Rory Miller's Blog, page 53

Seattle 2

The Second Seattle Seminar (S2?) was a blast.
Jonas found a great venue, a small club in Georgetown with inside and outside areas, chain link, a stage, obstructions...even some spilled beer.
The crew was good. Three had to cancel at the last minute, but two slots were filled so 'sold-out' became 'one under capacity'. 24 bodies, if my math is correct. Nine had not attended the first Seattle seminar and I was a little worried about their ability to keep up with some of the new information....

Scenario Training

There are different types of scenario training and there are different levels.Like any training, scenario training must serve a purpose. The purpose has to be something that helps the student as well-- if you are setting the rules, telling the story and controlling all the parts, you can always "teach" a student that they will fail. That's for your ego. A student subjected to that only learns to never try.
Some scenarios can be for testing, and one of the best aspects of armored opponent...

Handshake

The thing I like about playing with good people is that you don't need to dummy it down. Some situations suck and if you pretty them up too much, or try to 'program your students for success' when they hit the suckage in real life, they are screwed. Screwed, screwed, screwed.
With good people, you can work the bad scenarios and fail and brainstorm and fail and brainstorm and eventually come up with some things that work. That kind of honest play can save your life. The candy-coated...

The Weekend Thus Far

It's been a big weekend, and it's not over yet. The Fan Boy moment: Taking off from PDX, it occurred to me that I was flying out to team-teach with Marc "Animal" MacYoung the guy who actually raised his hand and said, "Real life isn't exactly like that" and started a lot of people thinking. It was like going to meet a trail blazer in your field of interest...as a colleague.
Some times life demands balance, and the childish fun of the Fan Boy moment got balanced with discovering another...

Studying Problems

Sleep deprived, sipping a Velvet Hammer in PDX, getting ready for another wonderful experience...
Minnesota. We'll be teaching the new communications program. We've each done some test-runs separately and one together, but those were rehearsals. This is opening night.
Everyone has default ways to solve problems. If you only have a hammer, as the saying goes, you try to solve all problems by pounding. The scientific method is one of the most efficient:
Ask the question.Study the situation...

Done Been

I find myself spending time with a new demographic, and I'm not sure what to make of it.For most of my life, I had few friends and those friendships were based on a shared intensity. We didn't always do the same kind of thing (I was cautioned early to keep as many friends as possible who didn't deal with the world of crime) but whatever they did it was intense. Usually dangerous. it allowed us to share a frame of reference that was rare with my other circles, largely people I met at the...

Skies

I love the sky. A week ago, flying out of JFK there was a rainbow, except it wan't a bow. Short and straight, a blur of striated colors hanging in the air. I wonder if, before the advent of flying machines, any human anywhere had ever seen such a thing. Or seen the rays of golden light striking the sea in exactly such a way, or flew between layers of cloud, catching the sunshine just at that angle with glowing white above and below, flying at such a speed to extend the sunset for hours.
To...

Epic Stalk

The tale must be told...
Somehow, over the course of Tread Lightly/Toby Cowern's survival class I somehow shifted from "Extra guy planning on swimming and laying on warm rocks all weekend" to some kind of assistant. Which was very cool. It gave me more time to hang with some extraordinary people and a chance to talk far into the night.
The last night, the students had been dispersed to their separate sleeping accommodations. One had made a swamp bed and was literally sleeping on a...

No Passing Grade

One of the long talks last week was about testing versus training.A group of four people who only knew me from writing hired me for three days of private lessons.  They weren't sure what they would get.  Possibly a complete waste of time. Possibly new skills or new insights.  Possibly to be tested to the edge of the envelope.
That needed a talk.  Most of us have done the grueling physical tests.  Most have worked out in extreme pain or through injury.  Everyone has been tested or at least...

Winning

There are things you have to phrase differently to reach different people.What is the goal in a fight? To get out in one piece is a laudable goal, but that can mean a lot of different things depending on the situation, the strategy or the presumptions of the individual... and it is not always possible.
Some people lock on to winning. That's fine. But some definitions of a win are more useful than others. My definition is both flexible and rigid-- whatever it takes to get the job done and b...