RECCE ROOM

  An appeals court  recently ruled that illegal aliens have Second Amendment rights. That's funny, many legal Americans with no criminal record, nor mental health issues do not have Second Amendment rights... Just ask any man slapped with a bogus restraining order by some family court somewhere. Posted via Blogaway

Many (if not most) Japanese JuJutsu systems are heavy on standing wrist locks. A common criticism is that there is too much emphasis on these wrist locks and so it negates much of the practicality. Largely, this criticism is true. Which made me wonder - for years - why an art which was constructed specifically for self defense would continue to focus on moves that are not practical. As is usual, the answer is "never assume malice when an excuse of ignorance will suffice." Simply put: people kept teaching what they had been taught, because it was what they had been taught. But why had wrist locks been such a staple in the past? This question also eluded me for years. Then I attended the recent MAUSA seminar. One of the instructors had the answer to that question. And I hadn't expected it at all. In Japan of yesteryear, nearly 10% of the population went around armed... with swords. Europe, before firearm bans, saw a peak of around 3% daily armament. Even the modern US...

Most churches are led by a reasonably strong figure - head. The pastor is, in typical fashion, an Alpha or Beta . Funny though, I know of at least a half-dozen "wanna-be" pastors who cannot seem to land a gig. To a man, they are Gamma males (read - a man who acts like a woman). One of them might even be a family member, and another might be my secret admirer, you never know. My advice to these folks would be simple: work on your Gamma tendencies. Graduate to Delta and look for a very small rural church where they just cannot seem to get any help. Or maybe, land a supporting role in a more reasonably sized church. Hats off to my pastor, definitely an Alpha by any measure of the word. Posted via Blogaway

I'm about to fire my attorney. I don't trust him to get justice for me. He acts like he's sitting on his hands, waiting to play defense. Grumble. Complain. <<< Meets with attorney. >>> I like this guy. He's going to win this for me. What's funny is he almost fired me at the beginning of the meeting. He pushed opposing counsel around on the phone. I can't figure out his plan, but he has a really good plan. Witnessed this recently. My wife asked if this narrative came from a Gamma or an Omega . Clearly, the attorney is an Alpha . And equally as clearly, the narrative comes from a Gamma . The Attorney The attorney here is adept at asserting his will. He dominated opposing counsel, as well as an overly emotional client. All Alpha traits.  The Client The client enters society frequently enough, but doesn't understand "the rules." That's why he needs an attorney in the first place. His issues with the attorney p...

Just a few days ago, I read   this article  on Return of Kings (one of my personal favorite blogs). Then, this evening, I see that Curt Schilling gets   suspended from ESPN  for comparing Islamic terrorists to Nazis. Of course, I'd hoped someone was sticking up for the Nazis to prevent them from being compared to such low-life scum as Islamic terrorists, but such was not the case. Given that most major sports can trace origins to combat or direct contests of strength and / or skill, it only follows that these are things that make men, well, men. Since ESPN wants to inject said men with enough estrogen to kill a hundred women, I don't think I'll be watching much of them anymore. Posted via Blogaway

Do you keep seeing and hearing people complaining about being sore? I do. I rarely get sore these days, and when I do, it's over in a matter of hours... maybe a day. It is my firm belief that doing only two things will drastically decrease your soreness: 1. ELIMINATE grains from your diet & eat more meat. 2. Supplement with Vitamin D. (I take 25,000 units per day)

Overheard someone recently say they picked their art, Aikido, because it was a nonviolent martial art. Same person also stated that her goal in martial arts was self defense. I hate to break it to folks, but "nonviolent" martial arts are not effective for self defense.

This past weekend, at dinner with several other martial artists from the seminar, I observed two separate, but equally sad statements. Statement 1 This statement, made by a woman who stood 5'3" and weighed north of 250 pounds. When asked what she wanted to eat for dinner by the server, she placed her order. The server was made aware of multiple allergies experienced by my fellow martial artist. The list was... impressive. What she wound up eating was mostly grain-based. There were a few vegetables and a tad of meat. It is my opinion, as well as the opinion of many in the medical field with credentials to back it up, that if she went grain-free, her allergies might well reduce or subside completely. Statement 2 This statement was made by a gentleman who, though a towering 6'4", also claimed to weigh 340 pounds. He said he didn't worry about diabetes, because he was so active that he would burn up the sugar. This right after he said he was "only" 270...

