My Family the Carnival
From day 1, April 11th 1994 when I first opened the doors of Senshido at the arrogant age of 24, I’ve attracted some of the best humanity has to offer to surround me across the never ending journey.
It’s what set us apart. If you were a misfit, if you felt alone, if you felt like you didn’t belong anywhere and were or are regarded as the proverbial ‘black sheep’, a freak, deemed ‘insane’ or just felt completely out of place amongst the norms; you had a home with us at Senshido.
For the most part, Senshido and I attracted characters, survivors. These were and are as real as people get; raw, opinionated, and honest to the bone, each and every one of them marched strictly to the beat of their own drummer and made no apologies for it. They were people with empathy, heart, passion and more often than not, misunderstood by most. They really cared about the very people who labeled, judged and misunderstood them.
Though they come from every walk of life, culture, religion or lack thereof, social
denomination, race and social economical backgrounds, we all shared a few common grounds that created an immediate bond. Senshido became home for many.
Our student’s were our friends. We’d hang out after classes, go out together, partied together, worked, trained, travelled and even lived together at times. We’d be there for each other during some of the toughest moments when it seemed no one else understood or gave a shit. We literally laughed, cried, fought and bled together.
It is how I handpicked the Senshido team both local and international. I used to refuse between 50 and 60 requests to join our team per year on average. In order to join the Senshido team I had to get to know you on a personal level, we had to be friends first and foremost. We had to share common grounds large enough for me to trust you with my legacy.
These people became more than friends, they became family. They are all over the world and not just those that have become instructors, but those who have participated in and attended our classes and workshops on a regular basis as well; they are all family and treated as such.
The family has exponentially grown along with Safe International and Spartan Gear; we are a large but tight community. We more than have each other’s backs. The May 23rd Montreal seminar was a huge testament to that, people from all over the world showed up including Australia, Europe, the US, Brazil and more.
You’d think walking into a room with so many instructors from so many different groups and parts of the world would sound like a martial combat symposium but you were greeted with hugs, love, beer, weed and goat jokes.
I’ll tell you one thing, we are not everyone’s cup of proverbial tea and you know what, we don’t give a fuck either. That’s the beauty of it. We’re not out to please or tease ya, we’re out to give you the best damn self defense training we can provide and do we ever; and if you’re not a puckered up tight assed anally retentive individual that offends easily, then maybe, just maybe…. You can be a part of our carnival.
As one of our friends Jace Lynn put it:
“In 1992, a crack crazy unit was sent to train with Rich by a court for a goat crime they probably committed. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Canadian underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as a ragtag outfit of street fighters. If you have a problem; if no one else can help, and if you can find them; they won't give a Fuck. Maybe you can hire… The Goat team.”
Int. #4: Inside the Heart of Lee Morrison
My name is Lee Morrison I work the International seminar circuit teaching Combatives to Civilians, Law Enforcement, Security and Military Units. I operate under my company Urban Combatives or UC and am based in the UK.
Q 1. What significant change(s) on a human level, have you gone through over the last decade in direct relation to your work and how has it, if any, changed the way in which you teach/instruct?
As an Instructor who always thinks more as a student, I realised that the more you teach others the more you really learn and grasp yourself. I think I’ve found my niche in life. I never really wanted to teach but kind of veered into it which on a personal level, finding something you really can do well, is a very fortunate thing as there are many things I’m not so good at. I guess I feel it has given me purpose and direction so far in life. I like working with good people that get something worthwhile from what I teach, I don’t just mean in a Self-Protection sense but things that translate to other areas of life in general. Combatives just gives me a vehicle for that.
Q 2. Is there a particular incident/occurrence/situation you recall having directly experienced/been involved in that has deeply & emotionally touched and/or altered you and your perceptions of the world in general?
Oh mate, many from the earliest age, none of which make fun reading. During my life people and human nature in general never fucking failed to disappoint. With that said I have met many of positive influences also. In regards to dealing with violence? I learnt long ago that people only treat you the way you let them.
Q 3. Have you ever thought of quitting the game altogether? If yes, why? And if you were to at this stage in your life (today) do something entirely different, what would it be?
I did look to doing something else as the travelling and various other elements of working the circuit were having a negative impact on a previous relationship. So I took a regular job and did a lot less teaching for a while but the same outcome became inevitable. During this time I felt like I should be doing what I love best, but career was in no way more important than my relationship at the time and so I tried. In view of the future, injuries and of course age dictate a timescale. There is no way that I will continue doing this when I am in no way as capable as I am now. I will hang it up and pass it to my top guys if they want to continue. For me, I have a few ideas, some lecturing in University, working on my media company, some clothing line ideas but most of all I’d like to get into fight scene choreography for ‘realistic’ depictions of violence in film.
Q 4. Do you feel you were proverbially ‘born’ to do what you do, that this was your calling? Is there perhaps another thing you wish you would have done instead, or believe you are just as good at and should have perhaps explored instead?
Yes I think so, like I said before, it was a calling I was born to do this shit!
Q 5. How has your work affected your personal life in regards to the relationships with those outside our field/profession? (Professional, personal, familial, romantic, etc.)
Travelling 3 times a month abroad takes its toll in a relationship, working a regular job brings a fair basic living if you work hard at it. But UC has made me a comfortable living, nothing fantastic by any means but good. I am not a materialistic man in any way, but I like to take care of the people I care about so it has been a necessary means to that end, doing something I enjoy very much.
If you work around, study, immerse yourself and have had a vast experience of violence it is possible to a certain degree, to become somewhat de-sensitized to the small things most people may have a larger reaction to. I mean this in a verbal/conversation sense.
Example a bigger kid shoves your kid over in class; there is a procedure to follow with such things with teachers etc. My response to my son was to take the kid by the hair and bounce his face off his desk a couple of times, it WON’T happen again son! There I proceeded to show him how. Not acceptable in ‘normal’ society apparently.
A ‘pikey’ threatens to punch my 65 year old mother in law in the face, so I realize no amount of conversation with this man will bring about a suitable outcome. So I go to his house and tell the man if he ever says a single word in her direction again I will fucking end him, I offer him the opportunity to show me what he thinks he can do, he declines!
