Enough said.

Coming Soon Fight Skills

Here is a prelude to my "Fight Skills" package:

Boxing skills are critical to the overall fight scenario. As part of the my “Fight Skills” package boxing skills are one of the tools which fill the void most martial artist styles have between when the fight starts and the committed attack happens. Boxing, the movement, distance control and position offer the safest place to remain in control until the committed attacks takes place –then you respond further with your Kenpo Jiu Jitsu technique be it standing, takedown or action on the ground.

Coach Marty Martin

Overcoming Fear

Fear and Mental Toughness

Source: Men’s Health

The U.S. Navy SEALs are among the most courageous men on earth. Their secret: mental conditioning. Learn their secrets and you, too, can conquer any fear says an article in Men’s Health magazine.

According to the article, the SEALs are fearless because of the training they undergo. Their secret is what psychologist call habituation. This simply means the more you’re exposed to something that you initially fear, they less it will fear you and eventually you become immune to it. You get used to it.

This is mind over matter situation. Sergeant Bill Cullen of the First Battalion of the Fourth Marines says, “Essentially, you’re bending the body’s software to control its hardware. It works standing over a putt on the 18th green. It works shooting a final-second free throw. It works banging down a door with a bad guy on the other side.”

Graduating as a SEAL is not all about being physically fit, Lieutenant Commander Mike H of executive officer of SEAL Team 10, says, “Today, our primary weapons systems are our people’s heads. You want to excel in all the physical areas, but the physical is just a prerequisite to be a SEAL. Mental weakness is what actually screens you out.”

The articles reports that recent experiments at tops institutions in the world including Harvard, Columbia, the University of California at Irvine, have started to solve the mystery of both primal fear and remembered fear. Previously it was thought that once an animal has “learned” to be afraid of something, that memory never vanishes from the animal’s amygdala. But Gregory Quirk, Ph.D., and researcher Kevin Corcoran, of the University of Puerto Rico school of medicine, have discovered that we can overlay our bad memories — and the emotions they evoke — by forming new memories in the brain’s prefrontal cortex that supersede those stored in the amygdala.

You have to repeat an action, any action, over and over, with the knowledge that you are “unlearning” the bad memory. Lieutenant Commander Eric Potterat, Ph.D., a Naval Special Warfare Command psychologist, quotes Hamlet on the subject: “‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’

Eric Potterat relates this study to sports and described the difference between winners and losers. “Physically, there’s very little difference between athletes who win Olympic gold and the rest of the field. It’s like the SEAL candidates we see here. Terrific hardware. Situps, pushups, running, swimming — off the charts, superhuman. But over at the Olympic center, the sports psychologists found that the difference between a medal and no medal is determined by an athlete’s mental ability. The elite athletes, the Tiger Woodses, the Kobe Bryants, the Michael Jordans — this is what separates them from the competition. Knowing how to use information.”

“Being a warrior, being what you call ‘brave,’ requires attention to something greater than just martial activity,” says Master Chief Will Guild, a 27-year SEAL veteran who runs a mentorship program for incoming candidates. “These men are problem solvers, and there are many ways to solve problems. I think you have to be ready to do whatever it takes, and that includes using diplomacy.

“There’s no shortage of physical courage in the SEALs or Marine Corps or any active military branch of the service. Moral courage is something else. And if you want to inspire moral courage in your troops, you have to teach them how to make decisions.” he continues.

Human beings can adapt to the very harshest of environments. Viktor Frankl, the famous Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, who is also a Holocaust survivor said, “if someone now asked of us the truth of Dostoevski’s statement that flatly defines man as a being who can get used to anything, we would reply, yes, a man can get used to anything, but do not ask us how”

Psychologists and neuroscientists now agree conquering fear is simply suppressing a fright reaction by repeatedly confronting, the fear-triggering memory or stimulus – facing your fears. For specific phobias, up to 90 percent of people can be cured through such exposure therapy, says David Barlow, director of Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders.

So the secret to courage is putting yourself in the same difficult situation or hostile environment on a consistent basis, day in day out, or doing a seemingly difficult action over and over, a million times, until you not longer have any emotional attachment to that situation, environment, or action. You become immune to it. You become part of it.

Coach Martin MVP Article

The following article appeared in MVP magazine. The article was published in the fit at any age section. Picture was taken at Marty Martin Karate - Karate Training Centers.

