RECCE ROOM

Last week, Rener and Ryron Gracie posted a  YouTube video  that defines their revolutionary approach to teaching jiu-jitsu for its original intended purpose: self defense. In the video, they make numerous pertinent points, each of which deserving a blog post of its own. Among the points that stood out to me was the fact that by removing sparring for the newest students, they have better prepared their students for real self defense, and at the same time have increased their enrollment and retention. Not coincidentally,  they have also noticed a reduction of injuries. Count this among the upgrades I will install at my studio. Posted via Blogaway

From a reader: Usagi, Why do gammas hate you and other sigmas so much? Is it for the same reason they tend to hate alphas? Short answer - pretty much, but it's not so simple. First, we must remember that the opposite of love is not hate.   Indifference  is the opposite of love. When someone, especially a gamma, hates someone or something, that person or thing occupies their mind. In extreme cases, we say that person is "obsessed with" the object of their hate. Similarly, people in love wirh one another often experience similar levels of "obsession" with their mate. Sigmas, by their very nature,  have mastered their emotions. And therein lies the problem. A gamma sees this, and often envies the sigma... up to and including to the point of hate. The gamma longs to be this way, and frequently conjures up images of Mr. Spock or Data from Star Trek. Remember, the gamma lives on an emotional roller coaster  and covetousness is a big part of that. Way down deep...

In case you haven't heard, the Supreme Court declared gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Naturally, social media was ablaze. One side is all up in arms because they feel this violates the Biblical view of marriage - "1 man, 1 woman." Here's a hint: it doesn't... But maybe or maybe not for the reasons you think I'm gonna list. First off, I do not comprehend the anger. If you aren't gay, then why do you care if a gay couple gets married? How does that harm you? What rights of yours are taken away here? Most importantly, SINCE WHEN IS MARRIAGE IN THE U . S . IN ANY WAY SIMILAR TO MARRIAGE AS DESCRIBED IN THE BIBLE ??? Marriage in the US is a legally binding financial contract whereby one party has claim to half the property and a portion of the income of the other party in the event that either party should want out of the contract. Show me where that's mentioned in the Bible? So the question becomes "why." Why did SCOTUS ...

Recently, my son attended a wrestling camp. My friend,   Lefty , asked if it was pro wrestling or amateur. Good question.   We looked around, and it seemed we found a foreign object under the mat: Sadly, it was only a water bottle. Then we found a chain that could be used as a foreign object.  The chain was at the top of a long rope, so my son decided to climb up and get it. Later, in a match, my boy was able to procure the chain from its hiding place in his pants. He slugged his opponent with it while the ref wasn't looking, and that enabled him to score the pin.  In all seriousness though, he had a blast at Wilson Central High School's wrestling camp. Coach Kramer showed them some good basics and the boys (and one girl) learned a lot! Posted via Blogaway

A few weeks ago (Saturday of its opening weekend), I took my family and my son's friend,   Austin,   to see the movie Jurassic World . The theater was packed and everyone in our party really enjoyed the movie. I'd read somewhere that the movie was kind of preaching against the idea of "bigger and better." And while the film did not come across as preachy, I can see where that idea came from. In fact, I liked how the message kinda leaned toward "tried and true old-fashioned is better than bigger and better." Overall, it was a more entertaining flick than the second and third installments. To be fair, I have enjoyed every movie in the series. Posted via Blogaway

You know, more people have been choked by judogis in the past 100 years than any other instrument. Let's ban the gi ... for the safety of our children of course. The above is sarcasm, and is every bit as silly as any argument for the banning of an inanimate object - guns, flags, paper dolls, etc. Posted via Blogaway

Did you ever notice that the same people who spout the BS " teach boys not to rape ," are all pushing for gun control. Why not just also say " teach boys not to kill ." Oh, yeah... they know that won't work, either.  And the problem is that they know their target audience would actually benefit from carrying guns, as they could easily defend real rape, if rape was as likely as they claim. And that's the other problem: rape is nowhere near as widespread as they would have you believe. Must be difficult living with such mental illness as to be contradicting yourself on all subjects. My heart goes out to them. Posted via Blogaway

Some people are more full of shit than others. A couple of years ago, I met a man through my son's Taekwondo class who was just such an example. During the course of conversation, he explained that he was a U S Army combat veteran. He also stated he had been a contractor in Iraq specializing in combat. None of this seemed out of the ordinary, but statements he made over time and on Facebook didn't seem to add up . First up, he said he wanted to find a good Hapkido or Aikido school. This made me curious, as very few true combat veterans express a strong desire to take a martial art that is not practical. Combat vets typically want to do wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, or muay Thai. Something live. Something with real application. The reason he wanted to learn more about Hapkido or Aikido? He stated that "in combat," he had thrown an Iraqi insurgent through a window with a wrist lock. Evidently, he was a fan of Steven Seagal movies. In a different ...

