Artikel Bulan Ini : Belajar dari Anak-anak

Sumber : SenimanBeladiri.blogspot.com

Masa kanak-kanak mungkin adalah salah satu fase terindah dalam hidup kita. Bagaimana tidak, anak-anak adalah buah hati dan dambaan setiap orang yang menjalani bahtera kehidupan rumah tangga bersama pasangannya, sehingga jangan heran ketika kasih sayang orang tua kepada anaknya amatlah besar. Apapun yang diminta oleh sang anak pasti akan diusahakan oleh orang tuanya untuk dipenuhi. Jadi, sebagai anak tahu diri dong!! Berbaktilah kepada kedua orang tuamu, agar kalian mendapatkan kebahagiaan di dunia dan akhirat..

Ngomong-ngomong soal anak, ada satu kegiatan yang mungkin sebagian besar anak pernah mengalaminya, bahkan mungkin sebagian dari mereka menjadikannya sebagai hobi..

Kegiatan apakah itu?? (tanya ‘adi dengan nada imut)

Yup.. bagi anda yang menjawab BERKELAHI, anda benar

Beragam jurus dan teknik yang dikeluarkan anak dalam rangka membela diri sehingga saya tertarik untuk mengumpulkan dan menuliskannya. Diantaranya:

1. Gunakan benda-benda “keren” di sekitar kita.

Ini saya ambil dari pengalaman pribadi, ketika ‘adi kecil berhasil “memukul mundur” gerombolan anak yang berniat memukulnya, dengan bantuan beberapa buah batu anak-anak tersebut akhirnya lari tunggang langgang. Walaupun salah seorang ibu dari anak tersebut akhirnya marah karena kepala anaknya berdarah (Ibu Zohra, maaf ya..).

Teknik memanfaatkan benda-benda yang ada disekitar kita, merupakan pelajaran paling awal yang dibawakan oleh Bas Rutten dalam Video self defensenya. Dalam VCD instruksional tsb Bas rutten merekomendasikan utk menggunakan berbagai benda yang mudah didapatkan diantaranya gelas, botol, merica, dll.

Guru-guru saya di silat Kantobing (Ustadz 'Ali, Dg. Rola, dll) memanfaatkan kayu kecil (seukuran pulpen) untuk digunakan sebagai alat menotok titik kelemahan lawan.

Dan dalam latihan Kuntao, guru saya (Dg. Sitaba) mengajarkan cara menggunakan uang koin, handuk, baju kaos dalam (singlet), t-shirt utk digunakan dalam situasi pembelaan diri.

2. Gigit.

“Banyak orang yang melupakan salah satu senjata yang bisa kita gunakan dalam keadaan terdesak dalam situasi hidup mati: Gigi!!!...ya gigi untuk menggigit!!!” (Sifu Ery Nugroho)

Teknik yang kedua ini saya saksikan langsung dalam perkelahian salah seorang santri saya di masjid. Yang menarik, karna ternyata anak yang menggunakan taktik ini sebelumnya pernah juga digigit oleh anak yang lain (betul kata sebagian orang : pengalaman adalah guru yang terbaik).

Tentu saja dalam melancarkan teknik ini tidak boleh serampangan, perlu pengetahuan tentang cara menggigit yang benar, bagian tubuh mana yang “pantas” utk digigit, dan kapan waktu yang tepat utk menggigit. Untuk lebih jelasnya tentang teknik ini silahkan pelajari Kino Mutai, sebuah seni beladiri dari Filipina yang mengajarkan tentang teknik gigitan. Dalam Kino Mutai diajarkan bahwa ada 140 titik dalam tubuh manusia yang bisa digigit dalam pembelaan diri (Sumber: JALAN PETARUNG).

Mungkin kedua teknik diatas terkesan tidak jantan dan jauh dari nilai sportifitas, tapi jika saya terjebak dalam situasi pertarungan hidup-mati: Saya akan menggunakannya.

Bagaimana dengan anda??

Artikel Bulan Ini: Women's Self Defense

Sumber : Fight Authority

Can Anyone Defend Themselves? Of course the answer is "Yes", but each person has different circumstances. A 300-pound football player is going to have a different skill set than a 130-pound mother of two.

The biggest misconception in the martial arts is that a technique or a strategy will work the same for everybody, every time. Unfortunately, most martial arts preach this notion. They teach the same thing to everyone with little thought as to the capability of the student. Instructors have been trying to fit the square peg in the round hole for as long as I can remember.

For example, the other day, I received a call a woman who has a 3-year-old child and was expecting another. Naturally, she was concerned about her safety a pregnant woman with children is an easy mark. Well, this woman thought she would have no problem using empty hand techniques to fend off would-be assailants. She was convinced that she could “Jackie Chan” a slew of muggers, rapists and thieves with one child in her arms and another strapped to her back!

After a few moments I told her that was all well and good, but before she unleashes her drunken monkey kung fu, she should probably take a few steps to prepare her self a lot better by decreasing her exposure. And if it came down to a physical threat, there are a few things she can do to put the odds back in her favor and increase her chances of survival.

Remember there are 3 things all criminals don’t want to happen:

Get Arrested
Get Identified
Get Injured
Keeping this in mind, the first thing I told her was the life she used to enjoy has now changed. A woman, preoccupied with the safety and care of two children, let alone one child, is a prime target for the skels who earn their living preying on the weak and the helpless. She should only go to very public, very safe places that are mother and child friendly. The days of going to malls in the evening or quickly running into the Laundromat leaving the kids in the car are over.

