Week 3/4
TRACY BLOG
Week 1 archive Week 2 archive Business Blog
Thur - 01/28/10
Comment in relation to a news release. The person accused of Strangling Annie Me has pleaded not guilty. Me was the young college coed killed at Yale university. This tragic killing brings up the entire question of effective self defense. The real problem was Annie Le had written articles for the college newspaper on; "Don't become a victim".
Here is where they go wrong! But what happens when you do become a victim. In this case Annie Le ended up dead.
Tips from a female karate expert - on their web-site
Self Defense: Choke Hold
Individuals always think of attackers as being strangers,
however, often times, the attacker is actually someone you know. Therefore, self
defense expert Xxxxxx demonstrates how to defend yourself against a choke hold
from the front. (My Comment: at about 110 lbs the female does a
version of "Covering Talon" against a 200 lb man. After she breaks the
Choke - she finishes him off with a single back fist! Fact: A 110 lb woman is
never going to overpower a 200+ lb man. I will relate at the end of this article
a true story to illustrate this point.
The following is from that web-site
1) Always make sure to get into a strong stance 2) Attack to
the weak points (in this situation, the elbows) 3) In a frontal attack you can
see the person coming; put your hands out in front of you to create a barrier
while using your voice: "NO!"
(My Comment) The weakest points are the: Eyes, Throat, Groin.
Theme among female self defense experts: Put your hand up order them to stop by saying no! Curse at them! Spit at them!
Let me related three true stories:
#1 - In Chicago - a man by the name of Speck - attempts a sexual
assault against a nurse. 6 other nurse came to her rescue. One of the nurses
spits in his face - so Speck kills all 7 nurses.
#2 - To prevent rape women are told to soil their pantries. One did just this. It
so infuriated the would be rapist that he tied her behind his truck and
dragged her to death.
#3 - Just 2 years ago - In Tinley Park Il - where we held our Hall of Fame, a
person entered a local store, forced 5 women into a back room and killed them
all. They still have not found the killer.
There are a lot more stories.
Real Story: 3/4 years ago I ran a self defense seminar on East Coast. Since there were a lot of female the first technique I taught was against a two hand choke for the front. I picked a female black belt. I did not know see was his highest ranking belt. As I started to demonstrate the technique - she tried to counter - by trying to overpower me. I whispered to her "It won't work." In defiance she said loud enough for all to hear "Yes it will". I applied pressure to both the Carotid arteries and in 3 seconds, I left her unconscious on the floor. I then turned to the other students and told them: "In real life, she would be dead". What was so sad is the Female Black belt really thought she could overpower me. I had a 100 lb weight advantage. They never invited me back for seminars.
Free Yellow Belt DVD ends Friday
Every one who has sent in a e-mail request for the DVD will get one.
Sunday 01/25/10
Pat has not had a chance to edit this blog - corrections will be made soon - but I wanted to get this up.
The following will be in 2 parts - check back for the 2nd part
The difference between sport and true self defense!
How ultimate is it when you know the time and place of the fight. Who you will be fighting. Know you will both be the same weight. Have a referee and rounds with time limits. Know if you are kicked in the groin the fight will be stopped to give you time to recover. The same is true with a strike to the eyes. And when it gets too rough you can "Tap Out" or have the referee stop the fight.
The following will be a great bit of history you will not get anywhere else. I will also connect you with several links that you will probably want to download. Also I will give you a link to a great Free - U TUBE down loader to so you can save any video on u-tube to your computer.
The first MMA fight!
When I first got into the martial arts back in the 50's, the hot topic was who would win: a Boxer or Judo Man.
This historic fight would be between Judo-Gene LeBell and Milo Savage. It was held in Salt Lake City in 1963. I want to thank TheFightingNerd for posting this historic short documentary. After you view this Video about 7 minutes I will fill you in with a lot more details. The following is the link to the fight between a Boxer and a Judo Man.
