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hickslaw

Hick’s Law

There is a common principle that many Martial Artists are familiar with called Hick’s Law. Hick’s Law is named after British psychologist William Edmund Hick. The HickHyman Law (for Ray Hyman), also called simply Hick’s Law, describes the time it takes for a person to make a decision as a result of the possible choices […]
Mike Patrick
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The OODA Loop

OODA Loop is a concept created by USAF Colonel John Boyd. It is an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Action. He created this primarily for helping fighter pilots get through the mental process for taking action more quickly. In the business world, “time is money” but in life-and-death situations, “time is death.” If one […]
Mike Patrick
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Fast Pain vs. Slow Pain

How fast do you make your techniques hurt? Seems like an odd question, right?!?!? Well, it is actually quite a good one! Not all pain is created equal. It turns out some pain is faster than others! Time to talk some science… By studying a scientific process known as nociception, we learn that pain comes […]
Mike Patrick
389
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Somatic Reflexes

Have you ever had a doctor, or a really twisted friend, tap a spot near your knee and it reflexively kicks? If so, you have experienced a somatic reflex. There are essentially five somatic reflexes. Three are spinal reflexes: Stretch Crossed Extensor Superficial Cord And two are cranial reflexes: Corneal Gag A reflex arc is […]
Mike Patrick
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The Crossed Extensor Reflex

The crossed extensor reflex is also known as the Cross-body Motor Reflex and is one of the Somatic Reflexes we discussed previously. Let’s look at a practical example of stepping on a nail with your right foot. Naturally, the right leg will contract, via the flexor muscles, to withdraw the foot from the source of […]
Mike Patrick
1.21K
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The Stretch Reflex

The Stretch Relex is where stretching a muscle causes the excitation of muscle spindles which causes contraction of large skeletal muscles. A simple example of this is when jumping from a height and landing on the feet, the impulse in the leg muscles will likely cause a corresponding reflex of contracting the gluteal muscles in […]
Mike Patrick
607
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Secrets in the Martial Arts?

As we travel around the world, the DSI often asks the question “Are there any secrets in your system of Martial Arts?”  Without exception, when we ask “What are they?” or “Name one.” we get confused looks.  And these are not strangers we are asking.  These are those who are close to us.  The bewilderment […]
Mike Patrick
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Secrets of the Martial Arts?

What are “Players to the Game?”  This is term defined by Professor Rick Moneymaker, co-founder of the Dragon Society International.  One of the goals of the DSI is to keep terminology simple and easy to understand.  As such, this term was coined to refer to principles and methods that make techniques work much better. These […]
Mike Patrick
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CoopersAwareness

Levels of Awareness

Are you familiar with the principle originated by Jeff Cooper called Levels of Awareness? Depending on who you ask there are a number of levels. The idea is that a person’s awareness of their surroundings directly affects your response time. Those with a lower level of awareness will take longer to respond to a threat […]
Mike Patrick
195
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The Five Levels of Martial Arts Skill Development

The DSI generally categorizes each of the components of Martial Arts skill development into one of the five following areas: Karate Do Karate Jutsu Tuite Life Protection Life Taking The majority of practitioners never make it beyond the first level of Karate Do. Most Martial Artists stay in this level for their entire career.  This […]
Mike Patrick
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Criticism of Kyusho: Teaching is Too Static

One of the criticisms we hear often is that Kyusho is taught with static techniques and is not dynamic enough. There is some merit to the claim but it is not entirely accurate either. When teaching amy new skill, it should be practiced in a safe and static manner. The fundamentals must be taught and […]
Mike Patrick
75
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The Tactical Freeze

It is always interesting how life presents little lessons in the most unexpected way.  These small lessons can have huge impact however in larger applications!  Take the reaction of someone trained versus someone untrained to a violent encounter.  They can be very different reactions with life affecting consequences! Yesterday, while going to a local pharmacy […]
Mike Patrick
206
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fairbairn

