Making of a Jedi Warrior

Adder, there may be direct reference to it in the video, but the first minutes of what he talks about remind me of US Air Force COL John Boyd's conception of the OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide Act) Loop. He developed it in the 1950s, and echoes of it are around even today. I won't say he 'invented' anything, but more identified a way of thinking about a very important ancient concept...here's an excerpt from a web page describing the process:

Human reaction time is defined as the time elapsing between the onset of a stimulus and the onset of a response to that stimulus. The O.O.D.A. Loop, which stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act, is Boyd’s way of explaining how we go through the process of reacting to stimulus. First we Observe, and keep in mind that although we process approximately 80% of the information we receive with our sense of sight, we can and do make observations with our other senses. For instance you might hear a gunshot and not see the person who fired it. Once you look and see the source of the gunfire you are now in the Orient stage of the process. In the Orient stage you are now focusing your attention on what you have just observed. The next step is the Decide step in which you have to make a decision on what to do about what you have just observed and focused your attention on. Finally you have made your decision and the last step is to Act upon that decision. Keep in mind that the O.O.D.A loop is what happens between the onset of a stimulus and the onset of a reaction to that stimulus."

Basically, his idea was that technology and tools meant vastly less than the power of a warrior's mind. Attack the mind successfully, and an inferior tool (in his case, the F-86 against a superior MiG-15) can overcome a superior. Applied to the construct of the OODA loop, the COL believed that mental agility and speed can overcome a superior foe. If a pilot is able to get 'inside his opponent's OODA loop', he will very likely win. Even the most basic maneuvers and decisions seem entirely unpredictable and uncanny when you exceed your opponent's ability to process what you're doing.

I like the synthesis of different traditions I am seeing, and as Alan wrote - the mind is the most important. The rest of us have been showing tools and training methods for employment, but not the methods by which a Jedi Warrior decides to use them. Have more options, effective options which can help you out of tough situations, is better than not having them - but most important is our ability to seamlessly float between the right tools as they become appropriate and necessary.

On the department of defense side of things, you'll generally find people who want to DO things and want to help. The PhD level of that is understanding that, while you don't win medals or advancement for the battles you don't fight, the better long-term answer is shaping the environment such that you never have to fight them in the first place. This echoes the truth that Alan and RyuJin mention. That said...let's keep highlighting the various tools out there with the understanding that they are exponentially less important than the skill and judgment of the crafstman who employs them.

Reacher wrote: ...but the first minutes of what he talks about remind me of US Air Force COL John Boyd's conception of the OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide Act) Loop.

Yep, though in regards to your quoted text I think Orient is more specific to response rather then a part of Observation. For me Observe is the process of hearing and finding the shooter, Orient is positioning oneself relative to the threat to enable the option of response, and the rest carries from that.... otherwise it's been whittled down to Acquire and Act, which might work well for minor infantry tactics (seemingly the context the article is written) but not air combat IMO, which has steps at each stage and cannot be skipped.

So for fighter aircraft maybe Observe being pure acquisition and identification, Orient being manouver and communication, Decide being target control and engagement parameters, and Act doing the dirty and assessment till completion before looping (no pun intended). I guess that still translates to other applications!! I think it can be seen that each step has elements of others within it, interestingly, and the more procedural something might be the more easily a user can translate the rhythm of OODA up and down across inner and outer worlds, or levels of complexity as urgency dictates. I guess at its heart its a mantra of Don't Panic, engage the training and finish the job!!!

Which begs the question, is it suitable for dealing with uncertainty... probably yes, but a lot of effort in the Observe and Orient phase maybe - information is power but sometimes decision need quick resolution. At least then knowing your strengths and weaknesses could mean you can better make decisions how to shape how things might go when uncertainty is threatening the OODA loop's progression.

what i noticed was book of five rings
at a certain point he says something along the lines of "the whole point of this is to shoot the guy. you get in you position and you engage. if you just chase him around but cant engage for whatever reason then break contact."

