Indigenous Ability

  I’m going to get into a huddle with you and tell you where and when you are most likely to be assaulted. I’m not talking “y-o-u” in the abstract plural, I’m talking to the personal Y-O-U. That’s right, Dear Reader, I am talking directly to you, whoever you may be. Before I tell you where you may meet some bad deeds let’s have a look at an excerpt from a boring historical memorandum. “ The island of Oahu, with its military depots, both naval and land, its airdromes, water supplies, the city of Honolulu with its wharves and supply points, forms an easy, compact and convenient object for air attack …I believe therefore, that should Japan decide upon the reduction and seizure of the Hawaiian Islands …attack will be launched on Ford’s Island at 7:30 a.m.”- William Mitchell, from his Memorandum for the U.S. Army Chief of Staff. That did indeed occur on the Day of Infamy, December 7 th , 1941. Mr. Mitchell, said the attack would commence at 7:30 a.m. It actually commenced ...

  I want you to picture two pugilists stripped to the waist in a makeshift “ring” of crowding spectators who have arrived to enjoy a bit of the “fancy.” Once the decision of “ who gets the glare ” [resting on a second’s knee facing the sun] they “ toe the scratch ” and commence throwing hands. I want you to conjure the image of the hands being thrown. If you are like most, you have visions of semi-straightened arms held in extended guard and sweeping clubbing blows. That is the common narrative but… First, let’s take a little trip into the world of behavioral economics, talk a little road biking, play a little football, ponder an observation from a pioneer of skydiving and then, finally, bring it back to the titled topic. In 1975, economist Sam Peltzman of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, published an intriguing article in the very sexy publication, Journal of Political Economy. The title of that article was " The Effects of Automobile Safety Regul...

  [This one is best read in conjunction with a previous offering The Empirical Fighter: Rules for the Serious Combatant.] Let’s start with a contextual definition from history. A “straggler,” in US Civil War vernacular, was any combatant who found a “good” reason to be at the rear of an action, or “ I would have helped y’all dig that entrenchment, but I had a heap of rifle cleanin’ to do.” I wager that as you read that definition more than a few personal acquaintances came to mind. We’ll broaden our definition of straggler in a moment, but first we must understand, that to men and women in the field, a straggler was considered worse than a deserter. That’s right, a foot dragging, sandbagging, goldbricking, soldier who remains with the unit was evaluated a worse drain than the abject soul who up and abandoned all for their own ends. Here’s Lieutenant General Jubal Early to put this distinctive comparison into perspective for us. Of all the men about the army, the most ...

  Bringing the New Year in Old School Style! Our latest DVD [Black Box 6] has just been released. The video is just a wee-peek at the kindest bit of info included. Broadly we cover 6 Major Areas of Historical Combat One-Throwing Hands “Street Dentist” Style Two-Rough ‘n’ Tumble Clinching Three-Fat-Out-of-the-Fire Groundwork Combination Fighter Style Four-Frontier Trade-knife Five-Mark’s Submission Candy Corner Six-Old-School Unleaded Conditioning For a deeper delve into the 6 topics I offer the complete syllabus for Black Box 6 gratis. [ Keep in mind, just because some terminology may match a modern correlate do not assume the details and tactical applications are also equivalent. Au contraire! The Devil is Always in the Details! ] The scholarly may read on… ESP RAW 219 The Black Box Project 6: Street-Dentistry/Clinch Hellaciousness/The Ground Correlate/Mark’s Candy Corner/Frontier Trade-Knife Mark Hatmaker www.extremeselfprotection.com   The...