Tuesday, December 20, 2011

IS TIM LARKIN FOR REAL OR IS IT JUST THE SAME B.S.?

When an instructor is born full grown I am naturally suspicious. What I mean by born full grown is an instructor who seemingly appears on the scene without any verifiable lineage in any prior system other than the system he has claimed to invent. There are many examples of these types of instructors and there are some glaring consistencies in the inconsistency of their collective stories. Rather than go the route of establishing the validity of Tim Larkin's history and credentials, I have chosen to take a look at the material he is teaching, the way it is being taught and the pros and cons of both.

Tim Larkin is on the cover of Black Belt Magazine this month and in fact he has been named 2011 Instructor of the Year. Larkin is the creator of Target Focus Training (TFT) a fighting system that according to Larkin "Fills in the gaps that exist in most combat sports and martial arts". Larkin himself claims to have been competing in combat sports since the age of 4. "I've been involved in combat sports since I was about four years old, and various martial arts and combat sports throughout my grade school and high school. Sports background is basically football, basketball, water polo. I went to University with the goal of getting out into a Special Operations unit. So I went through Navy Seal training and did real well with that."

So this battle hardened former sailor has created “the most devastatingly powerful, scientifically-proven self defense system in the world today.”

A closer examination of his system exposes some very well reasoned approaches and some horrifc tactical approaches and worst of all, training methodoligies that are not at realistic at all.

Larkin's approach to knife defense is the focal point of this critique. In the BB article Larkin, while discussing knife defenses said "In reality, people punch with knives. People who survive a knifing say they never saw the blade. They felt they were being punched. That stat told us we had to alter the type of training we were doing with knives. It's why we teach you to injure the other person rather than try to control the knife. It's better to take out the man, to put him in a nonfunctional state."

The first part of the statement is true. People do punch with knives and most victims of a knife attack neither see the knife nor do they feel the knife plunge into their flesh. So in this I am in total agreement with Larkin. However the second part of the statement is problematic for me. To focus solely on injuring the attacker with negating or addressing the threat posed by the weapon is ridiculous and incredibly dangerous. It is imperative that the delivery system for the weapon gets neutralized while damage is being done to the assailant. It doesn't matter how hard you strike or where you strike your attacker, if you don't simultaneously control the delivery system for the weapon.

To assume that one strike to a sensitive area on the attacker's body is going to do enough damage that renders him completely powerless is absurd. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is a scientific law. So striking the groin of a person who is armed with a knife is going to cause some sort of reaction. Controlling the delivery system for the weapon, in this case the knife arm, is extremely important especially when you consider that the aforementioned response is completely unpredictable.

A further look at TFT reveals some significant issues from a tactical standpoint. It is clear that Larkin teaches his students to focus on damaging the assailant without regard for controlling the weapon the assailant is holding. This is flawed on so many levels. I believe though that the root of this problem is found in two areas.First I am not sure that Larkin is what he claims to be. I have significant doubts about his qualifications and actual background in combat systems either sport or reality based.

Secondly the fact that neither Larkin himself or his students train at combat speed. Everything they do is done at a speed that is so slow all of their defenses work everytime against a predetermined attack. The problem with training in this manner should be obvious. Any reality based training that does not include an element of the unknown, an exterior stress and a non compliant attacker must be viewed skeptically. How can the students deal with the reality of the unknown and the stress of a real attack when their training is not indicative of these harsh realities.

This is a critical point. In previous writings I have pointed to traditional martial arts as being the biggest offenders in this regard. They very rarely if ever train at combat speed vs an unknown attacker. They do forms and Kata instead or heavily choreograph their attacks so that the student gets a false sense of security and goes into the world unprepared. This is extremely concerning when you add firearms and edged weapons to the mix. All of the scientific jargon in the world does not replace sound principles. Claiming to have been a Navy Seal, super soldier or Jack Bauer is not enough to validate a system. Technical apptitude and tactical implementation are the cornerstones of any good system. Combat Speed is the final exam and really is the heart of the system. What happens when the attack is unknown and the attacker does not comply? This is the only method we can truly critique any system. In my professional opinion Tim Larkin and TFT fall way short of being considered a legitimately sound self defense system.

