|
Aug 01
2006
|
August 2006 NewsletterPosted by KMSF in newsletter, interview |
 |
From Barny's Desk
"You don’t become a master by learning 4000 things...you become a master by learning how to do a dozen of the right things 4000 times."
-Trence Storm
Find several combinations that are comfortable for you and work them so they become automatic, then respond to the openings that are created from there. If you tryto master a multitude of combinations none of them will truly become part of you. Most great fighters only have 8 or 10 actual combinations that they keep in their mind. That way they can concentrate on what their opponent is trying to do to him/her. When taking fight class it should be thought of as a game. A chess match of sorts. When you do one thing how does your partner react, and how can you exploit his movements. This will give you the greatest advantage so you can just play the game.
Announcements and Events
Gun Defense Seminar
October 28th
1:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Defense against common Gun attacks from all angles and threats.
Training guns will be provided.
Cost: Sign up by October 10th - $65, after October 10th goes to $79
Women's Self Defense Seminar
November 4th and 5th
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM each day Saturday and Sunday
The Seminar is designed to train participants with simulated exercises that include the psychological and physical aspects of a real attack or sexual assault. Participants will learn environmental awareness as well as many defenses, both verbal and physical, that can be used when most needed in a confrontation. This women’s only seminar is a lot of fun, a terrific workout, and is a must for any woman.
Cost: $149 for both days
Re-naming Contest: One Year Free Membership Prize!
We are having a contest to re-name the Krav Maga of San Francisco Training Center. We will continue to be all about learning the most effective self-defense system in the world, but it's time for a name that also reflects our diversity. Please submit your entries to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or write it down and give it to Gail or Gabe at the front desk. If a student submits the winning entry, they will receive a free one year membership to the training center! So be creative, and good luck!
Upcoming Belt Tests
Yellow Belt Test
August 12th
Orange Belt Test
August 26th
Gym Facilities at KMSF
The gym is a go. Flooring has been ordered and will be installed in the next week then the equipment will be installed. Our target opening date remains August 15.
Homeaway Needs All Our Help
As some of you know we have a group of kids that come to the school twice a week to work out. These kids are from a program called A Home Away From Homelessness.
Homeaway is having a fundraiser on October 12 at the Officers Club in the Presidio. You can help this organization by:
If you have time please visit their web site here: www.homeaway.org to see the variety of other services they provide to the kids.
All monies raised will go directly to helping the kids because so many individuals, groups and corporations have generously donated everything needed for the fundraising event. Thanks for your time and consideration, any level of help will be appreciated. You can download these linked forms for more information about the event and sponsorship levels.
silentauctionform.doc
06HomeAwayEvent.pdf
Schedule and Classes - We need your input!
There will be no Tuesday – Thursday 7:00 AM class on August 15th and 17th. Kat will be away at a seminar.
We have not had a lot of people show up for 7:00 AM morning class and would like some input from you the students. What would you like for for morning classes? We can do different classes, or have them later in the morning, at 8, 9 or 10 AM.
Also we have not had good turnout for the Wednesday 7:00 PM TRX class. Let us know what you might like at this time slot. We could do another conditioning class, or a new core conditioning class incorporating cardio as well as strength and core stabilizing exercises.
Please let us know your thoughts on these two time slots at the front desk by the 15th of August so we can make the changes you want on the September 1st schedule.
Interview: Joachim Muller-Lance
"I like that it is defined as a flexible system that keeps developing."
Green Belt student Joachim Muller-Lance is an accomplished graphic designer and typographer. Recently I sat down with him to ask him a few questions about his life, his work, and his experience with Krav Maga. I included a few small samples, and you can see a portfolio of his work at www.kamedesign.com.
KMSF: How did you get into doing design and typography?
