I want. These are some realistic things, and nothing stupid and unobtainable like a Cirrus SR 22, or a Cessna Corvalis TTX.

Guns

Beretta P4X Storm

These are just cool. Rotating barrel gives the .45 ACP pistol the same recoil and muzzle flip of a 9mm. Easier to keep on target after the single shot and makes close grouped accelerated pairs with a .45 ACP an attainable goal for the occasional shooter. At $640 it is a little pricy, but a fun shooting gun to have.

Springfield M1A1

This is the civilian version of the best battle rifle the United States of America ever produced, the M-14. It is the last rifle that was made when people knew what to expect when they pulled the trigger on a rifle. It was also the last rifle that was made when extreme accuracy, not how much ammo you could carry, was the cornerstone of a rifle.
This rifle is in .308, and has a fiberglass stock. I like the fiberglass rather than wood, because wood can rot, fiberglass can not. I like the .308 because I can shoot 7.62 NATO rounds through it (a rifle chambered for .308 is designed to take higher pressures than one chambered for the military 7.62 NATO round, so you can shoot both rounds through the .308 rifle, but only 7.62 rounds through a rifle designed for 7.62 rounds.)
I like this kind of rifle because it is good for everything. You can realistically hunt with it (you will NOT be hunting with anything that is in a 5.56, you can't put it down in one shot, the 5.56 was designed to be super duper light so that solders could take more ammo in to battle, where the primary goal is to wound, not kill your enemy), because the round is big enough, and accurate enough to take down anything that you hunt for food, i.e. deer. It is a semi-automatic rifle so it can be used in a self defense situation if things go bat shit crazy where you live i.e. New Orleans after Katrina, Los Angles after the riots, etc. It has a decent rate of fire, a good sized magazine, and packs enough punch to dissuade anyone from coming too close.
At $1,300 it is a bit of a pricey toy. I have real trouble trying to explain to the wife why I need a rifle for the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse. Doctors have no imagination.

Clothing

War Black and White Gi

War is a Brazilian Gi company. They are the first of the "second" generation Gi companies. Second generation, because they were founded by guys who trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and designed their Gis specifically for their sport, rather than recycling the same gis that were used for Judo and Karate. They also have the unique practice of preshrinking all of their cotton pieces. This means that you don't have to buy one size up when ordering the gi to compensate for shrinkage after washing. On top of all of this they make a very good gi... and the black and white makes it look very bad ass.
This gi is a bit expensive, at $155.

Maui Jim Big Beach Sunglasses

Maui Jim makes the best sunglasses in the entire world. Polarized and optically perfect, wearing a pair of Maui Jims is like getting an eye massage the entire time. New frames at Maui Jim are made of titanium and are super light weight. You can tie the frames virtually in knots, and it will snap back in to proper shape. They are simply kick ass!!
At $300 you might think that they are a very expensive pair of sunglasses. You are wrong. There are few things in this world that are worth more than what you pay for them. Maui Jim sunglasses are just such a product.

Electronics

Microsoft X-Box 360
Seriously, I want to play Halo and Gears of War... I don't have one and for $200 I can get an older model with less disk space. Couple that with my computer running Media Center and I have DVR.

Asus Zenbook

Finally, an Intel box that can match up with the iMac Air in terms of size. In terms of hardware, the Zenbook blows it away. I don't think that this would be a very smart investment, however, because with the release of Windows 8 in the next year or so, most portable notebooks like the Zenbook will be going to more of a tablet form factor. There will always be a need for computers with physical keyboards, but my guess is that, that particular need will be fuffiled with a keyboard attachment on to the tablet.
This guy comes in at about $1,350 for the 13" screen i7, 12GB RAM loaded version.

54 Perfect Techniques

2011-10-21T12:16:00.000-05:00

Cool stuff

Herman Cain 9-9-9

2011-10-17T16:47:00.001-05:00

A lot of press has been put out there about Herman Cain's 9-9-9 program. What is it? What does it mean?? Essentially, it is Herman's plan to flatten out and simplify the tax code. It works like this, first you completely throw out the existing tax law. Get rid of all 2,500+ pages of it. It is all gone now, and we start from scratch. The initial plan is to replace the existing tax system with a flat 9% tax on all corporate profits, a 9% tax on all income, and implement a 9% consumption tax on all goods and services sold in the United States. Simple right? Sure is.

Let's start with the pros of this plan. The number one driver of corruption in this country is its asinine tax law. Tax deduction for that, tax credit for this, surtax on that, and a partridge in a pear tree. Congresspeople and Senators get their campaign contributions from people who are primarily looking to work the tax system. A small break here or an increase on a competitor there makes these contributors HUGE money on the back end, so kicking a few thousand dollars in to a campaign that will be friendly to your cause come vote time is very helpful. Cain's plan, initially, gets rid of that by flattening out the tax system so it is equal and fair for everyone.

Next, the U.S.A. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. It drives up the cost of doing business, therefore many business that would love to locate in the U.S.A. locate somewhere else, like Mexico or the Caribbean. With a 10% corporate tax rate, that would put the U.S.A. at the very low end of the world's corporate tax rates. Suddenly the U.S.A. looks like a very attractive place to do business.

One of the very high points for the 9-9-9 plan is the elimination of all secondary income taxes. This is from things like dividends, bank interest, and other investments. Why is this a good thing? Because, under the current system, the Government "double-dips" you by taxing you income from wages, then AGAIN hits you on income that comes from things that you bought with post tax money, like investment dividends and savings account interest income. What this also means is that repatriated money, that is money that is currently held in tax free foreign bank accounts, comes back to the U.S.A. How much are we talking? We really don't know, but the lowest estimates are in the $13 TRILLION range. Serious cash. The last government stimulus was almost a trillion dollars. Just think what a boost $13 trillion would be.The consumption tax broadens the tax base and makes sure that, in the words of President Obama, "...everyone has skin in the game." There are provisions in the 9-9-9 program to make sure that the super poor do not pay income taxes, but the consumption tax ensures that every body is paying something in to the system. It also means that those that are in the country illegally, and currently do not pay taxes, and those visiting our country contribute by paying the consumption tax.

My very favorite part of the 9-9-9 plan is that it would take a 2/3rds majority of both houses of congress, and a presidential signature to raise any of the three taxes, or add new ones. Only a simple majority is needed in both houses, and a presidential signature for a reduction or elimination of the three taxes. This holds Congress directly accountable for tax raises, and makes any type of raise very difficult to get accomplished.

Now the cons. First, and the biggest in my opinion, is that it opens Pandora's box when it gives the government both an income tax and a sales tax with which to screw us with. This is NOT a good thing, and, I believe, that only one type of taxation system should be allowed at any one time. Having both can open the door to some very serious problems.
Herman's thought is that the 9-9-9 will open the door to the FairTax, however I don't believe that he can get two major tax overhauls done in one or two terms as president. My thought is that if you are going to base your campaign on a major overhaul of the tax system, go whole hog and work a repeal of the 16th Amendment, and implement the FairTax. Herman does not think that he can get a repeal of the 16th Amendment done right away, so the 9-9-9 plan is the closest thing to it. I am very worried about it.

Now the BS that the Liberals will use to try an discredit the 9-9-9 program.
First we need to go over the natural enemies of the 9-9-9 program just to filter them out before we can get to their arguments. Tax programs like 9-9-9, flat taxes, and the FairTax takes power from the central Government, and gives it back to the individual. Those that dislike individual liberty will be the natural enemy of the 9-9-9 program. Groups like the left wing of the Democrat party, Socialists, and Communists. Their goal is ultimately state control over the monetary system, therefore any type of transfer of power to the people is against their interests.
The lobbing, accounting, and tax preparing industries will also come out against 9-9-9. These businesses rely on the complexity of the tax system to sell their services, with 9-9-9 they are pretty much unnecessary, and you can be sure that they will fight to keep their hold on what they make their livelihood on.

Ok, to the arguments. First, Warren Buffet will not pay taxes with 9-9-9. This one is not true. Warren Buffet will pay taxes on his salary at the exact same rate as any of his employees. "Yah, but that isn't where he gets his money!!" Again that is true. Most of Warren's money comes from what he did with his post tax money. He invested smartly and made billions. This money, like that of his employees, will not be taxed. The Warren Buffet argument comes down to what the opposing sides define as "fair" and "equal." Those that support 9-9-9 will say that equal means equal. Everyone pays the same percentage no mater what. Those against will argue that equal means changing the percentages because some have more than others. HA! 9-9-9 has a contingency for that. For most part, Warren Buffet excluded, the rich consume lots of stuff. They also consume more expensive stuff. The poor don't consume as much, and they buy cheaper stuff. The consumption part of the 9-9-9 plan will force the rich to pay more for their excess, and for their expensive luxury. Those frugal, rich or poor, will not pay as much in tax as those who spend.

HA! the opponent of 9-9-9 says, the consumption tax will hurt the poor. Some of the poor that do not pay taxes now will end up paying taxes. No doubt about that. 9-9-9 will make some of the 54% of Americans who don't pay taxes join the taxpayer rolls. However it won't be as painful as it seems. Anyone who gets a pay check knows that there are some taxes that are taken out of everybody's check, regardless of how much you get paid. Social Security tax is one that immediately comes to mind. Most of the time the poor receive their tax money back at the end of the tax year with their tax refund check. The 9-9-9 program will immediately hand them 15% back in their pay checks, as the government will no longer be taking the 25% or more out of their pay check as if they WOULD be paying taxes at the end of the tax year.

But... What about my tax deduction that I get for my house? Only charitable donations cont as deductions in the 9-9-9 plan. Won't this crash the housing market? Name me one person who buys a house for the tax break... Seriously, the investment of a house is not in the tax savings, it is in the appreciated value in the the home when it is sold later on. AND the reduction in the payroll tax more than makes up for the money gained at the end of the tax year by the housing credit.

********Added 10/19/2011 After Debate*******
But Herman, I already pay 8% in sales tax to my state and municipality, if your 9-9-9 plan went through I would pay 17%!
I had hoped this little bit of idiocy would burn itself out under the weight of its own stupidity, BUT if you over estimate the stupidity of the American people you will never be disappointed. This argument is, of course comparing two dissimilar things. It is like saying you don't want to remove a dog's spine, because a worm doesn't have one.
First one is a federal tax, the other is a state tax. The two are separate from one another. That should be your first stopping point, however we will continue using a comparison that everyone knows. You pay federal income tax, and you pay state income tax. If you combine the tax rates of the two separate taxes, surprise surprise, your overall tax rate is higher than both your state and federal maximums. By combining both the state sales tax and the new federal income tax you, surprise surprise, get a higher sales tax than either of them. However, a large part of your federal income tax is gone, thus you pay less in overall tax. If your state does not pay sales tax, like New Hampshire, you STILL won't pay state sales tax. Just as now if your state does not charge income tax, you SITLL have to pay your federal income tax.
The GOOD thing about a consumption tax is that people see it. If taxes are raised a percentage on your income tax, that you get removed from your pay check, you don't really notice it. However, if you raise the sales tax a percentage point, people see it every time they buy something. It holds the government accountable, and reminds people, with every purchase, that it is THEIR money that Washington is spending.
******** END ********* Added 10/19/2011 After Debate*******

All in all, I hate the 9-9-9 plan. I like the FairTax. But because the 9-9-9 plan puts in to place some of the policies of the FairTax, I hate it less than I hate our current system.

Oh, and for those of you who think that Herman can't possibly get elected... The latest Rasmussen poll begs to differ.

Herman CAIN 2012 web site

iOS 5

2011-10-13T16:53:00.001-05:00

I installed iOS 5 on my iPhone 3GS. It was a rough start, but I am happy with the end result.
For the last several iterations of the iOS on my 3GS has really slowed it down. The latest 4.3.5, slowed down my phone so much that I was thinking Apple was purposely slowing down the 3G series phones to force them to upgrade to the 4S. Unlike Microsoft that benifits from speeding up old hardware, Apple requires new products to be moving all of the time to keep their stock price up, and their company solvent, as no one can install their OS or use their software on anything other than Apple provided hardware... and Jobs said that Bill Gates was too uptight.. So slowing down older hardware would be right in their best interests, and therefore not a large logical leap to assume it was happening.

With iOS5, I found that my phone not only performs much faster, the battery life and the signal strength seem to have improved as well. I can't yet tell about calls dropped, as I have not had the time to really test that particular annoyance of the iPhone out completely. Weather this is simply a new algorithm used to compute the signal and battery strength I have no idea. I do remember seeing my signal strength greatly improve when I installed iOS4, only to be disappointed later when I found out that Apple was displaying strength greater than what the strength really was. This could be more of the same, but I want to believe that Apple has improved their software and thus found ways to improve their power usage, and to detect signal.

The new features are very welcome, especially the new camera features. The camera can now be accessed from the locked screen and you can take a photo by pressing the up button on the volume hard button. Infinitely easier to take a photo of yourself using this method than trying to find the soft button. I would always miss and end up in the photo album...

The new notification center is also very cool. You get a plethora of app data in there accessed by simply pulling it down from the top where the clock usually is. I know this is a feature they stole from Android, but it is a welcome addition.
Being able to choose how notifications are done is a great change as well. You can have your less important push notifications sent to a banner rather than to the non modal alert box. Very nice very good.
Apple is pushing iCloud, but I really am not very interested in that. I might be later, but right now... Meh.
The final new feature that I really like is that you no longer need to attach the phone to iTunes to update the software. This is a BIG help. However it kind of spooks me, because of my experience with updating my phone to iOS5.

During the install, my phone crashed, and I had to restore it back to factory preset, then I had to restore my settings and Apps. Then I had to put those apps back in to their folders. That took a long time and it sucked. Double sucked... If I were performing this update with out iTunes, would I be out of luck? With iTunes, I get a backup and I can restore the phone to somewhat of a state that it was in before. With out iTunes, will the phone just puke and then be dead? Something to think about... I know you are thinking, what about the backup that is made on iCloud. Think about it, what if I do a phone update somewhere I don't have access to a computer with iTunes for some time. Without the computer, I can't set the phone back to factory then do the restore of the phone. Will the phone just be toast until I can find some computer to plug it in? Or does the phone update by throwing everything in to memory... Sounds very inefficient, and lots of security problems come immediately to mind, but that never bothered Apple before...

All in all, good update, and I reccomend it for all of the iPhone 3GS users out there. With this update I think I can put off getting the next version of the iPhone until iPhone 5 comes out.

Bullying, Your Child, and The Martial Arts

2011-09-17T09:01:00.000-05:00

Bullying is a phenomenon that is as old as sentience. It is one of those topics that is very difficult for parents to deal with, because it involves the ugly side of human nature. As a parent, you want to keep your children from the ugliness of life for as long as possible. You wish to preserve the innocence and sweetness of the child. This is an understandable goal. One that all good people share. However, by not addressing the bad, you may inadvertently destroy that very sweetness that you dearly wish to preserve.

Who am I to say such things? Am I a parent? No. I am an Uncle who only gets to see his nieces and nephews when their parents decide to post pictures on Facebook (no, you can't be my friend... unless I know you, or an existing friend vouches for you, then you can), but I am the guy you take your children to when the bullying has gotten so bad that you feel something must be done. I am not going to look at bullying from a parental point of view. That's not my job and way outside my experience. I am going to take a look at bullying from a psychological point of view and how Martial Arts can help you and your children deal with bullying.
Oh, so you have some sort of training and qualifications in Psychology? No... In college I actually lead a petition to get Psychology removed from the science buildings, because it wasn't really a science... It was more of an art. Science requires repeatable data to prove phenomena. In this way Science can describe the macro and the micro phenomena. Psychology is very good at describing human nature in the general sense, but falls rather flat when it comes to the individual. This is good for us because we will look at what Psychology says about bullying in the general sense.

So first, what is bullying? What separates it from teasing? What makes a bully do what they do?

Bullying is described by the following three criteria.

Power inequality
Repetition
Cold, calculated intent to cause harm

These things are very important. Why? Because it is important to separate bullying from teasing. Teasing happens in life, and being able to laugh at a tease, and to return a tease is a fundamental social skill. Teasing is not done coldly. There is an emotional element. The vast majority of the time, the teaser does not mean to hurt the teasee's feelings. The times outside the vast majority the teaser is looking to pick a fight... That is another blog post, though.

So what do we have with the three criteria? Power inequality. Let's face it, the weak do not pick on the strong. Weakness can come in a number of forms: physical weakness, you are weaker or smaller than someone else; mental weakness, you are not as intelligent as someone else; weakness of the heart, you think yourself weak (lack of self esteem or self confidence). Any of these things a bully can pick up on and attack. The bully will be in the superior position, the one being bullied in the inferior.

Repetition. Once the bully finds out that their target can be bullied, they will repeat the bullying over and over. It is never a one and done situation. The bully will attempt to maintain the power inequality, and continue the bullying.

Cold, calculated intent to cause harm. The bully feels nothing for the one being bullied. They are a target. So the bully coldly goes about the business of bullying. The bully will try to inflict damage, in any way that damage can be inflicted both physical and mental.

Now that we know what bullying is, what can we do to stop it? First and foremost, the best way to stop bullying is not to be a target for the bully. That means letting your child know what bullying is and how to avoid it. It means teaching your child to stand up for themselves. Confident people are rarely bullied. Why? It is extraordinarily difficult to get the vital power inequality on a confident person. Only physical power inequality can suffice, and most confident people are willing to take a beating to prove that they will not be dominated easily. Bullies, for the most part, won't take the time to attempt to break a confident person down. There are easier targets. So what builds confidence and self esteem? Doing estimable things. Overcoming adversity. Where can you find a safe environment where a child can do estimable things and overcome adversity?? MARTIAL ARTS!!!!

In the world of Martial Arts, you must understand that, like I have said in earlier posts, martial artists have an inherent sense of insecurity, most of the time this is because most martial artists were bullied as children. They turned to martial arts to fortify and strengthen themselves so that they would never be bullied again. The rest are athletes who found a neat way to compete against others, and were never bullied, because they are confident people. Their insecurity comes from their fear of failure.Anyway, of these two groups, I want to focus first on the group that was bullied. This group can be further broken down in to those that wish to instill confidence and strength in to their students, and those that, finding themselves now in a position of power inequality, scream and yell and bully their own students to "make them strong." Stay away from the latter. They are easy to spot.
Enough about instructors. The baisic rule is the same in life as it is in finding a good instructor... Stay away from douchebags.

Moving on to arts. What to teach children to teach them to overcome adversity, build their confidence, all the while giving them skills to defeat a bully should they be attacked. In my opinion, there is only one type of art to consider. Grappling arts. Don't get me wrong. I love the striking arts, but in today's school environments, there are no tolerance policies on violence. Grappling arts teach position dominance, and it is easier to suspend a student for landing a jab-cross-hook flying knee combination than for holding another child down in side control. Grappling arts are good as well because they can be put in to practice quicker than striking arts, they can be practiced full speed with out risk of injury, and the child builds confidence and self esteem by escaping from inferior positions. Grappling arts also teach how, with the use if leverage, a smaller weaker person can defeat a bigger stronger person. Exactly the kind of thing needed for the weaker person to get the upper hand on the stronger bully.

Three main arts deal with grappling Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and good old fashioned western wrestling. Of those three I am partial to Judo and BJJ, with Judo being my most preferred art for children. Judo focuses on throwing the opponent to the ground and holding him there for an extended period of time. BJJ teaches submissions right away, and, in my opinion, it is best if children do not attempt to choke or break bones on the school yard. Judo gets the bully to the ground, and keeps them there until a teacher or adult can break up the scuffle. There is also nothing like not being able to escape from an inferior position to humble an opponent.
It is very important that the school that you are taking your child to teaches the morality of the use of force. It is important that you reinforce that morality in your home. The tenets will center around holding yourself, the fighter, to a higher standard of the rules. They will be about the strong protecting the weak, and only using the art to defend one's self or a weaker person from harm. Learning the arts will create that ever important power inequality and create a bully where once there was none. The school will teach that it is OK to fight in certain situations. It is important that you realize that violence must be met with violence in situations where words will not work. It is vitally important that you teach your child that it is OK to defend themselves and others against the bully.

