No styles, no systems, no rituals, no lineages, no masters, no labels, no belts, no katas, no uniforms, no dogmas;
Only the process of self actualization & personal expression of truth through functional combative movement and fitness.
On a purely physical level, we share how to individually and collectively use all of our natural tools as well as extended ones, offensively and defensively in a strategic and tactical manner and in all ranges of combat.
We're put through functional physical fitness training where we learn to push ourselves through our own perceived limitations. We also have much to offer on nutrition, health and optimum performance.
On a more cerebral level we learn about the psychology of violence, fear, stress & confrontation management skills, deescalation strategies and holistic survival tactics.
As the mind navigates the body; by challenging personal self defense dogmas and individual & core belief systems, personal growth and evolution occurs.
On a human level, we learn about the ripple effect and the moral, legal, and ethical consequences of our chosen actions while self examining our darkest emotions. We are encouraged to question everything, to learn to think for ourselves, to be more accountable and research everything we learn and to be open and responsive to life without judgment.
On a personal level, the training can make you face and slay your own demons.
Everything shared here is highly encouraged to be individually researched, to “absorb what is useful, add what is specifically of your own and disregard the rest.”
So there we were, all gathered around in a circle at the end of class, nothing unusual, just a good way to finish up and debrief what we had been working on. Now is a good chance for students to ask questions and an opportunity for all to express their thoughts.
"When can I actually hit someone?", asks one of the students. Hmm, this will be interesting, and so it was......
Let me elaborate further on the details relating to this question. The student works at a night club as a doorman / bouncer / security guard, call it what you like,. He went on to explain an incident (if you can call it that), which he was involved in during the weekend, your typical run of the mill scenario that nearly every doorman confronts across the country over a typical weekend, which went something like this:
Do you have the strength to sit by yourself for 4 or more days without any kind of technology or distractions whatsoever? Without anything to read or write or watch or do? Without anything to listen to but the sounds of your own thoughts and voice?
Do you have the strength to be alone with yourself for 4 full days and see what you discover about yourself?
Take the test and challenge yourself by following these 9 "easy" steps....
Step 1: Plan for 4 full days in a row where you know you won't have to work, go to school, or be distracted or bothered by anyone.
Step 2: Find a location where you can be alone for 4 full days and nights by yourself, much preferably sound proof. Home alone if you live alone or can manage to get the home to yourself for 4 full days, a retreat, a cabin in the woods or camping in a tent for that matter. Make sure loved ones know where you are but let them know not to come for you other than an emergency.
Step 3: Make certain you have enough healthy food and drink to last you the 4 days without the need to ever exit the premises. Use the normal time you would to cook/prepare and eat your daily meals as you would or as the hunger arises.
Step 4: No technology (ie. tv, radio, computer, etc.) No books. No paper, no pen, no company, no contact with any other human being - NOTHING but you, comfortable seating of your choice in a room/environment of choice, the 4 walls that surround you AND YOUR THOUGHTS. Feel free to move around, walk, pace, etc.
Step 5: No alcohol, or mind/mood altering drugs (legal or illegal) of any kind during the 4 days or excess of caffeine; other than necessary health related medications you maybe on.
Step 6: Sleep when the need arises but do not exceed 7-8 hours of sleep within a 24-hour period during the 4 days. Do not sleep less than 7 hours per 24 hour period either if you can. If you experience insomnia, continue your self examination and introspection as you would during your normal waking hours until you eventually do fall asleep. Preferably, go to sleep with sundown and wake up with the sunrise.
Step 7: Without any judgment whatsoever; Observe, analyse, dissect, examine and feel out every single random thoughts that enter your head and emotions you feel during your every waking moment be they positive, negative or neutral. Cry, laugh, scream, etc. when you feel the need as it comes naturally.
Step 8: Question what needs questioning as it arises, question especially all dark emotions and decipher the origin of their roots: emotions like hate, rage, envy, greed, fear, insecurity, depression, sadness, judgment, resentment, etc. Identify the positive emotions and thoughts, familiarize yourself with their roots and origins, compare the energies of the dark vs lighter thoughts and emotions and their spirals.