JML: I was very outgoing, but in kindergarten I became withdrawn, and began to prefer expressing myself through drawing and painting, and I learned writing very early. My mom, who was a teacher, took me into first grade when I was 5. I was always the youngest all the way through school, I held up well intellectually, but physically sports sucked, I had to stay out of all conflicts! I was the artist kid, I was left handed, and the other kids wanted to amuse themselves with that. I grew up in Southwest Germany, Freiburg, 10 miles from France, 40 miles from Switzerland, at the beginning of the Black Forest. It's not very German there, being so close to other countries, the first time I went to Berlin, I thought oh my Gosh, the people are so German around here it scared me! That whole area is very laid back, a bit square, they have wine, agriculture, and skiing.
KMSF: Sounds like a good place for an artist to grow up.
JML: Yes, in 1972 the Olympics came to Germany and that was really exciting. Kids had the t-shirts and key chains and they had these super simple pictograms by Otl Aicher. These images made it into the airports. They are the ultimate generic international style, like bathroom, departures, arrivals symbols, that sort of thing. The city of Munich wanted that same style for their airport. Then they became the AIGA icons as well.
So then I drew my own posters and I have scans of them still. I was 11 and I hung them in my room. My parents would always show off, and this designer they knew came over. He looked at my lettering and said "I have an assistant right now who can not do this!" About a year later I was asked to do my first public poster at his studio, he looked over my shoulder and coached me. We did a few more in the following years, then he moved away and I continued on my own.
KMSF: So how did you end up in this country?
JML:I studied for 5 years at the School of Design of Basel, Switzerland, which has among California designers this image of being a design fascist boot camp, very functional and reason oriented and such. But no, it was great, it was hard work, and really opened up my mind. After that, I wanted to go as far away as possible, so I had met exchange students from the US, and thought it would be a good start. After I graduated, I went through an exchange program at Cooper Union in NY City, and I started to work for Richard Saul Wurman at Access Press. Later, I moved to his office in SF. Today I'm self-employed.
KMSF: One of the reasons I interviewed you is that Barny said you were one of the most improved students in the school. He was very proud of you after your last green belt test.
JML: It is the same thing in Japanese class, for several months I was very stagnant, then in the last few weeks suddenly I feel like I'm making leaps and bounds. My back has improved greatly, and recently I had to 'retire' two shirts because my shoulders wouldn't fit anymore. It's been three years, and three belts now.
KMSF: You come across parameters that always help you, design is like that so it makes sense to me that artists and creative people would think that way, to look for connections.
JML: Well it took me a long time time, I failed my first Orange test, I spent forever on Level Two.
KMSF: What got you into Krav Maga in the first place?
JML: Well of course you go through the usual. You see intimidating situations. One time in Barcelona, I was getting out of a subway and was walking past the German consulate. I saw a very odd couple. There was this very tall blond woman with a small cocky rooster guy in a wife beater with a v-neck open all the way down to his belly button and tight jeans walking like a peacock. I thought that was a little strange but I kept going. I heard yelling and turned to see a tall young college guy holding his face. The little guy was delivering kicks to his face and the woman was trying to pull him away. I don't know what happened but the little guy just exploded. I wanted to go to help to stop this unfair beating, but I knew I could not and I felt helpless. The guards at the consulate were doing nothing. I went home and swore that I would take self defense class, although it took a while. Eventually I heard about BAMM (Bay Area Model Mugging), and they only had one class per year for men, so I took that.
KMSF: I thought the BAMM program was pretty good, they were pioneers in women's self defense. Martial arts were dominated by men before they came to the scene.
JML: Yeah that was pretty cool, but I thought it wasn't quite enough. I felt it made me hyper vigilant, as if my skills were only halfway there...
KMSF: Do you remember what your first experience with Krav Maga was? BAMM must have given you some idea of what it was going to be like.
JML: It was recommended to me, I was told that Krav was very efficient but very tough! I picked up a Bay Guardian and I see this ad that said rule number whatever of Krav Maga is that it's OK to hit your opponent over the head with a chair. I thought oh these guys, they're getting funny! And they moved to within walking distance so I had no excuse. So I called and there is this friendly sounding lady who turned out out be Gail. My first teacher was Danny. My first defense was headlock from the side where you slap the groin and push the head back with your fingers under the nose and I thought ooh that works!