A little bit now on what makes a bully. The bully is most likely a social outcast of their own peer group. Let's face it, would you want to hang out with someone who constantly picked on the weaker people? I wouldn't either. The bully acts on the that power inequality because it makes them feel good to dominate another person. There are many triggers that could make make the bully seek to bully, but the result is always the same. They like the feeling of domination. It is this feeling of domination that must be attacked for the bullying to stop. You can't dominate someone with indomitable spirit. It is up to you, the parent, to build that indomitable spirit. Martial Arts can help.

State of Amateur MMA

2011-09-11T14:13:00.000-05:00

I went to the fights last night. It was a small show here in Oklahoma. It was awful. Just terrible. This show wasn't really a meat grinder show where you have just a couple of set fights and the rest are set up that night. It was a show that had several set fights, and many of the fights were for the amateur championships. In other words, they were set fights with guys who have had more than one fight, and are supposed to be training. With this kind of notice and experience, I would expect these guys to be working hard on their game, to show some immaturity, but to look like trained fighters. They did not... For the most part they looked like two guys in a back yard trying to make it look like they train UFC.As guys train to fight professionally there are a few things that I expect them to do before getting in to the ring. They need to have these things down to have success in MMA:
Offence:

Know how to throw the basic three punches. Jab, cross, hook.
Know how to throw a good low and middle level kick
Know how, and when to throw elbows in the clinch and on the ground
Know how, and when to throw knees in the clinch
Know how to do one consistent takedown.
Know how to do basic submissions from the major ground positions. (armbar from mount and guard, RNC from back mount, Americana from side control)

Defense:

Know how to do a basic punch parry, and cover blocks.
Know how to check kicks
Know how to hold someone in guard, to avoid being punched
Know how to move to get yourself off of the cage in the clinch.
Know basic escapes from the major ground positions. (Mount, side control, half guard, back mount)

These are the bare basics, however if you know these bare basics, or have some idea of them, you will have a much better chance of success over the other beginner fighters. If you step in to the cage with no real knowledge of your craft, and just expect to win by "throwing bombs," the sad news is that someone with knowledge of the above is going to hurt you badly. What is going to happen is that you are going to gas out quicker, and you will often find yourself in positions where you can not escape.Anyway, I felt quite cheated after the show, because for my $35 ticket, I really did not get to see any skill at all. I saw a couple of guys with raw talent, but no real skill. The worst part about it was, I paid money to see the show, where only four guys (two fights) actually got paid at the end of the night. $35 is an expensive ticket, and I feel that the promoter really took advantage of the spectators and the fighters. And this is the state of amateur MMA. There are no amateur rankings. There are very few advantages for fighting amateur MMA. Why do it? The state of competition in the smaller shows is such that you will be fighting about the same level of skill in the low pro ranks as you will in the amateur ranks. Why not train a little harder, with a good team, and just enter the pros? You get insurance from the commission, and you walk out of the arena with a little coin in your pocket. If the concern is about getting ring experience before risking a pro record, there are other ways to obtain experience. Make your young fighters do an amateur boxing match, or a kickboxing match. Have them do a BJJ tournament both gi and no-gi. Get them ready for the fight by drilling the components. The young guys will learn very quickly on which parts of their game they need to work. Then when they step in to the cage for the first time, they will have been in a situation where someone has been trying to punch or kick them with full force. They have been on the ground working to escape from bad positions, or have learned how to hold down an opponent who is trying to escape with their whole being. Until there is a set and fully support rule set for amateur MMA, I would suggest that fighters not participate. Prepair for your MMA career in other ways where you can protect your pro MMA record, yet get the valuable experience needed to succeed.

My New Dojo!

2011-08-20T18:44:00.001-05:00

Felonious Munk Tells It Like It Is

2011-08-11T08:52:00.002-05:00

And it is hilarious!!!

Animals Being Dicks

2011-07-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

Animals are dicks...

And the pièce de résistance

Being a White Belt Is Hard

2011-07-25T10:33:00.000-05:00

Being a white belt, especially in an art like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is very difficult. It is very easy to get discouraged, to become disillusioned, and to give up.
When you face people who have been at class just a couple of months, or even days, longer than you, and you come up short ever time, the thought of just packing it in is very attractive.
You feel that the upper belts are picking on you, that everyone picks up the movements faster than you, and, worst of all, you can not do all of the exercises in the warm up.

My advice... relax, and take a deep breath. Remember your place and your job in class. What is that? To learn. To ask questions. To participate.

Because I am just a helpful guy I have a few things that you should concentrate on in every class.

EVERYBODY has been where you are at. Even Roger Gracie started with a white belt around his waist and a blue belt smashing him in side control. This time of struggle and hardship binds you in the fellowship of the art. It also will cement your friendships with those you train with. Look to your fellow white belts for a sense of solidarity. I guarantee you if there is a blue belt that smashes you, or a purple who always catches you in the same submission, the other white belts have experienced the same. Find out what they did to counter or escape!
I have yet to meet a person of any rank not to want to talk about the submission or sweep that they just pulled off. If you are the one being submitted or swept, ask the submitter or sweeper what was it that they did, and why they were able to pull it off. Chances are you will find a trend in the answers and be able to improve on another aspect of your game.
Your main job in class is to ask questions. Ask so many questions that the instructor tells you to shut up, be quiet for just a couple of moments, then ask some more. I have watched the basic guard pass being demonstrated perhaps 100 times. I find something new each time I see it, and every question reveals a different point of view on the pass. Have no fear of looking or sounding stupid. You are a white belt, and are supposed to be looking and sounding stupid. Might as well perpetuate the stereotype. Ask the question.
The reason that you are getting swept, smashed, submitted, etc is because you are doing something wrong. Most of the time it is because there is something wrong with your base. Concentrate on your base. When you do techniques in class watch carefully the base of the instructor as he/she demonstrates the movements. Notice how low they keep their hips, or that they always have at least three points of base when executing a movement. Notice how they remove their opponent's base to pull off the technique. It is all about base.
There is no magic bullet. Sorry. I wish there was. However, perfect technique is the closest thing you can get. Try to lean the techniques and their details, so you can pull them off. The best example of this is the escape from side control. Getting out of this position is one of the more difficult things there is. The more experienced the guy is on top, the more difficult it is to escape. The heavier the guy is on top, the more difficult it is to escape. Only technique can save you. So pay attention in class, and learn the ways to escape. Ask questions!
You are going to get smashed. You are going to get submitted. You are going to get swept. Accept this as part of your training, and try to figure out what happened before the smash, submission, or sweep to figure out how to avoid it in the future. Part of being a white belt is learning humility. It is learning how to leave your ego at the door.
Above all, your time as a white belt will teach you about overcoming adversity, and it will teach you about yourself. There will come a time when you are being smashed, you can't escape, you can't breathe, you will be as helpless as you have ever been in your life. What you do in that moment will reveal your innermost character flaws, and teach you more about yourself than you ever thought possible. If you don't like what you found there, you will have opportunities to improve, and to become the person that you want to be.
Your general fitness will improve the more you come to class. You will eventually be able to do all of the warm exercises. You will eventually be able to roll for the entire time. You will eventually be able to compete, physically, with the other students in the class. Your body will improve itself according to the stress put upon it on a continual basis. You will be surprised how your cardio and your strength will improve. BUT it will only improve if you consistently show up for class. That means at least 3 times a week. Most guys you see improving by leaps and bounds are showing up 5 or more times a week. Mat time maters!

Being a white belt is hard, it is also one of the best times in your progression. There are few expectations on you. No one is looking to roll through you or submit you as a notch on their bed. No one is looking to you to have the answers. No one is surprised when you make a silly mistake.

Have fun, and try hard. Participate!

Don't Be A Dick

2011-07-20T13:07:00.000-05:00

In the video "Jeremy" was open carrying an unloaded firearm. This is 100% legal in the state of California. The Police officer, one of the awesome ones by the way, knew the law and was well within his rights as a Police officer to ensure that the man open carrying his pistol was complying with the law.

Here is the problem that I had with "Jeremy." The cop new the law. Jeremy did not. The cop, wanting to cut what was obviously a guy looking to make a cool YouTube video loose, let Jeremy go without incident, but could have lit Jeremy up with multiple charges. Here is why.

Jeremy wanted to flex all of his Constitutional rights in front of the cops and his camera. He wanted the cop to freak out, so that everybody would post "you are a lover of Freedom, Jeremy" comments on YouTube. He handled all of that perfectly until the cop asked Jeremy for his ID. Jeremy remarked that he had no ID on him. This is perfectly fine. You do not need to have your government issued identification on you while walking down the street in California. You don't even need to have your ID on you if you are walking down the street with a holstered unloaded gun in California. HOWEVER, the Supreme Court said in Hibel v. 6th Judicial District Court Of Nevada, Humbolt County that you MUST provide your name to Police officers should the state have legislation that requires it. Guess what? California has legislation that requires it. So, while Jeremy is well within his rights not to have ID on him, by refusing to let the Police officer know what his name is, he is violating the law. Not only is he breaking the law, by carrying a pistol and refusing to identify himself to law enforcement, he is committing a felony. The cop gave Jeremy every opportunity to identify himself, had him caught cold on the felony charge, then decided that the kid simply wanted to be a dick to get a reaction. The cop could have cuffed and stuffed Jeremy right there.

This just gets to the whole point of the open carry thing. While it is your right to carry your pistol openly and in full view, why would you do it?? John and Jane Q Public freak out at the mention of a gun, when they see law abiding civilians carrying it puts them in to overdrive. Why do you want to do this??? It is far better to work for a Shall Issue Concealed Carry law in your state. Best of all worlds, you get to carry your gun, police and public are not freaking out, because they don't know you are carrying, AND you are not the first person shot if a bad guy actually does come up in your grill intending you and others harm.

In my opinion the whole open carry thing is a dick move to get a rise out of people. In getting a rise out of people you only serve to hurt the cause, not to help it. Normal people and the police don't support things that first and foremost make them poop their pants. The last thing the movement needs is an actual direct analogies to the Wild West; because, let's face it, the only place normal people have seen individuals with iron on their hips is in Wild West Movies.

Don't be a dick, take the class and pack concealed.

Hold Yourself To a Higher Standard

2011-07-17T10:44:00.000-05:00

I have not been on a date in a long time. I have been married for over 10 years, so the dating world may as well be Mars for me. I was single at one time though, and I sort of remember it being kind of fun, but filled with a lot of useless power grabbing and mind games. You get tired of that in married life about five or so years in to it, and things go smoother, the power grabbing is just more subtle... maybe you just get better at it, or you learn your partner's moves so that it is more of a dance than a fist fight... I digress.

I was out with a young guy from my gym last night, and we got to talking about his situation with the ladies. He had been seeing a girl for a month, dating here and there, really liked her and asked her to be his girlfriend. The girl says that he is great and all, but she is kind of seeing him and another guy at the same time, and she has feelings for both of them. She wants to keep things as they are right now and see how they play out with both of them. The guy was a little upset by this, but then thought that if he was the better man, she would eventually realize this and choose him.

Being the gentle soul that I am, I told him that he was an idiot, and needed to rid himself of this parasite as soon as humanly possible. As for my reasons... I like myself. I think that I am a good person, despite my many faults. I believe that I am deserving of good things in life, and I am willing to work for these good things. In other words, I am worth "it."
When dating someone, and you are looking for a relationship, you must hold yourself, and the one you are wishing to be with, to a higher standard. This is not to say that you or the other person must be perfect, but, because the relationship is for you, you, and the other person, must be willing to put the time and work in to make the relationship work. Given this example of a woman who has feelings with two guys, and wants to "see how things play out," she is unwilling to put any time or work in to either one of the guys. When things get a little rocky she wants a fallback guy. The question I posed to my young friend is thus: Do you want to be with someone who wants to be with you, or do you want to wait to be the fallback guy?

In my opinion, if you are a person looking for a monogamous relationship, you need to find someone else who is in to monogamous relationships. This will not include people who date lots of people at the same time. This does not mean that it is wrong to date lots of people. Quite the contrary. It is OK to date lots of people, however it is NOT OK to carry on multiple relationships at the same time. That is not someone who is looking to be monogamous, and will only lead you to heartbreak.

The person looking to be in a relationship is one that dates many, but will hold on to a single steady for while as they test what it would be like to be in a relationship. This person will have the opinion that it is far better to break up with someone first before cheating on them.

I had a very similar situation when I was in the dating world. After she said that she wanted to see how things played out, I wished her well, and said that I was sorry she felt that way. It hurt to walk away, but I did just that. I knew that because she was playing the game this way, she had a massive flaw in her character that I wanted no part of. It meant that she was indecisive about her life, that she had no empathy, and that she cared little for my company. I hold myself to a higher standard, and believe that my company is worth much more than she did.
In the end it was not the loss of her that hurt, it was the realization that there are those out there that simply don't care for you as much as you do for them, or for yourself. A good lesson.

I told my young friend that if he believed that he was worth "it." I needed to find someone else who also believed that they were worth "it." That was the good thing that he needed to wait for, not this person with such a gaping character flaw.
Will he take my advice? Probably not, and this chick will end up ripping his guts out. I will be there to buy him a beer or seven afterward. A bitter pill to swallow, but we all must, at one time, swallow it down in order to grow.

Why Is Ground Skill So Important for Women?

2011-07-15T15:34:00.000-05:00

I love these old school videos. This is a NHB fight that took place in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym. The back story is that the guy is a Muay Thai fighter who took the school up on their open challenge. The head of the school said fine, you fight her. Apparently, she is a white belt with about a year's worth of experience.

First things first, the guy completely underestimated her. You can see in the opening seconds that he simply stands there and takes her best shot. He returns with some kicks that nearly knock her off of her feet. This is typical of Man on Woman fights. The man will simply over power the woman. The she gets the take down, and something miraculous happens.

She was getting owned in the stand up game, on the ground she quickly passes the non existent guard, mounts, and starts to mess homeboy up. When the dude is able to reverse position she immediately locks on a triangle choke. Just before the dude is about to go to sleep he power slams his way to an escape. All she had to do at that point was to grab a leg, but she lets him go.

Buster Brown stands there looking nearly dead, and very out of breath. He is also bleeding from his nose and cuts to his melon. Unable to defend, she takes him down, passes, mounts, and easily slaps on the armbar. He taps.

Ground skill is the ONLY way a woman is beating a man in a fight. He is simply too strong. This video shows in graphic detail how a smaller woman can defeat a much larger, and even trained, man in a fight. She had the skills to win. He did not.

Get your womans to the BJJ gym!!! Learn them how to defend themselves!!!

Easy and Very Effective Sweep From Full Guard!

2011-07-13T15:16:00.000-05:00

I found this sweep the other day, and it is simply awesome. Everybody knows the basic sweep from closed guard where you grip under the close leg and kick the guy over. This is a very nice variation on that same sweep, but by grabbing the far leg, the opponent does not necessarily know they are in danger. As always with this type of sweep you have to be sure to have the arm. With out it, no sweepy!!!

Desperately Needed in Today's Society

2011-07-13T12:13:00.002-05:00

Does Casey Anthony Verdict Prove that the System is Broken?

2011-07-06T12:22:00.000-05:00

Casey Anthony was vilified, and convicted in the press. She lied at every turn. She was out partying when her daughter was "missing." She got a tattoo saying "Beautiful Life", again, AFTER her daughter was missing. She staged an elaborate cover up with fake jobs, fake child abuse, and fake people. It seemed that her eventual conviction in a court of law was a foregone conclusion. The jury's quick deliberation seemed to be a confirmation of her guilt, and people waited for the hammer to drop on her. Only, the hammer didn't drop. The jury came back not guilty. What?? This is outrageous!!!!! Something must be done!!
Is it outrageous? Does something need to be done?

First is it outrageous? Yes. This woman was obviously involved in her child's death. HOWEVER, it is to the State to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Its case is a theory about what happened. They then must use factual evidence to show that their theory is the correct one beyond a reasonable doubt.
So, what do they need to prove their theory? Typically the magic three things the State must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, is that the accused must have had motive, means, and opportunity to commit the crime. In order to prove this they must find evidence to support that the accused was in the place when the crime occurred (opportunity). They must determine the cause of death of the victim, so that they can determine what kind of weapon was used, then show that the accused knew how to operate the weapon and that they could use that weapon to commit the crime (means). Finally, they must show that the accused had some reason to do the crime (motive).
No mater what the accused does after a crime is committed, if you can't prove those three things, you can't prove your case. As the State, you can not just shotgun theories about how and why a crime, especially capital murder, is committed. You must determine one sound theory, and prove that theory to the point that no reasonable doubt can be found.

I keep repeating this phrase "no reasonable doubt." This is the highest standard of evidence in law. It means that the jury must be convinced absolutely, with every piece of their decision backed by solid evidence. If there is any doubt, any at all, that the evidence does not explain, the accused can not be declared guilty.

In the Casey Anthony trial, the State said that Anthony's motive for the murder was that she was a party girl and that the baby was cramping her style. However, the jurors said that the State failed to show that wanting to be a party girl was enough of a motive for her to kill her baby.
The jurors also said that the State failed to produce evidence for the cause of death. With out a cause of death, there is no means. With out means, how could the State prove that Anthony killed the baby? How can they prove that the baby was murdered at all?

Now to the second part... Does something need to be done? Well... what are our alternatives? In the United States of America our founding documents grantee the right of the accused a trial by jury. Why? Doesn't this get in the way of justice? No. It gets in the way of the State.

Part of the social contract that the governed enters in to with any form of government is that the governed remits to the government the sole ability to deprive an individual with life, liberty, and property. With out this, the State is powerless. See Somalia. Individual warlords rule their area and act with impunity to take life, liberty, and property.
In any other major form of government, there are no checks on the State. If the state believes that you are guilty, off to the headsman you go. The State does what it wants, nothing is in its way.
In the American, and now commonly in the free world, form of justice, a jury of individuals can step in front of the State, with all of its power, and say, "You must provide us with compelling evidence of this person's guilt, or set them free." In the case of Casey Anthony, 12 people stood in front of the power and majesty of the State of Florida, and said, "You did not prove your case. Let this woman go." And the State did just that. Common place for us today, but this form of justice has only been around for 222 years.
In defense for this form of justice, Benjamin Franklin stated "...it is better one hundred guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer."
If you change the system, and put the State in complete control of justice, the people's rights are trampled. The death of this child is tragic, and Casey Anthony most likely had some very large part in her death. However, the State did not do its job. She must go free.

Independence Day Follies

2011-07-05T07:39:00.000-05:00

I had a great Independence Day! Earlier last month the Brazilian head instructor at the gym asked what do people do on Independence Day in the US. We said that mostly they do BBQ parties. The instructor thought it would be a great idea to do a special class then do a Brazilian BBQ. The students thought that it was something that would be fun.
So, I went to the gym for the special BJJ class, which was a quick warm up and sparring for two hours. Fun, but it wore me out. After that we had the Brazilian BBQ which was steaks, chicken, and sausages seasoned with Brazilian sea salt. Very tasty. It was a lot of fun to hang out with the other students, wives, and instructors, and get to know everybody as people. Being that there were foreigners there, the inevitable questions came out, with the inevitable wrong answers... I didn't mean to be a know it all, but it seemed that I was with all of the incorrect answers to the basic questions. Eventually, the questions were directed at me from both foreign and domestic sources.
I don't begrudge the Americans or the American school system for their lack of knowledge. Really this kind of stuff is just glossed over in schools, and it really doesn't pertain to anybody's daily life. I am kind of a history buff, so I like to read about these things. Anyway these are some of the myths, misconceptions, and wrong answers that we went over.

July 4th 1776 was when the Revolutionary war ended/began.
Nope. The revolutionary war is typically said to have started April 18th, 1775 with the seizing of munitions at Concord, Massachusetts. Really the war had being going on in Massachusetts since 1773 with several terrorist raids and small skirmishes here and there, but April 18, 1775 was when the open war with two recognizable forces started fighting.

The war ended in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris (but not ratified by the United States until January of 1774...).
In fact, July 4th was the date when the Declaration of Independence was ratified by the Continental Congress, and sent to King George. Many years of war were ahead, and the outcome was far from certain.

