Dog Brothers Public Forum

I lost the recording so I can't find his name, but there was a guy that was used in the "Taboo" episode that featured Gints club.  He talked about how the fighting experience sensitizes the fighters to violence because they became more aware of the consequences of aggression.

Dog Ryan

Go to the bottom of the page at http://dogbrothers.com/pages/gathering.html and download the Word document.

Hell yeah!!! I'm going to have a great time.

Where?

Woof Crafty

I liked the small format change in the last November's Gathering, where Linda could knife fight throughout the day.

Guide Dog - you fought great and you were fearless out there. It was fun and inspiring to watch you.

For me, the multiple days of fighting were a huge help.  I was not happy with my first day.  After listening to some of the wisdom in the pack (thank you Porn Star Dog and Dogzilla), a lot of soul searching, and no small amount of positive prayer from a good friend, I started the second day with a great fight against Red Dog.  That opened a path to fighting with a lot more honesty and joy for the rest of the Gathering.

If I had ended with the first day, it would have haunted me till the next Gathering, and that poor experience would have solidified and probably been much harder to work through.  With the pressure of coming back the next day, I had to solve it (or face two more days of unsatisfying beatings).  In addition to changing how I was fighting, I changed my stick (thank you Red Dog and especially Pappy Dog) and I went to a very light glove (thank you Poi Dog and Crafty for the encouragement).  The result was two days of very satisfying beatings (I don't normally bruise much, but I have some stick hickeys that are going to be with me for a week).

It was the transforming experience I was looking for from this Gathering.  The honor of being promoted to Dog Brother was a huge milestone for me, and hopefully the beginning of further and deeper transformations.

Below are few circuits I like.  Remember - no breaks between stations or sets.

*************************

This is my latest:

2 min Tire flip
2 min Sledge hammer the tire
2 min Tire flip
2 min Throw down a sand filled basketball (25-30lbs)
2 min Outside swings w/ kettlebell
Repeat (2 sets of these and I need a break)

*************************

This next one doesn't sound that bad, but it sneaks up on you:

Jump rope until you mess up (or 50 jumps)
Farmers walk a set of kettlebells out and back about 50 feet
Jump rope until you mess up (or 50 jumps)
Clean (and hold) a set of kettlebells while walking out and back about 50 feet
Jump rope until you mess up (or 50 jumps)
Snatch (and hold) a set of kettlebells while walking out and back about 50 feet
Repeat for 15 minutes

(Hint - to keep it challenging, have various sized sets of kettlebells or dumbbells handy.  I like heavier bells for the farmer's walk or at the start and then use lighter bells for the snatch or as I get fatigued.)

*************************

This one is fun:

2 min Heavy bag
1 min Indian club swings (10 - 15lbs)
repeat about 5 times

(hint - you can replace the club work with KB swings or thrusters or set of 3-5 deadlifts.)

Woof Maxx

Rio knows. 

Elbow pads are a bad idea.  Landing on your elbows is a natural reaction (aka bad habit) in the fall and you need to train out of it before you get hurt.  Most judo clubs won't let new guys do anything until they learn how to fall.

Once you learn to fall, it happens without thought. 

A friend of mine (a young wife and mother who does not practice martial arts) wrote the following about her impression of the show.  I thought it worth sharing:

I thought they portrayed the Dog Brothers very and only positively. 

First, I give them kudos for featuring a topic/culture that few people outside of this group probably know about (until now, anyway). 
 
I would loosely typify this group as something between a quasi martial arts alternative and a "no holds barred" therapy session.  As I think about it -- it's very hard to define this group b/c it is many different things to its participants. For some, edgy exercise.  For some, rituals.  For some, self-accomplishment.  "Dog Fighters" is a slight misnomer.  It's the invitation, not the party.

It was good that the editors focused in early on the honor code during fights, as if to influence the viewer in a direction of thinking "these are not your father's rough-edged barfighing misfits".

The entire group structure & culture seems VERY well honed & thought out.  I got the sense that the friendships & culture in this group runs very, very deep.  Almost as if men come to this group to exorcise a very large life demon that only their fighter brethren can help them achieve.

I finished the show with a true sense of what this group is about: a cross-cut of men who chose a very alternative but noble competition.  Modern day, sanitized gladiators.

There also will be a part of society that sees this just for what it is: a refined, millienium-esque fighting group -- nothing more, nothing less. 