Big Four

I love this article, it fits the mindset one should get from your instructor in whatever martial art you take the big four: goal setting, mental rehearsal, self talk, arousal control

The Big 4 – Navy SEAL’s Technique to Conquering Fear and Panic

Written by Chris on December 06, 2013   19 Comments

The Big 4 - Navy Seal's Technique to Conquering Fear and Panic

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.”

Mark Twain

In stressful situations when our life is at threat we have a very powerful mechanism of protection. It is an automated system within our brain that acts even before we are able to take conscious actions.

This system has protected us during the millions of years of evolution from predators and imminent danger. Even though it is very sophisticated, it can have flaws.

Say hello to the Amygdala!

The Amygdala

The amygdala is well hidden in the depths of the human brain and it has developed prior to our neocortex (the thinking brain). It is part of the limbic system and its purpose is to regulate emotional reactions such as fear and aggression.

Since the limbic system and the amygdala are older than the neocortex (in terms of evolution), it has priority (in response) whenever dealing with very dangerous situations. A tragic example that shows how we can act prior to being conscious is the story of Matilda Crabtree.

Back in 1994, Matilda was a 14 year old girl who wanted to make a prank to her parents. As Bobby Crabtree and his wife returned home late at night, they thought Matilda was at one of her friends’ house. However, as they entered home, Bobby heard some noise coming from upstairs. Matilda hid in the closet wanting to scare her parents. As Bobby got upstairs he took his gun and went to Matilda’s bedroom. When she jumped out of the closet, Bobby pulled the trigger. Matilda died 12 hours later.

Bobby’s fear kicked in and his body took action way before he could be conscious of what he was doing. We are talking about milliseconds here, the bits of time that can really make a difference. Bobby Crabtree was not prosecuted because what happened was an accident. However, you can imag1ine the pain this father had to live with throughout his life.

The Mechanism of Fear

When in panic or fearful situations, there are two parts of the human brain that fight for control:

1. The frontal lobes (part of the neocortex) – that are responsible with conscious and rational decision making processes.

2. The amygdala – which is twice as faster in response than the frontal lobes and this sometimes can be misleading. The purpose of the amygdala is to protect, no matter what.

There are some fears that are pre-programmed in the human brain. This means that we are born with them. Chocking, drowning, the fear of heights, and even the fear of public speaking are examples of such.

Whenever in peril, the amygdala kicks in as the first commander; it sends signals to the hippocampus (another part of the limbic system) which in turn releases stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline; they prepare our body for the fight or flight response.

Thus, all the energy available is hijacked and directed to the feet for running or to the hands for fighting the imminent danger.

The Big Four

Navy SEALs are often confronted with such life threatening situations and to succeed they have to effectively conquer their fears. It has been shown that humans can minimize the time before the fear stimulus reaches the frontal cortex so that the decision is more conscious. It basically means that the response from the frontal cortex should be as close as possible to the response from the amygdala.

Members of the Navy SEAL (N.S.) are trained to increase their mental toughness with the ultimate purpose of controlling their fears and being able to appropriately respond in panicking situations. The technique is called The Big Four and (as you guessed) it has 4 parts:

1. Goal Setting (G)

When you are in a stressful situation your amygdala is firing like crazy. Emotions, fear, stress, you name it; it’s a total chaos. The frontal lobes can bring structure to this inferno through goal setting.

They can keep the amygdala at ease.

N.S. members often think about their friends, family, religious beliefs, and other important things from their lives.

The key point is to see something positive in the future (in the near future, if possible). That serves as an anchor to your inner balance.

2. Mental Rehearsal (M)

Mental Rehearsal is also known as visualization and it refers to continuously running an activity in your mind. When the real situation occurs, you are better prepared to fight it.

Take for example Michael Phelps.

Few people know that his training is insane. I have learned from Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit that throughout his years of training, Michael Phelps followed the same routine over and over again, with the preciseness of an atom clock.

From getting closer to the Olympic pool, to fixing his goggles, to stepping onto the diving board, then the jump, the first contact with water, each hand movement, and so on. All of these coordinated so accurately that he knew them by heart. They were part of him. Phelps’ coach used to name this routine as “the track”.

Now, in this track, Michael basically confronted all the scenarios that can possibly occur.

August 13, 2008

It was the day of the finals for the 200m butterfly swim in The Beijing Olympic Games.