Krav Maga was a total departure for me. It's everything I ever hated about sports, like having nothing between me and the other party, sweating grossly, being watched, yelled at, having to touch total strangers... but -- I'm really attached to it.
I like that it is defined as a flexible system that keeps developing. Gradually I am getting to see the creative side of it and how it connects with other things I do. Around 1999 there was a swing craze going on. I took some of that, but the experience didn't seem to relate to Krav. Somehow now it did start to connect and I was shadowboxing around, and Trey popped his head in and said 'hey nice footwork'! I was thinking of keeping my feet fast but keeping my weight low. This would have sounded like a contradiction in the beginning but not anymore. Same with drumming -- I play in a band, and since I mix Chinese Boxing into Krav shadowboxing, it oddly feels a bit like a drum solo. Fun!
Body Language Chart
Last month, I wrote a piece on body language, being aware of our own and others in the context of self defense. One of our students responded by sending me this chart, courtesy of www.domestic-violence.net. It is interesting to note that most of these have a pretty clear interpretation, while a few have alternative interpretations.
"You don’t become a master by learning 4000 things...you become a master by learning how to do a dozen of the right things 4000 times."
-Trence Storm
Find several combinations that are comfortable for you and work them so they become automatic, then respond to the openings that are created from there. If you tryto master a multitude of combinations none of them will truly become part of you. Most great fighters only have 8 or 10 actual combinations that they keep in their mind. That way they can concentrate on what their opponent is trying to do to him/her. When taking fight class it should be thought of as a game. A chess match of sorts. When you do one thing how does your partner react, and how can you exploit his movements. This will give you the greatest advantage so you can just play the game.
Announcements and Events
Gun Defense Seminar
October 28th
1:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Defense against common Gun attacks from all angles and threats.
Training guns will be provided.
Cost: Sign up by October 10th - $65, after October 10th goes to $79
Women's Self Defense Seminar
November 4th and 5th
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM each day Saturday and Sunday
The Seminar is designed to train participants with simulated exercises that include the psychological and physical aspects of a real attack or sexual assault. Participants will learn environmental awareness as well as many defenses, both verbal and physical, that can be used when most needed in a confrontation. This women’s only seminar is a lot of fun, a terrific workout, and is a must for any woman.
Cost: $149 for both days
Re-naming Contest: One Year Free Membership Prize!
We are having a contest to re-name the Krav Maga of San Francisco Training Center. We will continue to be all about learning the most effective self-defense system in the world, but it's time for a name that also reflects our diversity. Please submit your entries to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or write it down and give it to Gail or Gabe at the front desk. If a student submits the winning entry, they will receive a free one year membership to the training center! So be creative, and good luck!
Upcoming Belt Tests
Yellow Belt Test
August 12th
Orange Belt Test
August 26th
Gym Facilities at KMSF
The gym is a go. Flooring has been ordered and will be installed in the next week then the equipment will be installed. Our target opening date remains August 15.
Homeaway Needs All Our Help
As some of you know we have a group of kids that come to the school twice a week to work out. These kids are from a program called A Home Away From Homelessness.
Homeaway is having a fundraiser on October 12 at the Officers Club in the Presidio. You can help this organization by:
- Buying a ticket
- Donating a silent auction item
- Donating items for the 300 Krav Maga gift bags
- Be a sponsor
If you have time please visit their web site here: www.homeaway.org to see the variety of other services they provide to the kids.
All monies raised will go directly to helping the kids because so many individuals, groups and corporations have generously donated everything needed for the fundraising event. Thanks for your time and consideration, any level of help will be appreciated. You can download these linked forms for more information about the event and sponsorship levels.
silentauctionform.doc
06HomeAwayEvent.pdf
Schedule and Classes - We need your input!