A good result I think made possible from projection of pure Intent and confidence to back it up. No physical response needed. But apparently NOT normal behavior. Bit of a catch 22, when you share less love of the human race than some, you get branded anti-social, yet when family or friends potentially have a confrontational problem in my circle, who do you think they think about, to bring it to a conclusion for them?
I think serious people within our field that have come to their general conclusions from live experience, may be less tolerant with anti-social people and if that feels like a normal response to them, can also have a profound effect on those around you that don’t think that way.
Q 6. Do you have any regrets at all? If yes, which is the one that haunts you the most?
Yes of course I’m human. Best left unsaid I think.
Q 7. What are your proudest moments/achievements in both your private and professional lives?
In personal life the birth of all my children 🙂 in my line of work, getting to work alongside my most motivation role model, Kelly McCann at the Crucible with an Elite Unit. Was just great like Robby Williams getting to sing with Frank Sinatra
Q 8. How do your friends and family outside the industry/self defense/martial arts world view what you do for a living? What are your thoughts and feelings about it?
They think I’m an educated thug! ( : Just kidding, I don’t know, they see me on YouTube and stuff but know me in a very different light. They know I’m capable and caring some say I have a presence about me, but I tend to leave my work at the gate.
Q 9. How often do you find yourself going against what you preach and teach, after all, we’re all human, we all have our ‘bad days’ and the like; and how often are you aware of it enough in the present moment to catch yourself do you think?
Not often but I realize it immediately and usually say something like ‘do what I say, not what I do’ will a smile and a laugh.
Q 10. What now? Where do you go from here? Where do you see yourself in 10, 20 years both on a personal and professional level?
I am doing a lot more in the US right now so I’d like to explore that further. I absolutely love Australia, I have two good guys out there who you know Rich, Nox Tauakipulu in Sydney and Jimmy Armstrong in Melbourne I’m there every year and the plan is to move there.
Int. # 3: Inside the Heart of Tim Larkin
So for the past 25 years I’ve instructed people on the realities of dealing with imminent violence. My system is called Target Focus Training. The client list has included everyone from the elites of the military and law enforcement community, celebrities, CEO’s, and great people in over 52 countries.
I have an instructor cadre of 48 instructors (10 Master Instructors) and we offer seminars worldwide. My HQ is in Las Vegas and we operate another full time facility in San Diego.
I’m a father of four (20 year old son, 4 year old son, twin 20 month old daughters) and my wife is a LT on Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept.
I want to thank Richard for this interview because these questions are very different than the run of the mill media questions I usually answer. I take what I do seriously but never have made the mistake of taking myself seriously and with that in mind here are my answers.
Q 1. What significant change(s) on a human level, have you gone through over the last decade in direct relation to your work and how has it, if any, changed the way in which you teach/instruct?
The biggest change that I've gone through is that I've become a much better communicator on the subject of violence.
I realize the vast majority of the clients don't necessarily want to do long-term training nor do they actually want to be good at "self-defense".
Most people come to me because they don't have an understanding of violence and how it pertains to them personally and how to navigate the subject.
This is a big departure from my early career where the focus was on producing "badasses" and exclusively focusing on military/ law-enforcement units and hard-core practitioners.
I still love to train those groups/individuals but I've found that they'll still seek me out whereas the people that truly need the basic information rarely will so I've availed myself to speaking in other non traditional arenas where I reach people that wouldn't necessarily seek out a self-defense instructor for information on how to live a safer life.
This change came about after 9/11 when I received more inquiries from general population groups and associations. I was challenged on how to craft the message so they hear me rather than dismiss the message as too aggressive. It made me a better communicator and forced me to re-think how to introduce the subject of self protection.
Q 2. Is there a particular incident/occurrence/situation you recall having directly experienced/been involved in that has deeply & emotionally touched and/or altered you and your perceptions of the world in general?
I wouldn't say there's a particular incident but the fact that I have traveled worldwide since I was a small child gives me a different perspective on the human condition.
It's gonna sound like the negative take but I operate with the idea that everybody is just three days away from killing each other.
What I mean by that is if you take away access to water from a group in three days you are gonna see a vast difference in how humans interact with each other. I just like to keep that in the back of mind whenever I'm operating in society.
Probably sounds like an extreme attitude but I found it to keep me very polite and very aware
Q 3. Have you ever thought of quitting the game altogether? If yes, why? And if you were to at this stage in your life (today) do something entirely different, what would it be?
Sure there have been many times that I've thought that I would leave the industry. Sometimes it was because of better financial opportunities in other fields, sometimes because of difficulties with partners in the business.
I think if I was to leave I would still find a way to teach a subject that I'm passionate about. I really enjoy the challenge of becoming a subject matter expert and then sharing that knowledge with others.
Q 4. Do you feel you were proverbially ‘born’ to do what you do, that this was your calling? Is there perhaps another thing you wish you would have done instead, or believe you are just as good at and should have perhaps explored instead?
I definitely think I was born (sounds hokey but I'll stick with "born") to teach people.
This subject matter was something, since I was a small boy, that fascinated me so it's not a surprise to me that I ended up in this field.
I can't really think of another subject that I'm as comfortable with or more passionate about that I wish I had explored more.
I feel pretty comfortable that this is an easy area for me to share my talents of communication. It has never felt like work for me.
Q 5. How has your work affected your personal life in regards to the relationships with those outside our field/profession? (Professional, personal, familial, romantic, etc.)
Well my career has cost me two divorces and numerous other personal relationships due to my travel schedule and passion to get out and share the material.
Most people couldn't understand why I was so devoted to training and the fact that I would be gone for months at a time in various parts of the world training what they saw as merely punching and kicking.
I have to admit that I wasn't the best at attempting to enlighten those around me about what I did.
I had more the attitude if they couldn't figure it out it wasn't worth communicating to them. In hindsight I probably should've had more patience in attempting to communicate this to those around me but honestly I don't think it would've made a difference in how those relationships turned out.
Q 6. Do you have any regrets at all? If yes, which is the one that haunts you the most?
My regrets come from the fact that throughout my life and career I've had opportunities to receive training and enlightenment from some incredible people and enjoy amazing places but because I was so single-minded in my career I often missed out on taking advantage of those incredible opportunities.
I think this is a common pattern in driven type A personalities to sometimes not stop and smell the roses and I certainly have been guilty of that in the past.
Q 7. What are your proudest moments/achievements in both your private and professional lives?
