Rory Miller's Blog, page 54

Survival and Survival

After three+ days of private lessons and brawling with the Rochester Crew (Official Motto: "It's your move.") Spent another four days in Sonyea State Forest on a survival course led by Toby Cowern of Tread Lightly (who I will link if he ever gets his own damn website.)
Struck, maybe slammed by the similarities in what we teach and how we teach it. I shouldn't be, I've known since I butchered my first deer that survival was survival. Toby teaches the mindset and skills for one set of...

I Was Wrong...

Looks like there's more than 24 hours worth of stuff.
I am enjoying the hell out of working with a tight group of experienced, talented people for three+ days. We've covered most (but not all) of the building blocks; the basic drills; sensitivity; counter-assault; force law; efficient movement; self-teaching; and touched on CQ combat shooting, the emotional elements of blade work and psychological first aid. Tomorrow: recap, environmental fighting; That Which Works When Things Are Hopeless; ...

Feeding Frenzy

Chris and Travis are having a little discussion on the last post and maybe I should post some background.
Beginners in a lot of Eastern striking arts are taught to deal with an incoming strike by blocking and then counterstriking. (Not just Eastern, fencing has the right-of-way rule, but it has it for a damn good reason.)
After they have practiced this, many (but not all, unfortunately) instructors show that the block and strike don't have to be sequential. They can be delivered at the same t...

Duality of Truth

Thinking about dichotomies, things that are true and untrue.For my son's school project we have shot a little video- core defense, one of the big questions from the SF seminar, and power generation.
In the segment on Power Generation I make the statement that the essence of combatives is to transmit kinetic energy into the other persons body.
It's undeniably true. The whole point of hitting is to transfer enough energy to damage. At the same time, I know perfectly well that almost all fights ...

A Scattering

This will be scattered, like lots of life. Still, busy and fun.The last two days I was asked to guest lecture at a private college here in town. The course was Critical Thinking as part of a criminal justice program. The instructor had wanted something basically from Meditations on Violence about social conflict.I got permission to wing it a little and worked on premises from "7" and MoV with a healthy dose of the new Conflict Communications paradigm and filtered through the pilot class...

The Stack

Writing has been insane lately-- I just missed doing 10000 words in one day over the weekend and have been pushing at about half that all week.  Which means some other stuff is being neglected.
The books that I have almost finished, trying to buy time to kill the last few pages or chapters include:"On the Wealth of Nations" by P.J. O'Rourke- I usually really enjoy P.J.  This one reads like he was writing for the paycheck and didn't really understand the material ( Smith's "The Wealth of...

Professor Emeritus

I wanted to title this with the name, which I remember as Dr. Frohlander, but it was before the internet age and when I went to check the spelling (or maybe I had the name wrong-- Frohlings?) I couldn't get the confirmation.
In 1981 or 82, I took an introductory Oceanography class. It was taught by a Professor Emeritus who came out of retirement once each year just to teach this particular undergrad class. What follows is from memory, and I'm sure over the decades it has altered, but I...

For Life

When I asked my jujutsu sensei, Dave Sumner about spiritual traditions associated with Sosuishitsu-ryu he told me not to read too much into practice. 'Dead people can't go to church.'
It was profound, and pointed out a deep difference in how different people see their practice. At the time, I studied MA because I wanted to be a "complete human being" without even realizing that we are, all of us, already complete. It was just words and an ideal. Nothing, really.
Everything has primary and...

Two Little Things

Long talks with Kris, Edwin and Maija about teaching methodology. Good, focused stuff. Kris talked about attaching the new information to the vehicle. You put on your gi, you get in front of the class, everyone bows in.
That's an icon or an archetype. There are a million little assumed things that go with it. You don't have to say what you are teaching. It's martial arts. As if the words defined anything. Kris rides the archetype, breaking little things down, changing patterns...

Some People Don't Care About Science!

You would think that my wife would understand the value of the scientific method. Especially when the need is so great, but no.
The theory struck me late at night: since 1) laughter is the best medicine and; 2) extremely low temperatures have kept people alive when they would normally die (particularly drowning children) it is entirely logical that tickling someone using icy cold fingers might be the ultimate therapeutic touch. It might cure a myriad of diseases.
Despite the unassailable...