Click here to take you to the u-tube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9mER2BmNRA
The next link is to a u-tube (free Down loader)
http://youtubedownload.altervista.org/
Historical background and added information. In his early years Gene LeBell was a professional wrestler. So was Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama. Sosai Oyama was born with the name Hyung Yee Choi on July 27, 1923 in the village of Wa-Ryongri Yong-chi-myonchul Na Do in the south-west of Korea. As for Oyama's alleged 270 American bouts, remember that he was in the States as a professional wrestler. Oyama would wrestle under several different name. Wrestling was really phony back then and Mas Oyama's main appeal was the entertainment the audience between matches with - breaking of bricks and boards. Mas Oyama never had a true fight, they were all staged. I would personally meet Mas Oyama when Don Buck, his personal representative in the United States of the Kyokushin had Oyama in as a guest in S.F.
Background: Milo Savage had been a ranked, middle weight boxer who had fought such fighters as Gene Fulmer who lost his Middle Weight world championship title to Sugar Ray Robinson. Many consider Robinson - pound for pound - the greatest fighter of all time. Since Salt Lake was Mormon territory my instructor Ed Parker was kept informed by the promoters of the fight. In addition Gene La Bell was already a well know Martial Artist from LA. Milo Savage was a local hero in Utah and several hundred local would show up for the fight. They were all convinced Savage would win and side bets were set with odds of 2-1 that Savage would win. Gene LeBell had several of his friends in the audience taking several thousand dollars in side bet. This is why at the end of the fight they have to rush is to protect LeBell. The losers were throwing chairs and what else was loose into the ring.
Reality: In the finale choke out - there was no tapping out - just like there is no tapping out in a street fight. LeBell kept the choke on for a short time, but that was long enough that Savage was unconscious for over 20 minutes. If LeBell had held the choke a little longer Savage could have ended up "brain Dead" or dead. This is why many police departments have outlawed the sleeper choke hold.
A little more history on Gene LeBell. Gene's main income came from being a student man for the movies. Gene was in over 300 movies. Always as the "Bad" guy. As Gene pointed out" "I could be the baldest ass in all of Hollywood and never get a job. On the movie set Gene was the ultimate professional. What ever the director wanted Gene gave them. As a side note Gene and I are the same age, and both of us have spend our entire lives in the martial arts.
A lot more to follow on Gene LeBell and history!
To be continued
Fri 01/22/10
Foot note to Charlie Wilson: Charlie gradated 8th from the bottom at the Navel Academy. Charlie also had the 2nd highest number of demerits in the history of the Navel Academy.
The age old question: How good was Bruce Lee. (This should bring out the "hate mail" from those who have never met Bruce Lee. Remember Bruce was only 5' 8", 139 pounds. I think it is best summed up by Jesse Raymond Glover who was Bruce Lee's first student and first assistant instructor in the United States. He met Lee in 1959. Jesse Glover was a born on the street fighter. Jesse used my studio many time for filming. From Jesse Glover" "What Bruce feared most, was that one day he would have to fight a man who had all of Bruce's ability, but weighed 200 pounds.
Despite what you have heard about Bruce Lee's fight, he told me about, he never knocked an opponent out, and he did not win all of his fights. He started having street fights when he was 14 years old.
His famous quote to me after his fight with Wong Jack Man: "In all honesty, no one won the fight, he made me look bad. He had no class." This was told to me by Bruce Lee in my studio in S.F. two days after the fight. Contrary to the claim that the fight only lasted 3/4 minutes Bruce Lee told me it was 20-25 minutes and several times they both end up on the ground. Which Bruce related: neither of them knew how to fight on the ground. And they both looked like a couple of kids in a school yard fight. It would be one of the main reasons he would start studying grapping (not classic Judo) with Bill Paul, one of his students and a friend of mine, and an Olympic Judo player. I introduced Bill Paul to Bruce Lee. Bill Paul also worked with me on grappling at my first studio in SF. We would work heavily on choking and escapes from choking. Bill was famous for taking his skills onto the street to see if they really worked. He was also a bouncer at some of the roughest night clubs in SF such as the "Condor" . I don't know about any fights he had after 1965.
After almost 45 years I will have to put up on the web; The fight that Bruce Lee did not win. As personally told to me by Bruce Lee on the Monday following his fight with Wong Jack Man.