As young intel officer in the late 80s early 90s I participated in some incredible operations and worked with units that I really didn't deserve to be part of.To this day I still have great relationships as a result of those years.
Professionally in 2002 I presented in Prague to a group which included the recent former head of MI6.
After the presentation he took me aside and told me was the finest presentation he'd ever seen on hand to hand combat and opened some doors for me after that event that were professionally incredible.
Since that time I've had multiple magazine covers a New York Times bestseller, lots of media accolades etc...yet nothing has outdone that conversation I had in Prague.
Q 8. How do your friends and family outside the industry/self defense/martial arts world view what you do for a living? What are your thoughts and feelings about it?
Until recently I've been a bit of an embarrassment for my mom and dad as they couldn't understand why I never used my degree in international business to get a real career.
I always laugh thinking of the 52 countries that I presented in, numerous corporations that I worked with as well as other business professionals yet my mom sees me basically as a punching and kicking specialist.
That is hard for her to compete with in her social circles since her friends have kids who are Drs and lawyers. So she loses those bragging rights.
My friends mostly misunderstand what I do and usually talk about me in tough guy terms or joke with me about being a "killer". I like it this way because the majority of my friends don't participate in self-defense training.
I have many friends who are entrepreneurs in other fields and I'm able to have a relationship with them and talk about things that have nothing to do with my subject matter.
I find this to be essential for me to stay grounded.
Q 9. How often do you find yourself going against what you preach and teach, after all, we’re all human, we all have our ‘bad days’ and the like; and how often are you aware of it enough in the present moment to catch yourself do you think?
I'm definitely a very flawed individual and there are many times I catch myself going against what I teach.
Often times it has to do with daily meditation other times it has to do with how I responded to antisocial aggression behavior. I humbly recognize that it's much easier "to do as I say" and hopefully ignore "do as I do".
But I think this is a very human condition and I'm okay with it because I don't delude myself that I don't violate on my own teachings and I do catch myself in the act. That last part is the important bit.
Q 10. What now? Where do you go from here? Where do you see yourself in 10, 20 years both on a personal and professional level?
At this stage in my career I'm really trying to leverage my audience so I'm focusing the majority my time on writing books, doing presentations in front of large audiences and really trying to get my message out.
So this is taking me away from small group trainings which of been the focus of the past 25 years of my career.
What I found now is that I can share my message and make much bigger impact if I focus on using technology and media to reach as many people as possible.
This doesn't mean that I don't still train...I do and I still find it to be my favorite way to spend time with clients.
My personal journey changed in that I'm okay handing over some of the day-to-day reigns to my senior people which frees me up to do the larger projects. It is been a hard transition for me to delegate some of those responsibilities as I am a perfectionist.
But I really enjoy the opportunity to expand the audience who can hear my message.
I have other business interests that don't require as much of my time and they are fun. But for the next 20 years I think in some way shape or form I will still be communicating the message of self protection in some format as I really enjoy it and I enjoy the challenge of continuing to be relevant in the industry.
So the easiest way to hear more about how I look at the things would be via my recent TEDx talk which really covers how I look at the subject of violence. View it now at this link “Paradox Of Violence”.
To find out more about me or my system here is the link: Target Focus Training
Once again thanks to Richard for letting me speak to his audience and I hope he'll let me return the favor in the near future.
Int. #2: Inside the Heart of Hock Hochheim
Everybody just calls me Hock, even though some are still compelled to call me “sir.” And I feel uncomfortable with even that title, since I had to call numerous idiots “sir” in the military. I am a former military patrolman and investigator and a former Texas patrolman and investigator. After my retirement in 1997, I was a private investigator. I started Ed Parker Kenpo Karate in 1972 and since, I’ve done numerous martial arts and picked up a few black belts along the way. I currently teach about 40 hand, stick, knife and gun seminars in about 12 or 13 countries a year. I also write novels and non-fiction books.
Q 1. What significant change(s) on a human level, have you gone through over the last decade in direct relation to your work and how has it, if any, changed the way in which you teach/instruct?
Ten years went fast, but if I conjure up an image of myself teaching somewhere at that time, it seems like 25 years ago. Not being a very introspective person, I think, change-wise, I still hone away at material to its generic core, trying to see what and where that core could fit in the other subjects I try to pass on.
In these ten years I still try to get people to experiment through options and select their favorite 8 to 10, or 12 favorite ‘self defense” things for most of the problem-solving that fits their world. But as I age (in my 60s), I now tell people to review their list every 8 or so years to see of they can still do their favorites well enough and maybe consider some changes.
These last years though, I start all sessions off with a speech that includes, “nothing I, or we will do, will be perfect. Everything we do will have a counter.” Just to get the right mindset that we are going to exercise though a variety of options. This bit of truth gets a chuckle from some smart folks and shocks others because they think martial system “heads” and ringleaders are there to deliver “magic bullets” to all attack problems.
Q 2. Is there a particular incident/occurrence/situation you recall having directly experienced/been involved in that has deeply & emotionally touched and/or altered you and your perceptions of the world in general?
I started out in the 1970s just looking for a job that was exciting and didn’t bore me. The military and police work. There was a slow osmosis in police work, a whole collection of events from crime to car wrecks, that made me mature up and realize that police work was important. But it took awhile. And then, way too late in life, I realized how important militaries are and could be. It would be hard for me to pick one or two deep things, emotional things because so many bad things happened to me that if I try to pick one or two, my mind flips from one to the next, to the next. Ugly, ugly and more ugly. And I dislike visiting the memories, really. I don’t even want to visit the Army bases and cities I worked in, because there are so many bad memories at so many locations.
Q 3. Have you ever thought of quitting the game altogether? If yes, why? And if you were to at this stage in your life (today) do something entirely different, what would it be?
Weekly. I think about quitting weekly, but I can’t because it is my job. People will say to me:
“It must be great, traveling around the world and doing your passion. Where is your favorite place to go?” My quick answer is “home,”…and, this? This…ain’t my passion.
I do a fair number of interviews and many don’t get “published,” because my answers don’t fit their anticipated mold. One of the “moldy” questions recently was – “Martial arts. How did you first discover this passion?”