thats total paraphrase

book of five rings addresses the same principal
he says RELEASE THE FOUR HANDS

"To release four hands is used when you and the enemy are contending with the same spirit, and the issue
cannot be decided. Abandon this spirit and win through an alternative resource"

http://www.uvm.edu/~asnider/IDAS_2011_CD/Teachers/Steve%20Llano's%20Materials/Strategy%20Books/Book%20of%20Five%20Rings%20-%20Musashi.pdf

what i would add about observation is that even as a civilian its a jedis responsibility to notice pattersn
most especially to notice breaks in the patterns which might indicate something is not right

so its just important to make deliberate effort to pay attention and notice everything really
the more we teach our conscious mind to be aware of our environments the more our unconscious will be likely to pick up on things that are subtle changes in the pattern and alert us to them

FOOTWORK!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKIb92ickT8

i thought she broke my heart, turned out that was a rib

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHeePQNvBMc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVRN9PX6THE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMEf9xnfmRU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A9rOjmKips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-uw15ygdBU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ7e-8yKfI4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QdLtlQUXCg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ6vTjTrelI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCM7m6TJWUQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDbGS6PS5ho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXK1RwbXMiY

notice how he uses his left shoulder with right hand
his right elbow and left arm also both protect the body

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQYeSXpC244

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLnIpDVA4P0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9vWR7EdQdM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KihiVy0in4E

footwork and evasion and body movement (tai sabaki) are way way way important

with a good foundation in how to really move well its really hard for people to hit you

most of us unless we make it to the ufc most of us do not have to worry about fighting uriah faber or anderson silva

in fact most of the kinds of people that you encounter out in daily life can be handled with just the movement techniques in those videos

people literally gas out in minutes from missing over and over

good technique is based on quantifiable principles

physically the principles are full body integration, control and commitment

these main principles apply equally to bjj as to shotokan karate

the results and criteria for judging these are

mobility
balance
structure
explosiveness
precision
cover
followup

these principles should all be maintained to the greatest degree possible and they have psychological parallels

there are some techniques which intentionally sacrafice some element of that set of criteria, not suprisigly these are often refered to as sacrafice style techniques - as a rule good technique will be aware of what degree all of those things are present or lacking

my terminology is the result of a primarily striking background (i have tained some in aikido and with the huge growth of mma of course ive made effort to be familiar with bjj- also ive become interested in russian sambo lately - but my main developmental focuses were/have been taekwondo, boxing, kick boxing, and most recently krav maga)

ive been a devotee of martial arts for close to thirty years and in that time i have explored and trained in many different systems without ever beliving that any one system was the only or even the best way to address every situation.

the real martial systemthat i follow is to learn how to fight and to win in everything i do

this imo is what musashi meant when he talked about the way of strategy

i consider myself a student of that system

because more of my overall emphasis has been on striking - even my aiki is very striking inclusive - i use terms which reflect that, but things like leverage and grip placement and torque and positioning ect are concepts which are integrated within the terminology of precision, structure, explosiveness

we dont really need to be fast or powerful - we need to be explosive within the framework of conforming to the other criteria

power and speed are the results, which, when channeled with precision, and coming from a place of mobile balance, utilizing good structure whiile maintaining cover and ready for flowup, make for not only effective technique, but GOOD technique

this is just the way i think of it, and i offer it as a point of reference to those who can use it. if you have something that works better for you then that is awesome - im not talking down to anyone and im open to learning from everyone!

here is the format of what i know i want to include in this thread when its all said and done

1) some fitness videos which cover material from flexibity and range of motion to body weight exercises to dance routines!
i think that the blend of body weight routines and dancing is the BEST non martial arts training a person can do to get better at martial arts
also dancing is useful outisde of MA because its social, sexy, and fun!

2) footwork and evasion - to a large degree this is already covered although they are essential to good technique in general so elementswill always be present

also this will include physical tools for creating space and disengagment.

3) a progression of escalated levels of threat response

which begins with open hand techniques and transitions ultimately into the tools for a full commitment fight for ones life against multiple people which will include an exploration on physical tools useful for the destruction of sexual assualt predation attempts

4) target/technique assesment and selection
basically where to hit why and how to do it

