GREAT Experience in Chicago!

On Nov. 18-21, I had the opportunity to assist in the training of members of the Illinois Tactical Officers Association at the largest tactical officers training event in the country. Kelly Worden invited me to attend along with Bob Anderson. We were to train these dedicated people in empty hand physical skills. This training, led by Kelly, included empty hand, baton, travel wrench, knife, body positioning, positional control, weapons deployment and retention, and using the environment, such as walls, to gain an advantage.

In attendance there were members of many Police Departments, Sheriff's, various SWAT teams, FBI, DEA, members of our Military, and others. The keynote speaker at the banquet was Brigadier General David L. Grange, retired from the US Army in 1999 after a unique and distinguished career. A few of his decorations include Three Silver Stars, The Bronze Star, and Two Purple Hearts. He has commanded or served in combat in the Rangers, Green Berets, Aviation, Infantry, and as a member of Delta Force. This just to name a very few.

There were people like John Holschen who served for more than 20 years in the Special Operations and Intelligence branches of the US Military; Henk Iverson who spent 3 years in a South African Military Unit which specialized in operating in small units tracking terrorists on foot, with the help of dogs, helicopters and motorcycles, during the South African Bush War. He also has experience and expertise in urban counter terrorism, hostage rescue, high-risk arrest, and VIP protection; Rudy Romero, a 32 1/2 year veteran of the LAPD as a SWAT Element Member and Crisis Negotiation Team among other qualifications; Mark Schlegel, co-founder of FTF Tactics and member of the L.A. County Sheriffs Department for 18 years and is now assigned to the Special Weapons Team.
These are but a few of the fine and dedicated people from around the country that were in attendance. In all there were approximately 700 Tactical Officers at this event.

One of the things that I think was appreciated was the fact that we were not trying to impart a particular "style" upon them. That is not what they need. What we did do was offer concepts and principles from varied styles such as modern arnis, RJKD, aikido, jujutsu, and boxing. Without pointing out any particular style, we worked on fluidity of movement and flow. Flowing from one range to another, gaining an attachment and transitioning from one level of force to another while trying to maintain positional control, especially the gun side, over the "bad guy", all while using various tools like a baton or stick, knife, or Travel Wrench.
Because we were not teaching a certain style, but movement, some of the comments that were made were about how "this is easy" or "I can do this" or "this is better than trying to learn a style". I was working with an FBI agent who mentioned how he had trained in another style previously, but that this way of learning was much easier and faster.

The humbling part, for me, was to see the large number of high level people, from so many different agencies, who refuse to rest on their laurels, but instead are committed to continue to improve themselves in any way they can in order to be one of the best at what they do, which is protect the citizenry of the United States.
I was honored to be a part of this.

It takes a colossal effort to plan, organize and effectively pull off such a huge event. It could not have been accomplished without the efforts of people like Chief Jeff Chudwin, Chuck Doll, Kathryn Bertrand, Lou Hayes and so many others.

It was a pleasure to meet and train with everyone who attended.
I would welcome the opportunity to do so again. (That is an understatement.)

Does Aikido really work? I've heard it said that aikido is more like a dance than a martial art. I've also heard "that would never work", or "I've tried it and it doesn't work". My response, or at least my thought to these types of remarks is; how many times did you "try" it, or how many years have you practiced aikido.

Professional athletes of all types practice their sport, or "art" continuously. A good pitcher doesn't throw one or two, or even several pitches and say, "I tried it and can't do it", or "that doesn't work". An Olympic swimmer doesn't give up after swallowing some water, or losing a meet saying, "I can't do it. It doesn't work". It is constant and dedicated practice and effort that makes one good at their craft.

Perhaps aikido didn't work for them, or didn't work that time. It is quite a defeatist attitude that only briefly tries anything, or gives something a only a cursory look and then passes judgment. It's a darn good thing that people like Einstein didn't have that attitude. Most successful people have failed multiple times before finding success.

As a style, admittedly, aikido often takes longer to get comfortable with, or gain a good measure of proficiency at. But one should not necessarily think in terms of style. Differently people move differently. People learn differently and for different reasons. People are drawn to one style or another for various reasons. Are these styles really so very different? After all, there are only so many ways to move or manipulate a human body.

At the end of the day, when one puts the "style" mindset aside, it is all the same. Case in point; I was once asked to share some modern arnis to a group of aikido stylists. They were amused by the uniform that we wear in the arnis class, saying that it looked like a waiters outfit. Cute. I showed some basic knife movements at a decent speed, wearing my waiters outfit. After they picked up their jaws and finished using explicatives like "sweeeet", I explained how if they put my clothing aside, and just looked at the movement, that it was aikido. The very art that they practice and are so proud of, rightfully. I have been training in aikido for more than 16 years, and continue to do so. I also teach aikido, and modern arnis, so I can speak of them with some knowledge. Both styles are beautiful, and effective. Both styles also share some nearly identical movements.

The first time I was thrown into a breakfall by my aikido teacher, Frank Hreha, without knowing ahead of time, I was smiling before I hit the floor. I seem to remember thinking "sweeeet!", or something similar. I felt the same way the first time I was shown the floor by Remy A. Presas, the founder of Modern Arnis. That does not mean, however that one style is "better" than the other.

All styles are good, and have something to offer. They also all share some connection or common ground. The truth is Yes, aikido definitely works. It is beautiful, flowing, graceful, classy, dynamic and can be peaceful, or devastating. But to simply see it, or try it a few times and conclude that it doesn't work is not fair, and borders ignorance.