I said that that was hard for me to answer that question the way it was posed. It was hard for me to include the word “passion” in with a dead customer on the floor from a bank robbery. Or, a soldier gutted in some trench. Or a wife stabbed in the chest. Somebody’s jaw broken. It soon became apparent to the martial arts interviewer that I had a completely different view than what he perceived “passion and martial arts life” to be. So, another interview disappeared off the charts.
And I do grow impatient with people in the business. You know, now I am “60s-stupid.” I was REALLY stupid when I was in my 20s. I was still stupid, but less so in my 30s. In that progression I was 40s-stupid. Then 50s-stupid. Stupid about life and fighting. In my 60s, I am still stupid but not as stupid as I was. I know stupid and I can recognize it. I am constantly seeing and hearing stupid stuff from the various decades of ages in this business. Hearing the testosterone-driven, bad-mouthing criticisms about everyone and everything.
Quitting or not, I have an odd and unexplainable interest in…for lack of a better word, “tactics.” I don’t know why. I am like a hoarder, obsessed, drawn to the ways of fighting big and small. It is not fun. It is not a hobby. It is not a passion. It is unhealthy and I recognize that. But I’ve seen stuff and I know stuff. Next, people asked me what stuff I’ve learned. Next thing, I am teaching the stuff. Next thing, I am making more money teaching that stuff than at police work. Crazy money compared to the low-paying police job. A fool would not and could not do both. Next thing, I am teaching stuff, 40 times a year all over. I don’t really know how this happened? I didn’t plan it. I didn’t want it. I just kept moving forward week to week. Now, 18 years have passed by. I am really too old to do much else at this stage of my life, except maybe write.
Q 4. Do you feel you were proverbially ‘born’ to do what you do, that this was your calling? Is there perhaps another thing you wish you would have done instead, or believe you are just as good at and should have perhaps explored instead?
I am, I think, first and foremost a writer. Second, a detective. Third, maybe this fighting stuff? I was probably born to be a writer. It’s a music I get. I have an ear for it. And I can stand the painful labor of it all. Being a detective, not so much a patrolman but an investigator was a natural for me, both in the military and in Texas. But it was exhausting work, with a toll. Through time, I did grow very tired of people’s problems. Day after day, month and year after year, people’s problems. After 26 years I’d had enough of it. I never was a social worker type. I use to joke that victim’s were mere vessels for me to get my hands around the throats of criminals. But it was half a joke. Victims of various tragedies wore me to a frazzle.
I do wish I had just played baseball. I honestly did have potential in my teens. Imagine living your life going out on a green field everyday and playing a slow game of baseball. I really don’t like to watch baseball, but loved playing ball. Yeah. Baseball.
Q 5. How has your work affected your personal life in regards to the relationships with those outside our field/profession? (Professional, personal, familial, romantic, etc.)
Being an obsessive hoarder, I know it has. But, when I was a Texas detective for 17 years, I fit the classic stereotype. Nothing personal stood in my way when working cases. Lots of things fell by the wayside. Here these last 18 years of my traveling and teaching, my kids are grown and busy, and my wife (now 3rd which tells you something right there) is in on this business too, so we are very close and she gets the time and the effort.
Q 6. Do you have any regrets at all? If yes, which is the one that haunts you the most?
Loads. (I still have one unsolved homicide from the 1980s!) But, looking back on this particular path? I should have rejoined the Army in the Army Reserves, a few years after I got out, and had a few years in Texas policing, I should have joined the Reserves. The Army Reserves really bend over backward to get you in and keep you in and happy. It’s the Reserves! I could gotten Warrant Officer schools, CID/FBI schools, so much and in 25 plus years, jeez, Now? I would be “set” by now. Oh, I would have deployed overseas about 4 or 6 times, but at six months clips and that’s ok with me. People can retire from the Reserves. I have a retirement from the police department which is not much, and then that extra Army Reserves retirement on top to boot would have been great? Plus, I could have kept a hand in that military “game,” and contributed something to the cause.
Then of course, there are a long series of smaller regrets, -“WHY did I sell all my 1950s and 1960s comic books in the 70s? If I had simply saved them? I’d be rich!” -“WHY didn’t I train martial arts when I was in Korea?” -Baseball? Did someone mention baseball already? -on and on.
Q 7. What are your proudest moments/achievements in both your private and professional lives?
Solving some murder cases, getting convictions, are most satisfying, especially solving the “mystery” ones. So many murders are committed with easily identified, emotional suspects. But ones without this solution are way harder. A mystery. Solving these murders are the big leagues of policing. I have won those Superbowls. I have even caught a hit man, and seriously helped capture two serial killers.
Getting my second novel, My Gun is My Passport, published, and then getting an award for it was very cool. As far as the fighting business? A few small ones. I guess teaching in the one South African Police Academy was very unique. Kick boxing with, and then being able to beat one of my best, earliest and important instructors Ray Medina back in the 1980s was a personal landmark for me. I did raise two kids into functioning, adults with professional jobs. And that ain’t hay! My Knife/Counter-Knife book is a beauty, I think. The big, oversized hardcover, with over 1,000 how-to color photos. I still love the look and feel of it. Lots of work.
It is important not to let these things go to your head. Never take yourself too seriously. As Julius Caesar first said, then Patton said, “all glory is fleeting.” I believe that it’s not what you’ve done, it’s what you are about to do that makes you vital and important. Kevin Pollak, the actor, comedian, writer and director says, “if you’re waiting, you ain’t creating.” (And…all that kind of talk)
Q 8. How do your friends and family outside the industry/self defense/martial arts world view what you do for a living? What are your thoughts and feelings about it?
They think I am an oddity. I usually hide it for as long as I can. I am on a whole lot of plane flights and people, like at events and gatherings and parties and so forth, like to ask “what do you do?” If I tell people the truth? They act impressed, but like I am a freak, or super soldier, but I myself, can’t see how they could possibly believe me. I mean, if a stranger told me they did what I did, I wouldn’t believe them. So, I dodge it. I started telling people years ago I sold insurance, thinking that was boring enough, but it was a mistake. EVERYONE has insurance problems and this just lead to more and more conversation. Next, I told people that I traveled a lot, scouting locations for Long John Silver’s, for future, fast food locations. This is a going-nowhere conversation piece. A dead end. They look at you, sometimes with pity, and then change the subject.