The war ended cleanly after the last battle and the troops went home.
Not really. Yes the British troops went home, but a major ally to the British were the Native American tribes, who the British continually supported, and the new United States government had to fight a continuing war with for the next 25 years. Along with this the British continually would set upon American ships, claim them for the crown and press them in to British service. All of these hostilities finally ended (sort of) with the War of 1812 (which ended in 1815...).

George Washington wrote the Declaration of Independence
This one kind of shocked me, but oh well...
The "Committee of Five" officially wrote the Declaration of Independence, with Thomas Jefferson being its primary author. The Committee of Five consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Rodger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.
I must admit to my shame, that I never remember Robert Livingston and Rodger Sherman. Their place in history has been outshone by one of the worlds greatest inventors and authors, and two future Presidents.

In fact George Washington was busy fighting a war, and the only association he had with the Declaration was to urge that it be ratified to garner support from the people for his army. Washington did not sign the Declaration.

The Declaration of Independence is a Christian document
Nope. Jefferson put many references to the Christian god in the document, which Franklin, a deist, rewrote as "Creator." Franklin was very worried that the staunch Christians from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania would press to form the country with Christianity as its official religion. Franklin liked the way that Jefferson had noted that the unalienable rights came not from government, but from someplace else. Using the generic word Creator rather than God, made the document accessible to any religion. To the Jews/Christians, creator meant God. To the Muhammadans (word used at the time for the Muslims) it meant Allah. So on and so forth.

The Americans won because they used unconventional warfare against the British
Not really. The unconventional warfare was mainly used in the south to keep the large British force from uniting their forces and destroying Washington's Army. The war was won by the Americans eventually getting their act together and fighting a war of attrition that they knew they would win especially with the British being so far from home, and fighting another war with France. After Lord Cornwallis was defeated at Yorktown, the British just got tired of the war, ran out of money, cut their losses and ended it.

The Revolutionary War is a fascinating time in history. The men who fought it, the battles, the politics, it is as an exciting time in the past that has ever been.

The More Things Change...

2011-06-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

The more they stay the same.
An interesting movement in the smart phone market is playing out between the Android OS phones and the iPhone. The Windows 7 phone that I thought would take much of the market share is out of the picture, because Microsoft can't figure out that it is the apps that make the phone, and for apps you need a centralized place to get them. Too little too late MS!!

Anyway, back in the good old days, Microsoft and Apple, lead by Steve Jobs, duked it out for OS supremacy on the PC. Apple insisted that you had to buy their hardware with their OS. Configuration and software development was strictly regulated. For innovations in hardware you had to wait for the latest generation of the Macintosh.
Microsoft, on the other hand, allowed their OS to be hardware agnostic. Many different hardware companies used the DOS OS. Hardware innovation moved out of the factory and directly to the consumer nearly directly. Software development and configuration was wide open.

The result of the War of the OS? Apple was nearly destroyed as a company, Microsoft actually saved the company to preserve their Office suite for Macs. Then, the iPod came out and revolutionized Apple as a company.

After the iPod gave Apple the revenue stream to thrive as a company the CEO, Steve Jobs again, went for a market that no one in a million years thought Apple would want to dive in to. Jobs wanted to combine the PC with the iPod, with the mobile phone. The result was the iPhone. It revolutionized the industry. The iPhone's touch screen interface changed all user interfaces to come. It shook up EVERYTHING. Just as an example of how far the revolution has gotten, even the complex GPS devices in aircraft avionic suites are now all touch screen based, with icons very similar to that of the iPhone.
Apple was again on the top of the heap, but they had a familiar restriction. The iPhone could not be customized and software development was restricted. You can only run the iOS on hardware that Apple provides.

The rest of the industry struggled to catch up, and an interesting thing happened. Google released their Android mobile phone OS. It was hardware agnostic. It could be configured in all sorts of different ways. Software development was wide open. BOOM!! The popularity of the phone took off as, just as in the OS wars, hardware innovations went directly to the Android consumer as hardware manufacturers vied for market share. Apple, again, was left to play catch up, implementing hardware changes on their latest phones that were already obsolete when the new version of the iPhone was in development.

As the release of the iPhone 5 looms sometime late Q3 early Q4 of 2011, speculation is that it will be delayed to upgrade hardware that the latest generations of the Android clones have already released. Apple is slipping, and will soon fall to the wayside just as they did when they lost the OS war. And it is for the very same reason.

I think this fatal flaw of Apple comes from its CEO, and spiritual leader, Steve Jobs. Steve is a control freak of epic proportions. His products must be his in all ways. Design, look, feel, configuration, and development. He can not stand the fact that someone other than him may want to change something so elementary as what tone is sounded when a text is received. iOS has been through many major and countless minor revisions, and STILL there are restrictions on this very basic function.

It was fun while it lasted Apple. I hope that some other company will be there to shake up the industry like you did, to drive the next generation of innovation. Perhaps they will be a little less control freakish and will allow the industry to feed off their innovation.

Gym Drama

2011-06-21T15:52:00.000-05:00

In the world of Martial Arts words and concepts like strength, honor, and humility are thrown around as the hallmark of arts and gyms around the world. The truth is that those that seek to learn martial arts, in modern times, are looking to fill some sort of insecurity. They are looking to learn how to dominate another man. Those that find their identity in their martial art, especially the competitive arts, tend to have the athlete's lust for the cheering crowd, with a healthy dose of this insecurity that drove them not only to the martial arts, but to use their art to actually step on to the competition field and test themselves.

The training atmosphere of a competitive gym forges friendships and trust within the group. You must trust one another to let go when someone taps out. You must trust that your partner won't knock out completely out when a lesser skilled fighter trains with the more skilled fighter. A mutual respect grows, as well as a sense of loyalty. When someone in the group does something that you don't expect, a feeling of betrayal is felt. Just as if a loved one did something to deeply wound you, the sense of betrayal is intense and deep. Couple that with the inborn insecurity that pulls the martial artist to the arts, and you have a bunch of guys who act like kindergartners when something does not go their way.

Thus we have the situation at my gym... Very much he said she said at this point, but what it boils down to is that the owner of the gym will not pay for something, unrelated to work or fighting, that one of the instructors thinks they should pay for. Feelings are hurt, and the instructor has decided to leave the gym. Bad blood all around. Both the owner and the instructor are feeling the sting of deep betrayal.

What sucks is that it is the members and fighters of the gym that will suffer, as we loose a friend and a mentor. What started out as such a great place with world class instruction in the stand up and the ground arts, has become just another gym.

In an earlier post, I remarked how good it was to be learning again from the source. In Muay Thai I was learning from a world champion, as well as a guy who has trained and fought in Thailand. In BJJ I was training with a guy who is a black belt from one of the best and well respected schools in Brazil. With the Muay Thai instructor leaving, the Muay Thai instruction comes from just another MMA fighter who has trained some kicks. It is not Muay Thai. It is MMA "Stand up", or Kickboxing heavily flavored with a reluctance to clinch brought on by the fear of the take down. In other words... Nothing special, nothing unique.

Unfortunately, all of this could have been avoided, had the owner of the gym clearly stated his expectations for the instructor, or if the instructor could see the point of view of the gym owner. Instead, they both decided to put on their fighter faces and become immovable objects. One must dominate the other, and the situation has tore the special uniqueness of the gym apart.

To me, now, this is just another BJJ gym. Sure, I like the instruction. I will most likely stay there, but I am unsure if I will stay in what was the Muay Thai class. I really don't see why I should pay the extra money for a class with an instructor who has less experience that I do. The cost that I pay for the kickboxing classes is significant, and without the world champion there to train with what is the extra value that I get? I am glad I only did a three month contract. I will train with the MMA guy, and see if I want to stick with it at the end of the summer.

CNN Republican Debate

2011-06-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

Last night CNN decided who they think should win the Republican nomination, and pretty much ignored the rest. Most of the questions were shot at Mit Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Michelle Bachmann, with Herman Cain and Ron Paul virtually ignored.

A lot of what is going on is that the producers at CNN, and the rest of the media, wish to marginalize the Libertarian candidates. These candidates are seen as kooks of the fringe right, and therefore should be excluded from any of the "serious" questions. And so Romney was asked about ObamaCare, and Herman Cain was, again asked about why he would not allow a Muslim on to his Cabinet. This is, of course, an attempt to paint Herman Cain as a bigot by using a misquote taken during an earlier interview. Mr. Cain was saying that he would not allow a Muslim committed to Sheria law on his cabinet, just as he would not allow a Communist, or a Catholic who's first commitment was to the Pope on his cabinet. BUT, it is always quoted as Herman Cain would not allow a Muslim on his cabinet.

The sky is falling. We have spent, and more importantly, printed money to the point of fiscal exhaustion. The country is bankrupt, and the only way out of the mess is through self reliance. Not the collective self, the individual self. The 70 or so year experiment in American collectivism is a dismal failure, and it is high time we return to the freedom that our founding documents guarantee. Herman Cain or Ron Paul will be a good first step in leading us back to freedom. But, there were stuck in the back of the bus answering silly questions such as Deep Dish or Thin Crust. Why was he not asked about the FairTax? Why not ask about his plan to stimulate the economy? By the way, his plan to stimulate the economy is to offer a tax amnesty on funds held in overseas accounts. This is an estimated $13 to $17 TRILLION dollars. An amnesty is thought to bring about half that back to the U.S. How about a $6.5 trillion dollar injection in to the economy with the Government not having to break a sweat? That is 6 times the amount of the laughable trillion dollar Obama shovel money to government project stimulus that aided in the bankrupting of the country without adding any long term jobs. Kick in the FairTax and a good 90% of that money comes home.

These kinds of ideas are unthinkable to the liberal mind. Letting people keep their money without getting to redistribute that wealth is a concept that is akin to lining up school children and shooting them. Unthinkable. Therefore these kinds of ideas are destroyed as tax cuts for the rich, and telling people that it will "cost" the Government X about of dollars to do.

So, the more acceptable candidates are paraded out. Those that are easy to destroy (Bachmann, Gingrich) and those that will work with liberal side of the field (Romney). Those that will stand up and fight, those that can not be easily destroyed in their personal lives (Cain, Paul) are made to seem as morons, and bigots.

Way to go CNN!

Be Like Han

2011-06-11T17:57:00.002-05:00

I Think Imma Pass OUT!!

2011-06-01T12:18:00.001-05:00

A man and a woman recently joined my gym. They simply joined at the same time, they are not related in any way... Well... I do live in Oklahoma, so they may be related some how (hahahahahahahaha Oklahoma jokes are funny). Anyway, both are morbidly obese people. She weighing about 300lbs, he well over 400lbs. Neither had any martial arts experience before. They knew what the UFC was, but hadn't seen many, they had no idea what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was or what Muay Thai was. I asked them why come to American Top Team, and both said they wanted to try an exercise program, but didn't want to go to an "exercise" gym.
I go to the day classes, and what I have found in every gym I have ever been to, that the day classes usually have a more fit group of people that show up. Mostly because the day classes are smaller, and you get a harder more focused work out. Also, for some reason, the day class people are a tighter knit group than the night people. So the day class people tend to push each other harder, and tend to seek out the other day people that miss class to find out why.
So here are these two new people. They have no idea what they are getting themselves in to. You don't need any equipment to get an intense very difficult work out. (Do 50 squats in place and tell me that it didn't suck.)

Anyway, getting to the point... Everyone in class welcomed the new people, telling them to listen to their bodies, and that we only care that they try. At the start of the warm up we typically run around the mat. Everybody runs at their own pace. Right from the start, after maybe two laps, the woman just stops. She is red in the face and huffing and puffing like she just ran a marathon... And maybe she felt like it. Her fitness level was such that she simply could not keep even a slow pace for very long. The man was doing the same thing not much later. Instead of having them just stop, the instructor had them walk. They thought that they could do this so they started that.
As the body starts to warm up from the run, we do exercises to get the heart rate up. Pushups, burpies, squats, all sorts of stuff. Of course our two new students could not hack it. Instead of not doing anything at all, we just asked them to try. If you can't do 50 squats, can you do 5? If you can't do 25 push ups, can you do one? Can you do one from your knees? Once the two new students learned that the only failure in class was not to participate not to try, they began to attempt the exercises in one form or another. All the while the instructor telling them to listen to their bodies. If they felt any pain, they needed to stop. After the 20 minute warm up was done we have a short session where you stretch on your own. Then we move in to techniques. Clearly, these new people had not exercised 20 minutes in a very long time. The woman was grabbing her side and said, in a very loud voice:
"I think... I think... I think Imma pass out!!!"
After determining that she was not going to pass out we moved on to techniques. They were shown the basics, how to punch, and kick. For every technique that the new people did, the group did maybe 10.
After class I was sure that I would never see the new people again. For not going to an exercise gym, they sure did exercise.
The next time I went to class, there were the two new people. Sore, and stiff, but ready to go. They didn't do any better this class than they did last class, but they knew to listen to their bodies, and to try.

Over the next few weeks, I saw them at class at least twice a week. Working out, enjoying the class, and even starting to joke with the regular class members. About a month after they started, the woman announced that she had to go and buy new clothes, she had dropped nearly 50 lbs since starting the class. The man admitted that he was on his last belt hole, and that he too would soon need to buy new clothes. I remarked to them how they could now run the entire warm up with out stopping, and could do 2 one minute rounds on the Thai pads.
The man said something that hit me as very insightful, he said that the hardest thing he had to figure out was the difference between discomfort and pain. Injury is pain. Working hard in the gym is just discomfort.

This is the power of just trying. Your body hates to work harder than it is used to. It likes to stay where it is comfortable. It takes a conscious will to force the body out of its comfort zone. When out of its comfort zone... It sucks. There is definite discomfort. The body will complain like a 3 year old child that wants candy. The longer the body has been in its comfort zone, the worse the discomfort will be. Then something happens. The body will adapt to the new stress, and soon will incorporate this new stress in to its comfort zone. They you have to do the whole conscious will thing to get it out of its comfort zone again. But if you just try, you can achieve these things.

I admire these two new students. They obviously have not cared about their fitness until now. They obviously were content to stay in their body's comfort zone, until now. The hardest thing about working out, is getting your ass off of the couch. And for those two people, getting their asses off of the couch took some serious guts.
We now use the phrase "I think Imma pass out!" as kind of an inside joke in the day class. No one gets a bigger kick out of it than its originator. She sees it as a milestone to where she was, and how far she has come.

If you are not doing any exercise, or are looking to start an exercise regime, first... See your doctor. Make sure that your body is healthy enough for exercise. Then... try. Slowly run that 1/2 mile, listening to your body the whole way. Find out the difference between discomfort and pain. Keep your self in that discomfort zone, and far away from the pain zone. Pain requires time to heal. Discomfort just needs rest.

Recuse me?? RECUSE YOU!!

2011-05-31T10:10:00.000-05:00

Very soon ObamaCare will be before the Supreme Court of the United States. With out even having to hear arguments, it is assumed that this will be a 5-4 decision against the individual mandate, thus the entire law will be declared unconstitutional. With this decision nearly assured, those on the left are targeting one justice to recuse himself from the case, citing conflict of interest. Who is that justice? Well, the left's perpetual whipping boy, Clarance Thomas.

The left says that Justice Thomas has a conflict of interest because his wife works for an organization that is against ObamaCare. She is compensated for her work. However, as the case that is being brought to the Supreme Court has as the Plaintiff various states in the union, and the Federal Government as the Defendant, and Mrs. Thomas has worked for neither party, it is difficult to point to exactly where the conflict of interest is.

In Supreme court cases in modern times Justices typically hold to two sections of Title 28 of the United States Code (the Judicial Code) provide standards for judicial disqualification or recusal. Section 455, captioned "Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge," provides that a federal judge "shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned." The same section also provides that a judge is disqualified "where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding"
So, normally the justices would recurse themselves in cases where they had a direct financial interest or if their children were lawyers for one of the parties. Examples would be when Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recursed herself from many cases involving telecommunications companies, because she owned stock in one or the other company.

In the case of Justice and Mrs. Thomas, we have an interesting setting. The two are married, but they file separate tax returns. So, in financial disclosure, Justice Thomas has no financial interest in any group that either supports or opposes ObamaCare. The left is then attempting to make the very ironic argument that a man and wife are the same person, regardless of how they file their taxes. They say that because Mrs. Thomas makes money from an unrelated organization that opposes ObamaCare, this means that Justice Thomas has a financial interest in the failure of ObamaCare.

When I look at this argument, it doesn't seem to hold water... Wouldn't Justice Thomas be FOR ObamaCare if his wife makes money in the opposition of the law? If the law is ruled unconstitutional, wouldn't that put his wife out of a job?

Anyway this is all well and good, the left has no legal foot to stand on here, and are reduced to simply putting pressure on Justice Thomas. As if that will work. The guy grew up wishing he could become simply dirt poor, in the Jim Crow south. Worked his way up, and was opposed at every single step of the way. First because of his race, then because of his race and his politics. The guy has a will of solid steel, and you think a a could of whining liberals are going to change his mind?? HA!!

The real question of recusal should be coming from the right. Justice Elena Kagan served as the chief legal advisor to the Administration. As such was intimately involved in the forming of ObamaCare. As such, Justice Kagan has recused herself from several cases in which she advised the Executive branch. There is a direct conflict of interest here in this case as well. However Justice Kagan has not said that she will step down for this particular case.

So, for a law that has very little to do with health care, and everything to do with power, games are being played. Surprise, surprise. In my opinion there is nothing constitutional about the ObamaCare law, and it is likely that the SCOUTS will agree with me. If Kagan and Thomas both recuse themselves, we still end up with a 4-3 majority against the individual mandate. However if Justice Thomas leaves, and Kagan stays, it is likely to be a 4-4 tie, thus the case reverts to the Appellate court 's decision. This is good for the left, because the US Appellate court is notoriously liberal.

You Had To Use Your Gun In Self Defense... Now What?

2011-05-26T13:48:00.000-05:00

Dude broke in to your house while you were in it. He had a gun, you got the drop on him and put 3 well placed .45 hollow points in to him, center mass. Your life and the lives of your family were in danger, and you acted to defend yourself. Now what?

You have a problem you are both victim and aggressor. Your aggression is most likely excusable, however you must be very careful not to say or do something that might get you convicted of a crime. In this respect you must act to defend yourself, and tell the police nothing.
HOWEVER, you are also the victim of a crime and as such you need to let the police know what happened, so that the crime can be investigated, and all subjects apprehended.
So... What do you do?

There is no easy answer. Some states have castle laws that may allow for the shooting of a home invader with very few questions asked, but let's take the same scenario and put it in the street outside your home. You are left with the same conundrum.

First, above all else, protect yourself. Only tell the police the very very very minimum of what happened. What is that?

I was afraid for my life.

No more than this. They can see that you were involved and the other guy was involved. Only tell them that you were afraid for your life.
Next you must let the police know that the dead guy was the one who you were afraid for your life from. You tell them that. How?

I am willing to sign a complaint against that person.

This tells the police that the dead guy is the one you were afraid of, without telling them any specifics of what went down. This is the only thing you say about the other guy. You are done talking about everything now. No more will you tell the police without a lawyer around.
The next two statements get you away from the police, and ensure that the police can not question you without an attorney present.

I require medical assistance from a doctor.

This tells the police that you are not OK with just meeting paramedics. You want to see a doctor, and doctors are at the hospital, well away from the shooting. Think about it for a second... Do you think that you are in any shape to make rational decisions? You just killed a man in self defense. You are going to have all sorts of powerful emotions and hormones running through you. You need to calm down. And doctors have the things to do that. It will also get you away from the people who's job it is to put you in jail.
Finally, with your last statement you "lawyer up."

I wish to have my attorney present at any questioning.

By law, the police are obligated to grant this request. The cannot deny your right to counsel.
You are done talking. If the police ask you any question other than if you want a Coke, you answer with the statements above. You do not say anything else. You must not waive your 5th and 4th amendment rights. They are there to protect you from the government, and if you open your mouth to say anything other than the above statements, you are voluntarily waiving those rights.
Any evidence that the police want to collect from you, even for "exclusionary" reasons, you only give up with a court order (warrant). Repeat like a mantra the statements.

I was afraid for my life.
I wish to sign a complaint against that person.
I require medical assistance from a doctor.
I wish to have my attorney present at any questioning.