Another step to ensure your family’s safety is to schedule a day to run errands childfree. Or choose services that offer delivery. Now if you can’t afford certain things, well you need to do with out or get your imagination working to come up with a better solution.

Now if you are going out, you have to have a few simple items handy. They are ranked in importance form the perspective of escape and avoidance. This list considers range, commitment and lethal effects.

Personal Alarm (Training Minimal)
Pepper Spray (Training Minimal)
Edged Weapons (Training Moderate to Heavy)
Impact Weapons (Training Moderate to Heavy)
Empty Hand (Training Heavy)
*Note Firearm has been deliberately left off the list.

Both the pepper spray and personal alarm are used to cause a distraction without getting tangled up in your opponent. A hesitation in your assailant’s assault will allow you the opportunity to escape and get to safety.

Next come edged weapons (Push Daggers and Knives with Finger-Holes). They require a lot less power and are a lot more effective than impact weapons. The push daggers and finger-hole knives give you two advantages: a specific way to grab it and are extremely difficult to drop. And in the course of a fight for your life, the less you need to think about, the better. The downside of course is the close proximity you need to be to use the weapon.

Then come impact weapons. They multiply the force you can exert, but they still require more strength, power and body weight.

And of course, empty hand techniques.
Remember, technology will ALWAYS trump hand to hand methods. ALL HAND-TO-HAND is a tactical last resort.

However training in empty hand techniques should be pursued vigorously. There is a great chance you will be taken by surprise and have to use hand to hand in order to get to your weapons.

Plus, it gives you something to fall back on in worst-case scenarios. It also gives you confidence and it awakens the part of you that doesn’t think tactically and defensively.

So all self-defense comes down to more than just techniques. It encompasses the key elements of Awareness, Strategy, Planning and Training.

Predators are banking on the fact you will play the odds and not do any of these.

And all you have to do is be in the wrong place at the wrong time. All you need is one meeting to go late, one thing in your routine to be disrupted and that once busy parking lock is now a barren wasteland. And there you are SOL.

Training for reality is about training your mind to find whatever solution you need to survive.

And that starts well before the fight is imminent. The person who doesn’t prepare for the absolute worst and thinks they are going to get by with just “empty hand” methods is very ignorant, very lucky or very dead.

PS. If you think women are weak, go check out Dr. Ruthless

Artikel Bulan ini: The Black Belt Myth

Sumber : http://www.fightauthority.com/martial-arts-topics/training-your-mind/the-black-belt-myth/

Every once in a while I get an email from some misguided and offended martial artist with his or her knickers in a twist telling me where I go wrong by saying “Martial Arts will Fail You Every time”. But facts are facts. Just because you have a black belt doesn’t mean you can fight and just because you can fight, doesn’t mean you are a black belt. Can martial artists, boxers, judo players, wrestlers, mixed martial artists bee good street fighters? Sure. But a fight is an entirely different proposition than combative sport or a hobby. The problem is that martial artists have propagated this “myth” about the black belt since they realized money could be made. To compound the problem, most instructors are true believers. Thinking that what they are saying is 100% true. The techniques used by successful street fighters range from the simple and straight forward to brutal and down right nasty. Never underestimate the depths of human nature or the levels to which some people will go to impose their will over another human being. The difference between a successful and unsuccessful street fighter is attitude and no hesitation. Contrary to the old school yard Marcus of Queensbury rules, who ever strikes first in a real fight usually wins. I’m not talking about people in the local pub having a shoving match. Leave the bar fight out of it. I am talking about a real street smart criminal. So you think that junkie is just trying to slap you- no he’s got razor blades between his fingers and he’s trying to slice your face open. (Thanks for the example Bill). If you wait for him to make his move, you’re done. If you pause, wait for them to “throw the first punch” you’ll lose. And before you question my motivation as one of those guys who never spent time in a real dojo or never received his black belt (I have 3 of them) go to www.zenshin.info. I am a real person and I can be found any day of the week working out at this location teaching none other than martial arts. But like my Sensei, I refuse to limit my self by the confines of my ego and insecurity. Because that’s what it all comes down to: ego. Hey, I know you have a lot of time an effort invested into your study and this is the last thing you want to hear, but earning a black belt doesn’t make you a superhero. Having a black belt does not give you the ability to take on all comers in all any and all situations. A street fight or close quarters battle has entirely different dynamics than a competitive sport. In a competitive fight, the possibility of being seriously injured or killed is not a paramount concern. You have the normal injuries associated with contact sports, but if it were really lethal you would have people dying in the ring regularly. The combative sport is only SYMBOLIC of the real thing. This is where we all get confused. The term symbolic So why bother getting a black belt or what does it mean to earn a black belt? This subject has been beaten to death and I offer my opinion only to ad some perspective. First of all, I hold a special place for those of you who have the determination to see your training through to the end and I hope those same people continue to study for an entire life time. It does set you above all others as having accomplished a great task that requires years of dedication and sacrifice. But learning to fight is only a small part Do you think the night before your black belt exam you are immediately transformed in to the Ultimate Warrior. Martial Arts use fighting and combative skills to affect and overall change on the practitioner. If you study martial arts to learn how to fight, you will find your self very disappointed. Fighting is and should be a smaller percentage of why you study. If you study just to learn how to fight or just to learn how to compete you will not last very long. Because after your competitive career is over, now what? Once you start coaching, training and teaching you really begin to understand that competition is a useful tool, but it’s not what martial arts is about. Street fighting is not about honor and fair play. That’s how you live your life, but when push comes to shove, knowing how to street fight requires very little skill, just a lot of attitude and nerve. The Japanese words "Budo" and "Bujutsu" are used to describe this difference between combat and the way of combat.