I am not a rah-rah person about this fighting stuff, which is a huge detriment to my business, I know this. I do what I have to do to stay afloat. Now you want to talk about my books and writing? Watch out! Step back! Here it comes! I won’t shut up.
Q 9. How often do you find yourself going against what you preach and teach, after all, we’re all human, we all have our ‘bad days’ and the like; and how often are you aware of it enough in the present moment to catch yourself do you think?
Low expectations! Seriously, I don’t preach much at all. I don’t expect much of myself or other people either. If I suddenly discover an hypocrisy in my doctrine, I fix it immediately.
One professional snafu I still get in is that I still teach Filipino martial arts when requested. I don’t push the subject, but I do have a ton of time and grade in it. Parts of arts can contradict my major battle plan that I preach and teach, creating a problem, but, if hired out for the event, I sing the golden-oldies. And I realize it really is just an interest and a hobby for so many people. It’s fun, addictive and its exercise and makes people happy. The real benefits are abstract. They are interested in the history, the look and feel of it, like some people like Corvettes or the Boston Red Sox. So, I am there with a big smile on.
Q 10. What now? Where do you go from here? Where do you see yourself in 10, 20 years both on a personal and professional level?
Probably dead. What’s the average age of death? 75? I got about 12 years left. And the 70s are a rough decline, whew! I’ll fight it back, but man! I hope to be retired sooner than that, collecting all the money I sent in to Uncle Sam, and writing international, bestselling novels and non-fiction stories, made into movies, in which I will have brief cameos like Stan Lee.
But right now, I will continue to chug along. Make the gigs I promised to make. Chisel the material I am obsessed to chip away on, like the hoarder than I am. It seems like I live my life in 6 months chunks, 6 at a time. I see and worry about the next 6 month schedule more than the distant future. I worry about those 20 some-odd gigs I have to go in the next six months. What will I do? How will I get there? How will I advertise them best? What’s the best way to do all things?
Personally, in the coming years, I just want to hang out with my wife now and even more so in the future. Unless, you know, all those movie cameos keep me too, too busy.
Hock’s webpage is www.ForceNecessary.com. His email is Hock@HocksCQC.com. He currently teaches hand, stick, knife and gun tactics in about 40 seminars a year in 13 allied countries. His latest non-fiction book is “Don’t Even Think About It” Confessions and Memories of a Former Military and Texas Lawman, Private Investigator and Body Guard.
Int. #1: Inside the Heart of Mark Hatmaker
My first Interview is with Mark Hatmaker, he is the owner and operator of Extreme Self Protection a clearinghouse of old school Boxing, Wrestling, Combination Man (the original MMA athlete), conditioning, and pragmatic street-defense information.
He is the author of over 15 books and over 175 training videos and counting.
For more information visit his site at www.extremeselfprotection.com
Q1. What significant change(s) on a human level, have you gone through over the last decade in direct relation to your work and how has it, if any, changed the way in which you teach/instruct?
The single biggest change for me over the past decade in both my personal and professional life is giving up on the concept of certainty. What I mean by that is that the older I get (I’ll flatter myself and call it wisdom when it might be nothing more than early onset senility) the less I am impressed or enthused about set systems, fixed curriculums, dogmatic answers in all domains not just martial arts/self-defense. Canned philosophical answers, rote religious tropes, ready-made political wisdom and all the rest strike me as being as little behind the curve.
Not to say that each of these answers may (or may not) hold some aspect of truth to them, just that they often seem to be intellectual holding places, excuses to stop growth and to assume a mantle of comprehension where none may exist. Most things in life are far more chaotic or dependent on chance than I assumed in my younger years. The more and more I grasp/embrace the randomness of life and complex systems the more it seems that I can get a little better glimpse of what might be useful-or my best guess at useful.
For a lengthy digression on this topic see the works of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Many ballpark his work as primarily belonging to the realm of financial observation, but I think he would disagree with that assertion. I myself find the philosophy of randomness is applicable to almost any and all areas of my life.
As for how it directly affects my teaching, I don’t dig set curricula at all, particularly in self-defense work. Instead I see greater wisdom in providing loose-templates of response choices, putting the athlete through a variety of stress drills and observing what movement patterns manifest for them and then play to their idiosyncratic strength. I find far greater success with this stress-culling process than me arbitrarily trying to overlay skill-sets on another individual.
Q2. Is there a particular incident/occurrence/situation you recall having directly experienced/been involved in that has deeply & emotionally touched and/or altered you and your perceptions of the world in general?
In regard to the first question, there was no triggering event to spark an “Ah, so this is how things really are” but since assuming this “the world is primarily random” stance I’ve had more than a few experiences that seem to confirm that we/I/everyone don’t really at a serious level understand the world we live in.
A simple enough experiment is to record all of your own predictions, everything from how much you think you’ll enjoy a vacation, to if this season of Justified will be any good, really any and all predictions. A habit of doing this has led me to reveal that I really have no idea for the most part of what I will think or do in this world. Keep in mind this is me predicting myself, presumably a subject I should have expert knowledge of.
I carry this experiment over into my observations of friends and family (privately, of course, no sense in saying “Man, you sure are wrong a lot”) and have noticed how often what others say, do, predict about this or that other person or event turns out to be so far off base. Even in light of our personal horrible prediction records, we carry on making predictions and taking them seriously.
If I’m getting too far into the weeds with this conversation feel free to ask me to clarify or shut up.
Q3. Have you ever thought of quitting the game altogether? If yes, why? And if you were to at this stage in your life (today) do something entirely different, what would it be?
You know I’ve not thought about quitting. I’ve had more than a few injuries that gave me pause to wonder how long this feeble body can do what it does, but at the cognitive “want to” level, I haven’t considered quitting, not yet.
Q4. Do you feel you were proverbially ‘born’ to do what you do, that this was your calling? Is there perhaps another thing you wish you would have done instead, or believe you are just as good at and should have perhaps explored instead?
Keeping in my mind my “belief” in chance, I really see very little aspects of my life that were the result of a direct plan. On one hand I can look over my life and see a direct line that seems to say “Yeah, this was destined, this event led to this therefore this” but that is most likely narrative fallacy.
I didn’t’ choose my parents, the country I was born into, my native language, where my parents lived, the myriad random influences that went into roiling around in my noggin that stewed into making me what I am. I sincerely think that much of life is chance and we respond to it as it occurs and it is only in hindsight often that things look a bit more linear.