Sayings and one liners -
Two tigers fight, one is killed the other is wounded.
Treat your enemy as an honored guest.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.
Chinese curse: May your fondest wish come true.
Kill with a borrowed knife.
The easy way is usually mined or full of traps.
Never lend money to a friend.
God is on the side of the heavy artillery - Neapolitan
The race is not always to the swift, or the victory to the strong. But that's the way to bet
Wed 01/20/10
"We'll see," said the Zen Master
In the future I will often use this Zen saying.
Let me give you a little history and background to help you understand what I am really saying.
I will use for reference the movie: "Charlie Wilson's War." (The documentary: "The Real Charlie Wilson" is much better.) In the movie, Charlie Wilson is played by Tom Hanks. In real life, Charlie Wilson was a 6'4" boozer (scotch), womanizer, coke sniffing, Liberal Democrat State Representative from Texas during the Reagan years. Charlie Wilson had a military background and was obsessed with his hatred of the Russians and communism. I will make the story short. Charlie Wilson secretly took over the United States' role in support of the Afghan opposition to the Russian war in Afghanistan which lasted 10 years; it was the largest covert military action in history.
I will be using this story to make three points: 1. The origin of the Zen story and what it means. 2. Every trial attorney has a rule to live by: never ask a question you do not know the answer to. 3. As a politician, take care of those who elect you.
The Zen Story: A farmer buys a pony for his son. All the neighbors say how great it is that the boy has a pony. "We'll see," said the Zen Master. After a while the pony - now full grown - runs away. "How sad!" exclaimed the neighbors. "We'll see," said the Zen Master. The horse returned and brought 3 mares with him. "How great! crowed the neighbors. "We'll see," said the Zen Master. While out riding, the boy - now a man - fell off the horse and broke his leg. "How terrible," cried the neighbors. "We'll see," said the Zen Master. Soon after, the country the man live in went to war. The government military agents came around and drafted all the able-bodied men for battle. Because of his bad leg the man did not have to go to war. "How fortunate," the neighbors said, "We'll see," said the Zen Master. By now you have the meaning of the Zen story.
When I ask a question that means I already know the answer.
2. In real life both the Democrats and Republicans wanted to get Charlie Wilson out of the government. Finally they had Charlie right where they wanted him. In a house congressional committee they had several women who would testify they had "done coke" with Charlie. The women came before the committee and one after the other testified to their use of coke with Charlie. The fatal question? They asked a question that they did not have the answer to: WHERE had they done coke with Charlie? The answer: outside the United States, where the investigating committee had no authority. There went their case against Charlie. They had no case! When others would privately ask Charlie if he had done coke, he would just smile.
3. When Charlie was a young man his mother had instilled in him the principal of taking care of the those who are poor and weak and had no one to defend them. As a congressman, Charlie's constituents were mostly poor and black; he fought every day to help them. Finally after 20 years both the Republicans and Democrats thought they could get rid of Charlie in the next election. By now Charlie's reputation was in tatters: a drunk, womanizing, coke-sniffing Liberal. His opponent was so far ahead in the polls no one gave Charlie a chance of winning the election. Charlie got into his truck and visited the poor areas of Texas that he represented. He had only one message for them: "I have spent my life working on your behalf. I have never asked anything of you. But, I need you now. I need your vote." And he got their votes! The same old Charlie was still in congress. The only thing that really slowed him down was that he needed to have a heart transplant - and had to give up drinking!
There is an old saying in Hollywood: be nice to the people on the way up; on the way down you will meet those same people.
Now for the rest of the ZEN story. Because of Charlie's hatred of the Russians, he was able to hide over 1 billion dollars that was used to support the anti-Russian forces in Afghanistan. More importantly, he was able to get 17 million dollar to buy "stinger anti-aircraft missiles" that would end up destroying the Russian Air Force. After 10 years the Russians gave up and left Afghanistan,
Isn't it great that Charlie Wilson's private war kept Afghanistan from becoming another Russian communist-controlled country? Now Afghanistan can be ruled by its own people. "We'll see," said the Zen Master.