Phelps was prepared. When his coach saw him enter the arena, he shouted at him to plug-in the “track”. Michael was already plugged-in.

He was a winner even before getting into the pool. Everything was taking place the way he knew it by heart: the diving board, the water, hand movements, wait…

Something was wrong. Water started to enter into his goggles. He could not see….

When I first heard the story I thought that it had a sad ending. However, instead of panicking, Phelps was trained for this.

He already had a scenario when this would happen. Sight would not be a problem for him because he knows by heart how many hand movements he needs to make until reaching the final wall. He played “the track”… and amazingly he won the gold medal, finishing 0.66 seconds faster than Laszlo Cseh, the second place.

This is the power of mental rehearsal.

Confront the bad situation in your mind over and over again and it would come naturally when you face it for real. This is what many public speakers do.

Psychologists treat phobic patients by exposure to the stimuli causing the phobia.

3. Self Talk

We know from research (here or here) that the average person speaks to him self more than 400 words per minute.

Logic guides me to say that it would pay much of a difference if these words are predominantly positive. These guys say that positive self-talk can override the signals from the amygdala.

I’ve personally learned about positive self-talk from Brian Tracy’s book The Power of Self-Confidence.

4. Arousal control

This is more of a physical exercise. It focuses on breathing and it requires to deliberately breathe slower as it would help counteract some of the effects of panic.

Long exhales mimic the process of relaxation within the body.

Long inhales provide much more oxygen to the brain which results in better cognition processes.

Each of these techniques may not work when used individually due to the powerful signaling coming from the amygdala, but they can definitely kick-ass when they are used together.

Don’t forget:

1. Goal Setting – Find an anchor. Project yourself into a better future.

2. Mental Rehearsal – Visualize the situation that bugs you the most and try viewing it from multiple perspectives. Repeat it over and over again.

3. Self-talk – If you can differentiate between negative and positive thoughts, you’re a good candidate into choosing which ones are better for you.

4. Arousal Control – Slowly inhale. Slowly exhale.

This technique can be applied in different contexts, such as when your life is at threat or when the sweets aisle from the supermarket is threatening your waistline.

So you wanna be a warrior

So you wanna be a true warrior.
Then define what it means to you, work hard and discover how to push through your limits. 
Coach Marty Martin

Your personality is a reflection of your personality based on your behavior over your lifetime. It is the behavior of the true warrior which makes that individual uncommon. A warrior holds themselves to a higher standard than others do. The warrior respects their reputation, morals and abilities. Any individual can be trained to fight, but it takes much more than a set of physical skills to be a true man of honor; it takes a strong positive reputable sense of behavior.

While it is true that a warrior trains their spirit, mind and body to be victorious when circumstances demand extraordinary action, it is also true a warrior must understand empathy and serve with compassion. Over a lifetime, a warrior will have many more opportunities to test their behavior in training or everyday circumstances than in life and death combat. A warrior’s physical training and foundation of behavior are integral parts of the warrior lifestyle, as much of the individuals character are forged in the crucible of hard training. Only the individual who pushes themselves to the brink of failure in training time and again will truly understand the depth of this statement. The point in time when an individual crosses over from common man to warrior is when the individual decides that the life of service driven by the dedication to honor, integrity, respect of self and never quit attitude becomes the foundation of his existence.

To become that individual, to become that warrior you as an individual have to decide what you will and won't stand for. Don’t leave your behavior and your reputation to chance – take responsibility for your behavior as that behavior determines the force inside you. It is your responsibility to forge your ideals. No one else will do it for you, but there are many who by their poor behavior, lack of discipline, lack of respect, lack of honor can lead you let your ideals slip or degrade the dedication to your why. You have to stand up for what you believe in and be ready to stand alone. You have to know your why, you have to understand your behavior is a display of your honor and integrity and this makes you who you are. To remain strong, to be that warrior you have to have the dedication and the determination to not let anything take away from all you have worked so hard for. When you work hard for anything you will respect what you have more than something just given to you. Here is a mantra that helps bring this into perspective; "I will do today what others won't so tomorrow I can do what others can't", US NAVY SEALS

Behavior is the foundation of all the other parts in a warriors lifestyle, the collective of an individuals behaviors. If the foundation of your behavior isn’t positive, rooted in high standards and strong sense of high moral and ethical code then sooner or later you will no longer be a true warrior you will falter. Without that solid foundation, it is easy for you to lose focus of your values. For this reason, it is vital that your behavior adheres to the highest standards. Don’t compromise where your behavior is concerned. This is just one of the traits that sets the warrior apart as an uncommon man. Work to build a solid character and maintain a solid reputation, which is true to your why as an uncommon individual.