35 comments:

  1. Larkin is one of Jerry Petersen's SCARS guys, re-branded. It's the old San Soo Kung Fu-based stuff they have been doing since the original tapes came out in the 80's.

    These guys never go away, they just resurface with a new sales pitch, new backers, and free advertising in Black Belt magazine produces materials. The SCARS guys, Jim Wagner, Moni Aizik and his CKM crowd...they will be back, with new concepts, secret military techniques, and a new line of cutting-edge seminars or tapes.

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    1. You know what I have to say to yr bs? I think you should use the Freedom of Information Act to verify Tim's claims. Yes, Tim, as myself found Jerry Peterson to be the real deal. You obviously don't know shit and go along with the rest of the bitter idiots that talk bad about SCARS or TFT which are the same but also different because Jerry teaches from the standpoint of multiple attackers and Tim does deal with multi attackers but also fills in the blank to get in there and destroy. If you have anything else to say then be a man and go out to their respective locations and let them know. Other than that, I think KM is better as a self defense martial art which is basically karate and jujitsu with some boxing and wrestling so lets say SCARS or TFT really did evolve from San Soo, then you guys aren't unique in any way, shape, or form either. Get a life and concentrate on yr self defense while Ill train self protection!

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    2. Baloney- trying to control weapon is ignorant and foolish . True combat including the traditions of most mainstream arts \ were to kill and cripple the enemy - and incidentally punches and kicks were not the curriculum . All feudal combat was based on using or avoiding some type of large blade , I believe most cultures had a version of its sword, pre- firearms .

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    3. I started martial arts when I was 9 and continued through my mid twenties. Sho Do Kan, Tae Kwon Do among others. While it's true, I learned more Katas than I can count and participated in alot of fairly pointless (but fun) tournaments, I didn't learn any real lessons until I had my first real fight (I think I was 17).....You can't defend yourself if you don't see your attacker coming. Didn't matter one bit how much I knew. From that night on I trained differently. Situational awareness became the priority. People tend to attack you when you're not fucking looking. I don't care if you are an average 20 year old girl, a grandma or a Krav Maga trained terminator.....if you don't see the guy with the fucking 2x4 sneaking up on you.....well....
      I am almost 50 now and have had a few "encounters" in the intervening years and as long as I have kept my head on a swivel they never amounted to much. Granted, my tactics have shifted a bit....I carry a pistol these days but the basic rules don't change. Like the Cpl. said in Aliens......"Stay frosty".

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    4. Since you apparently enjoy running other "Self Defense" methods down, lets hear your gobbledygook about Jeet Kune Do. I'll even help you. Jeet Kune Do is the method of self defense that Bruce Lee CREATED. I seriously doubt that you could win against Bruce Lee, and his 1 inch punch!

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  2. I always thought my main delivery system was my brain, because it doesn't matter if you grab my hand with the knife I still have other options. And in all the videos I've ever seen with someone being hit in the groin the reactions have all been very predictable (guy doubles over,hands go to groin and depending on the amount of force delivered, goes to the groin in fetal position.
    http://www.targetfocustraining.com/slow-smooth-smooth-fast

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    1. @ Alvin, I don't have enough experience with knives to talk in anything other than theory. So in theory: if I control your knife hand, you might have other options but one option you don't currently have is to stab me. To me that seems important and may allow the fight to be finished without me taking any(more)knife damage. However arguing about that is rather worthless because it is likely a my imagination vs your imagination argument.

      With regards to videos of groin shots, I don't know how many videos of groin shots you have seen but it is likely that only the funny or shocking ones were published or shared. Why publish a boring groin shot video where nothing happens? So the pool of groin shot videos is likely to be massively skewed towards ones where people react badly.