You can now become the Zen Master: if Charlie had not won his war, would there have been a 9/11? And the world would be different today.
Historical Note: Afghanistan has been known as the "graveyard of empires."
Historical note; Afghanistan has never had a central government. It has always been ruled by "Tribal War Lords" - the loyalty has always been to the tribe.
Now when you see me add "'We'll see,' said the Zen Master," you'll know there is more to the story than meets the eye.
Tue 01/19/10
Free Yellow Belt Quick Reference DVD - because my server was down many did not get the offer for the "first 25 to order" - I am extending the offer for an additional 25 days of this date.
E-mail your request for the free DVD to tracysdvd@aol.com - subject line: Free Yellow DVDSat 01/16/10
I will be shipping the free Yellow Belt Quick reference DVDs to everyone who has ordered since Monday!
Pain relief: Last week I was on the phone with Ted Sumner and were discussing the Healing Arts. He told be that a Dr. (MD) who ran a pain clinic moved into the office next to him. The Dr. put him onto the latest product for pain relief for those local nagging pains we all have. The product is ALCIS - it is a odorless cream. Ted tried it and its works well for him. The reason I am writing this blog now is I have been using it for about a week. I just rubbed some onto a sore foot and within 5 minutes the pain was gone. Lasts about 3/4 hours. Not very expensive - about $10 for a tube of 3 oz - and it's easy to order online.
Give it a try and give me your feedback!
The offer for Video-Internet training has been up only a short time - with good response. Mark is now up and running with online students.
Thur 01/12/10
My main server, Earthlink, is having serious service problems. I've been unable to update my web site at tracyskarate.comI have a mirror site at tracykenpokarate.com which you are now on. Very few people have this new site information.
I will be honoring all e-mails for the free Yellow Quick Reference DVD.
The new format on Steve Finn's Quick Reference Series will be as follow.
For each belt level:
1. All kicks - blocks - and basics required for that belt will be shown.
2. All self-defense techniques will be shown:
Without an opponent
1. Slow
2. Full speed
With an opponent
1. Slow
2. Full speed - for real
3. All katas required for that belt will be shown -
NO OPPONENT
1. Slow
2. Normal speedTracy's complete new approach to "Home Study"
Tracy's has seen the future of "Distant Learning" and the future is NOW - with the advent of "Tracy's 21st Century" - we can bring face-to-face training directly to you.
The new concept is the "brainchild" of my son, Mark Tracy, who has been developing and testing the new technology. Once again Tracy's is the pioneer in teaching the martial arts at every level. Now that we are releasing this new approach all of our competitors will jump on the "bandwagon" and claim they invented it.
With the improvements on the Internet and new software, we can now teach you by web-cam, face to face, just as if you were in our studio.
Here is what you will need:
Computer/notebooks are fine
Web Cam - About $100 for top of the line - auto focus - Many lap top computer have built in web-cams
High speed internet connection
Software - we can walk you through this - software is free - use world wide
Space to work out - Large living room is enough
Just as in our studios, lessons will be in 1/2 hour segments - once a week
Your time must be compatible with our free teaching time
A training partner would be ideal for two reasons:
1. You can share the cost.
2. It gives you a live partner for hands-on training.What we will be offering;
Complete Kenpo Training - using Steve Finn's new Quick Reference DVDs for the training manuals
This training will be available from
Steve Finn - Kenpo - all levels - priority give to old students who had to move.
Mark Tracy - Kenpo - all levels
Mark on DVD will also be taking you step by step through the Introductory Course. The first lesson is the most important lesson you will ever give!
Becky Mornar - for females who would prefer a female instructor.Shoot fighting - Bart Vale. Bart has students all over the world
Healing arts - Ted Sumner. You will be working out of his manualsWarning: I cannot help you if you do not teach our Kenpo system based upon Private Instruction - and using an introductory 3/4/5 lesson approach.
I cannot help you if you want to teach youth: 3/4/5 year olds. I do not know how to run a "Day Care Center" nor do I want to learn!
