PeaceWalker Blog

  My patience was thin; I was feeling a little tired, under the weather & grumpy, so I went to Subway for some soup... Me: Do you have soup? Sandwich Artist: No not until next fall. Me: (A little disappointed) OK (looking at all of their posters showing their NEW special pork sandwich) How about your pork sandwich special? Sandwich Art ist: Sorry, we're out of pork. Me: Fuuuuuuu#k... Ok give me a minute. Sandwich Artist: Ok. (A minute later) Me: How about a Flatizza? Sandwich Artist: Sorry but our turbo oven is broke. Me: No, I think I'm good thanks. (Exit). (Thinking to myself, you've GOT to be kidding me!? WTF! Really?!). It was VERY difficult being respectful and polite, but I was mindful enough to understand that it wasn't the gals fault they didn't have what I wanted, so I refrained from taking it out on her. Instead I smiled treated her nicely and as many do vented later on Facebook. In a while I probably won'...

  Jack Hoban teaching the USMC at Quantico VA. "You are trying to do a technique!" said Jack. I knew I was, old habits truly die hard. Such a statement would have sounded like madness to me years ago, but not these days. We had been practicing some concepts from Ichimonji no Kata, and at first I had been in a fairly comfortable zone. I had been watching the tactical space I was familiar with, I knew the terrain. As we moved on to different shaped attacks, and different directions to maneuver, started including Gyaku and other forms, I started to struggle. Jack mentioned that we students were mostly doing two dimensional techniques. In other words, we were trying to 'push' our opponents down (one direction) and in order to do this we were trying to unbalance them with a lateral movement (second direction). He pointed out that such techniques might not work because the opponent must simply resist sufficiently in two dimensions to prevent them. If the ...

  Paper - Rock - Scissors :  Paper covers rock. Rock smashes scissors. Scissors cut paper. Who can forget Paper, Rock, Scissors (PRS)?! Do you remember playing it as a kid? It did everything from settle small disputes and dares to being a pass time during long car rides. I remember one time when my brother and I were kids, we were headed Up North riding in back of dad's pickup truck (back in the day when that sort of thing was actually legal... I know shocking isn't it?!). Anyway, it was cold and boring in the back of that camper top, so we began playing PRS. Now you have to understand, when my brother and I played PRS it was with a lot of "vigor" that only young brothers can have toward one another. You see it wasn't just a matter of paper covering rock, rock covering scissors and scissors cutting paper, oh no, that would have been to forgiving. No, when we did it, it didn't mean much unless it hurt! So, when the paper covered rock we would slap th...

  Jack Hoban crossing my (Craig Gray's) "T" before I get my next punch off We had our annual visit from Jack Hoban recently. He normally comes into Chicagoland for two things, well, three: The ILEETA (International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainer's Association) conference, where he presents the "Ethical Protector" mindset to trainers from around the world, a Bujinkan seminar, and steak. The best we've had is at Keefer's, but as they were closed, Mastro's filled in nicely. In presenting the Ethical Protector, Jack is both lecturer and coach. He talks some and then gets butts out of seats to get physical. It's at this point things get confusing, even for law enforcement veterans. There's something about maneuvering tactically that many folks don't grasp or appreciate. It's by far the most difficult concept to communicate, even though it's also the most intrinsic and important.  The simple o...

Training lasts from morning til night, with little rest and lots of injuries. Source: BaMahane   Every combat soldier remembers the trials and tribulations of their basic training, yet some soldiers elect to further their training and attend the 5-week long Krav Maga  instructors’  course. The rigorous course is comprised of combat training exercises integrating the tools of warfare. The cadets are divided into pairs and begin with attempts in stabbing one another with plastic knives. To thwart the attacker, anything goes, including striking “below the belt” with a punch or a kick. The course is valuable to both our men and women soldiers since the kidnapping alert has been on the rise due to the generous terms applied in the Gilad Shalit deal. “Defend with the best weapon: not a piece of iron, but the hands and feet” Source: BaMahane After passing their qualifying test, the cadets can begin to see the finish line. Unfortunately, not everyone ...

  Ever ask what you thought was a pretty good question only to be told, “Keep going!”? The phrase manages to both encapsulate the spirit of Budo itself, while at the same time feeling like someone just wiped a booger on your sleeve. If there is a secret to martial arts and its training, it is "Keep going!" This may seem trite and it's easy to understand why: If I were lost and asked some random person for directions and they said, “Keep going!” with a big grin, I probably wouldn’t grin back. In fact, I’d probably want to smack them. Let alone if I ask a navigation expert, who grinfully tells me, “Keep going!” - I’d probably want to drop a safe on their head.  “Keep going!” is one of those non-answer answers.  Very Zen. Zen’s not a bad answer, mind you, except if you’re drowning and would rather a life-preserver than words of encouragement.  There will always be a concern about racing past underlying philosophy, whitewashing it, or worse, t...

I am always looking for ways to simplify things for people especially when teaching protection skills. If I only have a couple minutes with someone and I need to share what the three most fundamental elements to empowerment and better tactical protection are here's what I tell them: ATTITUDE: (Don't Be a Part of the Problem) A) Respect Life. B) Don't Act Like a Victim. C) Never Give Up! (Keep Going) AWARENESS: (Be Here / Now) Be Aware of: A) Yourself B) Others C) Environment/Situation ABILITY TO ACT: (Have a Plan) When You Can: A) Walk your way out of it. B) Talk your way out of it. C) Do Something Else (If all else fails) . As always... Keep Going! All the best, ~Craig