You may end up spending a night or two in jail, but that is infinitely better than spending the rest of your life there, or having to explain a manslaughter or murder conviction at your next job interview.

Despite what the police will say, doing this does NOT make you look guilty. It does NOT make you look like you have something to hide. You are exercising your rights. They have a job to do, and they should do it. They don't come over to your office and help you with your job, why should you help them with their job? Especially if their job is to find something so that they can arrest you! Protect yourself, plan ahead. If you carry a gun, you MUST be willing to pull the trigger if need be. You train at the range to put rounds on target. It is silly not to prepare for what happens afterward.
If you have time, interview attorneys. This costs you nothing but time. Most lawyers will meet with you for free the first time to asses your needs as a client. You may never need them, but you may never need to use your gun either. Having an attorney you can call is very helpful if you get in to other trouble, or if you have legal issues, or questions. They are only a call away. Keep their card in your wallet with you CCW permit, because if you use one, you are going to need the other.

Kentucky v. King

2011-05-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

One day, our friendly neighborhood drug dealer, King, was doing what he does best, selling drugs. A patron came to him and said:

"Hello, kind sir. I wish to purchase some of your finest crack."
"Certainly," said King "Coming right up, sir."

King and the patron completed their business, and both went away happy. Only the patron wasn't quite who he said he was. In fact the patron was a member of the local law enforcement brigade, and the purchase was being watched by others in the brigade.

"Apprehend that dastardly villain!" Called the head of the brigade, after the purchase was made. Uniformed officers then came roaring up to King in their cars, sirens and lights on.

"Zounds!!" Exclaimed King. "I have more drugs in my dearest love's apartment, above! I must quickly dispose of it!"

Up to the apartment ran King, followed closely by the officers.
"You'll not get away from us this time!" The officers called. But King was very fast, and he arrived at the apartment just before the officers did. King slammed the door behind him.
"You loose, Coppers!" thought King.

The officers heard the door close and ran to the source of the sound, but there were TWO doors.
"What ever are we to do?" The officers wondered.
The smartest officer there, Good Officer Cobb said in his bravest voice
"Fellows, as you know I have the keenest sense of smell in all of law enforcement."
The other officers nodded in agreement, for Good Officer Cobb was well known for his super sniffer.
"I smell the unmistakable aroma of marijuana smoke coming from the door to the left!" Said Good Officer Cobb. "Surely, this is where that villain, King went."
The other officers agreed with Good Officer Cobb, because he was the smartest and best officer in all of the brigade. He must be right!

Good Officer Cobb banged loudly on the left door. "This is the Police!! Let us in!!"

"The Police!!" Said the occupants of the apartment on the left. "We can't let them get our drugs! What shall we do?"

In the apartment was King's dearest love, King, and King's dearest love's marijuana smoking friend. King had told them just what to do if Good Officer Cobb came knocking on the door.
"We must destroy our drugs!" Said King "Quickly, for we know that the great 4th Amendment keeps our persons, property, and papers secure from government searches and seizures without a warrant!"
"Just so!" Exclaimed King's dearest love's marijuana smoking friend. "I am glad King is here to teach us to be so wise in the ways of the law."
And with that they began to destroy the drugs.

"Great Scott!!!" Shouted Good Officer Cobb, "Fellows, as you know I have the keenest sense of hearing in all of the land." The officers nodded in agreement, for Good Officer Cobb was well known for this super ears. "I hear those inside destroying the evidence we need to convict them of their crimes!"
"Zounds!" Cried the other officers. "Whatever shall we do? If they destroy all of the evidence, how will we convict them of their miss-deeds??"
"Fear not!" Said Good Officer Cobb, "We shall break down the door and catch them before they destroy all of the evidence."

"But Good Officer Cobb," said one of the officers "Is that legal? We all know that the hated 4th Amendment keeps scum like that within secure in their person, property, and papers from searches without a warrant from government officials, such as us."

"Precisely right." Said Good Officer Cobb, "But those within did not tell us that we may not come in. Therefore we can make entry in to the apartment."
This made perfect sense to the other officers, and why would they question Good Officer Cobb? He is so smart and so good that he would never abuse the powers that he had been granted by the government.
So with a CRASH, Good Officer Cobb and the others broke down the door and arrested those inside before they could destroy the evidence.

"We have you now, King!" Exclaimed Good Officer Cobb
"So you say now, Good Officer Cobb, but I believe YOU have violated the 4th Amendment! Take me to the magistrate!"
And off they went.

What do you think the Magistrate said? The blessed 4th Amendment says:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What did happen? The Kentucky Supreme Court stated that Cobb, thought not acting in bad faith, was incorrect in breaking down the door and that the search was illegal. On appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, in an 8-1 vote, the court found that in certain circumstances, the entry was legal, thus overturning the Kentucky Supreme Court decision.

The only dissenting justice was... Ruth Bater-Ginsburg... In this decision I would expect the lone dissenter to be Clarence Thomas or Sam Alito, or some other Constitutionalist, certainly not Ginsburg, who would rather look at European law than the Constitution. However, in this instance, I find myself agreeing almost 100% with Justice Ginsburg. In her dissenting remarks Justice Ginsburg says:

The Court today arms the police with a way routinely to dishonor the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement in drug cases. In lieu of presenting their evidence to a neutral magistrate, police officers may now knock, listen, then break the door down, nevermind that they had ample time
to obtain a warrant. I dissent from the Court’s reduction of the Fourth Amendment’s force.
The Fourth Amendment guarantees to the people “[t]he right . . . to be secure in their . . . houses . . . against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Warrants to search, the Amendment further instructs, shall issue only upon a showing of “probable cause” to believe criminal activity is afoot. These complementary provisions are designed to ensure that police will seek the authorization of a neutral magistrate before undertaking a search or seizure. Exceptions to the warrant requirement, this Court has explained, must be “few in number and carefully delineated,” if the main rule is to remain hardy.

About the decision, Justice Samuel Alito wrote the following:

Occupants who choose not to stand on their constitutional rights but instead elect to attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame for the warrantless exigent-circumstances search that may ensue.

Typically Sam and I are on the same page, but this is just false. All he need do is look at the abuses of the warrantless searches based on "probable cause" to see that this additional warrentless search will surely be abused to an even greater extent. What kind of training does one need to determine the difference between the sound of evidence being destroyed and the sound of furniture moving?
"Why did you break open the door to Grandma's house Good Officer Cobb?"
"We heard sounds of evidence being destroyed inside."
"Was evidence being destroyed?"
"No, Grandma was moving a table, but we did find that she had some beer that she bought out of state in her refrigerator, so we took her in for bootlegging."

It is laughable that people would even know to immediately invoke their 4th amendment rights when confronted by the Police in any situation, let alone when they are banging on the door looking for someone. Let us use a very common example to illustrate the point.
A police officer stops you walking down the street and asks to see your ID. What do you do? Do you inform the officer that you invoke your 4th amendment rights, simply state your name then ask why you were stopped? Your name is all you are required to give to the police during an encounter, and the Police are required to give you a reason as to why you are being detained.
OR do you simply hand over you ID and answer any questions that the officer may have?

If the Police are banging at your door demanding entry, do you inform them that you invoke your 4th amendment rights, or do you just let them in?

The vast majority of the public don't know what the Constitution is, let alone their rights under the 4th Amendment. It may be very plain to Justice Alito as to what to do in this situation, however for the rest of the population, in the real world, this decision will only lead to greater and greater abuses, and the further eroding of our rights.

Bad call SCOTUS, bad call indeed.


My hero??	The villian???

Kentucky v King Official Decision
Clarification at Legal & Liability Risk Management Institute
Write up, and Justice Alito's Comments at Reason Magazine

The Two Best Recent Movies You Haven't Seen

2011-05-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

Maybe you have seen them, but I doubt it...

Yamada: The Samurai of Ayothaya

At first, I thought that there was some mistake. Ayothaya is not a Japanese word. The tag on this movie said that it was based on true people. So I looked it up. Turns out that the Japanese had a trading colony in what was Siam. One of the greatest heroes of this colony was Yamada Nagamasa. Yamada took to the Siamese way of life, learning their language, customs, and martial arts. He rose to great prominence in the Siamese Court, earning the very high rank of Governor of Ayothaya, and even leading 300 Samurai in to battle under the King of Siam's direction. Yamada is honored both in today's Thailand, and in his hometown of Hamamatsu. Ironically, years ago, while I was in Hamamatsu, drunk off my ass, my friends and I rested for a while next to Yamada's statue in a downtown park. I have pictures of his statue and me being... not very respectful.

Anyway this movie is as if Ong Bak, and The Last Samurai got together, killed Tom Cruse, then made sweet love. This movie was born, learned old school Muay Thai, and old school Kendo, to become something wholly kick ass.
The plot follows the predictable "stranger in a strange land" device so familiar to may films. Dude gets super hurt, dude is aided by a strange and kick ass group of other dudes, dude learns strange and kick ass ways, dude goes back with strange and kick ass ways and kills the dudes that put the super hurt on him, dude goes back to strange kick ass place and marries some chick that helped him recover from the super hurt. Only this movie has Buakaw with a crazy mustache in it!!!

The story is simple and a good one. The action scenes are great, in fact the opening sequence has two dudes beating the crap out of each other, when one is victorious, they do a quick Bruce Lee close up, and you see that the dude who won has a handlebar mustache. At that moment, I thought to myself, this will be the greatest movie you have ever seen. On top of the Muay Thai and handlebar mustache awesomeness, you get to see some very cool sword fights... And a couple of very cheesy ones too. Just when you thought that the movie could not get any more kick ass, Ninjas show up. That's right fucking ninjas!! So the Muay Thai guys go all Muay Thai on the ninjas. Epic!!
All in all great movie, good fight scenes and mothereffing Buakaw with a handlebar mustache!!!

13 Assassins

Again, this movie is based on true people. There was an evil lord named Naritsugu, ironically played by one of my wife's favorite Japanese performers Goroo Inagaki, who was to be named to a very high position in the Shogun's court. He mysteriously died on the way to Edo. This movie is about what "might" have happened on the way to Edo if a few Samurai decided that Naritsugu was just too evil to be in the Shogun's court.

What is very very cool about this movie is that the director, Takashi Miike, decided that he wanted to make the move just like Kurosawa Akira would have made it. So, they actually built many of the sets on location, used fake blood, had the guys train Kendo, and all sorts of other stuff, rather than using a bunch of CGI. It gives the movie an old school feel, and makes it very very gritty.

The story is very similar to The Seven Samurai, in that a small group of Samurai need to fight off a larger force and have a specific place to do the fighting. The Mifune Toshihiro character, Shinzaemon Shimada, played by Yakusho Koji first recruits his team, then they go to kick ass. And ass kick they do. The sword play is better than any other Samurai movie I have ever seen. It shows the differences in the two sides, the one guarding Naritsugu as largely ceremonial and soft with a few good fighters, and the one attacking, full of hard practical fighters. A simple, excellent story, spiced up with the complete evil of Naritsugu and the loyalty to death, even to a douchebag, the defending samurai show.

Learning With the Right People

2011-05-18T12:06:00.000-05:00

At my first martial arts school, I used to be a part of the testing of students for their belt advancements. Students from satellite schools in different cities would come to test in front of Grand Master Shin. It was always interesting to see the difference in those students and those taught in the mother school. There was always something "off" with the satellite school students. Their technique was just not as sharp as the students from the mother school. It wasn't that they didn't train as hard or were less dedicated, it was because they were learning the techniques second hand, or even third hand, from teachers who barely understood the technique themselves. I always thought that I was fortunate to have learned directly from the source, and got all of the little details that these satellite students missed.

After three months at American Top Team OKC, I have realized that I was the satellite student when learning BJJ and Muay Thai. Again, my instructors and training partners were not incorrect in their instruction. They had passion, but many of the techniques we were left to puzzle out on our own knowing the base technique, but without the details that made the technique most effective.

The time I have to work out is in the mornings, and ATT OKC has a 7am BJJ class, and a 9am Muay Thai class. The good thing here is that, not very many people come to these classes. I will typically get at least one private lesson per week with the head instructor. This has helped out in all kinds of ways. During these private classes, I just ask about details for techniques. Most of the time they are about mistakes or places I get stuck when sparing these instructors... But these small details have lead to great improvement.

In BJJ the improvements that have stuck out the most are when I am in the top position in half guard. I continually got swept, or my opponent re-acquired guard. I thought I was doing everything correct in my technique, but I could never seem to nail it down. The small detail that helped me out the most was where I was putting my base. I was up on both of my knees. This left space for my opponent to sneak a knee in, or to slip under my leg for the sweep, or left me close enough so that my opponent could get an underhook, and escape. One small change was made. Instead of being on both knees, I now go down on to my hip closest to the opponent's head. This puts me on my side, makes prevents my opponent from getting under the leg for the sweep, and puts me far enough away from his arm to prevent the underhook. At the same time, I can still put pressure on his chest, and, since I don't have to worry about the underhook, use my hand to push his knee away, freeing up my joint for the pass.
Such a simple thing, such a big impact on my game.

In Muay Thai, the small detail is to slightly retreat after throwing a combination. I had just been standing in front of my opponent, wide open to counters. With a slight retreat, it makes space for you to begin to circle your opponent, and forces your opponent to move forward for their attack, the extra space gives you time to block or counter. If you don't retreat, you have no time to block or counter, so you get hit.
This small detail has helped tremendously with the flow of my sparring, and with improving my defense. Teep push kicks become much more useful as a distance tool, because now you have the space in which they can be effective to stop opponent's attack.

Good stuff so far at the gym. My worry now is that because I am so frequently the only one at these morning classes, the they will cut them from the schedule. That would put me back in a situation where I would have to find a new gym... And I really don't want to get away from the source.

Deadly Self Defense Myths

2011-04-25T16:11:00.000-05:00

I have a cousin who is currently receiving unsigned notes from some guy in her building. It is starting to give her the creeps. I offered to recommend some some hardware and classes for her to try out, but that was received... shall we say coolly... My cousin is a liberal. She doesn't like guns, what they represent, what they are intended for, and that individuals can own them. Like most liberals, she likes the Police being the protector of the individual.
It is part of the groupthink mindset of the liberal to dislike the entire concept of an individual taking responsibly for their own safety. They like the idea of the State providing all that is needed in that arena, from rules and regulations on what can be used to mow your grass to the confiscation of all firearms from law abiding people.

I do not hold this against her, for those who believe that violence is something that will never happen to them, it is perfectly acceptable for them to rely upon the State for their protection. There is just one major problem... If the worst happens, the note writer becomes a stalker, then becomes something violent, the violence is upon you now. For the State to be alerted to protect you, you first must call them, explain the problem to a dispatcher, tell the dispatcher where you are, and that you require the police. The dispatcher must then contact the Police dispatcher, who will then call out to the patrol units, wait for one to respond, and finally send the patrol unit information about what is going on and where to address it. The patrol unit must now drive to the address they were given, find the correct building, then go to the apartment where the problem was reported. The typical response time is about 7 minutes from when the Police dispatcher is notified, time from your call to police arrival is about 10 to 15 minutes. By that time what you wanted protection from, has already occurred.

What I described above is the best case scenario. A much more realistic scenario is that you don't get to your phone to make the call. An attacker is not going to politely wait for you to make that call, he is going to do what he can to prevent that call from being made. That means he needs to quickly overwhelm you. If you can fight him off, you have only seconds, what would you go for to protect yourself? The phone? Unarmed people who rely upon the police for their personal protection are toast. The song and dance described above all must occur. However the armed individual has the ability to obtain something that immediately puts them on equal footing, or hands them a distinct advantage. And it is there, with them, now. It is not 7 to 15 minutes away eating doughnuts. It is steps away and immediately available.
In the end, your protection is up to you.

So let us look at some self defense myths and misconceptions.

The Police exist to protect me.
False. The police motto: "To protect and serve." Should be amended to be: "To protect and serve, the law." This is what they are there for. The Supreme Court of the United States of America has even said that the Police have no obligation to protect and defend the individual. And, lest we forget, When seconds count, the Police are only minutes away.

It is safer for me to have an empty chamber
This idiotic thought stems from the days when ammunition was so bad that the slightest bump on the primer could set off the pistol. Modern ammunition and pistols are constructed so that only a full depression of the trigger will cause the pistol to fire. The simple fact is that, despite what you see on TV, pistols just don't go off. Ever. You are more likely to win the lottery then have a pistol go off with out the trigger being pulled.
That all said, with one in the chamber, negligent discharge is much more likely. Proper care and handling of the gun must be done at all times so that it only goes off when the shooter intends it to. If you want to protect against unauthorized persons handling the gun, quick action safes are excellent investments.
With a round in the chamber, you are ready to defend yourself as soon as you get a sight picture. You do not have to go through the action of racking a round before you can get in to the fight. Those seconds are priceless commodities in a true self defense situation. Extra actions that need to take place before the gun can be fired are time wasters that may cost you your life. Your self defense weapon should have one in the pipe, and have no external safeties. Be ready to rock and roll as soon as your pistol is out of its hiding place. Your life literally depends on it.

I took a woman's self defense class a month ago. I am ready to defend myself!
You are carrying around a false sense of security. No woman's self defense class can prepare you for an attacker who is stronger than you, weighs more than you, is determined to complete what ever deed they came there for, and is ready to take a little damage in order to get it done.
Let us face the cold hard facts. Men are stronger than women. Men have denser, more powerful muscles than women. In a fight between two equally trained people, the same weight, where one is a man and the other is a woman, the woman will loose 999 times out of 1000. This is the simple truth. If the man is determined to rape, or injure, a woman, he is going to do it.
What does this mean? It means that women need an edge when fighting a man. A gun gives you that edge.
What if I don't have a gun? Just give up and die?
No. However, developing fighting skill takes time and considerable effort. You have to train for a long time before you can apply the proper techniques in a fight, and be effective against a bigger stronger opponent. And the horrible truth is, it is a perishable skill. You have to train on a near daily basis in order to gain, and retain the skill required to fight off a determined, bigger, stronger opponent.
So what to study? As much as I love the striking arts, they are no good for women who wish to fight off a determined male attacker.
I will give some examples. On an episode of "Celebrity Boxing" female professional wrestler Chyna was paired up with one Joseph A. "Joey" Buttafuoco. Chyna was a roided up massive specimine of womanhood. She was in very good shape, working out daily, and eating right to maintain her musculature. She had been training in boxing for several years. Buttafuoco only trained for a few weeks, was grossly out of shape, and was in no condition to fight anyone. The result?

Chyna got beat pillar to post. Several times Joey simply tossed her to the floor with little effort. Had the ref not been present, there would have been nothing the muscled woman could have done to defend herself.

The way a woman can defend herself effectively against a resisting, bigger, stronger opponent is with ground skill. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is specifically designed for a smaller opponent to defeat a lager opponent on the ground. A dedicated woman against an untrained man, on the ground, has a chance. A slim chance, but a chance all the same.

If I have a gun, can't it be used against me?
Yes... If you are unwilling to pull the trigger. In a self defense situation, you have to be prepared to defend yourself. This means doing bad things to your attacker. It isn't like on TV where the peace loving monk becomes a super killer, then goes back to being a peace loving monk. In order for your training, or your weapon to be effective, you have to be willing to do the bad thing. You have to be able to break the arm, to stab for the heart, to put three in center mass. In my time in martial arts, this is what most people find the most disturbing, and the hardest to do.
Of course you can't shoot real people on the range. The law frowns upon things like that. What you can do is seek out stressful situations in which to deploy your weapon safely, or find situations where you can use your training in a full contact situation.
IPSC events put you in a stressful situation where you have to engage multiple targets, reload, and incorporate movement. These events are fun and teach you how to use your weapon in a safe manner with people who want nothing more than make you a better shooter.
Training at a gym where you spar regularly with live resisting opponents in a limited rules environment will teach you to overcome fear and instruct you how to deal with a resisting opponent. If your dojo/dojang does not spar limited rules, in situations where you could walk away bloody, you need to find a new place to train.