Complete Business sales training
You will be sitting across the desk - just like in person - from Greg Mattson - with over 30 years experience and thousands of sales. He will take you through every phase of the sale:
1. The phone interview
2. Studio interview - Walk-in interview for:
Male - Female - Family - Mother for youth
3. The sale after the Introductory Course:
Male - Female - Mother for youth - 2 for 1 - Family
4. The "Cash Out"Cost: Same as you would pay for private instruction in the studio:
$35 per 1/2 hour lesson - as you can see we are not trying to get rich.More information will be posted on a separate web page. Obviously we cannot teach everyone.
If you are interested, send an e-mail to: tracysdvd@aol.com
Mon 01/11/10
An offer you can't refuse!
Free Yellow Belt Quick Reference DVD - we will even give you free US standard shipping
We are now releasing a complete set of Individual Quick Reference DVD 's - Yellow thru 5th Black - with Steve Finn doing all the material exactly as it has always been done.
Each individual DVD will contain all of the Self Defense techniques - with and without an opponent - done slowly then "for real."
Each individual DVD will contain all the kicks, blocks, basics, and Katas required for each belt level.What's the catch?
The first offer will only be on the Tracy Blog page.
To start I will limit it to the first 25 who e-mail me for the free Yellow DVD!
I am sure you will be so impressed with the Yellow Belt DVD that you will want more. The price for the individual sets will be $40 with free US standard shipping.We will be providing links to the content of each DVD.
e-mail to:
Attn: Yellow DVD.
Your full name
Shipping address
Phone Number
Indicate if you are a studio owner
Sun 01/10/10
The single most effective strike
Life and death. You only have one strike and that is to the eyes.
Story time to prove a point:
A while back Bart Vale, 6'4" 265 pounds (world shootfighting champion) was at a job site. The work area was full of construction debris. One of the workers was 380 pounds and wanted to prove he was better than Bart. Bart knew that at 380 pounds they could end up on the ground and get torn up from all debris there.
As all 380 pounds came charging in, Bart used a double eye slash. Bart said the guy was still crying like a baby 4 hours later. Bart told me that the "finger set" was one his instructor's (Tom Dunne) favorite katas.No matter what you think off MMA , and the UFC, NO ONE is going to call any of these fighters "wimps.". In at least 15 fights I have seen fighters accidentally struck in the eyes. In every instance the fighter was incapable of defending himself further.
The eye strike is the only movement that can always be used - no matter the size - sex - or age of the person. Power of little importance; speed and proper training are critical.
The eye strike is most effectively delivered:
1. From the same motion as a left jab - or
2. Delivered off the right power side forward - in the same motion as a backfistTwo Ed Parker stories:
The first time I saw the eye strike used was when I was just a white belt with Ed Parker. Ed had a bad back that over the years would continue to give him trouble. It was also the main reason he quit doing judo.
One evening during class, a belligerent person, who had obviously been drinking, came into the studio and started giving Ed a lot of lip. Ed was having back pain and in a bad mood. I watched as the person make an aggressive move towards Ed. Ed simply did a quick flick to the person's eyes. The person dropped to his knees with his hands over his eyes. The eyes strike sobered him up and he quickly left the studio.Story two - No eye strikes - but an interesting true story.
It was in the middle of the day, there were 3 or 4 of us working out, when a person entered Ed's studio with his shoes on and walked directly onto the mats. The person looked like a football player, well dressed, about 6'2" - 220 pounds. The first thing the person did was to tell Ed that he "did not think Ed was a tough as people claimed!" Ed took a couple of steps forward - placing himself between the aggressor and the door. The person then placed his back to the wall facing Ed. Ed's only reply was, "Here is your chance to see how good you are." Ed had placed himself in critical range. Ed did not say another thing but just stared right into the person's face. They must have held their respective positions for about 15 seconds. It was becoming obvious that this was not what the person had expected. He then told Ed, "I'm sure that I can take you; but something tells me that if I'm wrong, you may mess me up real bad." Ed then stepped back, giving the person a way out, which he took. The person never looked back and walked out of the studio.Later, Ed told us he had the person set up for a kick to blow his knee out - followed by a heel palm to drive his head into the concrete wall.
To be continued