There will be no Tuesday – Thursday 7:00 AM class on August 15th and 17th. Kat will be away at a seminar.
We have not had a lot of people show up for 7:00 AM morning class and would like some input from you the students. What would you like for for morning classes? We can do different classes, or have them later in the morning, at 8, 9 or 10 AM.
Also we have not had good turnout for the Wednesday 7:00 PM TRX class. Let us know what you might like at this time slot. We could do another conditioning class, or a new core conditioning class incorporating cardio as well as strength and core stabilizing exercises.
Please let us know your thoughts on these two time slots at the front desk by the 15th of August so we can make the changes you want on the September 1st schedule.
Interview: Joachim Muller-Lance
"I like that it is defined as a flexible system that keeps developing."
Green Belt student Joachim Muller-Lance is an accomplished graphic designer and typographer. Recently I sat down with him to ask him a few questions about his life, his work, and his experience with Krav Maga. I included a few small samples, and you can see a portfolio of his work at www.kamedesign.com.
KMSF: How did you get into doing design and typography?
JML: I was very outgoing, but in kindergarten I became withdrawn, and began to prefer expressing myself through drawing and painting, and I learned writing very early. My mom, who was a teacher, took me into first grade when I was 5. I was always the youngest all the way through school, I held up well intellectually, but physically sports sucked, I had to stay out of all conflicts! I was the artist kid, I was left handed, and the other kids wanted to amuse themselves with that. I grew up in Southwest Germany, Freiburg, 10 miles from France, 40 miles from Switzerland, at the beginning of the Black Forest. It's not very German there, being so close to other countries, the first time I went to Berlin, I thought oh my Gosh, the people are so German around here it scared me! That whole area is very laid back, a bit square, they have wine, agriculture, and skiing.
KMSF: Sounds like a good place for an artist to grow up.
JML: Yes, in 1972 the Olympics came to Germany and that was really exciting. Kids had the t-shirts and key chains and they had these super simple pictograms by Otl Aicher. These images made it into the airports. They are the ultimate generic international style, like bathroom, departures, arrivals symbols, that sort of thing. The city of Munich wanted that same style for their airport. Then they became the AIGA icons as well.
So then I drew my own posters and I have scans of them still. I was 11 and I hung them in my room. My parents would always show off, and this designer they knew came over. He looked at my lettering and said "I have an assistant right now who can not do this!" About a year later I was asked to do my first public poster at his studio, he looked over my shoulder and coached me. We did a few more in the following years, then he moved away and I continued on my own.
KMSF: So how did you end up in this country?
JML:I studied for 5 years at the School of Design of Basel, Switzerland, which has among California designers this image of being a design fascist boot camp, very functional and reason oriented and such. But no, it was great, it was hard work, and really opened up my mind. After that, I wanted to go as far away as possible, so I had met exchange students from the US, and thought it would be a good start. After I graduated, I went through an exchange program at Cooper Union in NY City, and I started to work for Richard Saul Wurman at Access Press. Later, I moved to his office in SF. Today I'm self-employed.
KMSF: One of the reasons I interviewed you is that Barny said you were one of the most improved students in the school. He was very proud of you after your last green belt test.
JML: It is the same thing in Japanese class, for several months I was very stagnant, then in the last few weeks suddenly I feel like I'm making leaps and bounds. My back has improved greatly, and recently I had to 'retire' two shirts because my shoulders wouldn't fit anymore. It's been three years, and three belts now.
KMSF: You come across parameters that always help you, design is like that so it makes sense to me that artists and creative people would think that way, to look for connections.
JML: Well it took me a long time time, I failed my first Orange test, I spent forever on Level Two.
KMSF: What got you into Krav Maga in the first place?