But back to the question at hand... If you have a weapon how could someone take it away? Just do a look around for gun disarms out on the Internet. At best they are techniques that need to be trained constantly over and over and over again, at worst they will get even the best practitioner shot. In any case disarms are extraordinarily risky low percentage movements. If you are willing to pull the trigger, it is highly unlikely that an assailant will be able to disarm you before you put a bullet in them.

I will just kick my attacker in the nuts!
Really? You don't think that the attacker has thought of that? Chances are he will be protecting that part of him, and even if you get a good kick off, it will be a glancing blow. Sure it hurts when you get hit in the nuts. But I guarantee that a determined attacker will be able to work through the pain, get in to a dominant position and rest out the worst of your attack.

So... What should you take from this post? First, if you are serious about your personal protection, get a gun, learn how to use it, and carry it with you everywhere you are legally allowed to carry it.
If you are female and have time, start training in BJJ, or no-gi submission wrestling. Learn that ground skill. It is a great workout and you will be learning something that can actually work to defend yourself. You can train in Muay Thai, or, MMA as well as BJJ if you like, but concentrate most of your training on the ground.
If you are a man, I would concentrate on working maybe 3 out of 5 training days on BJJ, and the other 2 on Muay Thai, boxing, MMA, or other striking art. Ground skill is the hardest to learn, so the majority of your time, in the beginning, should be focused there. After you have a solid foundation, you can move to even out your training, but be sure to get that mat work in.
Both should keep their shooting skills sharp. Go to the range at least once a month to keep your shooting proficiency up. Attend a couple of IPSC events to learn what it is like to shoot under stress. Who knows, you may like it and become a competitive shooter!

Move to Hawaii??

2011-04-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

As my wife moves in to her third year of residency, she is starting to think about what she wants to do, and where we want to live.

She wants to have some sort of connection to the Japanese medical community, but we want to stay in the U.S. How do she do that? Well, she would have to establish a practice in a U.S. city that has a large, migratory Japanese population. City choices are Columbus, OH, New York, NY, San Fransisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Seattle, WA, or Honolulu, HI. Of those cities, Honolulu has the largest Japanese influence. So... Pros and cons of living on the islands:

Pro:

It's freaking Hawaii
Lots of stuff to do
Learn how to fly helicopters
$100 hamburger is on another island
Great weather
Half way to Japan

Con:

Everything is expensive (Real Estate, utilities, gas)
Horrific gun laws
High Taxes
Jobs are scarce, and have lots of competition
Job mobility is difficult
Crowded
$100 hamburger is more like a $500 hamburger...
Anti White racism
High unemployment
LIBERAL
Isolated
Any friend you ever had who comes to Hawaii wants to crash on your couch.

My biggest problems are the sky high taxes, and the horrific gun laws. I am less concerned with the job situation, as we would only move there if the wife has a doctor job. She would be making enough to cover our life style. So I could get work remotely to the mainland, or take my time looking for a job.

Hawaii has no concealed carry, and is very strict on how and when you can transport firearms. Their castle laws are not so draconian that you have to leave your house in case of a break in, cough California cough, but they are very strict.

Isolation is a big thing. Hawaii is out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 2550 miles from the mainland USA, and 3862 miles from Tokyo. At least a 6 hour ride in a jet, just to get your feet dry. You are two or three hours behind Pacific Standard Time, depending on daylight savings time, so most of the mainland is winding down with their late afternoon before you are even getting out of your jammies.
A natural disaster on the island would mean chaos very very quickly, and not a lot of help would be coming any time soon. Especially since most of the island relies on Government assistance. Remember what New Orleans looked like after Katrina? Yup, only with less drinking water and FIMA needing to ship supplies thousands of miles over the Pacific Ocean.

On the other hand... It is still Hawaii. Great weather, surf, lots of stuff to do. Wake up with your Kona Coffee, and take in Diamond Head as you sip away. The people are fit for the most part, so you have the activities that come along with that. Ocean Kayaking, Surfing, climbing.

Many of my friends that worked in Hawaii before got bored with the island after a while. They said that the weather was basically the same everyday, it was super crowded, and after you have done all of the tourist things, there just isn't a lot of new things to do.
I tend to discount these comments, as after you get done doing any of the tourist things in ANY city ANYWHERE, there isn't a lot of new things to do. It isn't like Oklahoma City is going to suddenly have a new amusement park somewhere, or open so many new golf courses that I won't be able to play them all. Routine is routine, and it makes little difference if the routine is in Omaha, Billings, or Honolulu. You find things to do in your circle of friends, and that just becomes your routine. If my golf buddies suddenly started to take up Muay Thai with me, that would be something new and exciting for them... If my Muay Thai buddies suddenly wanted to take up golf, same thing. Excitement is what you make of it. And it isn't like the wife and I will stop traveling. I very much doubt that we would not go on an annual ski trip if we lived on the island. The difference is that instead of going back to cold Oklahoma or Nebraska, we would be going back to sunny 80 degree Hawaii. Pretty awesome if you ask me!

At any rate, moving to Hawaii is at least 2 years off, if it happens at all, so there is little to do on this front, but speculate. It is likely that my wife will change her mind a few more times, especially when it comes to her fellowship. Perhaps she can do her fellowship in Hawaii... Hummmmmmmmmm

Back In The Gym

2011-04-13T15:54:00.001-05:00

I have been at American Top Team for a little over a month now. I am liking the place. I am learning a lot and trying to knock off the rust of not training. The head instructors that I work with, Giulliano Gallupi (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and Eduardo Maiorino (Muay Thai)

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
I found that I had some very bad habits that I have picked up from no-gi grappling... and that working out with a black belt will cause you to do things that you normally would not do. After the initial couple of weeks of just wanting to throw up, trying to get some sort of cardio back, and proving that I am not a pussy, the instructors have started to work on the things that I am doing incorrectly.

Against good opposition, I will turn the wrong way when they put me in a heavy side control, or when I have difficulty escaping the mount.
I say I do this to make the other guy open up, but really I am just reverting to things that worked for me in no-gi. With the gi on, if you turn the wrong way, you are guaranteed to be choked.
When I am passing guard, I tend to leave my butt in the air, giving the guy who I am passing ample room to reestablish guard.
I have never been very good at passing guard, so this may have been a problem I am just taking with me.
I do not extend my hips to gain space when I do my armbars and triangles from guard.
This gives my opponent an easier time of escaping, and makes the completion of the submission difficult on me.
When breaking the guard, I am not standing up correctly, I am out of position, and easily swept.
I am so used to breaking the guard on the knees that I have virtually no experience of breaking the guard from standing. This is very bad, because against the black belts, their sweeps and position is so good that if I try to break on my knees, it is an instantaneousness sweep. I have to become proficient passing standing up.
I have very little experience with wrist control using the gi.
I get my ass handed to me in sparring, because they grab my gi at the wrists and completely control me. I can't posture, I can't pass, I look like sea lion in a desert, flapping around and wasting energy, but not making any progress.

Giulliano is a good instructor walking through my mistakes, and hasn't become too frustrated yet when I repeat them. I have seen improvement in the last few classes. I am starting to get my grove back, but I am way way WAY to open to being choked. I have never done a lot of gi chokes, and Giulliano knows a bunch of them. Protecting my neck is always a high priority. Muay Thai I realize now that I have never really trained in pure Muay Thai. Most of what I have done has been International Rules Kickboxing, or with striking for MMA. Eduardo teaches pure Muay Thai. Doing pure Muay Thai means that I needed to make some fundamental changes to my game. Also, it has been YEARS since I have had anybody really critique my style. My kicks have always been above average with my hands and defense being about average. I have always relied heavily on my kicks to intimidate and dominate my opponents. I can't do that with Eduardo. My kicks are crap to him. Too slow and not strong enough. He wants to see combinations very quickly very powerfully, then back off. Clinch work is heavily emphasized. Knees from all directions, and a wider use of elbows than I have ever done before. My hands are also no good. I carry them just below my eye level, but in Muay Thai, you have to deal with quick slashing elbows. That means that your hands have to reside on your forehead. Seems like a small change, but it has seriously thrown me off. With the focus now on my technique, Eduardo has discovered may bad and lazy habits that I have picked up.

I am not rotating my hips nearly enough with my crosses.
I have always found it difficult to land my right cross, and one of the reasons why is that I don't twist my hips. At most I was turning about a quarter of the distance I need to. Eduardo is drilling in to me to twist past shoulder parallel to really extend my cross range, and increase the power of the punch. This rotation also helps to set up the left hook.
I am not twisting enough with my left hooks.
When the hook is thrown without the cross, I have always just thrown it out there with a little twist of my left foot. No good. I need to cock my hips to at least shoulder parallel then drive them around well through the target.
I also have to think of the hook not as a close in punch, but as a middle range weapon. Elbows and the clinch are for close range.
Because my punching rotations are not where they should be, my kicks are out of position, and not as powerful as they should be.
This is because my hips are wrong. If I rotate the hips properly with the punches, the kicks flow naturally, and have better rotation.
I don't turn my hip enough with my left kick to get a powerful impact.
I am crunching my hip with my left kick. I need to turn my hip and keep my back straight.
I don't keep my hands up when I kick.
This is a major issue, and why I always seem to get smacked when I kick...

I am showing improvement in all areas, however my biggest issue by far in BOTH disciplines is my brain. I am thinking way to much. I find myself thinking and getting behind in the combinations/techniques. In sparring I really get fouled up. While rolling I am two movements, or more behind and I get caught. In Muay Thai, I get clobbered thinking a movement behind.

As I get more comfortable with everything, my improvement will be rapid... I am sure then you will read that I am frustrated because I am not improving as fast as I was a few months ago!

Hawaii 2011

2011-04-11T16:29:00.001-05:00

Just got back from Hawaii! It was awesome. This was our second trip to Hawaii, and this time through we wanted to stay away from the guided tour things, and really strike out on our own. No bus to catch, no clock to watch. It mostly worked out...

We stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki on Oahu. I have no complaints about this hotel save one, and it is a complaint that I have for most of Hawaii. Hidden charges. We booked our hotel on a travel web site, and paid for the nights we were to stay, however after getting to the hotel, we learned that there was an additional $20 a night "resort fee." This fee was paid by everyone, and was a required fee. If it is paid by everyone, and is required, why not just include it in to the cost of the room? Why spring it on people when they get to their hotel? To give the appearance of being cheaper online. Bad move in my opinion.
Anyway the Sheraton Waikiki was great. In the middle of everything, great rooms, and an infinity edge pool. Lots and lots of fun!

View of Diamond Head Crater from the Infinity Edge pool.

Our first day we just decided to chill out. We landed in Honolulu about 2pm, and went to the hotel. They did not have a room ready for us, so we just chillaxed at the pool. Soon enough we were shown our room, and after a nap and a shower, we went out for a nice dinner.
If you like Japanese food, Honolulu is the best place to be, and still be in the United States. Waikiki has great restaurants and one of our favorites is the Suntory Restaurant. Great sashimi, sushi, nabe, tempura, noodle soups, you name it they have it, and it is all awesome. We came back to the hotel and watched the sun set on our first day.

The next day we decided to take a guided kayak tour around Kailua Bay. We had never kayaked before, so we thought that it would be an adventure. The weather was perfect, sunny, warm, and very little wind. We hooked up with our guide, Marcos, and he gave us the rundown of how to paddle the kayak. With this paddle instruction came a lesson on what to do if you flip your kayak... Very important lesson!

View Larger Map

The tour starts you off at Kailua beach and has you paddle out to the Mokulua Islands (the two islands on the right), specifically to a "secret" beach on Moku Nui Island (the larger island on the left). The beach isn't all that secret, You just can't get there by any other means than a shallow water boat or paddle board. So, you need to exert some people power to make it there. The beach is well known with the locals, and many parties go on there.
The trip out to Moku Nui island was relatively uneventful kayak wise, the water in the bay was like glass, and we were treated to sea turtles swimming by and other ocean life coming up to check us out.
As we continued out paddle out to Moku Nui island, there is a point where the natural reef ends, and the surf from the Pacific Ocean is let in. You know when you are in this area! The waves get large, and with Marco's coaching you learn how to turn your kayak's nose in to the big waves, then quickly turn back on course after you crest the wave. It is a very good work out!
We reached the secret beach and took some pictures, we were given the option of just hanging out on the beach or to do just a little exploring around the island. The group unanimously agreed to do some looking around the island.

View Larger Map
Moku Nui island with the "secret" beach.

On this island there is a deep tidal pool that, legend has it, was one of the Queens of Hawaii's special spot where only she could go.

Of course we jumped in to the pool. The water was very salty, and cold!

We walked back to our kayaks, and set off to Lanikai Beach for lunch. By now we were old hands at the kayak and felt like we could handle anything. I saw a large sea turtle off to the port side of our kayak, and pointed to it for my wife to see. We promptly flipped the boat. Because of our earlier instruction, we were able to right and re-board, before Marcos could come to our aid. I told everyone that the turtle had flipped our kayak, but it was really me!

We finally made it to Lanikai Beach had a lunch of sandwich wraps, and guava juice. After that, we went snorkeling in the clear water. There was a ton of fish to look at! The water was deceptively clear, looking like you could reach out and touch the bottom of the bay, when it was really 30 feet deep!
It was time to return to our launch point, and we set off from Lanikai Beach back to Kailua Beach. We managed to get to the end without incident, as I was banned from looking at sea turtles.
A really awesome adventure. Our guide was awesome, the weather was great. It was an all around great time.

We headed back to the hotel to hang out at the infinity pool for a while, and relax before dinner.

The next day we decided to get up early and take a walk up Diamond Head Crater. We did this hike the last time we were in Hawaii, and I wanted to do it again. The views from the top of the crater are breathtaking, and are unmatched anywhere in Oahu. The crater is about three miles away from our hotel, so it was a bit of a hike just to make it to the base, but... come on, we are fit people and walking the three miles was no big deal. The hike up the crater is a bit dangerous. There are steep steps and loose gravel the whole way up so you have to be careful. The view... The view is one of the best in the world, and well worth the effort to get there.

View from the top

From there, the wife wanted to get her hair cut, so I was left alone for a few hours. I had a beer, hung out at the beach, and had lunch at a great ramen restaurant. About that time the wife was done and it was time to do one of the things that Waikiki is very well known for... Shopping! The Waikiki strip has more designer stores than New York's 5th avenue, and if you like the designer stuff, it is your mecca!

Tuesday was the day to set off on own across the vastness that is Oahu island! Turns out it isn't very vast... It takes about 30 minutes in good traffic to go from Waikiki straight to the North Shore. I travel farther in my daily commute to the office than the length of the entire island.
Anyway, my wife wanted to see a famous tree in Hawaii that Hitachi has used in its advertising in Japan since the early 1970's. It was kind of an adventure to get there but we eventually made it to where the tree is at Moanalua Gardens. The tree is a large Monkey Pod tree with an asymmetric, but not unpleasing shape. It was cool for the wife, so it was cool for me as well. We hung out in the gardens and had onigiri while singing a Japanese song about trees that I know. I know very tree hugger, but it was a great moment shared between my wife and I.

Hitachi Tree

From there we got on to the freeway and headed north to the Dole Plantation. This used to be the headquarters for the Dole company's very large Pineapple farms. Unfortunately Dole no longer grows very many pineapples in Hawaii. It is more economical to grow them in Central or South America. Sad...

We ate some pineapple, and then kept on trucking to our final destination, Oahu's North Shore!
We arrived at the world famous Sunset Beach and sat down to watch the surf. I wanted to get in to the water, but after talking to the life guard, I learned that it was a bad idea. He allowed me to put my feet in to the water in front of his hut, but no more. I instantly learned why he did not want me getting out in to the water. The waves were huge, and had a very strong rip tide. After years of weight training and marital arts, I have good balance, however the rip nearly took me in to the ocean. I heeded the life guard's warning, and quickly withdrew. We napped and read books on the beach while listening and watching the massive waves. We entertained ourselves by watching the surfers and betting on when they would wipe out.
Lunch was the famous Macky's Shrimp ate on the beach.

We went back to Waikiki and watched the sun set at a great little sushi restaurant.

We woke up on our last full day in Hawaii wanting to visit a famous place to snorkel. But first order of business was breakfast. We found a little Italian restaurant near our hotel that we always wanted to eat in, and found that today was the day to give it a try. We had a wonderful breakfast with many cups of awesome Kona Coffee!

After breakfast we caught a ride up to Hanauma Bay. This bay was formed by a lava cone being flooded by sea water thousands of years ago. A reef has formed on the rocks and it is a wonderful spot for viewing reef wild life.

We spent about an hour and a half swimming around finding fish of all sorts and just enjoying the bay. After that, we took a little nap and enjoyed warming ourselves in the Hawaiian sun.
In to every trip, a little rain must fall, and so was the case at Hanauma Bay. The rain fell gently, and we took that as our cue to head back to Waikiki.
We then took some time to relax by the infinity pool, splash around a bit and just sunbathe. It was great.
We finished the night by going to a Korean/Japanese yakiniku place where we stuffed ourselves with Japanese and Korean style meat, and Korean yukijang soup.

The final day in Hawaii was spent mostly getting ready to leave, then hanging out at Waikiki beach. The previous night we found that a place in Waikiki serves fresh udon, and we had to try it out. It was a little piece of Japan right in our back yard!
After lunch the wife went off to get a nice massage, and I was left to hang out at the pool and the beach. I fell a sleep in the cabana chair after downing an iced mocha.

After that it was back to reality. We really love Waikiki as a vacation spot. Lots of stuff to do, and to see. We will be back again soon!

Why .45s Are Better Than 9mms

2011-03-25T11:17:00.000-05:00

Here endth the lesson.

Bolt Barrel Breech Bullet... What?? Terms and Structures Guide For New Shooters Part II - BOOM Goes the Dynamite!!

2011-03-10T08:17:00.000-06:00

A guy in my office is looking to buy his first handgun. He went to talk to me and another guy who sits close by, about it. We started asking the standard questions, and we found that our terms and the terms that he was using were not at all the same, so if you are not around guns at all, I decided to work up a little guide.
This is part two dealing with ammo. Part one dealt with gun parts. Part three will deal with types of guns and their uses.

Ammo, Pills, Bullets, Caps

What goes boom? It isn't gun powder. Gun powder, or black powder, hasn't been used for a very long time, and your standard auto loading pistols and rifles would not work with it, but I am getting ahead of myself. The modern firearm is based upon the self contained cartridge. By self contained, I mean everything that is needed to fire the projectile is contained in one handy package. This package is properly called a cartridge, but is also called a "round."

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER call this type of cartridge a "shell." A "shell" is an entirely different kind of cartridge.

First you have the bullet, or the projectile. The bullet sits atop the propellant, smokeless powder in most cases. The propellant sits atop the primer, and the Casing holds everything together. The casing used to be, and still is in some cases, made of brass, so sometimes spent casings are called "brass."

Primers

Great, what does this mean to you? Well, the magic is in the primer. In the good old days you had to poor gun powder and ram your projectile down on top of it. A little power would be placed, or spill, in to a pan at the trigger area and when you pulled the trigger some flint or a match or something would ignite that little bit of powder. The fire from that spark would travel through a tiny hole and ignite the main charge. If the charge did not go off, it was called a "flash in the pan." So, as you can imagine, reliability was a real problem. Now a days, we took that pan charge and put it where it would always ignite the main charge, and always be in the same spot. This is called the primer. With a center fire round, the primer is on the flat end right in the center as the name implies. It is that picece of metal that is a different color than the rest of the casing.
The primer is not unlike a standard match head. In it is a little bit of explosive material that sparks when struck. There is very little explosive material in the primer, but you really don't need much, because the real boom comes from the propellant charge that is set off by the primer.

Propellant

The propellant is typically smokeless powder. Kind of a misnomer because it is really more like smokeless gravel. Anyway, it is the stuff that goes boom. The gun and the casing keep the resulting gases of this explosion pointed only one way, down the business end of the gun.
It was found that gunpowder, your saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal mix produced a lot of smoke. This was bad for many reasons. So a new type of powder was developed, and it was found to burn better, with minimal smoke, and was much more powerful than gunpowder. This development was as big of a change in the firearm since the invention of gunpowder itself. With this cleaner, more powerful powder a person could carry more ammunition, could see what he was shooting at after the first shot, and his guns would not rust as quickly.
Another problem with gunpowder is that it just didn't burn very cleanly. It would produce a soot that would foul every gun that fired it. Smokeless powder burned very cleanly in comparison, and with nothing fouling the action of the gun, weapons that fired multiple rounds using a complex action could be produced. Without smokeless powder, the modern self loading firearm would foul with in two or three shots. With smokeless powder, the auto loading firearm becomes a reality.

