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Crafty_Dog
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« on: December 05, 2010, 12:39:47 PM » |
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Woof All:
If you think about it for a moment, it is clear that doing what we do in the American legal environment is no small trick. Not only in litigation crazy America is our foundation a form of fighting that the early UFC turned down for being “just too extreme”, but in order for me to dedicate my life to the “Dog Brothers mission” it is necessary for me to earn my living at it. I know, I know, it is not the craftiest of financial decisions I could have made -- as I sometimes joke, “I used to be a lawyer, but then I went for the big bucks in stick fighting.”-- but it is a life in which I believe in what I do.
Pay attention, this is a guide to how things are organized around here:
The DOG BROTHERS (DB)/ The DOG BROTHERS TRIBE: “A band of sweaty, smelly, psychopaths with sticks dedicated to higher consciousness through harder contact”. © DBI. My role within the Dog Brothers is “The Guiding Force”. The “Council of Elders” helps me make important decisions. The Council of Elders is Benjamin "Lonely Dog" Rittiner, Mike "Dogzilla" Tibbitts, and me.
The Council of Elders (COE) is the body that confers membership in the DB Tribe, though as a practical matter this is often delegated. To become a member of the Tribe no money is ever involved. It does not matter what your lineage is. Stating the matter plainly, though a goodly percentage of the Dog Brothers Tribe trains in Dog Brothers Martial Arts, the DB Tribe is a separate matter and having the COE bestow membership in the Tribe helps make the point.
DOG BROTHERS INC. (DBI): DBI has been incorporated in California since 1988. DBI is the legal vehicle through which “Dog Brothers Gatherings of the Pack are held”. This helps minimize the risk of legal liability for all concerned—including me!
Indeed, for that very reason all my teaching and all my other martial art professional activities I do not as Marc Denny, but as an employee of DBI. This also applies to my wife Cindy Denny, who is in charge of Reality at DBI. (I am in charge of everything else she informs me) Amongst other things, “Reality” for includes our DVD and other product sales and the websites. The “Magic Words” that open a “DB Gathering of the Pack” apply to all dealings with DBI too: “No suing no one for no reason for nothing no how no way. Only you are responsible for you, so protect yourself at all times. California law applies.” © DBI
DOG BROTHERS MARTIAL ARTS (DBMA): I am the Head Instructor of DBMA, which I founded in 1995. The mission statement of DBMA is “To walk as a warrior for all your days” © DBI. Please be clear that although lots of DBs got some or all of their training in DBMA, being involved with DBMA does not make you a Dog Brother or a member of the DB Tribe. Please keep this clear in your dealings with others.
As stated a moment ago in the previous section, all my DBMA activities are as an employee of DBI. These activities include:
a) private and group classes;
b) seminars (to which it is agreed that California law applies);
c) The Dog Brothers Martial Arts Association (DBMAA) The DBMAA is for everyone, particularly those without regular access to DBMA training. The heart of the DBMAA is the DBMAA website—particularly its forum, where I can be found most days. For more info ______________
d) DBMA Training Groups (DBMA TG): Typically DBMA TGs are your quintessential backyard groups. Each group has its own feel and its own mix of interests be it "Real Contact Stick Fighting", “Kali Tudo”, or the “Die Less Often” material. Each DBMA TG has a Group Leader (GL). A DBMA Group Leader is someone who is training with me (or Guro Lonely Dog in Europe) whom I have certified as a Group Leader. A group leader must train with me at least once a year with a “Personal Training Program” (PTP) or by hosting a seminar. (There are some additional requirements that will be discussed at an appropriate moment). There is a secure forum for DBMA GLs where DBMA and teaching DBMA can be discussed with privacy. GLs can post their lesson plans for commentary by either GLs and/or me. Videos clips can be posted. At random intervals, “Vid-lessons” are released. I am available to answer questions on the forum. DBMA TGs have the support of DBI/DBMA/DBMAA e.g. listing on the DBMA public site or on the public site forum. This can greatly help in finding kindred spirits.
The DBMA School Program (DBMA SP): Just as the DBMAA is for individuals wherever they may be and DBMA TGs are for backyard groups, the DBMA SP is for martial arts schools looking for to offer DBMA. The DBMA SP will give schools a way of building their people from the ground up. People developed in this program can prepare themselves to fight in a Dog Brothers Gathering and by so doing become members of the DB Tribe. People developed in this program can focus on walking as a warrior for all their days. As part of DB values having to do with initiation of boys into men, this program includes options for parents and adolescents (usually fathers and sons, but women and girls are welcome too) training together and for children’s classes.
To summarize:
DB: The Dog Brothers DBI: Dog Brothers Incorporated DBMA: Dog Brothers Martial Arts DBMAA: The Dog Brothers Martial Arts Association DBMA TG: DBMA Training Group DBMA TG GL: DBMA TG Group Leader DBMA SP: DBMA School Program
The Adventure continues! Marc F. Denny/Crafty Dog/Guro Crafty Guiding Force of the Dog Brothers President Dog Brothers Inc. Founder/Head Instructor Dog Brothers Martial Arts President Dog Brothers Martial Arts School Program
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