The Academy will be closed Saturday 9/3 through Monday 9/5 for Labor Day Weekend.
Have a safe and fun weekend!
Archives for August 2011
On being mentally prepared
I wrote about a few good books a while ago that focused on self-defense and reaction. Rory Miller, in his book Meditations on Violence, had a good suggestion that I’d like to present to our community. We train physically in self-defense and fighting and aggression, but what about our mental training? One key element in the mental preparation is knowing when. At what point to you decide to engage physically? At what point do you decide that the “Hey man, calm down” isn’t working, or giving someone your keys and wallet isn’t enough?
One thing to do now, when you are in a safe place and can think about it, is to make a list of what scenarios might happen in which you will fight or intervene. Now, I’m not talking about the mugger who just wants your cell phone and wallet and will walk away when he gets those. In those situations, hand over what they want and hope they walk away. But what happens if they don’t just walk away?
Here is my list:
- When I feel my life is being threatened (yes, this is broad and can be very individual and interpreted in several ways)
- When a mugger wants to move me to a different place
- When a loved one is being threatened
- When I see a child is being threatened
Please feel free to add yours in the comments.
(Abridged) Notes from the Paleolithic Solution Seminar
Who thinks 8 hours of nutritional biochemistry is an awesome way to spend a Saturday?! Yeah, me too! On Saturday, August 20, I had the privilege to attend Robb Wolf‘s final Paleolithic Solution Seminar. It was an exciting event for me personally, as I’ve been following Robb’s work for quite some time and have come to see him as a guiding force in my training and nutrition.
Last October, I posted a short highlight of Robb Wolf’s book, The Paleo Solution. That was my “soft sell” of the paleo lifestyle, so I don’t want to retread that ground with this post. I left the seminar with a skull full of info and weighed down by a thick sheaf of slides and notes, but I’m just going to jot some overarching ramblings and observations…
Team for Tufts 10k?
Hello Folks!
I’ve signed up for the Tufts 10k (for Women) and hoping others will follow suit. Heck, maybe we can have a team shirt or something dorky to stand out. It’ll take place on Monday, October 10 at noon. It’s Columbus Day, so many people have it off.
Even though they say it’s for women, I saw plenty of guys last year. So, if you are a dude and want to run but aren’t sure, do it for a special woman in your life–mom, sis, wife/gf, bff.
You can check out the website and registration here.
Let me know if you sign up!
Danelle
IFC’s Favorite Movie Knife Scenes
Knives are scary. Anyone who’s done even the most cursory training with them can attest to this. Maybe this is why they make for such great entertainment. For the random post of the week: “Our 15 favorite movie knife scenes (with video)” from the Independent Film Channel.
Warning: These are movie knife fights. The clips are unedited and extremely graphic.
I’m of course happy to see both Tommy Lee Jones knife fights made the list. (I watched and playacted the Under Siege scene countless times as a 12-year-old!) And the Eastern Promises linoleum knives… The Remar/Carradine fight in The Long Riders is a great one I hadn’t seen before, and the Kill Zone and The Man from Nowhere scenes are now new favorites (extra credit for the karambit).
The I Saw the Devil scene was one I had forgotten about—more like blocked from recent memory. I do remember remarking when I first saw it that it was one of the most terrifyingly realistic knife attacks in film. The vicious brutality of that one will give you nightmares…
Any of your favorites not make the IFC’s list?