There are some things that you should know about smokeless powder. First, the amount (mass) is measured in grains(gr). 1 grain = 64.79891 mg, or about 437.5 grains = 1 oz.
How much powder you can put in to a cartridge depends on how large your casing is, and how strong the barrel of the gun you are using is. Typically, there are published tolerances published for the parts of guns so that you can be sure that the round you are using isn't too hot (too much powder) for the gun. Really that is all you need to know for a beginner, if you want to know more start looking in to literature on home loading. For all intents and purposes, the stuff you buy in the store will all go through your guns no problem... Provided you bought a well maintained firearm...

As you look at ammunition you will notice that some the ammunition designated for pistols will be noted with a P, or a +P. As smokeless powder got better and stronger, not so much of it was needed to produce the same power as the older stuff. So, some cartages could handle more powder than they traditionally held with the weaker powder. After some testing, manufacturers found that they could put the full charge of the new stuff in to the cartridge and it would function just fine in the pistols they tested. So, a new designation was created.
The "P" stands for pressure. The rounds that are more powerful are called "+P." Your gun's manual will let you know if you can use the +P round. Nearly all new pistols do.

Projectile

The projectile, or the bullet, is what puts holes in things. Typical bullets are made of lead. Why? Couple of reasons. Lead is a malleable substance, in other words it is soft and easily shaped. Lead is easy to find and cheap to use. Remember that a bullet travels very fast. Sir Newton teaches us that energy is conserved, so, during a collision, that energy has to go somewhere. Because of its unique properties, Lead will not shatter when it strikes something, like iron or steel would. Lead will deform rather than shatter thus loosing its shape, but not shedding any mass. The longer you keep your mass, the more energy transfer will occur between two objects in an elastic collision.

There are all types of different bullets you can buy for all sorts of different tasks. Most often, hopefully, you will be buying Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) bullets. Lead, as you might know, is toxic. The FMJ bullet has a thin coating of steel around them. This allows them to keep their shape, allows them to be handled safely, and not leak their lead out. This round is used in target shooting.

FMJ Bullet

The other typical round that you will buy, if you are looking to hunt or use your gun for self defense, you will buy hollow point bullets. These bullets are designed to flatten out when they strike something. They transmit all of their energy in to the target. They do this by having the nose of the bullet hollowed out, thus their "hollow point" name.

Hollow Point bullet

Why is one round used for target practice and one for hunting and self defense? It has to do with how the bullets are designed, how they transmit their energy and where will the bullet end up after striking the target.
The FMJ bullet is designed to maintain its shape, that means that it is really good at passing through objects. This is great if you are worried about the environmental impact of your bullets, you aren't going to spit lead everywhere, and especially great if you are looking to minimize the tissue damage done by your bullet. Not so great if you are unsure about what is BEHIND your target. You see, a FMJ bullet maintains its energy as it passes through tissue, and , as long as it doesn't strike bone, will likely pass directly through what you are shooting at. If you don't absolutely know that something will stop your bullet directly behind your target, this is not a good round for you.
If you have ever heard of the single bullet theory behind the Kennedy assassination, that was because the bullet was a FMJ bullet.

The "magic" bullet. This passed through two people, bounced off bone, and all sorts of other stuff. Notice how it is just slightly deformed.

Hollow Points are designed to mushroom during impact to vastly expand tissue damage, and to dissapate their energy inside the target. What that means is that the bullet opens up along the hollow point. This acts like speed breaks on an airplane, only with tissue. The bullet is unlikely to have the energy to exit the body, after these breaks have been deployed. This is great if you are looking to maximize the trauma caused by the bullet. Especially great if you are not sure of what is directly behind your target. In your house for instance, if you are shooting at an intruder, do you really want your bullets passing through the bad guy, through the sheet rock, and in to your kid's bedroom? No. Hollow points for you, then.

Before and after with a hollow point. Notice how the bullet opened up.

Shotgun Ammunition

Shotgun cartridges use all the same components as other cartridges, with one very large difference. Instead of a single solid projectile, the shotgun cartridge has several balls packed close together, called "shot", and a piece of wadding to hold them in. Only shotgun cartages should be called "shells." Nothing else. Want to look like an idiot with gun guys? Call your non shotgun ammo "shells."

Shotgun shells also come with a single metal bullet, called a slug. These rounds are for hunting something other than birds.

Caliber

Caliber is the diameter of the barrel of the gun, we will get in to barrels later. Bullets are matched to the diameter of the barrel they can spin down. So if the diameter of the barrel is 0.22 inches, the ammo that you need are .22 caliber. The actual bullet's diameter will be very slightly less than 0.22 inches. Anyway, calibers are measured in inches, millimeters, and gauge in shotguns.
Millimeters and inches are accepted measures all over the world. If you don't know what they are, you shouldn't be shooting. Anyway gauge is still a diameter of the barrel of a shotgun, but it is an old school measurement for cannon having to do with the weight of a sphere of lead that could be put in to the barrel. So... a 12 gage shotgun could have a sphere of lead weighing 1/12 of a pound put down the barrel, a 20 gage 1/20 of a pound and a 410, 1/410 of a pound... wait what? No, the 410 is actually a caliber measurement. Just when you thought things were making sense right?

Gotchas

There are several "gotchas" with ammunition. Mainly having to do with the type of ammo that you need to put in to your gun. It is VERY important that you match the correct round to your gun. You could really hurt yourself, and your firearm, by using improper ammo. So what are the gotchas? With pistols, you need to make sure that they kind of ammo that you have is the kind that fits your gun... For instance, you have a .45 automatic pistol. Will .45 Colt fit? You have a 9mm pistol. Should you use 9mm Parabelum, or 9mm Luger? You have a .22 rifle. Will .22 magnum fit? Any why is a .44 round more powerful than a .45? .45 is bigger right??

The similarity in naming is what messes most people up. The .45 Colt is actually a revolver round, and the round for the .45 automatic is the .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol). The 9mm Luger and 9mm Parabelum is the same round, and the .22 magnum will not fit in to a .22 Long Rifle. You need to read your gun's owner's manual very carefully to prevent any mistakes. It could mean the difference between a fun day at the range, or a painful trip to the ER.

Next Section - Gun Types

Really Tae Kwon Do?

2011-03-02T15:41:00.000-06:00

You are still wearing the super thick hogu?? Even after years of evidence that you won't drop dead after getting kicked? Really? I mean it is ok to wrap up kids. You do have over protective parents to worry about, but for adults? For adult males???? Seriously??? You know who doesn't use chest protection??? ALL OTHER COMBAT SPORTS!!!
Stop the stupid TKD. Just stop it.

American Top Team

2011-03-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

It's a new quarter, so that must mean that I have joined a new gym! I went looking for classes I could make and still hold on to the scared dinner time that I MUST have with the wife. If I don't get my wife time I start to go nuts. Anyway, I found that American Top Team had a 7am BJJ class, and a 9am Muay Thai class. I have been working from home about two or three days a week, so I thought that I could swing the 7am BJJ classes then head to the office, and on the days that I worked from home, I could work for a while, then hit the Muay Thai class later on in the morning. I went to their web site to check them out.

The head BJJ instructor is Giulliano Gallupi. He is a black belt out of Nova União in Brazil, like many of the ATT guys. He has many championships, but does not have the background of world champion and over all BJJ bad ass Lovato Jr. However, he is a much better BJJ guy than me, and a legit black belt out of a very solid Brazilian school. That is good enough for me, as I only saw Lovato Jr. once in the year I was at his school.

The MT instructor is Eduardo Maiorino. Eduardo has fought at the highest levels in MT for western fighters. He has been in the big K-1 tournaments, fought the big names and did alright... He did get knocked silly by Duke Rufus in 2003. He never seemed to get out of the regional events, seeming to always loose before getting to the big GP in Japan. However, he is a super duper legit MT guy.

I went to a free trial class for MT and went through a class with Edwardo. He was fun to work with, gave great combos, and worked me in to the ground. Not hard with my cardio the way it is. He seemed very excited to work in the US with us, and continually shouted out the traditional Brazilian encouragement phrases of "Let's go guys!!" and "Work hard my babies." Apparently that is a Brazilian thing. They all do it.

I came back to the gym to try out the BJJ morning class and found that the attendance was very low... It was another blue belt Giulliano and me. Essentially it was a private class.
After a tough warm up, reminded me of the good old days at Doc Stiner's doing updowns until I threw up, we went through passing the guard. Lots of really really good stuff. I have never had a one on one lesson with a black belt, and it was really nice to learn where I was making a lot of mistakes. The bad part was that my cardo is so bad that when it came time to spar, I had very little in the tank to represent my former schools. I got owned, and owned badly.
All in all, very positive experience.

I came back the next day at 9am to do Edwardo's class. Again I found that only a couple of students were there, so I got to train with Edwardo basically by myself. He said my kicks were not fast, and that my left leg was weak. Good to know... Again my cardio let me down and I completely gassed out during pad work with him. He was tossing out excellent combos making me think and work hard, I just couldn't keep up with the pace.

After class, to my surprise, Giulliano remembered my name, and asked if I would be in class tomorrow. I assured him I would, and left the gym happy that this place was making an attempt at building a fighter family. Positive experiences all around.

I know for sure that this place won't be asking me to teach. That is a very good thing, because I just want to train. I also know that this place won't be holding back the tough exercise. When I was working out both instructors seemed frustrated at my lack of cardio, and by the work outs they put me through, my guess is they have a base level of fitness that they want their students at. Because there are so few people in the class, it is hard to hide from the hard work, so that is a very good thing for my gas tank.

One extreme draw back is the cost. It is stupidly expensive. STUPIDLY expensive. I am used to training for under $100 a month, and this place puts the price tag up near $170 a month. Freaking ouch. I could get the price under $100, but that is only with a year contract, and I just didn't want to do that, because I have no idea what my schedule will look like in a year. It could be that I can only do this kind of training for another couple of months... So, I bit the bullet and signed up for three months at $170 a month. Ouch. But I know that my schedule will be stable for that amount of time. The wife's rotations will be predictable for that amount of time, and I know I will be on the same contract for at least three more months.

It feels good to be training again!

Bolt Barrel Breech Bullet... What?? Terms and Structures Guide For New Shooters Part I - Parts of The Gun

2011-02-24T10:12:00.001-06:00

How They Work

At their heart, guns are very simple devices. They are basically tubes with an explosive charge at the base. The tube must be strong enough to withstand the pressures of the explosion and force the projectile out of the open end of the gun.

Barrel

What are the basic pieces that make up a firearm? They haven't changed since guns were first constructed. You need a breech, a Barrel, and some sort of trigger.

The barrel is what the projectile moves down. Why is it called a barrel? Back in the good old days people did not have the knowledge or teleology to cast metal in to a solid cylinder. They did know how to make many small curved staves of metal. So they would create these staves of metal, and put them all together with iron hoops, just like they did to make wooden barrels. Thus, the name. The ends of the barrel have special names. The front is called the muzzle, and the rear, the breech.
The inside of the barrel is called the bore. The bore is very important to the flight of the projectile. There are two types of bores that are used. The smooth bore, and the rifled bore. The smooth bore is just that. The bore is smooth all the way down to the breech. There is nothing in the bore to affect the flight of the bullet.
The rifled bore has spiral groves cut in to the bore to spin the bullet as it leaves the barrel. This stabilizes the flight of the bullet, and causes it to be more accurate.
Guns that have the rifled barrels are called "rifles."

Magazine

The magazine is where ammunition is stored. With firearms it is where a firearm, capable of repeatable fire, keeps its ammunition. Shotguns typically use a tubular magazine underneath the barrel of the gun. Handguns have a removable magazine, or a revolving magazine, and rifles have a number of different types of magazines, from internal magazines to removable magazines, to tubular magazines.

This is a pistol magazine.

Never ever call a removable magazine a "clip." This is the wrong term. A "clip" is something that is used to aid in the loading of an internal fixed magazine.

This is a clip!

Action

Firearms are loaded one of two ways, from the muzzle or from the breech. Obviously, those that are loaded from the muzzle are called "muzzle loaders." These types take considerable skill to operate, and are outside the scope of these descriptions.

Breech loading is the most common form in firearms these days. The problem with a breech loader is that you have a weakness at the point of explosion. To solve this you need something that will seal the breech so that the explosion only goes the way you want it to go. This is called the "block" or "breech block" or the "lock." With most firearms, the block exists as part of a more complex system called the "action."

Now we get in to where a lot of confusion occurs. The Action is typically defined as what manipulates the cartridges and seals the breech. This is a wide open term, because there a a number of ways to get this done. There are two types of actions, manually operated and, automatic. Automatic Actions are also called Auto-loading firearms. When you hear of an "automatic" handgun, it is because it is an Auto-loading hand gun.

The parts of the action very greatly depending on the type of gun. Repeating firearms have vastly more complex actions than the single shot variety. What you need to know is that the action is the part that opens or seals the breech.

Manual actions are, of course, the oldest types. That does not mean that the manual action is outdated. Indeed many new variations on the manual action are released every year. The only qualifier for an action to be a manual action is that the shooter has to do some step to enable the firearm to shoot. This can get confusing, as newer manual actions do so much mechanical work with a trigger pull that they are almost automatic.
A good example of a simple manual action firearm is the break action shotgun:

As you can see the action is manipulated by a leaver that breaks open the breech. Shells are then extracted and fresh ones inserted the action is again locked and the gun is ready to fire.

Automatic actions are newer and they, like their name implies, do all of the work for you. An automatic action typically uses the recoil or the gas of the exploding powder to run their cycle.
An example of automatic action is the Bretta 92:

Parts of the Action

Pieces parts!!
Parts of the action in a repeating firearm are remarkably similar. In a manual actions and automatic actions you are going to have something called the "bolt." The bolt is nothing more than a spring loaded piece of shaped metal. This piece acts as the breech block and housing for the firing pin (more on that guy later) and extractor.
In operation the bolt is moved backward, opening the breech. The extractor is a piece that grabs the spent casing and tosses it out of the chamber. A new round is brought up from the magazine and the bolt moves forward to put it in the chamber. The bolt then locks around the fresh round, and the firing pin is cocked backward.
Here is a bolt action rifle with the bolt open:

With pistols, the bolt is combined in a single piece called the "slide." Literally the entire top part of the pistol will move backward when firing. The back half of this is mostly all steel, the bolt.

Working the action

Now comes some confusing stuff... With the advent of repeating firearms, there has been the concept of single shot, semi-automatic, and automatic fire. This has to do with what happens when the trigger is pulled. All manually operated firearms are considered "single shot." One trigger pull, one shot. The action has to be worked manually for another shot to occur. That said, the only guns ever called "single shot" are the ones that can only only shoot once. A pump action shotgun is not called a single shot, it is called a pump action.

Semi-Automatic means that you get a shot every time you pull the trigger. There is no manual action that needs to occur between shots, just pull the trigger, boom.

Automatic means that the gun fires as long as the trigger remains pressed. Pull the trigger, boomboomboomboomboom.

Trigger

The trigger is where the magic happens. Unfortunately, this is also where a lot of confusion reigns. The trigger has essentially three pieces. The actual trigger, the thing you pull with your finger, the hammer, and the firing pin. What happens when that trigger is pulled, especially in pistols, is what is cause for much of the confusion.

A typical firing action happens like this: The shooter pulls the trigger. The trigger releases the hammer, which is under tension by a spring. The hammer falls upon the firing pin, which strikes the primer (more on this later) which fires the gun.
That would be pretty simple, but designers have found ways around the hammer. This means you can seal up the trigger completely enabling the gun to work much more efficiently, and making them easer to operate. These hammerless designs have revolutionized all guns.

Now, let's step back for a moment. Many firearms still have a visible hammer. It is the thing you always see people cocking backward in the movies. In the pistol world, guns are still designated by having that hammer involved in the mix, even if that hammer doesn't exist. Having fun yet?
Repeating pistols are separated in to two categories by what "happens" when the trigger is pulled. Happens is in quotes because designs have evolved to eliminate most of what used to make up the definitions. But here we go anyway:
In the pistol world you have double action pistols and single action pistols. Double action pistols have triggers that have very long trigger pulls, and can cock the hammer, then release it all with a single trigger pull. A single action pistol, only releases the trigger when the trigger is pulled.
An example of a single action pistol is the Colt 1911 pistol.

The 1911 will only fire if the hammer is cocked back. The good news is that it does this for you automatically every time you fire the pistol, but the first time you fire, you must have the hammer cocked.

Double action pistols are somewhat confusing. Your typical double action pistol can fire in single action, the hammer cocked, or in double action, hammer is cocked then released in the single action. An example of a double action pistol is the Colt Anaconda:

Fun time!! Coming back to what I said before about the hammerless designs. The hammerless designs many are designated Double Action Only. Wait, you say, How can they be double action with out a hammer??? Good question. When a traditional double action pistol is being shot in double action mode the trigger pull is long and heavy. You really have to want to shoot what you are aiming at for a double action to go off. The manufacturers like this thought, and they kept it when they introduced their DAO pistols. So, double action in the modern pistol sense has come to mean, really long trigger pull. Because of this really long trigger pull, companies have been able to reduce the amount of external safeties built in to their pistols. It is difficult to be just playing around with such a long heavy pull and have it go off, so why do you need an extra switch to manipulate? An example of a DAO pistol is the Glock 17.

Even more fun time! If single action and double action haven't completely blown your mind, there are also Double Action/Single Action pistols! What these contraptions are pistols that act as double action the first time they are fired, then single action after ever succeeding shot. So, you have a long hard trigger pull the first time as the hammer is cocked back and released, but after that first shot is off, the hammer remains cocked, and the trigger pull is short and light. Most modern pistols that have, visible hammers, are DA/SA. The afore mentioned Beretta 92 is a good example, and so is my very first handgun, the Smith and Wesson 5906:

Safeties

The bane of all new shooters! The external safety!
Most firearms will have some sort of mechanical safety. We will get to this in the safety post, but, in my opinion, they are all crap. They lead the shooter in to a false sense of security. How many shooting accidents have you heard about where the shooter said he thought the gun was on safe?
Anyway, a safety is a device that will keep the gun from firing. These need to be put in to the fire position before a gun can be fired.
They range from the flip safety shown on the 5906 and Beretta 92 above, from a back strap safety show on the 1911 (that piece of metal protruding out beneath the slide.) to the button safety on many shotguns.

You can tell if someone shoots a lot or not from how they manipulate the safety. Good shooters will get in to their firing position and will switch the safety to fire. They then settle in and take their first shot. After they are done shooting they will switch the gun to safe before relaxing from their shooting position.
New and inexperienced shooters will settle in then pull the trigger, nothing will happen, they then remember the safety, switch it off, resettle then shoot. The safety is then put back on as an after thought after they have relaxed from their shooting position.

Next post... Ammo!

Why Government Worker Unions are Dangerous

2011-02-21T09:28:00.000-06:00

Money and politics. Politics and money. Government worker unions are the complete marriage of money and politics. Unfortunately it is the people's money that is being spent.

Let's take the example of a private sector business first, then expand that in to the public. The differences are what will make my argument for me.

I start a business building airplanes. If I wish to keep my business running I have to turn a profit. I can not just break even, because I must have some money on hand to buy new equipment and other capital expenditures and to increase salaries, etc. If I do not turn a profit, I have to close my doors, and sell all of my assets to pay all of my creditors. The management and staff of my company know that the money for the company is made by a quality product. If the business is run correctly, they work hard to produce just such a product. They have "skin" in the game. This is the way of the privateer.
If a government agency decides that they want to build airplanes, they do not need to turn a profit. They simply start making airplanes, asking for their budget from the congress, via their parent agency. Even if the airplane building division is run horribly, with many problems, it can still operate at a massive loss. They don't get their money from a good product, they get their money from the congress. The money will still be there even if the product is substandard.