This past weekend, I taught a fundamental hadaka jime session. There were also four other 90-minute sessions taught at the seminar. Attendees had varying ranges of experience with grappling and striking arts. Several of the masters had kind words for me after the session. Said it was informative and reminded them of old-school grappling. (Note - it had better!) A friend and fellow grappler was talking with me after the sessions, and sharing some BJJ moves he has been working on. He is a BJJ brown belt, Judo black belt, and 4th degree black belt in a jiu-jitsu style that resembles Judo and BJJ in the sense that they learn mostly grappling. My friend showed me about 4 or 5 sport BJJ moves. He had also commented that my session brought back old memories as we focused on getting the fundamentals of grappling down correctly. Then, the next day (after going over some more sport moves) he talked about how he prefers the self defense moves. About that same time, one of his students was hav...

Sitting in the hotel breakfast lobby writing this. Yesterday was the martial arts seminar. I'm a bit sore, and soon we will leave back for the Nashville area. The hotel is in the middle of Athens, GA. This weekend was registration weekend for the University of Georgia. Many families are here with their Freshman son or daughter. Here are several observations from the weekend: At this hotel, as was also the case in years past, people are here with college age daughters over sons by a margin of 10 to 1, at least. Not sure what enrollment numbers are these days, but assuming they are pretty close to even, it would seem our society requires boys to "man-up," while simultaneously coddling grown daughters as though they were needing support. I despise that mentality of support . Many times (most of the time), the mother and daughter clearly favor one another. In cases where one is heavier (NOT always the mother, mind you!), that heavier one is eating "healthy whole grai...

Attended my 3rd straight Martial Arts USA seminar this past weekend. Really enjoyed it. Had the privilege of teaching a session. My son helped me teach it - I'm still not sure he realizes that he has now helped demo in a seminar. That said, I am of the mindset of stepping back from seminars for a while. The other content, while fun, was really lacking in usefulness. Not that everything has to be useful, but I find it more enjoyable when it is. If my son still wishes to attend, I'll be happy to take him. I just think it's time for me to curtail how much I participate. Teach sessions?  Sure. Assist as another teaches? You bet. Participate? Maybe not for a while. Posted via Blogaway

Some people claim they are anti-gun. Or, at least, that they wish to ban (or perhaps merely restrict) certain guns. To be sure, it is not advisable to engage in long arguments with them, but in select instances, it is necessary to establish the opposite point of view. Ask a question. Use a question that will bait them into painting themselves into a corner. This is not a "trick," because a true trick would go against the natural order of things. Anti-gunners are already operating against logic and the natural order of things, so it is really they who have painted themselves into the corner. You are simply going to demonstrate that. What has been banned in the past where the ban worked?

Some people claim they are anti-gun. Or, at least, that they wish to ban (or perhaps merely restrict) certain guns. To be sure, it is not advisable to engage in long arguments with them, but in select instances, it is necessary to establish the opposite point of view. Ask a question. Use a question that will bait them into painting themselves into a corner. This is not a "trick," because a true trick would go against the natural order of things. Anti-gunners are already operating against logic and the natural order of things, so it is really they who have painted themselves into the corner. You are simply going to demonstrate that. Do you think we should restrict some guns or all guns? All guns: respond with the question - "and how do you propose we forcibly remove guns from the possession of criminals?" Here's a hint - this question cannot be answered. Some guns: respond with the question - "how do you propose we handle it when criminals get their h...

Liberal thought process: Human shoots a human - blame the gun. Human shoots an animal - blame the human. Human shoots an alien - make money off it and then lash out against capitalism. Animal shoots an animal - it's just nature. Posted via Blogaway

Just a short while ago, I viewed a YouTube video of some folks training in rifle proficiency. Glad to see fellow Americans training. Many of the people running through the drill were wearing their favorite camouflage. Since all shooting was done outside, here are some observations on the effectiveness of the respective patterns on the Tennessee summer forest background: ACU Might as well been wearing neon yellow. This has no visible redemptive value as a camouflage pattern. Multicam Not as bad as ACU. Not "all that," either. It stood out a bit from the Tennessee vegetation. Woodland This was surprisingly good. Almost perfect. No flaws here. A-TACS This pattern blended very well. Almost too much. A couple of times, my eye lost track of a limb here or there. .