Living up to the standards you have set for yourself is a continuous process and there will always be temptations to lower your standards or temporarily set them aside. Find the intestinal fortitude to maintain your standards no matter what others around you do or say. Your behavior has to be able to withstand the ridicule of others opinions, the actions of others, or even your own personal weaknesses. Don’t let others influence your decisions, at least not in a negative way. Don’t compromise your principles to please someone else or to avoid displeasing those around you. Live according to your why – the nature of the uncommon man – the warrior.

When someone treats you with disrespect or is just plain rude, it can be tempting to respond in kind, but this is not the behavior of the true warrior.  A warrior cannot allow others to dictate his choice of action. Don't let the behavior of someone else change your why, at least not in a negative way, the positive actions of other warriors can be a reflection of your conviction.

How you respond to the events in your life, both the good ones and the challenges, reveal your true sense of character. The true measure of a man is how that man responds to the challenges of life.

If you want to truly know how well you have developed your character, pay attention to how you respond to both the challenges and the triumphs of your life. This not only applies to those times when you are with other people, but also for the quiet times when you are alone. The truest test of behavior is what you do when you are alone. Do you still live up to your standards when nobody is watching? Do you live up to your reputation when you are at home with your family or only when you are in public? Your behavior should be sincere and genuine. You should not act one way in public and another way in private.

Your character is revealed through your words and your actions that is your behavior. You must be consistent and sincere in order to be an uncommon man – a warrior. Strive to make sure that your words and your actions are in line with your why. This is the nature of the uncommon man – the nature of the warrior.

You have to remain conscious of your every thought and your every word. Many people basically live their lives going through life without any true direction, responding in whatever manner their emotions dictate to them in any given moment. The warrior can’t afford to live his life in this way; he has to be ever vigilant of his thoughts, words and actions for they dictate his behavior. He must maintain his strength of character in all of the situations of life. No matter what circumstances he finds himself in, the man of character will behavior appropriately, maintaining his principles, which he has firmly decided to incorporate into his life. These incorporate daily habits, daily rituals and strong spiritual conscience. This takes practice and determination. Hemingway called this “Grace under pressure.” 

Thomas Paine stated, “Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.” 

While your reputation is important, at least to a degree, it is your authentic character that truly matters. Each of your personal behaviors collectively all those you act you act upon are the foundation of your true character. This foundation is your sincere desire to be a man of  character – a true warrior and to live according to those principles, which make someone an uncommon man – a warrior. Understanding the importance of your personal behavior and how that shapes who you truly are is the guide to living the life of a true warrior.

Understanding Marty Martin Karate

Marty Martin Karate is a blend of American Kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu skills and Kenpo self defense techniques.

Beginning students learn the fundamentals of boxing, basic stances, blocks, punches and kicks of karate

plus the grab release skills of Kenpo self defense and an introduction to wrist control of Jiu Jitsu.

Collectively this is a fast simple effective way to teach new students how to protect themselves right

away and compliments the material students learn as they progress through the curriculum at the Karate

Training Centers.

The beginner intermediate levels of training establish the necessary skills needed for the most probable

encounters a student may be faced with. This material learned from the yellow through green belt level

is referred to as the “Skill Set”. Continuing from the basic boxing skills students’ further progress

through intermediate kickboxing combinations developing reflexive and spontaneous response abilities.

Students continue with basic wrist control application and progress through the basic locks and twists

series of Jiu Jitsu. Training is advanced with the practical application of Kenpo self defense techniques

which instruct basic responses to grab-release moves such as grabs, headlock, arm locks, chokes, bear

hugs etc. Students learn defensive tactics against punching attacks, knife attacks and two attackers.

Collectively this “skill set” establishes the base techniques which are the foundation for the next level of

training.

At the advanced or brown belt level students learn variations of the techniques learned in the skill set.

These variations answer the “what if” questions of technique application. Understanding the differences

in the attack scenarios drives the “triggers” which signal the student to select which technique variation

works best as the dynamics of the fight change. Continued progress is stressed in the advanced student’s

application abilities for their kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu skills.