      In my experience and observation, groin shots don't work some of the time for two reasons. Firstly, men are good at instinctively protecting their groins, especially men that fight allot. Some hip, thigh and maybe knee movement is often all that is required to evade/block or partially evade/block a groin attack from directly in front. You can preform that movement as a flinch and evade/block a groin shot instinctively. The second reason is that even if you hit the groin, some people will shrug it off and keep going. Enough alcohol, drugs, adrenalin or emotional disturbance (upset or crazy) will let you do this. These people don't even notice their balls hurt or in some cases their testicles have ruptured until well after the event when they have sobered up or calmed down.

      So like the blogger said: "to assume that one strike to a sensitive area on the attacker's body is going to do enough damage that renders him completely powerless is absurd".

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    2. I saw a fight some days back. the guys were not trained in fighting so that after about 2 min of fighting only damage was to the T shirt they were wearing. The funny thing that I noticed was they were so caught up in the moment both left all the space from chest down open. If we apply some of the TFT and use a groin shot, but instead of just hitting the groin area, what would have happend if we hit the groin and hold and squeeze the whole balls and stuff. What would have happened then? They did not use any weapons and were using hands like they were going to fly. What I purpose is if some one is coming to us with out any weapons and is going to hit. turn 90degrees, use the left hand to defend face by putting elbow to front and fist near year, bend down and strike and hold/squeeze the groin and then strike depending on openings. I am talking about untrained idiots who like to fight. In the situation I mentioned there was no chance of throat or eyes strike because of the hands flying. And regarding the knife what if we control the weapon hand and strike the eyes/throat/groin as soon as possible. There are some things I like about what he said 1. dont look at how big or small your opponent is , just look at the target and cause injury. 2. instead of going to the opponent and using hands and legs, go through him use body weight to destabilize and cause injury.
      3. fight from the position you are in.
      Dont you think it is very good system in its basic form for an untrained person. In my very limited experience it is very difficult to injure the eyes or throat after the fight has already started, what is left is the groin part. I thing it is best place considering the results that could be attained with little effort.

      what is your opinion on what have I said. I just saw some basic videos on Youtube on TFT.when it comes to basic ideas and techniques I think it is very good for a semi trained person. I cant say the same thing about the advanced techniques shown in some videos. Also he does not say anything about using improvised weapons like, sticks or rocks lying in the vicinity. Please give me some opinions on these things.

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    3. First of all if you think a groin shot is kneeing someone in the balls, you're already done for the day. Since it might be instinctive for someone to block a shot to the jewels, they will not be expecting a knee to the bladder.

      Where you want to hit an attacker is the open space in the pelvis where the bladder sits - it begins right below the waist and extends all the way down to the where the two sides of the pelvis meet - in front of the tail bone at the back of the spine.

      A kick to this region is devastating from an angle and can't be blocked by either the standing leg or the free leg because you are moving off to the back and side as you block the knife, and your knee will be coming in at a 45 degree angle right in front of the standing leg - which will be more than 135 degrees away from his free leg that he could not move it over there without having to lift it off the ground.

      A follow-up kick to his knee joint will send him toppling over.

      His attention is on the knife and his weight is on the same side as the knife - so he can't use that leg to block your knee or your leg kick..

      He will not be able to bring his free leg all the way over to block you leg. More than likely, he won't he thinking of using his leg at all, but the knife in his hand.

      That's why your first job is to control the weapon by blocking his wrist with your right hand, turning your body to the side of the thrust so that you can push it away while you deliver your kick. Or a straight kick to his knee joint will prevent a counterattack long enough to use your hand or outstretched fingers to spear or chop his neck to collapse his wind pipe, use your fingers on his eyes.

      Remember, he has the knife, so whatever you do to him with your body is justifiable. The goal is incapacitation to give you the time to get the hell out of there.

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  3. Great information sir. I enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks for sharing.

    Sanyo Seiki

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  4. My honest opinion on SCARS vs KM? They're different. Also, predominately made for different user in their beginings. KM was made to be utilitarian and fast to learn, SCARS includes some footwork different than boxing, more KF like way of movement. My question is, why we cannot just get along?

