Dog Brothers Public Forum

Good luck to all the fighters.

I'm missing you guys.

Scotty

After being given the privilege of getting a sneak preview of the beginning of the DLO3 DVD when I was in LA recently, I felt I had to post some comments.

Even with the issue of gun being lesser in the UK, I found the material on the 1st two DLO dvd's eye opening in many ways. It's changed a number of existing aspects of my "reality" game and added new ones as well.

What I've seen of DLO 3 so far not only expands on this further, but deeper. The fact that it's also more one-on-one instruction rather than seminar footage, imho, allows for much greater understanding of the material being presented. All in this is the logical progression of the foundations Guro Crafty has already put in place with the 1st two volumes.

I can't wait to get this on pre-order 

Congrats to all, I'm gutted I had to miss the moment.

guess I'll have to make up for it next year

I'm greatfull today for my parents taking the boys over the weekend, giving Mrs Scotty & I the chance to have a nice meal then go see Dark Knight (which is fantastic btw)

I'm greatfull today for yesterday spent with my wife (Kids were at the grandparent's)

Had a BBQ (yes it was finally sunny in Scotland), sat in the garden & then watched a DVD in the evening. A simple, but very, very good day.

I'm glad to see greater clarification of the UK law, but I'm fed up seeing Tony Martins name being used as a figure head of the right to Self Defence in the UK.

The man shot 2 teenagers in the back as they were running away, with an illegally held shotgun, has been diagnosed with Paranoid Personality Disorder & is an advocate of the BNP (British National Party, a racially motivated political party). He stirs up the kind of reactionist tabloid mentality that makes it difficult to argue intelligently for greater rights 

today I'm greatful for having a crappy day at work yesterday,

which led me to come home and say "don't make dinner hon, I'm taking the family for pizza to cheer myself up"

which made me feel guilty that I'd just eaten an obscene amount of pizza but haven't been training outside class since I hurt my elbow,

which made me get up early & run through my medicine ball workout 

Elbow feels a little tight, but not sore which I'm taking as a good sign 

I'm sitting here jaw agape....

Pardon my language, but WTF?

I live in Glasgow, Grew up in Renfrewshire & am ashamed that this is happening here. My wife's just qualified as a kindergarten teacher & finds it ludicrous, The nursery she works in has a couple of single parent kids. their solution... Make a card for your grandfather, or someone you care about. As Mrs C-Scotty has just said over my shoulder "Kids don't know they're different till you tell them they're different".

God I'm glad of the razor my Kids got me for father's day (none of your cheap Gillette rubbish, a proper straight razor  )

Thanks for the Congrats  Starting to feel nervous now it's "real" all of a sudden

Dog Dean, Can't wait to be in the same position with my 5 year old, we play about & he's got his own padded stick to smack daddy with, but I'm looking forward to him wanting to do it properly.

Today I'm grateful for they guys I work with, who are already trying to organise my leaving do (I'm taking that as a sign I'll be missed, rather than they're trying to get rid of me  )

today I'm gratefull for my work giving me tomorrow off to sit an exam in college, and for my wife for being close enough to my work today to meet me for lunch.

I know some of the Glasgow Clan spend time in Ireland regularly due to family matters, but I'm not aware of any of the UK Clan members having a DBMA tat (though I've only met a few of the guys from south England).

Hi Rory,

The power & footwork tapes are where I started out as well ,so they're a good Choice.

I'd also recommend Guro Lonely's Power DVD as well as it complements Top Dogs very well.

Feel free to give us a shout if your ever in Scotland   

Quote from: Matt Tucker on January 30, 2008, 08:48:37 AM

Ho did you see it pray tell.......

He showed what was under his kilt and apparently it was enough to see the show.   

Dude, in those spandex shorts, what was under the kilt, felt Like the show 

Finally got to see it over the weekend.

Props to everyone interviewed on the show, you did the tribe proud.

It was great to see all the fights, and it has really got me excited about going back over again this year.

(I can't believe they left out the "swish of the Kilt" though    )

Yay   

I know OP had this before the gathering, but maybe Nat Geo can use it as well

In the time I’ve been training in DBMA, the question I’ve been asked more than any other has to “Why do you want to fight at the Gathering?”

It’s a question that’s been asked of me by everyone, family, friends, students, people I meet at seminars, someone even asked me it just before the last Gathering in Bern. The reason for them asking the question changes from person to person, some are asking because they want to try it but want to make sure it’s a sane thing to do first. Others just don’t get it, they see the risk but not the reward.
This article is more for the latter.