Now we enter in unions. First I will qualify this by saying, I believe that unions have a place in the workforce. When business takes advantage of its workers, and puts them in unsafe conditions, unions are needed so that the individual labors can stand together to stop the unsafe practice. However, it is also the mandate of the State to ensure that the rights of the individual are not infringed upon by the company. Thus, the State, by force of law, should and and ought enact legislation to protect worker's rights. Such as a safe workplace. When the State steps in and does this, what is the role of the union? Collective bargaining.

So, the workers in my airplane factory unionize and come to the bargaining table. As the union represents all workers in my factory, I only need to negotiate once. If a deal is struck, everyone in the plant has the same deal. I know how well my company is doing and how much I can spend on each employee. I am only beholden to the company bottom line, thus there is a finite amount of money I can deal with. The union and I come to a deal with this bottom line in mind.

When the government worker union comes to the bargaining table, they deal with someone who is not beholden to the company, but to elected officials. The elected official, post 17th Amendment, is beholden to the people in his district. The elected official knows that if he gets the endorsement from the union, lots and lots of people in his district will vote for him. As he also has no skin it the game, and there is no mandate to turn a profit, the bottom line that the privateer has does not exist in the public sector. Unions are given nearly everything they ask for, as they essentially hold the elected official hostage with their endorsement.

This is why government unions are so powerful, and so dangerous. Government, post US vs Darby Lumber, essentially has a blank check to write. The unions know this and go after that brass ring. Ironically, the man who made this a reality, FDR, was staunchly anti union because of this very reason. His later successor, JFK, was the one who let the fox in the hen house.

Diamond DA 40

2011-02-18T11:42:00.002-06:00

Great Shot!!

DA 40 TDI at dusk.

Cars Worth Buying

2011-02-18T09:32:00.001-06:00

I will not be buying a car for several years. Mainly because my cars are paid off and I want to save some money... That and there are not a whole lot of cars out there today that are worth buying. I really really REALLY don't want any part of an American car company right now. They all took untold amounts of money from the tax payer, in one form or another (loans or outright buyouts). Not only that, but all American car companies are staffed by members of the United Auto Workers Union. I do not with to support an entity that is grievously outdated and responsible for much of the loss of manufacturing jobs to other countries. It wouldn't be so bad if the union would work with the management of the company to foster innovation, as well as make concessions when times are tough (see German Unions), but the UAW actively works to kill innovation, and, in the case of General Motors, caused the company's demise.

So, you will not see one car from an American company on my list. However, most of the cars appearing on the list are made in the good old USA. By non-union workers. So... Fuck you Detroit!!

My requirements... Manual transmission. Over 200 HP. That is it. I like "fun" cars, but there has to be a degree of practicality in them. I have to think of the car's primary mission, getting my fat ass to work and back, so I don't want something that only gets 10 MPG. Yet I don't want it to bore me to death.
I want a moon roof. I had one on a Celica that I owned a long time ago, and I have always missed it.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI

$34K
305 HP 2.5-liter turbocharged SUBARU BOXER 4-cylinder
17/23 MPG

A take off of their Rally Sport car the Impreza WRX STI is something special. All wheel drive, 6 speed manual... Everything a boy wants.

Volvo C30 R-Design

$27K
227 HP 2.5-liter turbocharged Five-cylinder Engine
21/30 MPG
Better gas mileage, but not as many ponies the Volvo C30 is a unique design. The wife hates it... Says it has an ugly ass. I wouldn't say ugly, just interesting.

The Sky Is Crying... Garry Moore is Gone

2011-02-08T12:13:00.000-06:00

Story

Business and the Liberal Mind Set

2011-02-08T09:52:00.001-06:00

I like to think, that I can understand most people's points of view. I try to keep an open mind, and attempt to understand the multiple sides to a story. That story, though has to make some sort of logical sense. Things that don't make logical sense to me, I try to study to see if there is some sort of sense that I can not make out. If it does not make sense after study, I reject the idea as nonsense. Such is the case with Liberals and business.

From what I can gather... Liberals, I am talking about pretty much anybody involved in Government for more than a year or so, seem to believe that jobs, along with everything else, can simply be legislated in to existence. I have a very hard time with this. It makes no sense to me. Here is my confusion:

I have a business that produces something. I make cupcakes or wedding cakes or those boobie cakes that I see on TV... bobbies.... wait... what was I saying? Oh yeah, so I produce something. It doesn't matter what I produce, just that something is produced. I find that there are not enough hours in the day for me to get all of my work done, and I realize that if I had someone else working with me, I could expand my bobbie cake making. So, I work out how much money I can pay this new person so that with the minimal amount of expansion I can make back the costs of the employment. I do interviews and negotiate a salary with the candidate that I think will work with me the best. We work together and are able to produce more, take on more customers and make more money.

Simplistically, this is how business works. This is how jobs are created. The only obligation that the business has is to make its owner money. That is what it is there for. Money. Quality of product, customer service, clean bathrooms, all of that noise is there to increase the volume of customers coming in my door.

The business has expenses as well. The business needs to have a certain number of paying customers in order to remain in business. The utility bills need to be paid, the rent, or mortgage on my premises needs to be paid, the salary of my worker needs to be paid, and any taxes levied against the business needs to be paid. Yes, taxes are an expense of the business. I need to offset their cost by selling product. The more taxes the business pays, the more I have to charge per item to make up the cost. So, in the end, it is the consumer, not the business, who pays the business taxes.

So, it seems obvious to most people that when Government intervenes in business, it drives up the cost of business. Thus, the minimum amount of intervention seems prudent. It also seems obvious, to me anyway, that the only intervention of government in to business should be local government. Local government knows better how to handle the unique issues of its area. How can a federal government official, born in New York City, best know what is good for a boobie cake business in rural Wyoming? They can't. What's more they shouldn't try. Only an arrogant, pompous, douche bag would think they could do that.

However... Some things that have been said, recently, by prominent liberals have made me scratch my head. I don't get it. Yesterday in front of the Chamber of Commerce, President Obama stated:

If we make America the best place to do business, businesses should make their mark in America. They should set up shop here, and hire our workers, and pay decent wages, and invest in the future of this nation. That’s their obligation.

What? Really? No, that is not their obligation. Not at all. Who decides what is "decent wages"? The boobie cake business pays its workers as little as it can. Why? Not because it is evil, but because it only has so much that it can pay the workers and still turn a profit. If it does not turn a profit, then nobody is employed. If Government forces a certain wage on the business, the business will either go out of business, or not hire any more workers.
As the President, Mr. Obama makes statements that the Federal Government will act on. Again, how can someone born in Hawaii, raised all over the world, resides in Chicago, and works in Washington D.C. possibly decide what is decent wages in rural Wyoming? See previous statement.

During the Super Bowl, Will.I.Am of The Black Eyed Peas said in his song:

Obama, let’s get these kids educated, create jobs so the country stays stimulated.

What can the President do to create jobs? By our previous study, he can get out of business' way. Was that what Will.I.Am wants the President to do? Judging by Will.I.Am's previous statements, I very much doubt it. The Community Reinvestment Act was an attempt by Government to stimulate the economy and create jobs on a massive (Trillion dollar) scale. What happened? Nothing but more red ink. I am reminded of a story told of Milton Freedman when he was in China:

Prof. Friedman visited China in the early 1960s and was taken by a government official to see a public works project. Chinese workers were building a canal. Friedman was struck by seeing everyone digging the canal with shovels. Friedman asked the official, "why no heavy earth-moving equipment?" The official said, "oh, this is a jobs program." So Friedman then says to the official, "then why don't you just give them spoons instead of shovels to create even more jobs?

This seems to be the ultimate policy of the liberals. They want to "invest" in infrastructure by handing out spoons so that more people have a job. It makes no sense.

It seems that the liberal wants to fundamentally change the obligation of business. This is an impossible task. That would be akin to fundamentally changing the obligation of the heart from pumping blood to filtering toxins. Just as the heart is not the liver, business can not change what it is. You can, however, change the focus of business from the individual to the state. If business is owned by the state, then the business' obligation is to enrich or "invest" in, to use the nomenclature of the day, the state.

So we come back to the same tired conclusion. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, has the internal organs of a duck, and the DNA of a duck, it is most likely not a monkey. Why do we persist in calling the liberal a monkey, when they are, in fact, a duck?

**Corrected for wrong name***

My REAL List

2011-02-04T13:36:00.000-06:00

Christmas is over,and my birthday is fast approaching. So I think it is a great time to look within myself for some real greed.

This is what is really on my I want it really bad list:

Guns
Everything on my previous post about full size pistols. That takes care of that...

Springfield M1A1

This was the main battle rifle for a short time before the plastic M16 replaced it. A 7.62 round makes it a little hot, but it is much better than the stupidly light 5.56.
Accurate and dependable it is the ultimate hunting/Zombie killing weapon.

Keltek KSG

Sweet fancy Moses... A bullpup (gun with the grip in front of the breech) 12 gauge shotgun. 14 rounds. Semiautomatic. Such an awesome design. It has no real possible use other than to be super awesome.

Heckler & Koch G36K

I know, I know. I hate the 5.56 round. It sucks. It is a high powered .22 that the military only uses because people no longer knew how to shoot, and were afraid of the recoil of the larger round. BUT lots of cool designs have come of it and the HK G36K is super cool.
A bullpup design with all kinds of accessories and neat stuff. HK is known for quality... but crappy customer service.

Cars
Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon

Wow... I wish they were not owned by the AWU, and the Government... This might be the only new car out there that would be worth the payments.
GM built this thing as kind of a marketing goof. I can't imagine any soccer moms wanting to buy it. Why?
It has a 6.2L supercharged V-8 engine. The same engine found in Corvette. That beast has 556 horsepower and 551 lb.-ft. of torque. It is the most powerful engine offered in Cadillac’s history. It will go 0-60 in four seconds.
It has a Magnetic Ride Control that automatically senses if you need the ride of a Cadillac or if you need the ride of a Formula 1 race car. Rumor is that it will be priced at about $62K. A laughably low price. There is no possible way that GM will make money on the car. To add to this theory, the silly thing is available with a manual transmission. Really GM?? Who is going to buy this thing? ME!!!!

Motorcycles
Ducati 848

Fast, sexy, full of awesome. It is the ultimate super bike.

Yamaha Star Raider S

Yamaha's new cruiser design. It is supposed to replace the Road Star Warrior, I don't think it does, but it is still super cool.

Airplanes
Cessna Corvalis TT

What used to be the Columbia 400 is now the Cessna Corvalis TT. Slippery as all get out, it is the fastest conventionally powered, fixed gear production airplane in the world. I recently had a flight instructor tell me that it was too slippery. It was too fast. What a cool problem to have!

Mooney Acclaim Type S

The fastest single engine production aircraft in the world. It also has a range of 1400NM. I could fly nonstop from Dumbfuckville to New York, or Los Angeles. It is the ultimate single engine long distance cruiser.

Cirrus Vision Jet

Not much range, but wow what a design. It is sex in the air.

I Blame Al Gore...

2011-02-02T07:24:00.000-06:00

Notice how Tampa and Miami had nice warm sunny days, while the rest of the country was in the deep freeze.

What the...

2011-02-01T07:22:00.000-06:00

It's a test right Chuck? You were just seeing if we knew? Right??? You scare me just the way you are, but this is just you having a laugh, right?? RIGHT?????????

Patriot Act Abomination

2011-01-31T13:41:00.000-06:00

Soon after 9/11 the American people gave up large sections of their rights to the government. It was called "The Patriot Act." Who wants to vote against something that has Patriot in it? Might as well have called it, "The Law That Prevents The Killing of Cute Cuddly Puppies." Or "The Community Reinvestment Act."
At the time, our leaders said it was necessary for our security. It was necessary for the defeat of the "evil-doers." Besides, the Act will never be used the wrong way, and the Act has an expiration date. We won't always have the Patriot Act!

What have we seen? The Patriot Act has been renewed time and again, we are still under its power, not only that, but we have seen more and more abuses of the Act by the FBI.
The FBI uses the Patriot Act to violate and intimidate everyday Americans. All they need to do is to say they suspect terrorism. They need no probable cause, no due process. They just say Terrorism and blamo, get all up in your Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, First Amendment, AND Sixth Amendment.

Here is the true and simple fact. Only ONE time in history has someone with absolute power ever given it up voluntarily. His name was Washington. After that, you can count on one hand the times any Government has given up a power once it has been granted. These abuses will be come more and more common place. Unless something is done immediately, the Patriot Act will be with us forever. History has proven that once a people gives up liberty, they can only win it back with blood. The first country on earth that proved that a self governing people can peaceably return government power back to the people. That is the USA. Other countries have followed our example, but it is a rare and fragile thing. Even in the USA it is very very difficult to return government power to the people. Want an example? Try to get a member of congress to tell you why we can't return spending back to 2008 levels.

Just cause George was awesome.

Back in the Air!

2011-01-29T22:26:00.000-06:00

I did a bi-annual review today at Oklahoma Aviation. I haven't been in the air in a while, so I was a little nervous showing up.

A biannual review is something that all pilots have to do to stay current, or legally be able to fly an airplane. It is done once ever two years and consists of one hour of ground time, and one hour in the air. It is done with a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). It is not a test, it is a review, there is no grade, no official evaluation that is sent in to the FAA. All the FAA requires it that a CFI spent the time with the pilot, then endorse his log book saying that the pilot has satisfactorily completed the review. That's it. I haven't flown since my last biannual review thus the afore mentioned nerves.

What added to my nerves was that I have not landed from a controlled airport since June 19, 1992. That was just a touch and go (land, then immediately take off again). I have never landed to a complete stop at a controlled airport, and I have never, in my entire life, taxied at an airport that used ground control. I was very nervous about that. I have talked to Air Traffic Control (ATC) before, but never really landed at the towered airports.
Being from the Midwest, this is really not tough to accomplish. The vast number of airports have no tower, so VFR pilots simply land and take off. We communicate over the open frequency and do our best not to step on one another. The tower, for me, was a physical manifestation of the FAA. The cops in the air, just waiting for me to screw up so that they could write me up with a violation. Spooky.

Anyway I walked in to Oklahoma Aviation about 9am and met Marcus, the chief flight instructor and my date for the day. We started the review like they all start out, him asking me the standard questions. What are the airspaces, what are the cloud clearances, what do you do if your wings start to ice up, what are the emergency procedures if you engine catches on fire in mid air(seriously). I blow past all of these, for the most part I have them memorized and I am good to go. We pull out the map and he asked the standard questions about that. After a bit he felt that I was good to go from a ground perspective. Really there isn't much to the ground part, and the instructors really don't care much about it. They care if you are safe in the airplane. So I go out and preflight the aircraft, a 2006 Cessna 172SP. It has 180 horse, and a G1000 glass cockpit. I was really excited about this. I have been reading about glass cockpits for nearly 10 years now, but I have never had the chance to fly in one. The aircraft rental prices around here are so high that I could have rented a steam (old school instruments) airplane for $160, or the glass for $170. I decided to pay the extra $10 and fly an airplane, for the first time in my life, that was from a model year after I was born.

Cessna N9017A a 2006 172 My airplane for the day.

I did my preflight and found some differences about the airplanes right away. All airplanes have little places where the pilot, during the preflight, takes small samples of fuel to determine if the fuel has water or any other types of impurities. Look... If you have water in your gas tank in a car, at worst you are stranded on the side of the road. In the airplane you are dead, so we like to know if there is water in the tanks before we slip the surly bounds of earth.
The new 172 has 5 places to check the fuel for each wing tank. The old ones only had one per wing. Other than that, the air frame was the same, my walk around was uneventful. Time to kick the tires and light the fires!!

We hopped in and got ready to start the engine. I noticed right away that the engine start check list was different. Cessna got rid of the carburetors. The airplane is fuel injected. That is better than good it is great! I was looking around for the Carburetor Heat (some times ice can form in the venturi tube, the carburetor heat warms the sides of the tube so that ice does not form, and you don't die) no more! That is very cool, one less thing to worry about when you are taking off and landing.
Another new item is that there was an axillary fuel pump. But Cessnas are high wing airplanes, they use gravity to get their gas, not a pump. Apparently it is a new safety thing Cessna starting doing. I don't know when they started... Anyway there was a procedure there to test it before we took off.

The engine cranked to life and the real fun started. The Garmin 1000 Glass Cockpit. It was so awesome... Too awesome.... Right away I realized that nothing was where I expected it, nothing looked familiar, and I spent a lot of time just looking for the basic stuff... Like the Tachometer... Not good.

Lots of pretty lights...(click for a huge picture)

I right away I was much more distracted by the glass panel than I thought I would be. I started to think that maybe this was a bad idea. But I don't like not liking something simply because it is new and different. I wanted to step my flying in to the future and this certainly was the future.

Now the moment of truth. I told the instructor before we started about my lack of experience with the tower. He said that he would handle the radios for now, and I was just to listen and I would handle them on the way back. He said that the layout of Wiley Post airport was fairly simple so ground control was not that big of a deal.

View Larger Map
Wiley Post Airport

The biggest difference between tower controlled and non towered airports is the freedom. With no tower, pilots just jump in, crank over and head for the sky. With towered airports, they make sure you listen to the latest weather, and all of the airport information before you can get any clearances. This is called ATIS (Automated Terminal Information Service) it changes every so often and it is designated a letter. So when you are ready to start to taxi to the runway, or contacting the tower to land, you need to tell them that you have information (letter designation here). So, since we were taking off, we called ground control and said
"Cessna 9701A ready to taxi. Information Charlie"
We were then given a transponder number and told to identify ourselves. To identify you press a button and that sends a message to the radar that makes the airplane "bloom" it tells them who you are.

We were given clearance to head to the runway and complete our run up engine checks, then to contact the tower for take off. We did so and were soon ready for take off. I called the tower and told them that I was ready for take off. The tower responded that I was clear for take off and to hurry up, because another airplane was going to land soon. Yikes... I got on the runway gave full power and off we went.

I was very pleased with the performance of the 172SP. I am used to 172s being a little bit under powered. The typical power plant in the older 172s is 145 horse Continental engine, and those 35 extra ponies in the Lycoming engine really help out. Really help out. I was at 55 knots for my rotation speed (bring the nose off of the runway) before I knew it and the airplane leapt in to the air carrying myself at 190lbs with clothing, and my 220+lb instructor. It was fun. I had not expected the 172 to be so peppy so I was very very pleased.

The basics of the glass panel took some getting used to, but I immediately liked them better than the steam gauges. For one, the Vertical Airspeed Indicator (how fast are you ascending or descending) was a number next to the Altimeter read out. Very very nice, and very handy. Your eyes don't need to move as much to find the number, it is just right there. The airspeed ribbon was meh, as was the Horizontal Situation Indicator, the replacement for the gyroscopic heading indicator. I say meh, because they look and operate basically the same as their steam counterparts, except the HSI does give you an exact heading as a number not just an indicator line like the heading indicator did. The HSI also incorporates your navigation instruments, the VOR or GPS with the common floating middle arrow.
However what was really awesome was the new Slip Skid Indicator. Before you had a gyroscopic instrument called the Turn Indicator. This had a little airplane in the middle with a blob of oil floating in some sort of solution underneath it.

Turn Coordinator

The idea was to watch this bubble and put more rudder control in as that bubble moved from the center. If your ball was centered, you are "on the ball" with a properly coordinated turn (no idea if this is where the saying originated...). That ball was kind of difficult to see if you had it centered, so most companies started to put lines in the middle to make sure you knew where the center was. Basically, the thing looked like a level used in wood working. The Slip Skid Indicator in the new glass panel was a line underneath the roll pointer. If you got your roll pointer and your slip skid indicator to look like an arrow you were golden. Very easy to see, very easy to use. I liked it very much.

The final new cool thing, I didn't mess with the Multi Functional Display (MFD), was the huge artificial horizon in the Attitude Indicator. It is very easy to see if you are nose down, or one wing is dipped or anything having to do with Attitude. The old school Attitude Indicators were kind of tough to read, because they were small. In the PFD it is huge and easy to read.

The Primary flight display

Using my new tools I was able to execute my turns easily and keep them right at the degree of bank that the instructor wanted... What I did not do well was to keep the airplane from skidding. I wasn't strong enough with the rudder. Something I will have to work with in the future.