JML: Well of course you go through the usual. You see intimidating situations. One time in Barcelona, I was getting out of a subway and was walking past the German consulate. I saw a very odd couple. There was this very tall blond woman with a small cocky rooster guy in a wife beater with a v-neck open all the way down to his belly button and tight jeans walking like a peacock. I thought that was a little strange but I kept going. I heard yelling and turned to see a tall young college guy holding his face. The little guy was delivering kicks to his face and the woman was trying to pull him away. I don't know what happened but the little guy just exploded. I wanted to go to help to stop this unfair beating, but I knew I could not and I felt helpless. The guards at the consulate were doing nothing. I went home and swore that I would take self defense class, although it took a while. Eventually I heard about BAMM (Bay Area Model Mugging), and they only had one class per year for men, so I took that.
KMSF: I thought the BAMM program was pretty good, they were pioneers in women's self defense. Martial arts were dominated by men before they came to the scene.
JML: Yeah that was pretty cool, but I thought it wasn't quite enough. I felt it made me hyper vigilant, as if my skills were only halfway there...
KMSF: Do you remember what your first experience with Krav Maga was? BAMM must have given you some idea of what it was going to be like.
JML: It was recommended to me, I was told that Krav was very efficient but very tough! I picked up a Bay Guardian and I see this ad that said rule number whatever of Krav Maga is that it's OK to hit your opponent over the head with a chair. I thought oh these guys, they're getting funny! And they moved to within walking distance so I had no excuse. So I called and there is this friendly sounding lady who turned out out be Gail. My first teacher was Danny. My first defense was headlock from the side where you slap the groin and push the head back with your fingers under the nose and I thought ooh that works!
Krav Maga was a total departure for me. It's everything I ever hated about sports, like having nothing between me and the other party, sweating grossly, being watched, yelled at, having to touch total strangers... but -- I'm really attached to it.
I like that it is defined as a flexible system that keeps developing. Gradually I am getting to see the creative side of it and how it connects with other things I do. Around 1999 there was a swing craze going on. I took some of that, but the experience didn't seem to relate to Krav. Somehow now it did start to connect and I was shadowboxing around, and Trey popped his head in and said 'hey nice footwork'! I was thinking of keeping my feet fast but keeping my weight low. This would have sounded like a contradiction in the beginning but not anymore. Same with drumming -- I play in a band, and since I mix Chinese Boxing into Krav shadowboxing, it oddly feels a bit like a drum solo. Fun!
Body Language Chart
Last month, I wrote a piece on body language, being aware of our own and others in the context of self defense. One of our students responded by sending me this chart, courtesy of www.domestic-violence.net. It is interesting to note that most of these have a pretty clear interpretation, while a few have alternative interpretations.
| Non-verbal Behavior | Interpretation |
| Brisk, erect walk | Confidence |
| Standing with hands on hips | Readiness, aggression |
| Sitting with legs crossed, foot kicking slightly | Boredom |
| Sitting with legs apart | Open, relaxed |
| Arms crossed on chest | Defensiveness |
| Walking with hands in pockets, shoulders hunched | Dejection |
| Hand to cheek | Evaluation, thinking |
| Touching, slightly rubbing nose | Rejection, doubt, lying |
| Rubbing the eye | Doubt, disbelief |
| Hands clasped behind back | Anger, frustration, apprehension |
| Locked ankles | Apprehension |
| Head resting in hands, eyes downcast | Boredom |
| Rubbing hands | Anticipation |
| Sitting with hands clasped behind head, legs crossed | Confidence, superiority |
| Open palm | Sincerity, openness, innocence |
| Pinching bridge of nose, eyes closed | Negative evaluation |
| Tapping or drumming fingers | Impatience |
| Steepling fingers | Authoritative |
| Patting, fondling hair | Lack of self-confidence, insecurity |
| Tilted head | Interest |
| Stroking chin | Trying to make a decision |
| Looking down, face turned away | Disbelief |
| Biting nails | Insecurity, nervousness |
| Pulling or tugging at ear | Indecision |
del.icio.us · digg this · spurl · reddit · furl this