Step 9: Don't shy away from yourself, learn, grow, evolve from your discoveries.
This is a beginning to your personal development and betterment.... Self Actualization, introspection and analysis is crucial to personal evolution and growth.
Please, do feel free to post and share your experiences after the 4th day....
Members of the Anonymous hacktivist movement are claiming responsibility for taking down more than 40 secret child-pornography websites and leaking the names of more than 1,500 members of one of the illegal sites.
The Anonymous campaign began Oct. 14, when members of the hacktivist group found a cache of child-pornography websites while browsing a secret website called the Hidden Wiki, a guidebook to hundreds of underground websites invisible to search engines and regular Internet users. The hackers singled out Lolita City, a file-sharing site used by pedophiles, and leaked the names of the site's 1,589 active members to Pastebin on Tuesday (Oct. 18), the Examiner reported.
Member of Anonymous deciding to hack a website whose stance they don't agree with is by no means shocking news. In the past year, Anonymous-affiliated hackers have gone after the New York Stock Exchange, the Westboro Baptist Church, the Recording Industry Association of America and government sites in Malaysia, Egypt, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.
However, in targeting child pornography sites, and in explaining its methods of attack, these Anonymous-affiliated hackers have revealed a deeply disturbing side of the Internet unknown to most people.
The so-called "darknet," from which this "Operation Darknet" hacking campaign takes its name, is any part of the Internet that is hidden from view — not just hard to reach, but deliberately concealed. In this instance, a darknet appears to have grown out of the free TOR routing service, which offers anonymous, encrypted Web browsing to any user.
The TOR-based darknet has reportedly grown into a private, encrypted constellation of websites offering a variety of shady and illegal services, from fake IDs and steroids to email hacking and tip on how to call in police raids as pranks. There's even a hidden site called "The Last Box" that bills itself as an "Assassination Market."
Only computers that have installed TOR browser plug-ins can access the TOR-based darknet, including its guidebook the Hidden Wiki, the security site Infosec Island reported.
In another Pastebin posting, the hackers explained that their campaign against the child pornography sites took root when they found a site listed on the Hidden Wiki called "Hard Candy," which "was dedicated to links to child pornography." The group delved deeper and discovered that nearly all of the pornography sites listed on the Hidden Wiki "shared a digital fingerprint with the shared hosting server at Freedom Hosting."
The Anonymous-affiliated hackers then issued a warning to Freedom Hosting asking it to remove the child pornography links from its server. Freedom Hosting did not comply, so the group, at approximately 11:30 p.m. (CST) on Oct. 14 shutdown Freedom Hosting's server. Freedom Hosting restored service the following day, but it was attacked and taken down again that night.
In its statement, the Anonymous members explained their goals and how they aim to achieve them through repeated pressure and consistent online attacks.
"The owners and operators at Freedom Hosting are openly supporting child pornography and enabling pedophiles to view innocent children, fueling their issues and putting children at risk of abduction, molestation, rape and death," the message said. "For this, Freedom Hosting has been declared #OpDarknet Enemy Number One. By taking down Freedom Hosting, we are eliminating 40+ child pornography websites, among these is Lolita City, one of the largest child pornography websites to date containing more than 100 GB of child pornography. We will continue to not only crash Freedom Hosting's server, but any other server we find to contain, promote, or support child pornography."
The statement added a demand to Freedom Hosting and other Web servers hosting child pornography.
"Remove all child pornography content from your servers. Refuse to provide hosting services to any website dealing with child pornography. This statement is not just aimed at Freedom Hosting, but everyone on the Internet. It does not matter who you are, if we find you to be hosting, promoting, or supporting child pornography, you will become a target."
The trail goes cold in looking for whoever is behind Freedom Hosting. The domain is currently offline; WHOIS domain-name lookups show that the registration for freedom-hosting.com expired on Aug. 7, and the registrar is holding the URL pending renewal.
How many times have we heard these quotes? In my opinion if we were to listen to these quotes, we'd be sitting on our laurels and progress would cease to exist. I believe that these types of quotes are made by people who are either threatened by change or to lazy to work at evolving beyond the status quo.