5) psychological analysis
which may include things not mentioned here because the criteria will likely evolve as we explore it (that general idea extends to everything) but which i already know will cover such things as

understanding fear and stress and tools to cope with them

mental alertness and confidence

recognition and assesment of different threat levels and appropriate response options
which includes ideas about effective and responsible social interaction, exploration of diplomacy and de escalation concepts
assertive and aggressive techniques for psychological preservation, presentation, and dominance

victim selection proccess for criminals and victimizers with strategies to prevent recognize and defy

i myself am not planning on introducing a whole lot of offensive weapons techniques but the topic totally includes those things by its nature so i welcome and request contributions from anyone who feels they have quality material to share - and that basic mood should be taken as a general invitation to everyone

if you want to contribute something that falls into any of those catagories please feel welcome to jump in, also if you have something which is maybe beyond those categories but you know its useful or even just cool then also i welcome you to contribute

i will hopefully be able to post some more videos an the next couple days but im not sure exactly when that will be

i have some already picked out if anyone wants to hit youtube to see them here they are

1) craziest slap knockouts

2) Self Defense Striking 101: Open handed striking variations
by Warrior Sciences Self Defense and Athletics

3) Palm Strikes: 2 mistakes to avoid
by krav maga training

3) Combatatives: Open handed striking - knockout powerslaps
by neal martin

4) krav maga self defense techniques - palm strike ear slap headbutt
by mark mitchell

each of these videos touch on something worthwhile which is not really covered in the others so while there is some informational overlap it is not a recurring theme

that last video also has some great input on KIA from an unexpected source as well as a demonstration of what i consider the "proper" way to headbutt

it would be cool if someone could link one - some -all - any of thosein a reply

i will get them in here eventually if not

thanks all

here are some actual knockouts as a result of open handed strikes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV3TDLRDKIY

open hand techniques are safer for the hands and are way more defensible in court -even if you knock someone out if there is security footage or are witnesses who will testify to the fact that you were striking with an open hand it just goes a long way demonstrating that you were only defending yourself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdCiy_kA7FU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgHAfwavj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06HuQejgWi0

this is the one with the headbutt - i prefer the crown of the head as striking surface but anything above the hairline is good, i prefer this to the are above the eyes because your eyes are right there and because if you cut your scalp blood is very likely to block your vision and both you and the other person may see your blood as a cue that youre being hurt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg118HhDRDU

its possible to condition the top of the head - one good way of doing this is by doing the bridge exercise

this dude has hamhock hands and what works for him is not necessarily going to work for everyone but its good information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZizx4ohImc

care to take the watermelon challenge?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM17URoyKbk

if you dont know the number system for boxing
its easy and quick and useful to know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gT_fY1oQe8

warm up - five minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7VMKVQoS-s

my philosophy is to work the legs twice as much as everything else
not saying its right only that its worked well for me
this is a fast (bout 5 minutes) and good leg work out for any level, obviously you can add reps or sets to make it tougher if needed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIdxYCrqLQg

7 minutes core workout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfE6yBzM5vU

in muay thai the round kick uses the shin as the striking surface rather than the instep

muay thai kick tutorials 20 minutes

this one first

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moe5ANXubGQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN6NNKZ1DT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nLUhcTDKP8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXpeAqhGPho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YorQ2WkXhM

with the muay thai shin kick you want to PUSH OFF of the target after the transference of the impact energy
so your leg pushes itself off of/away from the target as the last part of the kick

i havent found a video yet that explains this but im still looking

solo jujitsu drills - even if you cannot get to a bjj gym doing these drills will make you better at defending yourself in a ground fighting situation than not doing anything. in fact these drills will give you a huge advantage over anyone who isnt doing them

8 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz3GMFc9AHU

pretty quick plz start here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83qYNoPDmhw

about the neck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x44dnY5smUI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG_OxbwpdBo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YyA96CfNhA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceOeI-LQHGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15SEZpsyl8g

hoss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0vg5T4vkew

muay thai sliding in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJhZIDLrRQc

some muay thai flexibility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMgO9p1LaRg

superfoot (he earned that name)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxokaEvKnD8

very good tutorial on flexibility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zHWAbvShN

quick tutorial on balance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNOmkW0BU7k

excellent hook kick tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vqL6DDM8ec

quick - uriah hall on the hook kick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUUE3xpZ550

quick - machida vs dollway liver shot (kick)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDsnH2h5OR0

an analysis by this dude

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAK1eilT_PE

liver shot
hands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNCbeYxqnd4

liver shot
kick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8eQgQcpF8

these are followup to the last post

hook kick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGNBMJQVG98

flexibility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zHWAbvShNM