Q5. How has your work affected your personal life in regards to the relationships with those outside our field/profession? (Professional, personal, familial, romantic, etc.)
I really can’t say I’ve seen any negative impact at all. I’m really at net gain, I’ve met some exceptionally kind, generous, lovely human beings within this field that have gone on the become friends outside of training. No complaints at all.
Q6. Do you have any regrets at all? If yes, which is the one that haunts you the most?
Regrets. Absolutely. Everyday. Fortunately most of them are in the small “r” version of the word regret. Any day I do what might be a time-wasting activity, a space-filler as opposed to doing something real, not always necessarily productive, well, that would be a small “r” regret.
Taking things, and people for granted always looms large in my mind. I like to think I’ve got my head wrapped around the appreciation habit but back-sliding is easy.
I find what helps me to keep on track is not to ask myself what it is I would like to do tomorrow as we always get grandiose with future plans and forget that more than likely we will manufacture excuses, instead I ask myself “What do I wish I did yesterday?” That question is a tonic that reminds me to correct regrets before I regret them if that makes any sense.
Q7. What are your proudest moments/achievements in both your private and professional lives?
Professionally, I’ve been mighty fortunate. Whether it be projects in the works, or projects that come to fruition, or the friendships I’ve made, or the “Hey, this is fun” look on someone’s face as they are training-I really dig all of that. We’re all essentially grown-ups “playing karate” I fail to see why we should take any of it seriously. Don’t get me wrong, train hard, yes indeed. Make it a serious hard-assed affair with all the fun sucked out of it. Seems a big mistake to me.
Personally, my wife, my daughter, life in general. I don’t like to use the word pride here as to me pride connotes that I had something to do with an effort, that I have earned a share in some success. I do like to use the word impress as it seems to get closer to how I feel when I look at the precious people in my life. I’m impressed with who they are and their accomplishments and reactions to the world and that in turn makes me mighty glad to have them in my life.
Q8. How do your friends and family outside the industry/self defense/martial arts world view what you do for a living? What are your thoughts and feelings about it?
It honestly rarely, if ever, comes up. I’m not a shop-talk guy. They know what I do for a living, I know what they do for a living and there it lies. I really don’t see what I do as being any different from a guy who works at a muffler shop, with the exception that that guy can fix a muffler and I can’t.
Q9. How often do you find yourself going against what you preach and teach, after all, we’re all human, we all have our ‘bad days’ and the like; and how often are you aware of it enough in the present moment to catch yourself do you think?
If we’re talking professionally-I’m pretty consistent. If we’re talking personally maybe 60/40 (that 60% being the bad side). I really do see life as pretty much a random process, one that can be responded to with grace, honor, appreciation, and humility, but despite how much I find predictions/assumptions/unwarranted judgements off-base more often than not I still can’t seem to completely give up making unfounded guesses.
In the areas of mundane things this doesn’t matter-for example, “I don’t’ think I like goat-cheese, oh, wait its pretty good.” Where it is a horrible habit is to see another human and judge a book by its cover, to make assumptions. Categorizing and labeling another human strikes me as devaluing and demeaning and I have to admit I don’t have this licked yet.
Q10. What now? Where do you go from here? Where do you see yourself in 10, 20 years both on a personal and professional level?
Prepare for a disappointing answer. I really have no idea. I no longer make long-term plans. Yes, I sock money away for “retirement” whatever that will mean in my case. I make grocery lists, I make monthly training schedules, I’ll outline a book or project I’m working on but I do zero “In 5 years I will have a pony-tail and have earned my helicopter license” plans.
I guess this makes me a short-term planner and a wait and see-er when it comes to the long-term. I’ll respond to what life throws at me as it really does all the throwing, and assume that I really don’t have too much of a say in the thing until life decides to ask.
Richard, I’ve got to say I really enjoyed this line of questioning. Whether my pseudo-philosophical maundering is of any interest to others I have no idea, but thanks for the opportunity to introspect all the same.
If anyone wants more info on our approach to conditioning, boxing, wrestling, MMA, and street defense go to our websitewww.extremeselfprotection.com and have a browse. If you do have a browse and have any questions about the material, or, hell questions about the above discussion drop me an email mark@extremeselfprotection.com always looking for the next friend.
Have a good one, one and all!
Mark Hatmaker
Q & A: Inside the Heart of a Self Defense Expert
Q & A: Inside the Heart of a Self Defense Expert
I've done countless interviews all over the world for various magazines, radio shows, newspapers, blogs and the like and some have been great while others were standard, everyday questions but none ever dove into the real heart of the matter; how did and does the journey into the self defense/martial arts world affect us on a personal level?
I was positive I wasn't the only one who felt that way and so I decided to come up with a list of 10+ Questions for the great men and women of our industry who are out there day in and day out dealing the darker side of the martial arts universe, the self defense world.
Little do people know or realise that we don't only work with prestigious groups such as law enforcement, military, security, world class athletes and the like but the vast majority of the time, between those 'tacticool' contracts, we deal with victims of violence on a daily basis.
Even when not dealing directly with the victims, we are constantly researching the world of violence in one form or another; pedophilia, rape, incest, domestic abuse, attempted murders, kidnappings, aggravated assaults, street fights and every kind of urban violence one can think of. Needless to say, speaking for myself anyway, this has had a huge impact on both my life and worldviews, and not necessarily on a positive level as I wrote about in an earlier blogpost.
This 'revealing' interview isn't about styles, systems, methodologies, tactics or even self defense... it is about how the work in the self-defense/personal protection industry affects each and everyone of their lives on a deeper level.
I sent out over 40 requests and received quite a few replies, surprisingly, many more than I expected accepting my offer to take part. In no particular order of appearance here are those who have accepted and who will be interviewed here beginning next week:
John Whitman of Krav Maga Alliance
Lee Morrison of Urban Combatives
Christopher Roberts of Safe International
Jim Wagner Reality Based Personal Protection
Debi Stevens of Action Breaks Silence
Mark Hatmaker of Extreme Self Protection
The interviews will be posted on a first come, first serve basis. There are others who I am awaiting a reply from who said they'd look it over and get back to me and there are still others I have not heard back from at all, only a couple opted out due to scheduling reasons thus far, and so I will update this list as and if it grows.
