Inspirational Quote from Richard Dimitri

Here is an inspirational and deceptively deep quote from my friend, mentor and brother, Richard Dimitri. Rich posted this on Facebook this morning and it struct a chord with me, so I thought I'd share:

"Fuck anonymity. Own your words. Own your thoughts. Own your actions. Own your damn lives already. Anonymity will get you nowhere. There is no respect for those with no accountability. Speak your minds and sign your names. Stand up for what you believe and not what you're told to believe. DO SOME SHIT." - Richard Dimitri

Words to live by.

Top 5 Excuses NOT to learn Self Defence

This blog is a guest contribution from Chris Roberts of SAFE International

In this blog, I will look at the Top 5 Excuses I have heard to not learn self defense. While my business SAFE International obviously has a vested interest in self defense since it is my profession and passion, I find it interesting to hear so many excuses to not learn self defense.  While it would be great to spend weeks, months, and years learning how to protect oneself and their family, I still hear the excuses when it comes to just spending a few hours learning this valuable skill that could potentially save your life or the life on one of your family members.

Injecting Realism into Traditional Martial Arts

As a long term traditional martial artist, as well as a fierce proponent of reality-based self-defence (RBSD), I am often asked how I can seemingly play for both teams. Unfortunately, these days it seems that you are either one or the other. Some traditional martial artists scoff at the idea of running around in street clothes and role-playing in what they see as more of a bad acting class than a martial arts class. However, there are many open minded instructors that are curious about what RBSD may offer, but reluctant to abandon what they currently teach. The good news is you don’t have to. Read on to find five ways to incorporate some reality into your classes without pretending to be an Israeli commando.

Ho ho ho! Top Ten Personal Safety Tips for Christmas

HO! HO HO!

For many people, Christmas Day is the happiest and most festive day of the year. The whole season is one of joy, sharing, compassion and love. Regardless of what religious significance you attach to the holiday season, one cannot help but notice that the general feeling of good will does increase towards the end of December. Maybe it’s because we know we won’t have to go to work! Sadly, for some people, tragedy strikes to sour this most festive of occasions. Here’s how you can avoid it.

Self Defence Begins with the Self

The first time someone gets involved in a confrontation that spirals out of their control, their first thought is often “I need to learn how to defend myself.” With that, they will Google, they will read, and then will often end up at the local martial arts club, boxing gym or MMA academy. Convinced that learning how to fight better will solve their issues, they throw themselves into training. They attend class 2-3 nights per week, pay their money, sweat, bleed, cry and feel proud of their efforts. Next time when that bully/abusive  boyfriend/drunken idiot at the bar hassles them, they’ll teach him a lesson, right? Maybe.

Very rarely is a far more important question asked; “What could I have done to prevent this from happening in the first place?”

Video: Scenario Training

Another short video from the earlier years of Senshido. In this clip we see how scenario training with verbal dialogue and multiple attackers changes the training environment considerably. You also get a chance to see the Shredder in action in a live, no-compliance drill.

Video: Pattern Interruption

Greetings all. Sorry about the long break between videos, as you can see, we've been very busy! Today's video is again from Rich Dimitri and is a brief excerpt from his On the Cutting Edge Seminar. In this particular clip, Rich touches on the conceppt of Pattern Interruption and how to use your verbal skills to mask your physical retaliation. Enjoy!