From Barny's Desk

Train hard but train well. It is better to slow down and get the punch, kick, or defense technique correct than to just go as hard as you can all the time. If an instructor corrects you, slow down and concentrate on improving your movements for a minute or two before you go full speed again. Muscle memory means doing something without thinking aboutit, so the more correct you are when working on a punch or a kick the easier it will be to perform it correctly under stress.

Survey Gift Certificate Winners!

We selected 3 students who turned in surveys to receive a $100 gift certificate. Congratulations to Jill Hass, Walt Poul, and Vanessa Burk. Thanks to all of you who took the time to fill out survey and provide us with thoughtful and complete responses. We learned a lot and are still putting all of the information together. Look for the results in December's newsletter.

Congratulations to our newest Krav Maga Black Belt, Eric Powell!

In late September, Law Enforcement Instructor Eric Powell went down to LA for his Black Belt test. After hearing him describe what he survived, I was not at all surprised that several students did not pass. Imagine being tested for hours on every technique you have ever learned (including a long stretch of hard takedowns), fighting your fellow students for a couple hours two and three at a time, then finally, having to fight three fresh and merciless Krav Maga instructors at the end of all that. With a resume like his, Eric has been through some very tough training but this sounded like one to remember.

Holiday schedule:

We will be closed for the following holidays:
Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 24th
Christmas Eve, Saturday December 24th and
Christmas Day, Sunday December 25th
New Year's Eve, Saturday December 31st, and
New Year's Day, Sunday January 1st

Christmas Gift Drive

Twice a week kids from the Home Away From Homelessness program come to the training center to get an hour of exercise and instruction. Counselor Allesandro Bresba says, "We are thrilled that you continue to be so generous to the kids in our program. They love Krav Maga, and always come back exhausted but proud of what they've learned." We'd like to help these kids have a happier holiday season and ask you to join us in contributing to them this year.

If you wish to contribute, please purchase giftcards to clothing stores (like Old Navy and Gap) and bookstores (like Green Apple and Borders). This way the kids would be involved in choosing the gifts. They can take ownership of their gifts by figuring out for themselves in what way they should spend the giftcard: dealing with money is a skill our kids need to practice. They can also claim the things they buy as their own - many have little or nothing they can claim as theirs. Finally, in the case of bookstore giftcards, they will be motivated to read. They will take time and care to choose the books they want. This will mean they will read them because they want to, not because they were told to. Thank you for your support of these children.

The "real" matrix, or How to play tic-tac-toe on your attackers face.

Last month I discussed how to think in terms of pairs of opposites when throwing strikes in combination. Now I'd like to expand on this concept, and provide an illustration to help make it more clear. We start with an image of an attacker, positioned in front of you, with a variety of aggressive postures and training...



Ok, so we'll use the one that looks like he's had "some" training. Over this, we superimpose a 3x3 grid, so we can divide our opponent's body up into high, middle, and low areas combined with left, center, and right areas. Now you should be able to see where we're going. Dividing up our opponent with this simple matrix becomes a basis for choosing targets.



Imagine what happens when you strike at one side or the other, high, mid, or low, and then imagine where your opponent might be open as a result. Direct your next strike to a different location in the grid, and you are likely to find an opening.

By constantly picking and choosing targets from all areas of this matrix, you can keep your opponent off balance long enough to hit an opening with decisive force, or find an opening when you are getting punished and turn the tide in the fight to your advantage.

Any means that you can use to divide a problem into smaller pieces will diffuse stress, and help you overcome the larger problem. Start by using the concept of opposites when throwing strikes; left, right, top and bottom. When you feel comfortable with that, progress to the 3x3 and you will find even more openings to work your strikes in successfully.