CAVEAT: If I have missed anyone in our industry and I did not contact you for this interview, please accept my apologies, drop me an email and I will send you the questions for your participation, the only requirements I have is that 1. Teaching self defense is your main source of income and 2. you are actively teaching on an international level. Thank you.
Stay tuned folks.....
Happy Birthday Senshido International
April 11th 1994, I opened Senshido International. It's been 21 years exactly this weekend and the journey has been nothing short of a pure mind blowing adrenaline ride. It feels like I've lived 7 different lifetimes in those 21 years.
I was told I was never going to make it by most everyone. I was told I was too young to operate a martial arts school especially in the oversaturated city of Montreal at the time, there were a total of 9 different martial arts schools within an 8 block radius from where I opened, some of them with already international reputations. And I almost did fail, many, many times actually. I came very close to closing shop on several occasions but that school just began having a life of its own and it attracted the best of people from all 4 corners of the globe.
It was a home away from home for many. If you didn't belong anywhere, you definitely belonged with us. It wasn't just a martial arts/self defense school; it was a laboratory, a home, a crash pad, a haven and above all, a clubhouse for misfits and characters of all sorts. There truly were 'no rules' and not just in the training or martial delivery system either. It was a place where folks could open up, fully express themselves without fear or concern, be themselves and for those who were lost, it was a place to rediscover one's self. There was absolutely nothing 'normal' or standardized by any means, the 500 MPH bullet train that was Senshido just kept on steaming through regardless of every adversity, every set back, it just grew and grew.
Time flies. 21 years later, I've managed to secure myself as one of the top in my field in the world. No small feat considering it's hard enough to make a living teaching martial arts and self defense as for the vast majority, these are side jobs, hobbies and extra income providers but for those of us who are making a living out of it, it is one tough fucking racket to be in, make a decent living in, let alone truly succeed at.
I've never personally measured my success via how much I made or owned, for me, it has always been about the people, the relationships, the betterment that such information I provide creates and in that respect, I have succeeded a million times over. There's nothing like the reward of being told that you are directly responsible for both saving and inspiring countless people worldwide, to have changed and illuminated so many lives. Though I still cannot fully resonate with that because I can barely manage to get my own shit together 99.99999% of the time, the testimonials just keep on coming.
Of course, along with those come the flip side. Those that hate me for the work that I do. Those that don't understand, that judge and for some reason, I happen to affect negatively without having even met the vast majority of them. I also receive my share of hate mail, threats, insults and the like but these are all but 2 sides of the same proverbial coin.
You can't please the whole world and frankly, I don't give a fuck. I do what I do and let the chips fall where they may. Love me or hate me, condone or condemn me, praise or defame me, I'M STILL HERE MOTHER FUCKERS, 21 years+ and I'm nowhere near done and when I am, when I leave this fucking earth, I will not just be leaving behind a practical self defense methodology but an entire fucking legacy to 'absorb what is useful, add what is specifically of your own and disregard the rest'.
Thank you to one and all who are, will be and have been there over the years, none of this would have happened without each and everyone of you.
DO SOME SHIT.
Lasalle Classes Updates
The demand for my 2 days a week group class has been higher than expected so I will be increasing the number of participants per class to a limit of 20 instead of 10 and if the classes maintain their popularity, I will probably add a 3rd one in the week as well.
Classes begin Monday April 20th at Senshido International’s new home and headquarters; A1A Training Center located at 1201 90th Avenue Lasalle, Québec run by Senshido International Team leader Wes Derequito.
The cost is $15 per class. If you purchase a package of 8 classes up front, you get 2 free (There is a 2 month time limit/expiry date to the 10 class package). You can also pay on a per class, as you come basis.
GROUP CLASS SCHEDULE: Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8pm BEGINNING Monday April 20th, 2015.
Private lesson availability from Monday to Friday from 10am to 8pm (barring the days and times I am teaching group classes) and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 2pm.
I am now accepting bookings and reservations for both group and private classes via PAYPAL, for more information or to book your spot please drop me an email at i.am@richarddimitri.com or leave me a message at 514-712-2942 and remember, first come first serve basis.
Thank you, see you in a couple of weeks!
Rich
Montreal Classes
I will officially be offering private lessons available 7 days a week during opening hours (posted below) as well as teaching 2 purely self defense/personal protection group classes per week at Senshido International's new home and headquarters; A1A Training Center located at 1201 90th Avenue Lasalle, Québec run by Senshido International Team leader Wes Derequito.
I will only be accepting a limited number of 10 people per class max, at the cost of $15 per class. Each class will cover a specific topic agreed upon by the majority. It is on a first come, first serve booking basis and if you purchase a package of 8 classes up front, you get 2 free. You can also pay on a per class basis.
GROUP CLASS SCHEDULE: Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8pm BEGINNING Monday April 20th, 2015.
I am also available for Private lessons from Monday to Friday from 10am to 8pm (barring the days and times I am teaching group classes) and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 2pm. Depending on the weather, private lessons can begin as early as April 1st and held at a local parc near you.
I am accepting bookings and reservations for both group and private classes via PAYPAL as of now, for more information or to book your spot please drop me an email at i.am@richarddimitri.com and remember, first come first serve basis.
Thank you and all the best!
Rich
Truth: Strictly for those than can cope
One of the greatest things I've learned in the last few years, is that for one, the more scientifically literate I become, the more money I save. Direct result, cutting out such a monumental part of everyday bullshit that plagues so much of people's lives it is truly, utterly astounding. The second part is that it answered tons and tons of questions eliminating the constant nagging of cognitive dissonance and allowing for honesty to replace illusion.
And BRAVO!!!! by the way; a well deserved hats off to the charlatans and conmen out there that have been taking advantage of man's ignorance and pure unadulterated stupidity by making a fucking mint off it. I applaud you!!! I too was taken for many, many years, decades really, victim to the bullshit due to my very own weaknesses, ignorance and stupidity. I say 'stupidity' because I then chose to remain ignorant even when presented with evidence for a long time..... and it is when we are at our weakest that we are the most vulnerable to these snake oil salesmen but like I said, I admit and applaud them though I do not condone what they are doing one bit as they are as much a part of the perpetual bullshit, pseudo-science, hocus pocus, mumbo jumbo plaguing the vast majority of humanity still today.