Fairbairn’s Timetable of Death

About W. E. Fairbairn Let’s begin our Discussion of the Fairbairn’s Timetable of Death by first looking at who he was.  The following was taken from WikiPedia: William Ewart Fairbairn (28 February, 1885–20 June, 1960) was a British soldier, police officer and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the close combat, for the Shanghai Police between the […]
Mike Patrick
324
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Avoidance

As I have been preparing verbal de-escalation principles for my curriculum, I was surprisingly faced with an opportunity to put my study into practice. What timing!!!! For those of you who know me, I am not the type that takes ‘crap’ off people. That is putting it mildly! I grew up being bullied and reached […]
Mike Patrick
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Universal Response Technique (U.R.T.)

Due to the implications of Hick’s Law, I developed a concept several years ago called Universal Response Technique, or U.R.T. for short. This concept is about minimizing the decisions one has to make during a violent encounter. As we discussed previously, more decisions equals more reaction time. Consider what often happens during an attack. The […]
Mike Patrick
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alley

The Interview

The Interview is a process of victim selection which few prey know anything about. Unfortunately, this causes them to pass the Interview process. Having an understanding of what it is and how it is conducted, and more importantly, why is instrumental in failing it. Why would you want to fail an interview? Because this one […]
Mike Patrick
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womens-self-defense

Forced Teaming

Forced Teaming is a common tactic to gain compliance over an Interviewee. What is it? It is simply making an implied connection between two parties when there, in reality, is none! Let’s look at an example. In Gavin de Becker’s book, The Gift of Fear, he describes an example of Foirced Teaming where a predator […]
Mike Patrick
269
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Waveforms Greatest Hits

Dim Mak

In the world of traditional martial arts the word dim-mak is bounced around freely as an enigmatic and dark technique that has the magical ability to be lethal days after subtly administering it. Various points on the body are discussed as death points, touched or lightly struck, causing devastating and protracted effects. Much of what […]
David Hansford
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The Mystery of Traditional Martial Arts Training

The secrets of the Chinese-based martial arts, including karate, have been revealed gradually as the understanding into Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Chinese cultural experiences, and role these play in their fighting systems, has expanded. Still it all seems so mysterious with colorful names like “Palace of Toil”, “Bubbling Spring”, “Needle in the Sea” and […]
David Hansford
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How the Parasympathetic works in the body and how you can use it for such an unfair advantage

Recently at a Dragon Society International Seminar, Certified Instructor David Hansford released his thorough and detailed martial science research of the Parasympathetic Nervous System and how it affects the heart and other organs of the body. We were all blown away with this ‘cutting edge’ information to say the least. Grandmaster Tom Muncy said… “This […]
David Hansford
167
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Angle of Attack for the Most Destructive Power

Usually people relate this ‘player to the game’ to the angle the pressure point must be struck in order to transfer energy into the meridian.  Our DSI  pressure point charts show the angle necessary to inject energy or strike the point that will provide the least amount of resistance to the meridian core. This basic ‘player’ is easily […]
Rick Moneymaker
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Pericardium 6 – An Idiot vs. A Master

Seminar attendees often ask me why I spend so much time on arm points and stances.  It is because humans normally attack with their hands and the points of the arm below the elbow are very important to setting up point combinations that will render the attacker helpless. Making sure that stances are correct insures […]
Rick Moneymaker
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A phenomenon that occurs in every martial arts school

I would like to address a phenomenon that occurs in every martial arts school. The instructor cares more about the development of the student than the student does.  I constantly see instructors working their butt off trying to get students to ‘do it right’.  Instructors will spend more time trying to get the non-conformers to […]
Rick Moneymaker
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Some of My Favorite Pressure Points

Leg Attack Points ST 39 and GB 36 I want to discuss one of my favorite leg attacks.  The points below the knee at ST-39 and GB-36.  The attack works because of the ‘wood attacks earth’ part of our five element science.  The angle will come from the front at a 45 degree angle toward […]
Rick Moneymaker
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