The first time I saw the Dog Brothers on tape, I had conflicting emotions.
My first feeling was confusion, why would they do this???
I’d been told by my first instructors that the weapons side of the art was so effective, you could never test it. They said to do so would leave both parties badly injured and there was too much risk. Besides everything we were training had already been battle tested by those who had gone before us. There was no need to put ourselves at risk.
Yet there it was on film, a bunch of guys using their skill to defend themselves and putting their health on the line.
My second feeling was anticipation, because I wanted to do it as well.

The path to my first Gathering took me a few years, but looking back on it, the main thing that stopped me going sooner was me. That wasn’t a bad thing, for all the good I have to say about a Gathering, it’s a dangerous thing to do & you need to be doing it for the right reasons. To paraphrase Crafty “Sometimes, especially the first time, you should just watch”

When I got to Switzerland that first time, the fear running through me was immense. On more than one occasion I thought of backing out & had conversations with Guro Crafty & Guro Lonely about the emotions I was feeling. The openness with which they discussed their own pre-fight emotions will always amaze me. It all boiled down to one thing, if you weren’t scared, there was something wrong. It reassured me to realize that despite all their skill and successful experience, the fear was still there and they did it anyway. My own fear, while still a powerful force, started to seem a little less dominating.

The moment of truth came quickly, the fighters had assembled & Crafty said the Magic words “"No judges, no referees, no trophies. One rule only: Be friends at the end of the day. Our goal is that everyone leaves with the IQ with which he came and our goal is that no one spends the night in the hospital. However, only you are responsible for you, so protect yourself at all times. No suing no one for no reason for nothing, no how, no way."”
Guro Lonely got up and put on his mask for the first fight of the day. If I didn’t do it now, I’d never do it. I felt a moment of detachment as I put on my mask and walked to the centre. The Drummers started, we tapped in & the two most spiritual minutes of my life started.

For the two minutes that we fought, nothing else outside existed, my job, my credit card bills, and the fact that my car needed new brakes….
For the fist time that I can remember, I existed only in the moment. Every second that passed was the only second that mattered. Everything except what was in front of me faded in perspective. A man who is extremely skilled in what he does, pushing me to the limit of what he feels I can take (at one point, I could have sworn that Lonely smiled at me through his mask after setting me up beautifully. He swears he didn’t). The only thing to protect me is the stick in my hand, the light gloves & the thin mask on my face. In those two minutes I experienced a feeling of responsibility and self awareness that had been missing in my life till that point.
In day to day life it’s easy to pass responsibility for everything onto everyone else. You trip in the street, someone should have fixed the paving. You crash your car, the other guy should have watched where he was going. You get knocked out or hurt, your corner or the ref should have stopped the fight earlier.

Here was a place where only I was responsible for my actions, I made the choice to come, I did the extra hours at work to buy my plane ticket, I stood up, I put on my mask and if I got hurt, it was due to the choices I alone had made.
If however I grew in some way, regardless of the outcomes of any of my fights, learned a little, matured a little, moved a little bit closer to being the type of man I want be. Then this would be down to how I dealt with the path I’d chosen.
This was and is a very powerful realisation.

The realisation that I solely was responsible for the direction of those two minutes,  and how I chose to deal with any consequences, has passed through to the rest of my life & I hope it will be with me for a long time to come.

There are a hundred other reasons to fight at a Gathering, for one thing you’ll never meet more honest or friendly people. For me though, it’ll always be to again experience those two minutes and rediscover the awareness they teach. That only I am responsible for my course in this life, and anything else is just excuses or fear.

To remind myself, that when it comes down to it, “Only you are responsible for you”

I've posted it on martial arts planet & sent it around Myspace as well

 

The school I teach in on a Wednesday night is the KFM school in Glasgow

I've watched a couple of Classes while waiting to get on the mat, and also met one of the founders (Andy Norman) back when I was training with the UFA group in england. I won't pretend to know much about the system but it does seem to be a mainly a modified version of empty hand Kali/Silat. I've seen some ideas I like and some I dislike.

I'm not sure how close any link may be or to what degree the founders are authorised by him, but it's my understanding that there is also a link to Guro inosanto.

It's seems to be growing in the UK and in a lot of the MA press, but with the the batman angle you can see why. 
 

Graeme "C-Scotty Dog" Higgins

I'll send an e-mail when i get home

Also, speaking of Jardine, I am surprised to see that Liddell-Jardine is a PPV headline fight, and Jackson-Henderson was free

It seems to be something to do with where the fights are held. In the UK we get all the US UFC's free but have to pay for the ones held here?

I'll be there along with at least another 3 Scots 

Anyone else going ??

Wuff and congrats to all the other fighters that joined/moved up in the tribe.

I had a ball meeting you all 

Mrs Hig & I leave for the airport in about 9-10 hours. I'm going to try for a bit of a Kip, but I've got that Xmas-eve feeling

See everyone soon 

thanks 

I'm assuming it'll be wrestling boots or mat shoes only ?