Saw this meme on Facebook the other day. It's so funny I had to put it up here. In the interest of full disclosure, the meme is not funny because it's true, but because the truth would not go over well. "If men got periods, they'd be in the hospital for a week, on a morphine drip, each month." Is the caption. Fact is, if men got periods, they'd barely even notice and only the weakest ones would even ever make mention of it. Then women's BS on it would be exposed. Posted via Blogaway

As a child, then as an adult. My mom would often say "oawh." It sounded halfway between "oh" and "aw." Typically, when she said this, one of us would be trying to tell her something, and she wasn't getting it. She would look right at you, but either didn't comprehend, or else just thought you were lying. Also, it was usually a bit of information that would be important to her... like "no, that's not guacamole, it's wasabi!"   Link to that story.   If we heard "oawh," then we knew to tell her again later. If she said it again, then you knew for sure something was going to happen. Posted via Blogaway

This week, a friend shared   this video  on Facebook. There are many observations to be had, and I took note of these things: Motorized Cart I've noted before  a penchant that fat women have for motorized carts at Wal Mart. Funny, the woman in the cart on this video has no issues getting up to escalate a fight. Technique Neither fighter showed the skill I'd expect from even a new yellow belt at my studio (~6 months). However, the fighter that controlled the standing clinch and the ground positions also controlled the fight. Striking I noted two things on striking: - Neither fighter enjoyed getting hit, but neither was able to knock out or significantly harm a female fighter with strikes. If either had been relying on strikes to subdue or even escape a male, they would have been dead. - The child was completely incapable of harming a grown woman with strikes. Remember this as you contemplate relying on your kids' karate or taekwondo instruction to keep them safe f...

By all accounts, this article is written by a regular guy. However, had it been written five years ago, it would have been written by "the fat guy." The fingers writing it are the same (mostly). The brain is the same. The drivers license and handgun carry permit are the same. But to look at the two guys side by side would be a different story. We used to all have "that guy" in our groups. You know, the guy who outweighs everybody else there. The guy you want on your football team, or on your side of a game of tug-of-war. I was that guy. At high school graduation, I was 265. At college graduation, it was 285. Most of my adult life it was 280 - 300. At my peak, it was over 320. I wore XXL shirts and 44" pants. A client and I were discussing proper diet last week. She said: "but you can eat whatever you want... You're skinny!" I am not "skinny," but I sure as hell am not fat, either. Today, I weigh 210. I wear L shirts and 36" pant...

Someone recently asked why a particular candidate for our HOA Board garnered so much support so quickly. I submit to you the brief descriptions each candidate wrote about himself / herself. I am taking reference to names and gender out. You tell me which one you'd vote for: Person A Person A has lived in the community since 1993. Person A's late spouse was on the original board of directors. The community is very important to Person A and he/she hopes to contribute to the community he/she loves and enjoys calling "home." Person B Person B has lived in the community for 12 years and had raised his/her family here. Person B has business experience, management experience, and as a small business owner, has skills in negotiation and problem solving. Person C Person C is relatively new to the community, but is interested in helping to maintain the community as a safe, great place to raise his/her family. Person C is a CPA specializing in tax services. Person C has e...

Decided to go to the range some time back and perform a precision test with an AR15. This particular rifle was an M16A4 clone, with certain modifications: namely a free-float quad rail by LaRue tactical. There were no barrel or trigger upgrades. In fact, the barrel is a Del-Ton 20" government profile 1:9 twist, not chrome lined.  Many on the internet would dismiss this barrel as being hardly worth the effort, but I have a different opinion, and let me show you why. Except as noted, each ammo tested was a 5-shot group. All shots were fired from 100 yards. I used a 14x scope, and rested the free-floated rifle on a ruck sack.  First up, I fired a group with Winchester 69-grain match ammo (black box). Impressive results. In fact, this 1" group was the best group I fired all day: Next up was Federal Premium, 77-grain match ammo. As has always been my experience, the 1:9 twist barrel handled the 70+ grain projectile perfectly. The group measured just ove...

Michigan police took all kinds of personal belongings from a woman because of Marijuana charges. Oh, did they even care that she was a legal medical Marijuana patient? Of course not. Funny though: The article mentions the cops even took the woman's vibrator. "Why did they take my vibrator?" She asked. Best response (from Facebook): "Because the government wants to be the only one screwing you!"

My daughter recently caught a grown shiner minnow. It measured over 8" long. You don't find many of these in TN.