As an example, I'd like to refer to our controversial yet revolutionary (as labeled by most who have experienced it) Shredder concept and tool. Are the tools within the Shredder new? No. Has it ever been performed before? Probably but not knowingly and definitely without the fundamental understanding of the abiding principles that rendered what they did functional. In crystallizing the concepts and identifying its underlying scientific principles then putting it together as we did, we created a new methodology to deal with extreme close quarter situations where none prior existed. This evolutionary path is a critical one for further development of functional training or else thousands upon thousands of martial artists today would still only be practicing chi sao, hubud and other dead pattern oriented methods of close quarter combat.
Not to state that these more traditional methods have nothing to offer but there certainly was room for major improvement in terms of performance enhancement and tactile sensitivity development. More modern and scientific approaches like the development drills for the Shredder not only enhance the same attributes but does it in a much quicker and realistic (in terms of replicating a real fight) than any of the more traditional and even modern day methods for that matter.
Although Musashi, Sun Tzu and Machiavelli were brilliant strategists, we don't still train sword fighting (in terms of survival enhancement) due to the fact that not many people in today's modern societies walk around with Katana's on their backs or sides. The foundational principles behind their strategic endeavors are still applicable today but the vehicle in which they applied the strategies are now outdated.
As violence in societies evolved and as the tactics, methods and even weaponry evolved, it becomes necessary to provide evolutionary solutions to the problems which violence presents us with, and more efficient ways of handling such circumstances that replicate the realities of today's needs. Since necessity is the mother of invention we must therefore evolve to acclimatize to the realities of today's world.
Evolution is paramount therefore variables must always change and history must always be taken into consideration as the building blocks. Change over time through what Darwin called 'descent with modification' is a necessity. If we don't take evolution into account, our solutions to today's violence are likely to fail. The instrument of evolution is based on can be found in these four fundamentals:
1. Necessity
2. Variation
3. Optimum Selection
4. The Relevance of Time
However, always keep in mind the nature of science and evidential truth; how do we know what we know? Concepts must guide your planning to the ideas that are central to the understanding of evolution and without science and its governing rules, though inconclusive due to its own evolving nature; we are left with speculation and theory.
Take a look at history and the expansion and contraction of systems and styles as natural progression occurred, for example what Bruce Lee did with the traditional martial arts and the development of Jeet Kune Do. The guiding principle in this case is survival and so we must eliminate what does not directly ensure it and see what remains.
If modifications are necessary then so be it and for the most part modifications will become necessary in order to maintain improvement. Simply put, 'to simplify'. One of our guiding principles at Senshido is to remain open and responsive while maintaining structural integrity in replicating real world attacks as closely as possible in the development of such drills.
This movement is natural thus we must retain that, inevitably, simple truth will be diluted in order to crystallize, and commercialize for ego, money, fame, etc. this is predicated on people's natural fears of evolution and change. That is how the Shredder is an example of this funnel effect, the pieces were already there and I just put them together and pointed it out.
The system must remain open and permeable, it is more of a vehicle to a truth rather than the truth itself but if it crystallizes and/or solidifies, than evolution ceases. In regards to the aforementioned Shredder, although the elements already existed, the method in which it was juxtaposed is what makes it unique or 'new' so to speak. As the majority of the martial arts industry focused primarily on grappling and striking and abandoned most close quarter systems due to the lack of reality and dead pattern oriented drills that were only applicable for the extremely gifted and those who were willing to put in the decades worth of training to make these attributes functional, we researched and analyzed the missing link between the old and the more modern methods of training and found the missing pieces and continue to do so.
So in the end, even if it aint broke, still seek improvement. Both interiorly and exteriorly. There may not be any 1 thing new under the sun but the formulas in which things are presented in order to help achieve better results sure are.
I just got back in from hitting the heavy bag and thought I would pin this little solo-drill.