A few days back, Ronda Rousey won yet again. Her opponent had not even regained consciousness before the marauders started in about the hypothetical Rousey - Cyborg match. Of course, I'm   of the opinion  that Rousey has no need to move up in weight to make this match happen. That said, I'll play and give you a hypothetical situation where it would make sense. Here are the specific circumstances needed: * Rousey retires undefeated as Bantamweight champion. Maybe 15-0? That means she beats Tate again, Holly Holm, and the next victim. * Rousey starts a strict regimen of steroids, to bulk up to about 170 pounds walking around weight... like Cyborg. * Rousey goes clean for a few months or a year so she can pass drug tests. * Rousey is offered $10 million to fight, and another $5 million for a win. Make it worthwhile for Cyborg, too. * Make the match at a catch-weight of 150 or so. This would make sense. What do you think? Oh, and Ronda destroys Cyborg in this match. I pred...

A few days back, my Facebook and Twitter feeds lit up with the words "active shooter" in Antioch - a part of Nashville not too far from me. As the facts of the situation became known, some things became immediately clear to me.   PoliceOne.com  has analysis on the situation for review. Their facts are sorely lacking, as is their analysis.  This is what  most of the rest of the media is reporting. The assailant was 29 and armed with an air soft pellet gun, pepper spray, and a hatchet. Of those, the hatchet worries me the most, but the air soft gun will likely look real. At this time, police are also saying "he had a backpack strapped to his body," as if it was intended to look like a bomb or something. Unless and until I see video of that, I don't know I buy that. If you are convinced - please look again at all the discrepancies in the PoliceOne.com "report." Some real takeaways - It is my opinion that this man wanted to die via "suicide by co...

In a recent interview, Ronda Rousey   was quoted  as saying her mother did not raise her to be a "Do-Nothing Bitch." Of course, many eyebrows were raised on this statement. What I found funny was that both the Red Pill universe and the feminist universe took exception to the comments... albeit for differing reasons. I have a slightly different take on it. Of course, first I watched the interview, then again, before forming an opinion. Rousey's comments were aimed at women who basically sit around all day and have a man provide for them. And while a certain amount of this is the foundation of human society, we have taken things to an extreme in modern America.  It used to be that the men would go hunt (later, work the farm) and the woman would do the "domestic" chores. With the advent of modern technology, domestic chores do not require anywhere near as much manual labor. To be fair, most occupations do not require as much labor as hunting or farming, but stil...

As many people did, I watched the debate last night. I wish I had my two hours back. If the purpose of the debate was to depress a libertarian-leaning Republican, then mission accomplished! Similarly, if the purpose was to excite establishment Republicans, then the debate was a success. Some takeaways: Could the Fox News panel have been any more anti-Trump? Only way to contain the man seems to be limiting his comment time. Could Fox News have been any more pro-Bush? This may be the only reason the man is polling around 13%. Huckabee actually looked and sounded the best up there. And that's scary, because the man is a compromise waiting to happen. Rubio and Cruz looked pretty darn good. But it seemed Fox wanted to ignore Cruz. Christie showed passion. Now I understand how he got elected in New Jersy. Make no mistake though, he is a raging Socialist Democrat. And that showed, too. Carson was flat, and ended strong. For the low to medium IQ, low-information voter. Thi...

As if you needed yet another reason to not vote for Jeb Bush: "Until shortly before announcing his presidential candidacy, former Florida governor Jeb Bush was a director for a charity that gave tens of millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood."   From this article.  

A few days ago, a friend linked   to this article  and I felt it raised some important points. Of note, the Catholic nun quoted in the article stated: "I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is." To be sure, from a Democrat point of view, all points here are spot on. Republicans are guilty of these 100%. Democrats are nearly unanimous in their desires to have the government dish out food, education, housing... and abortion. Of course, any Republican worth his salt will point out in retort that Democrats want all these things paid for by government an...

This past weekend, Ronda Rousey improved to 12-0 and successfully defended her championship against Bethe Correia. The fight lasted 34 seconds. It was my observation that a left knee to the liver sealed the deal, and the follow up punches just showed referee "Big" John McCarthy that Rousey's opponent could no longer defend herself.

Today I turn 40. My father and father-in-law are with us still, but my mother and mother-in-law are not. I have no living grandparents, my wife has her paternal grandmother still. I have two children, four nephews, and three neices. The nephews and neices who are old enough to speak all call me "Uncle Bunny." Been married 17 years. Last year I made the second most I'd ever made, but we aren't rich. Comfortably middle class. My home will be paid off in 12 years. I have no other debt. I train three times a week in martial arts, run at least once a week, walk several other times, and lift weights and do bodyweight exercises. I'm in the best shape of my adult life by a wide margin. Oh, and the martial arts classes are going well... there's a good stable of students, and they enjoy classes. My primary occupation is going very well, I expect another "Leader's Trip" for this year's efforts. The kids are excelling in school and in their ch...