I don't understand what scares people so much about facts and truth to the point that they have to create and hang onto illusions, myths and legends..... sure they're cool, uplifting etc. but why the need for blind faith? I don't get that. At all. Not only deny the truth, but also for some unfathomable reason, to be offended by it?!?! Wow. Just... wow. I for one was never offended by truth. Sure it created a massive amount of cognitive dissonance and I sure as hell wanted to believe in all those things, be it deities, astrology, sasquatch, spirits, angels, demons, extradimensional beings, magic cures and what not, but the only thing they have in common other than being 'paranormal' or 'miraculous' is that every single one of those things lack one major criteria: EVIDENCE. They got none. Outside of tradition, hearsay, personal anecdotes and interpretations of events, they got nothing.
How crucial, critical is evidence? Well, critical enough that in most first world countries anyway, we cannot convict a man, especially to a death sentence without evidence and facts. Critical enough that I don't care who you are reading this, I can only imagine that if you were wrongly convicted for a multiple murder in a city that sustains capital punishment, you would be hard pressed to have all the solid facts and evidence revealing your innocence via the use of forensic science over eyewitness testimony and hearsay.
It requires outside the box thinking to evolve I agree, but it takes evidence based thinking to progress throughout our evolution. Scientific literacy is and should be one of the top priority lessons in raising our children today. In my opinion, this will insure 2 things: 1. They won't be conned out of hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout their lives by every charlatan and snake oil salesman out there and 2. They will help undo the dark ages of religion past and present, and eradicate a good percentage of 'deaths by belief' be it through anti-vaxxers, religious fundamentalists and/or medicine/science deniers.
Sincerely,
Rich
At what level of ‘Self Defense’ will you settle?
What do you train for? Speaking of course, from a self defense, personal protection and self preservation perspective. I ask this because I notice people train differently and seemingly for differing kinds of circumstances and situational predicaments I can only assume are based on their lifestyles and concerns within.
Some focus mainly on the physical aspects, which that alone encompases such a wide array of possibilities from dealing with the environment and clothing one is wearing to the actual physical responses used, it creates it's own set of questions for example; what, in one's seemingly normal lifestyle, would make them dedicate a large percentage of their training time perfecting their punching skills?
Now this is not a judgment call at all, it could be that the individual in question happens to be a gifted boxer and the level of violence they have been exposed to in their lifetime consists of basic road rage or alcohol based incidents and that their punching skills have come in handy on more than one occasion under these circumstances and therefor focuses their personal defense training mainly as such.
Compare that to the individual who is seemingly obsessed with firearms being the first and foremost training method of self protection they engage in who maybe lives in a more violent neighborhood and has perhaps lost an acquaintance or friend in gang related issues.
Then there are those who spend a large portion of their training on the mental side, training the mind as it were, to be the primary weapon. The mental aspect is just as extensive and diversified as the physical ranging from working verbal defusing skills to tone down the average aggressor and managing one's fear to having themselves waterboarded in case captured and tortured by their perceived enemas. Enemies. I meant 'enemies'.
But then there are those of course, who are overtly paranoid and are out there literally training for the Zombie Terrorist Apocalypse while they are living in first world white suburbia.
The question here is, without judgment but simply out of curiosity; what are you training for? And if you have a family, are they equally as trained? To paraphrase the immortal Brandon Lee, at what level of self defense will you settle?
Damned if you do or don’t.
I don't know about other self defense instructors out there but for me, this has been and is one hell of a tough job. Maybe I'm sensitive, I don't know, but dealing with the violence and its trail of victims, dealing with the politics of the industries and topping it off with the feeling that nothing you do or have ever done has even made a dent in the world, regardless of the testimonials or the number of friends and peers who tell you what a great and fantastic job you are doing; it still manages to leave this dense heaviness in the middle of my chest enough for me to battle the daily decision of leaving it altogether once and for all.
I wrestled with the idea of quitting for nearly 5 years. I tried leaving it all back in early 2012 when my son was born. Though he was one of the main reasons factoring into several others at the time, that anvil in the middle of my chest was most certainly a decisive factor. I managed to somewhat stay away for 3 years while dabbling mainly in the sport side of the martial arts which was truly a breathe of fresh air to deal with people who simply wanted to get healthier and stronger in their lifestyles.
During those 3 years I decided to try various jobs and since I've never really had a real job by societies standards since I worked at a paint store in my late teens, I had no idea how to do a job interview, so needless to say, I was too "intense" for the first few and didn't get the job. Once I learned the game some, I started getting work and I went from delivering pizza to working at a video shop to working for Parks Canada at a summer camp ground.
Finding it difficult to navigate from unfulfilling job to unfulfilling job as much as I enjoyed them during the short terms and worked with great people all around, I literally began hitting a state of depression and losing a monumental part of who I was and am, I had to go back to do what I do best, what I was and am literally born to do; and in October of 2014 I made the decision to return to teaching.
The job isn't 9 to 5 either, for me anyway, it's 24/7. I can't just 'shut it off', it's much to much a part of who I am and so that heaviness returned with it. I have since dealt with and plunged right back into the world of violence, a dark world, one that left me cynical and unfortunately somewhat jaded, I can't deny that.
That sense of no matter what you do, no matter who or how many you help or have helped to date, no matter how hard you work, or try, or stay up at night, no matter how hard you push, it hasn't changed a thing. The violence is still out there, people are still raping, assaulting, murdering each other just as much if not more than when you began your quest.
Now I don't know if you believe in coincidence or that shit happens for a reason, but every single time I've come so really close to the decision of leaving it all behind for good, I receive an email or a phone call from someone who's life I have changed. Not saved; but changed and inspired.
Today was no different. I received a message from a Facebook friend I haven't directly really communicated with in years. He asked me to call him as what he had to say he felt he needed to say in person. I called him up and he confided in me that he is unfortunately and sadly, in his final days as cancer has taken its toll after a long and hard battle. He is at peace and had wanted to just thank me for both my work and sharing my personal experiences with you good folk out there over the years, as I have been an inspiration and he felt I should know that I, amongst many others of course, were one of those who touched his life.
Needless to say, I am not quitting today and probably never will though it will be a daily battle with me, I know this. And to everyone out there I say, you never know whose lives you touch with yours, simply by the sharing of your own experiences.
DO SOME SHIT.
Sincerely,
Rich