Many times when I’m striking the heavy bag or a strike pad, (punching mitts, kick shield, etc.) I tend to put in a lot of emotion into my strikes. When I’m working the front (“This is Sparta!”) kick for example, I am envisioning kicking down a door where some psychopath has my children. I often find (and feel) my facial expressions and other body language quirks working overtime, showing my intent to tear into someone. Not to say this is “always bad”, but I noticed I, at times, show these same expressions when working off of the passive stance and pre-emptive work; which would undermine the behavioral manipulation we’re striving for (i.e. using a passive stance and congruous body language and choice words allows the attacker’s ego to rise while lowering their guard…slight shifts in body language that deny the behavioral manipulation will alert the attacker with your own intentions).
I decided to begin working on remaining expressionless (at least, striving to hide the anger/rage/fear) when I started hitting the bag. It can be harder than what it seems on paper, let me tell you.
It might seem simple, but when you truly and honestly evaluate yourself, you may catch yourself beginning to smirk, your jaw tighten up, your eyes squint, your upper lip beginning to snarl, your teeth gritting together – all before you actually let loose with your strike.
Why the importance of such a drill? Within the framework of Senshido, we strive to understand Aggressive Body Language (ABL) as a means to pick up on intent to act. Many times people will say Senshido practitioners move “faster” than others – when in actuality we train ourselves to move “sooner” than others, because we can pick up on the bad guy’s intent to act via having a comprehensive understanding of common ABL. Knowing this, isn’t the reverse true as well? If body language is between 60-80% of communication (depending on which study you subscribe to), even the slightest aggressive body language can drastically change the altercation, allowing the attacker’s guard to rise up and mentally prepare for your physical retaliation.
This drill is outlined for striking, but it can also be done with clinch work, ground work, etc. Your imagination is the limits.
How to internalize the drill:
With the daily struggles in life, the workload, family problems, people who don't know how to drive, etc. we often will exhibt various facial expressions and body language that shows how we truly feel in that moment. Sometimes, we are not aware of how others may perceive us - especially those closest to us. So, begin taking inventory of what your body language and facial expressions are at any given time of the day (in particular, pay special attention to these things during stressful moments with family, friends and co-workers). When you honestly begin to internalize the drill, you will become more aware of your body language and will have the tools to begin changing them and having a more proactive approach to the situation, instead of compounding it by any negativity you may exhibit.
Regards,
Malachi Bond Senshido International Team Member - Senshido Alaska
If only we as a human race would listen to this man. Do yourself a favour, read the article, and watch the video. This is amazing!
The Venus Project is an organization that proposes a feasible plan of action for social change, one that works towards a peaceful and sustainable global civilization. It outlines an alternative to strive toward where human rights are no longer paper proclamations but a way of life.
We operate out of a 21.5-acre Research Center located in Venus, Florida.
When one considers the enormity of the challenges facing society today, we can safely conclude that the time is long overdue for us to re-examine our values and to reflect upon and evaluate some of the underlying issues and assumptions we have as a society. This self-analysis calls into question the very nature of what it means to be human, what it means to be a member of a "civilization," and what choices we can make today to ensure a prosperous future for all the world's people.
At present we are left with very few alternatives. The answers of yesterday are no longer relevant. Either we continue as we have been with our outmoded social customs and habits of thought, in which case our future will be threatened, or we can apply a more appropriate set of values that are relevant to an emergent society.
Experience tells us that human behavior can be modified, either toward constructive or destructive activity. This is what The Venus Project is all about - directing our technology and resources toward the positive, for the maximum benefit of people and planet, and seeking out new ways of thinking and living that emphasize and celebrate the vast potential of the human spirit. We have the tools at hand to design and build a future that is worthy of the human potential. The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. What follows is not an attempt to predict what will be done, only what could be done. The responsibility for our future is in our hands, and depends on the decisions that we make today. The greatest resource that is available today is our own ingenuity.
While social reformers and think tanks formulate strategies that treat only superficial symptoms, without touching the basic social operation, The Venus Project approaches these problems somewhat differently. We feel we cannot eliminate these problems within the framework of the present political and monetary establishment. It would take too many years to accomplish any significant change. Most likely they would be watered down and thinned out to such an extent that the changes would be indistinguishable.