I really appreciated that they portrayed  "thinking" men, professional men, emerging men, developed men & vulnerable men.  The "everyman".  There was no hint at cro-magnon or dumb street fighter, although some of the guys dabbled with a need for something "more" in an age of rule-heavy, clean sports.  The balance of participants was enlightening - both in age & life experience.

Of course, leave it to a science channel to insert needless psycho babble!

Why DO producers feel the need to qualify EVERYTHING with humanists itching to equate this to....I don't even know WHAT they were trying to equate it to b/c their "specialists" were really grabbing at dead air the entire show.  They sounded so unsure of what they were trying to define.  I kept thinking, "SHUT UP & get back to the show." 

Finally, I suspect interest in this group will skyrocket & that National Geo will do a follow-on to this piece in the next year or 2.  I could see a WHOLE season or series on this.  Very timely.

As you can see, I was very intrigued by the show (I'm re-viewing it on Sat. night & insisting Erik watch it, too).   But, beyond that...it was really good to see you grabbing life, firmly. 

Stay safe, warrior.

Shelly

ryangruhn

un-informed or uniformed?

Everyone isn't for everyone.  I have seen a little of his stuff.  He seems to have a following, I'm just not one of them.

This is very cool.  Good job Gints.  I have it set to record.

Howard's stories about the Warrior Christian, Solomon Kane, are my favorite.

"it has fallen upon me, now and again in my sojourns throughout the world, to ease various evil men of their lives"  Solomon Kane - from "The Castle of the Devil"

I found a longer promo video for Keysi.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1958414742547661012&q=keysi&total=48&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=9

Their hype makes me crazy but it does have some fun looking ideas and, like maija said earlier, interesting mitt drills.

The Wikipedia article on Keysi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keysi_Fighting_Method) states that the two guys who are developing Keysi (Justo Diéguez and Andy Norman) claim JKD through Inosanto.  I can't find any reference to them on Inosanto's site and I can't find any reference to Inosanto or JKD on the Keysi site.

Although it gives me headache to read their zenned-up BS about Keysi being an "amazing multi-dimensional journey into the world of self-discovery," repackaging/reinventing/rediscovering isn't a bad thing.  They're trying, I wish them luck.

Linda "C-Crazy Bitch" Matsumi?
 

Is it Linda "C-Bitch" Matsumi, or
Is it Linda "C-attribute to be named later Bitch" Matsumi?  I don't want to call into question something that's settled, but maybe "C-First Bitch"?

It is fun to run people into a wall - I like the sound they make.

So "Choirboy" is not aka "the Juggernaut," he fought "the Juggernaut" ... cool ... and you're trying to get "Choirboy" to the Gathering?  I'll go with him.

When I'm training and I don't feel like fighting ... I don't.

This isn't how I make a living.  If I don't want to spar, then I lift KB's, hit the bag, ride my bike ... stay active, but listen to your body.  The silence between the notes is part of the music and all that Zen

Between the fox running for his dinner and the rabbit running for his life ... the rabbit often wins - even when the rabbit is in a wheel chair.

Just want to share some personal news.

Today, I rode a 100 mile bike ride (at an aveage of 13 mph).  It kicked my @$$ - I had trouble walking when I got home.

CFR

is there a lot that can be missed in FMA by primarily training only things which can be applied in sparring?

This hits on a real frustration of mine.  Techniques are a recording system for movements.  They can become so institutionalized that the context is lost (your hand must be placed in just this way ... WHY?) or they are so systemized that no useful muscle memory is being trained (5 different steps for 12 different disarms).

My answer to your question is, "Yes."  I try and exercise patience when learning techniques that I initially don't think will work at full speed because I hope to find something in the movement to add to my tool box.  I remember learning a disarm and thinking "This *&!@#@ move will never work," but then I started throwing an elbow into the guy's chest on my way in and the move worked beautifully.

Any of us above 40 probably share the desire to get stronger every year.  The 360 was part of the that quest.

To that end, I was dead-lifting the other day and felt ready to try for a new goal ...



245 lbs One-Handed (w/ the help of a lifting strap).

Forgive me for the bragging, but I'm pretty happy with this.

I had quite a break in my full participation in Gatherings.  During my first fight at this Gathering, I had trouble with my mental focus.  My opponent (Randy) wrapped up my stick arm like a python and all I could think of was getting my right arm free.  Towards the end of the fight, my focus widened and I remembered I had a left hand and started punching.  With each fight, my mental focus got better and I started relaxing.