At the Black Belt level students learn how to “blend” the parts of different self defense techniques with

other techniques. Mr. Martin has written an entire book devoted to this subject of Kenpo Technique

Parts. Understanding the concepts of blending technique parts is truly the next level of training for

every black belt it is the single determining factor which allows the black belt to become totally

spontaneous in all situations. Black belts learn to teach as this re-enforces their knowledge of the skill

set and technique variation, furthers refines their kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu skills.

At the core is Kenpo Karate. Kenpo is a relative young martial art. Kenpo was the system developed by

Ed Parker after he left his teacher Professor William Chow. Ed Parker is synonymous with “American

Kenpo”. The popularity of Ed Parker and Kenpo came about as a result Ed Parker being in every edition

of the first 36 publications of Black Belt magazine. One of Ed Parkers students Al Tracy and his brother

Jim were the first martial artist in the country to franchise the art of Kenpo and this is synonymous with

the name “Tracy’s Karate”. Al and Jim Tracy structured their brand of Kenpo with name changes to the

self defense techniques and katas of American Kenpo. Their brand of Kenpo became recognized

internationally as “Tracy’s International Studios of Self Defense”.

Marty Martin was promoted the his 3rd 4th and 5th degree Black Belt by Ed Parker and his 6th 7th and 8th

degree Black Belt by Al Tracy. Marty Martin became certified to teach Kenpo Karate in 1969. Over the

years there have been fundamental changes as to the structure and method of teaching Kenpo by Marty

Martin driven by changes in society and advancements in physical sciences. Today, westernized boxing,

American kickboxing, and Jiu Jitsu technique influence Marty Martin’s brand of Karate. Kenpo self

defense techniques being at the heart of the material.

Unlike American or Tracy’s Kenpo Marty Martin’s material is grouped in specific sets of like type and

related information. Student’s progression is developed through a building block process whereby the

material in each skill set block builds on the next, all the while students develop and train with “Fight

Skills” instructed after the material in this manual is learned.

Each “block” of training material builds on previous material and represents another level of training

experience. There are three levels of experience; beginners (white, yellow and orange belt), intermediate

(purple, blue, green) and advanced (brown belts). Students wearing the “Red Belt” belt signify a student

who has completed learning the beginner and intermediate material and is preparing to test for

advancement to the advanced level of training. The Red/Black Belt represents a student who has learned

the advanced material and is preparing to test for the Black Belt.

Beginners learn Building Block Set One which includes the basics of karate, an introduction to boxing

and jiu jitsu plus the skill set Kenpo self defense techniques which instruct defense against: the grab arts

– an assailant attempting various grabs, attempted locks, arm bars etc. An introduction to “Fight Skills”

is added to the training and students learn to apply the information in the Platform Theory to the Bo,

baton, knife, boxing, and ground skills.

Intermediates learn Building Block Set Two and Three which includes the next level of basics of karate,

combined boxing skills and defenses and wrist lock and arm-lock jiu jitsu material plus the skill set

Kenpo self defense techniques teaching defense against fundamental striking attacks (punches), knife

attacks and two attackers. Students continue to train in the fight skills with the expectation the student

will demonstrate a marked improvement in their fight skills abilities.

Advanced students learn Building Block Sets Four and Five, develop solid kickboxing and jiu jitsu

application plus Kenpo self defense techniques which now answer the “what if” questions from the

techniques learned at the “Skill Set “ level. This material is referred to as the “Self Defense Technique

Variations.” At this level fight skills fundamentals have been learned and advanced students should be

practicing their skills not necessarily learning new fundamentals.

After completing the material for advancement through the brown belt ranks the student will have

learned all the material needed to advance to the black belt, here the red/black belt signifies and provides

a review level of all material. When the student can complete all the required material with no mistakes

then the Black Belt test is administered.

Black belts become teachers, leaders and representatives of Marty Martin Karate and Kenpo Set Jiu Jitsu

they join an elite group of individuals who have gone before them. It is a great honor to join this Black

Belt Kenpo fraternity. Train hard, stay focused, improve your mind, push yourself and you will achieve.

Coach Marty Martin

8th Degree Black belt

Professor Kenpo Set Karate and Kenpo Jiu Jitsu