The Venus Project advocates an alternative vision for a sustainable new world civilization unlike any social system that has gone before. Although this description is highly condensed, it is based upon years of study and experimental research by many, many people from many scientific disciplines.
We proposes a fresh, hollistic approach - one that is dedicated to human and environmental concerns. It is an attainable vision of a bright and better future, one that is appropriate to the times in which we live, and both practical and feasible for a positive future for all the world's people.
The Venus Project calls for a straightforward approach to the redesign of a culture, in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt, environmental degradation and unnecessary human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but totally unacceptable.
One of the basic premises of The Venus Project is that we work towards having all of the Earth's resources as the common heritage of all the world's people. Anything less will simply result in a continuation of the same catalog of problems inherent in the present system.
Throughout history, change has been slow. Successive groups of incompetent leaders have replaced those that preceded them, but the underlying social and economic problems remain because the basic value systems have gone unaltered. The problems we are faced with today cannot be solved politically or financially because they are highly technical in nature. There may not even be enough money available to pay for the required changes, but there are more than enough resources. This is why The Venus Project advocates the transition from a monetary-based society to the eventual realization of a resource-based global economy.
We realize to make the transition from our present culture, which is politically incompetent, scarcity-oriented and obsolete, to this new, more humane society will require a quantum leap in both thought and action.
An Obsolete Monetary System
The money-based system evolved centuries ago. All of the world's economic systems - socialism, communism, fascism, and even the vaunted free enterprise system - perpetuate social stratification, elitism, nationalism, and racism, primarily based on economic disparity. As long as a social system uses money or barter, people and nations will seek to maintain the economic competitive edge or, if they cannot do so by means of commerce they will by military intervention. We still utilize these same outmoded methods.
Our current monetary system is not capable of providing a high standard of living for everyone, nor can it ensure the protection of the environment because the major motive is profit. Strategies such as downsizing and toxic dumping increase the profit margin. With the advent of automation, cybernation, artificial intelligence and out sourcing, there will be an ever-increasing replacement of people by machines. As a result, fewer people will be able to purchase goods and services even though our capability to produce an abundance will continue to exist.
Our present, outmoded political and economic systems are unable to apply the real benefits of today's innovative technology to achieve the greatest good for all people, and to overcome the inequities imposed upon so many. Our technology is racing forward yet our social designs have remained relatively static. In other words cultural change has not kept pace with technological change. We now have the means to produce goods and services in abundance for everyone.
Unfortunately, today science and technology have been diverted from achieving the greatest good for reasons of self-interest and monetary gain through planned obsolescence sometimes referred to as the conscious withdrawal of efficiency. For example, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, whose function is presumed to be conducting research into ways of achieving higher crop yields per acre, actually pays farmers not to produce at full-capacity. The monetary system tends to hold back the application of these methods that we know would best serve the interests of people and the environment.
In a monetary system purchasing power is not related to our capacity to produce goods and services. For example, during a depression, there are computers and DVD's on store shelves and automobiles in car lots, but most people do not have the purchasing power to buy them. The earth is still the same place; it is just the rules of the game that are obsolete and create strife, deprivation and unnecessary human suffering.
A monetary system developed years ago as a device to control human behavior in an environment with limited resources. Today money is used to regulate the economy not for the benefit of the general populace, but for those who control the financial wealth of nations.
Resource Based Economy
All socio-economic systems, regardless of political philosophy, religious beliefs, or social customs, ultimately depend upon natural resources, i.e. clean air and water, arable land and the necessary technology and personnel to maintain a high standard of living.
Simply stated, a resource-based economy utilizes existing resources rather than money and provides an equitable method of distributing these resources in the most efficient manner for the entire population. It is a system in which all goods and services are available without the use of money, credits, barter, or any other form of debt or servitude.
Earth is abundant with plentiful resources; today our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant and counter productive to our survival. Modern society has access to highly advanced technologies and can make available food, clothing, housing, medical care, a relevant educational system, and develop a limitless supply of renewable, non-contaminating energy such as geothermal, solar, wind, tidal, etc. It is now possible to have everyone enjoy a very high standard of living with all of the amenities that a prosperous civilization can provide. This can be accomplished through the intelligent and humane application of science and technology.