The immediate draw backs to all of this information was that I found that I had to force myself to look out the windscreen to check for traffic. The displays have SO MUCH information that you are always looking at them rather than looking out the window. Big problem, but with all things practice practice practice.

We went through the normal procedures, lots of turns, stalls and other maneuvers that you only do during a flight review. We didn't do any "unusual attitude" stuff, that kind of upset me, because I look forward to that. It is when the instructor tells you to close your eyes, then he does something funky with the airplane and tells you, "recover." You open your eyes for a quick "Holly Shit" moment, then correct the airplane as best you can. It is a lot of fun.
This instructor's view of the biannual review was to go over the basics, and make sure you can do them well.
What he did do that was fun was to fly me out west of Wiley Post, then simulate an engine out. This is standard procedure for the review, but he had a slight twist... He simulated an engine out with Sundance Airfield just off of the RIGHT side. Why is this important? Two reasons, first you can actually simulate an engine out landing and actually land. Normally when we simulate an engine out you kind of run through the motions, find a field to "land" in, and you get power back about 500 feet before you touch down. No big deal. But with the airport right there, you get to practice the engine out from start to finish, all the way to the ground really neat!
Having the airport on the right side tells the instructor if the student is looking everywhere for a good place to land. Typically the student will find a place to land off of the left side of the airplane. That is the point of view he is most familiar with. So, if the student picks a field instead of a perfectly good concrete runway, there is a problem with the student's decision making.

In this case today, I found the airport right away and was able to do my engine out landing. Lots of fun, I have never dead sticked a landing, so it was a new and interesting experience. I didn't use flaps, because I didn't need them. I needed all of my altitude and space to keep my speed up above the stall speed to make the runway and land. Challenging and fun.

View Larger Map
Sundance Airpark

After that, we did some more turns, worked on some full power stalls, and headed back to the barn. I called the tower and was told to follow a local highway until an airplane ahead of us landed. Once the airplane had landed we were cleared to land, but, just like when I took off the first time, an airplane was given clearance for take off as we were coming in on final.
I made a good landing, and was able to exit the runway on the proper taxi way. A quick call to ground control and we were back at the FBO.

All in all a good flight. The instructor endorsed my log book for my biannual review, but did not endorse my rental check out form. I agreed with his assessment that I needed more work with the G1000 and the radios in the controlled area. I am more than willing to come back and do another hour or two of instruction. For nothing else than I need the practice. It has been a while, and I have yet to really tackle the biggest problem here in Oklahoma... The wind.
For now, I am current and back in the cockpit. In a few weeks, I will crawl back in and finish off my instruction. I can't wait!

Interesting Topic At Work

2011-01-25T17:47:00.000-06:00

A story was found on the Internet, linked to from a news site, that sparked an interesting discussion at work this morning.

The question is this:
You observe 5 workmen on train tracks. A train is coming down the tracks that will kill all 5. You have a switch next to you that, if pulled, will divert the train, killing only 1 workman, but saving 4. What do you do?

Now we change the question just a bit.
You observe 5 workmen on train tracks. A train is coming down the tracks that will kill all 5. You are on an overpass with a fat man standing next to you. If you push the fat man in to the way of the train, the train will be diverted saving all 5 workmen. What do you do?

Half of the room could be considered your typical republicans, the other half, democrats. Me in the middle.

While, most of the time one side of the room argues points with the other side of the room, this time both sides were in agreement.

Both the Republicans and Democrats would pull the switch, but would not throw the fat man over the bridge. The reasons gave were different, and interesting.

The Democrats and Republicans could both pull the switch, because it was the only way to save as many people as possible.
The Democrats could not throw the fat man over, because they would be directly responsible for the death of a person, and they could not bring themselves to do it. They empathized with the single person.

The Republicans, interestingly enough, thought more about the spiritual ramifications of throwing the fat man over, and thought that they might be held responsible for killing fat man in cold blood, however they tended to throw the man over as they thought that it would be better to save the 5. They empathised with the 5, but felt bad about killing fatty.

I, on the other hand, both threw the switch and threw the man over the bridge. For me, there was very little moral dilemma. While my colleagues hemed and hawed over their souls, or the death of the fat man, I simply did a math problem. Kill one to save more than one. Math wins, pull the switch, push tubby over.

After being called a heartless, godless monster, the real point of the moral exercise came out. The person giving out the question wanted to really find out where we stood on our political grounds. Apparently, a study was done to find out how libertarians think. I have often mentioned that I am a Libertarian, thus they wanted to confirm that I indeed thought the same way the study predicted I would. It turns out that I do.

What my colleagues found most enlightening was the study's findings about the Libertarian and altruism. At Christmas time, I was loathe to participate in the philanthropy projects that were suggested by my other teammates. Personally, I believe that most philanthropy simply reinforces the "downtrodden" to remain in their current state.
The study showed that Libertarians, on the whole, intensely dislike altruism. Not just any altruism, all altruism.
Like most Libertarians, and especially like my hero James Madison, we believe that no true altruism exists. Everything is all done for some sort of self interest. People do it to help somebody else, or they do it for a write off of taxes, or they do it simply to feel better about themselves. Therefore, if I derive no pleasure, good or service from the money or time that I will put forth, why should I participate?
I do give to certain charities, but only those that I feel I get some good or service from. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is a good example. I mostly detest the leadership, and the huge sums of money they receive out of the coffers of the AOPA, but they are the only group out there fighting for the rights of general aviation. Without them, local aviation would be a thing of the long past.

Anyway, if you want a look in to my brain, check out the study. It is very interesting.

By the way, a Democrat gets in to politics to enact social justice, a Republican to enact moral justice, the Libertarian gets in to politics to get you the fuck off of his lawn.

Go Fly, BITCH!!!

2011-01-24T14:27:00.001-06:00

No more excuses. I made an appointment to get my biannual flight review and some instruction on Saturday. If the weather holds out, I am back in the air.
I have an appointment with the Airman Medical Examiner on Wednesday to get my medical up to date. I think the one I have is good, but better safe than sorry.

I gotta say... I am nervous. It has been a while since I took to the air, December of 2008 was the last time. I did a biannual flight review and did some fun landings.
Anyway, this will be at Wiley Post Airfield, and I will be working with ATC for the first time... Holly cow, for the first time since 1992.

So, I am going to take this review as more of a learning experience than anything else. I don't expect to solo anytime soon, I want to get some instruction and clean up my long neglected flight skills.
I need to relearn some things that I know I no longer do well. Steep turns for instance... I don't know how to do them any more. SURE I know how to turn the airplane, and YEAH I can turn the thing steeply and safely, BUT I no longer can turn the airplane steeply with out loosing a bunch of altitude, or consistently turn the airplane with out breaking out of the turn to right the nose. Not good. I need to get that skill back.

I am going up with Marcus, the Chief Flight instructor. My attitude will be humble, and I will freely admit that I have been out of the game for a long time, and I need some help getting back in to it. Last time I was coming back, I tried to be all cool and pretend like I hadn't lost a step. I was wrong, and it made me cocky and unsafe. Never again.

I am also taking up an airplane with a glass cockpit. The first time for me... Actually this will be the first time that I am flying an airplane that is younger than I am. I am going up in a 2006 Cessna 172SP. It has 180 hp, and all the bells and whistles that new airplanes have. I am excited about that.

I think it will be good to get back in a Cessna. I haven't flown one in a while, I flew low wing Pipers for a while in Omaha.

Solo Vacation

2011-01-24T09:08:00.000-06:00

The wife and I engaged in some retail therapy this weekend in Dallas, about three hours away from OKC. During the drive we got to talking about our Spring Vacation. I had thought we were going to Japan to visit her family in Sendai, and take in the Cherry Blossom festival, or Hanami. The wife then kind of joking, kind of not, said that she wanted her mommy time, and that maybe I should do something else for that week... SWEET! What should I do?

Muay Thai -- Phuket Thailand
This is something I have wanted to do since I started training Muay Thai. I thought that I would never get the chance, because there is no way I could get the wife to go to Thailand and goof off by herself while I went and trained all day long. At best I would have gotten one day to train, and, really why do it?

Some of the best Muay Thai training is done in one of the more beautiful spots on earth:

The area of Phuket has realized that there is money to be made with the Muay Thai tourist, and offers connections at the best gyms with the best resorts. Essentially, I can train Muay Thai, at the same time take advantage of a four star resort on the beach. Not quite training in the jungle with a bunch of guys who would slit your throat as soon as look at you, but you are in one of the best resort areas of the world, why not take advantage?

Good news is that I am willing to pay for private training, so I won't have to deal with all of the first timers and what not of a "tourist" camp, at the same time attending the tourist camp.

Golf/Friend Visit -- Arizona, Las Vegas
I have several friends that I have not seen in a long time who live in the Phoenix area. I could play golf during the day, and hang out with them at night. It would be a relaxing and fun holiday.

IFR Certification -- Western United States
If I work hard before hand, I could complete my written Instrument Flight training and do this week long course to get my Instrument Certificate.
There are several programs available that literally take you around the Western US on cross country hops, doing your training the entire time. When you return, you take your certification check ride, and are guaranteed to pass. I would have to get in to the air and get my flying right before hand.

Back to the Farm -- Nebraska
I could go back to Omaha and see everybody up there... It is still chilly in April, so I might be able to do some golf, see the family, play with nieces and nephews, I could fly with dad, train at the old gym, and get some beer to bring back to OKC.

More likely though is that she will chicken out and take me with her to Sendai. I don't think that she will want to have me do my own vacation. I think she will be jealous of whatever I do, even if it involves lots of stuff she wouldn't do.

Hey You! Hippy! Yeah You With the Beard!

2011-01-24T08:06:00.002-06:00

You think I care if you are the All Powerful God of Everything? Get off your ass, and make me a rock so big that I can't lift it!

Rest In Peace Jack... It wasn't that Jack died, it was because God wanted a work out partner that could keep up with him.

No More Ben & Jerry's For Me

2011-01-21T10:43:00.000-06:00

No, this isn't a diet thing. Ben Cohen was on America's Morning News this morning. He is starting up a campaign to amend the Constitution. Namely, he wants to silence Corporations.

Last year, the Supreme Court actually read the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

They found that limits placed on what corporations, unions, and others spend on political campaigns are unconstitutional. If you read the amendment, this is the only finding you can get out of it. There is no wiggle room. There is no clause at the end of the amendment saying that congress can legislate this amendment. It says "Congress shall make no law..." There is no way around that.

Ben doesn't like free speech. He thinks that corporations, no more than groups of like interested people, factions if you will, should not have, or have a limited voice in free speech. He wants to amend the Constitution to this end. Not only is this directly against what the Founders wanted, Madison speaks to this directly in his famous Federalist number 10

Says Madison:

There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.

Ben takes the first approach, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence. To this Madison replies:

It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.

Madison has a solution. It is in the Constitution. Representatives of the people are elected every two years, Senators every six. It gives the people, and the corporation a way to hold accountable its representatives, as plainly evidenced this last month, and two years before. The congress that left office, surely was not the congress that the corporations wanted. The congress that took office, especially in the Senate, is definitely not the one that the corporations wanted. You see Ben, despite the amount of money that is spent on individual campaigns, it is the people of the district that decide who is to represent them.
Despite massive corporate spending, Harry Reid still won his election. This is just a single example where the corporations were on the loosing side. The people of Nevada spoke. They wanted Harry Reid to stay. It is to the people that Reid is beholden to, never the corporations.

Free speech is not free if it is limited. I will express my displeasure with you, by never buying your product again. If offered free, I will not accept. I consider you a threat to my liberty, and I will not support your business, charities, or causes. I have the freedom of choice, and unlike you, I will not work to restrict that freedom for others.

Ben Cohen, ice cream man

James Madison, architect of the Constitution, fourth President of the United States, signer of the Constitution, author of the Federalist Papers, and first President to lead troops in to battle as President.

Full Size .45

2011-01-20T12:58:00.000-06:00

Guns are like tattoos. Once you get one, you want another one, the closer you are to a purchase of one, the more you want another one... So, what I want is a full size pistol. Mainly as a toy, because I likely won't be carrying it. There would be no advantage to carrying a full size, as my Glock 30 gives me all the capacity that a full size model would give, and I don't really care if I can hit a target at 25 yards with my subcompact. That is not its mission. Full size pistols are just cool. They are big, heavy and just all around awesome. Let's take a look at some choices.

Here is my criteria: The pistol has to be auto loading, and it has to be in .45. I don't want to mix ammo, and .45s are just cooler than any other caliber.
I want at least a 4 inch barrel. This is a full size pistol, I want to shoot groups at 25 yards.
Really, that's it... I would like a modern design, with a polymer frame, but that is not a firm requirement. I would like a double stack magazine with more than 10 rounds, but that is not a firm requirement.

Before we go in to the guns we have to talk about actions. Large caliber auto loading pistols have specific ways to operate them, and these ways are classified in to how many things happen when the trigger is pulled.
All pistols have a hammer, even if you don't see it, the action that the hammer does is there. All pistols have a trigger, duh. A single action pistol, only releases the hammer to drop on the firing pin. A double action pistol will, with the pull of the trigger, pull back the hammer, and release it on to the firing pin.
A single action pistol needs to have its hammer cocked back before it will fire. Each trigger pull is short and soft.
A double action only pistol typically will not have a visible hammer, and will have a long heavy trigger pull, every time.
A Double/Single action pistol will, the first time the pistol is fired, if the hammer is not cocked, have a long heavy trigger pull, and you will see the hammer move backward as you pull. Each shot after that, will have a light short trigger pull, and the hammer will be cocked.
Got it? Rock on.

Beretta
PX4 Storm

Beretta... It is tough to find a maker of more aesthetically pleasing firearms. The PX4 Storm is no different. This was Beretta's entry in to the Joint Combat Pistol program. For a moment the US Military had come to its senses and was looking for a duty pistol in .45. Then they realized that something with that much stopping power and reliability would just not belong in the hands of the US Military. Anyway...
The one main complaint about a .45 is the recoil. You are sending quite a chunk of metal down range with a large powder charge, so the .45 does have a recoil issue. People not used to shooting have a hard time with it, and people not used to shooting is who the military is getting these days.
Beretta solved the excessive recoil problem by designing a rotating barrel. How does that work?
Well, it is inside baseball. Essentially it is this, a typical "Browning" style short recoil device will have the barrel tilt downward during unlocking to eject the spent cartridge, and to receive the new one, as the slide moves forward the barrel will move back in to place and the breech locks for the shot. This directs the recoil downward, bringing the muzzle of the pistol up.
The rotating barrel uses the recoil to drive the slide backward, and the barrel rotates, like a cam, to open the lock. Because the action is all in line with the pistol, the upward force of the shot is greatly reduced. This makes it much easier to bring the pistol back on target.
Some good vids here

Anyway, the thing is super cool looking, has all the new features of a modern pistol and fun to shoot.
Specs:

Cost	$465
Length	8.2 in
Height		5.7 in
Barrel Length	4.6 in
Weight	28.6 oz
Magazine	9+1
Action	Double/Single Action
External Safe	Yes

Heckler & Kotch
HK 45

HK's entry in to the Joint Combat Pistol program was the HK45. This pistol uses a modified "Browning" system described above, with a twist. HK put a little polymer buffer in the action to soften the recoil, and the tilt is not a severe as in the traditional Browning style action. Softer recoil, but still rises more than the rotating Beretta.

Specs:

Cost	$1,150
Length	7.52 in
Height	5.83 in
Barrel Length	4.53 in
Weight	27.68 oz
Magazine	10+1
Action	Double Action Only
External Safe	Yes

Glock
G21

Glock's full size .45 is just like my G30 only bigger... Meh.

Specs:

Cost	$500
Length	7.59 in
Height	5.47 in
Barrel Length	4.6 in
Weight	26.28 oz
Magazine	13+1
Action	Double Action Only
External Safe	No

Smith & Wesson
M&P45

This is Smith & Wesson's full size polymer .45. It uses the standard Browning lock system.
It is a Glock clone with a little better ergonomics, and a three round disadvantage. Meh, Smith & Wesson, very meh.
Specs:

Cost	$600
Length	7.55 in
Height	5.5 in
Barrel Length	4.5 in
Weight	29.6 oz
Magazine	10+1
Action	Double Action Only
External Safe	No

Kimber
1911 Custom II

Be still my heart! Kimber is just about the world's finest producers of 1911 pistols. They are beautiful, works of art. They are so good looking, you would almost not want to shoot them!
The 1911 is the first real practical design of the auto loading pistol. This pistol, designed by John Browning in 1911 for Colt, was carried by the US military from 1911 to today. Sure it is not the standard pistol, but you can bet that many Special Forces, and others still carry this .45. Kimber just turns the design in to something very special.
The 1911 models are still some of the most accurate pistols in existence, and the Kimber manufactured ones are no exceptions.
The Custom II is an all steel and wood pistol. It is very heavy. It is also the only single action pistol in the group. Going "cocked and locked" is an expression that the 1911 coined. To carry this pistol, it is recommended that you carry it with a round in the chamber (locked), and the hammer cocked all the way back (cocked). The trigger pull is very light and very short. The model has an external safe, and a grip safe as well to prevent from negligent discharges.

Specs:

Cost	$900
Length	8.7 in
Height	5.5 in
Barrel Length	5 in
Weight	38 oz
Magazine	7+1
Action	Single Action Only
External Safe	Yes

Sweet Mother Of....

2011-01-20T08:31:00.000-06:00

Really???? Really???????? You want to make a cult of personality around an attention whore, who is only famous for quitting? REALLY?????

Let's look in to the guy who should be elected (he won't) in a couple of years.
Herman Cain

Natto Ninja

Calf Slicer Submission

Do You Shoot? WARNING ******GRAPHIC********

What Does Equal and Fair Mean?

Holly Crap, I Am Over The Top Paranoid

Leg Locks

Political Posts

No-gi Chokes

Good Advice

Japanese Internment Hero Dies

Inside The Waist Band Carry Positions

Appendix Carry

Strong Side Hip Carry

Strong Side Kidney Carry

Small of the Back Carry

Cross Carry Position

Goals For The New Year

Last year's goals and their results:

This Year's Goals:

Magazine Change

42 Half Guard Positions

Beretta PX4 Storm First Dance Review

38 Closed Guard Attacks

Concealed Carry... Useless?

Bow and Arrow Choke Defense

Ground Skill Is The Equalizer

Weight Loss

Interesting Open Guard Sweep

Underestimate NO ONE!! or Even a Guy With a Purse Can Be a Bad Ass

Awesome Pedro Sauer Reversal

Armbar From Guard in MMA

Bolt Barrel Breech Bullet... What?? Terms and Structures Guide For New Shooters Part III - Gun Types

Motorcycles?

For the Wife

For Me

Gordon Ramsay Gives You Some Dating Tips

Choose Your Own Adventure Books You Wish You Had

Watered Down Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Killing American Citizens Overseas

What is Your Favorite Beer?

American Pale Ales

India Pale Ales

American Porter

Nirvana...

The Second Amendment Doesn't Fit

Triangle to Armbar Submission

What is Occupy DC After? Not Jobs...

The Stars Align or I Tap a Brown Belt or When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Change Tactics

Bas Fights a Zombie

Why Carry?

Things I Want

Guns

Clothing

Electronics

54 Perfect Techniques

Herman Cain 9-9-9

iOS 5

Bullying, Your Child, and The Martial Arts

State of Amateur MMA

My New Dojo!

Felonious Munk Tells It Like It Is

Animals Being Dicks

Being a White Belt Is Hard

Don't Be A Dick

Hold Yourself To a Higher Standard

Why Is Ground Skill So Important for Women?

Easy and Very Effective Sweep From Full Guard!

Desperately Needed in Today's Society

Does Casey Anthony Verdict Prove that the System is Broken?

Independence Day Follies

The More Things Change...

Gym Drama

CNN Republican Debate

Be Like Han

I Think Imma Pass OUT!!

Recuse me?? RECUSE YOU!!

You Had To Use Your Gun In Self Defense... Now What?

I was afraid for my life.

I am willing to sign a complaint against that person.

I require medical assistance from a doctor.

Do You Shoot? WARNING GRAPHIC**