To better understand the meaning of a resource-based economy consider this: if all the money in the world were destroyed, as long as topsoil, factories, and other resources were left intact, we could build anything we choose to build and fulfill any human need. It is not money that people need; rather, it is free access to the necessities of life. In a resource-based economy , money would be irrelevant. All that would be required are the resources and the manufacturing and distribution of the products.
When education and resources are made available to all people without a price tag, there would be no limit to the human potential. Although this is difficult to imagine, even the wealthiest person today would be far better off in a resource based society as proposed by The Venus Project. Today the middle classes live better than kings of times past. In a resource based economy everyone would live better than the wealthiest of today.
In a resource based society, the measure of success would be based on the fulfillment of one's individual pursuits rather than the acquisition of wealth, property and power.
The Choice Is Ours To Make
Human behavior is subject to the same laws as any other natural phenomenon. Our customs, behaviors, and values are byproducts of our culture. No one is born with greed, prejudice, bigotry, patriotism and hatred; these are all learned behavior patterns. If the environment is unaltered, similar behavior will reoccur.
Today, much of the technology needed to bring about a global Resource Based Economy exists. If we choose to conform to the limitations of our present monetary-based economy, then it is likely that we will continue to live with its inevitable results: war, poverty, hunger, deprivation, crime, ignorance, stress, fear, and inequity. On the other hand, if we embrace the concept of a global resource-based economy , learn more about it, and share our understanding with our friends, this will help humanity evolve out of its present state.
On October 3rd, 2011, a dream of mine came true. I saw my favourite band, Evergrey, live in concert. I had to wait 9 years to see them, as they are from Sweden, and never come to Canada. It was the single greatest moment of my life thus far, aside from hanging with Richard Dimitri, and telling fart jokes of course….but seriously, it made me think about how we live our lives afterwards. We work, and slave at jobs we hate (most of us. Not me, anymore) 40+ hours a week per year just to have a measly fucking 2 weeks off so we can enjoy our lives. Even then, I know many people that don’t do a single fucking thing but sit at home, and think about going back to work. This is not how we are meant to live, people. Forget all that “nice” shit you can buy if you work 60 hours a week. It will end up owning YOU one day, so instead, make a fucking DO SOME SHIT list. Put everything you want to do on there, and start. Doesn't matter how big or how small. A concert like I went to can seem like a small thing to some people, but to me, it was priceless. I would have sacrificed millions of dollars, and a career to see it.
When it comes down to it, you need passion in life. You need a reason to get up in the morning. For me it’s training Senshido, working out and writing/recording music. It can be knitting…. whatever! If you don’t have one, you WILL find yourself wasting your time and energy on complete shit like TV, and buying shit from Ikea to make your apartment “perfect.” You will simply “exist” without accomplishing much of anything at all. You will not be bettering yourself. You only have one life, and you should do and see everything you can. Speaking of “seeing” my next dream is to leave Canada next year for an extended period of time, and become an “explorer” of sorts. I want to climb mountains, and volcanoes, explore jungles, and sit under palm trees while drinking a coconut. I want to live in a bamboo hut with NOTHING except maybe a book. I want to train outdoors everyday, all year round in a climate that doesn’t suck! Maybe tourists will want to train with me on the beach, and maybe the locals will think I’m insane, but I don’t care what people think anymore, and haven’t for a long time. I think everyone should explore the world, and see its beauty. There is so much beauty in this world, and we don’t realize it because we are busy sitting in our offices, or watching the fucking news, which broadcasts nothing but death 90% of the time. Fuck the news. Instead of spending an hour watching that shit, spend it with a friend, or your family. They won’t be around forever.
Go do some shit on your DO SOME SHIT list. I want everyone who reads this to make one, and post it on their facebook page under “notes,” and tag me, Jeff Liboiron, or Senshido International in it so we can all see and share our do some shit lists in order to inspire one another. It won’t take long before we are all doing some shit!! Now, I gotta go do my second training session of the day. Peace!