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  5. Here are several problems with your blog and your critique:

    1) Slow vs Fast. So I guess you train at "combat speed" when you are heel stomping a knee, or knee dropping the C-3 on the back of someone's neck? ~ ~ I didn't think so. You'd be driving your training partners to the hospital, or the morgue, every session.

    2) "How can the students deal with the reality of the unknown and the stress of a real attack when their training is not indicative of these harsh realities." ~ ~ How can non-compliant (competitive or full speed methods) be regarded as reality when they are not delivering crippling or lethal effect (to point #1 above).

    3) Calling out the credentials of a competitor (TFT) without any basis of fact is simply being a coward (or perhaps, a scumbag).

    I would go on and on, but as a coward, you don't have the intestinal fortitude to allow this to go on your blog.


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    1. Well Mr. Perez, I have been extremely busy as of late so I apologize for the delayed response. First of all there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a differing opinion. Hell, that's exactly why I wrote this blog.

      But you clearly miss the point here so I will type slowly for you. Combat Speed has more to do with the "attacker" moving in a manner that is more realistic and actually trying to touch the defender at full speed. For example a downward knife stab done at full speed is much more difficult to defend than one that is done at the speed of the TFT videos. So the defender must see and feel what it is like to deal with this type of attack in order to truly grasp the defense or his/her ability and willingness to do what is required in order to survive.

      Calling me names on the internet? Really Tom? Lol.. Um ok. My feelings are hurt. Seriously you have got to be kidding me. My name is Donavin Britt. I am the owner and Chief Instructor of Las Vegas Krav Maga. I stand by every comment that I have made on this blog. TFT is a system that is my opinion is extremely flawed.

      Does that sound cowardly to you Tom? My address and phone number are all over the website. www.lasvegaskravmaga.com. It is really so simple to find me. I don't understand why you would get your feelings hurt? Wait I think I know. You paid for this crap didn't you? You bought into all of the lies hook line and sinker. You do realize that this guy has been outed for trying to pass himself off as a Navy Seal, err.... "Almost a navy seal" for years. But hey I won't let the facts disturb your fantasy. This system is not recognized by any branch of the military. SCARS was around for 15 minutes in the 80's. This is the same crap in a nice package.

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    2. I've had a knife pulled on me on 3 different times. One time I grabbed the pocket knife, broke it in half, threw it on the ground and asked the guy, 'what you going to do now?'

      I would never recommend attacking someone that had a knife thinking I was going to disable them to the point they wouldn't be able to use that knife. I've also taken some pretty serious hits and keep on ticking.

      I'm talking about violent reality in the streets; not training.

      One time I used a gym bag as a shield and took the guy down then took the knife and ran like a coward!

      I'm pretty small and I don't like to fight.

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    3. I've studied two years of Aikido and a semester of Ninjitsu at NYU Brooklyn and tried out for Semi-Pro Football at Brooklyn College.I've trained with Auxilary NYPD and have military background from West Point,USArmyROTC and US Marine Corps although not A veteran. Although I am A big guy at 305lbs. not at my optimal football weight of 265 lbs or lighter I have my two cents having met thugs all over NYC.
      Always have a sixth sense of awareness and constant preparation for every situation by sports visualization and ultimately practice.Having interviewed 500 NYPD Officers and some Federal Agents its best to avoid conditions that will lead to danger,and walk away and if you can't degrees of severity of martial arts is employed to proactively react to the same degree.Here is where I disagree with TFT that all cops and Feds Agents have the reactive commonsense...when to maim in degrees,when to avoid,and the least when you must kill or be killed.Must regular citzens can't think this way.I am appplying to Brooklyn Law School to work for the DOJ and I believe in studying several martial arts adapting to ones series of stages of life spiritually,combat and sports.

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    4. I've studied two years of Aikido and a semester of Ninjitsu at NYU Brooklyn and tried out for Semi-Pro Football at Brooklyn College.I've trained with Auxilary NYPD and have military background from West Point,USArmyROTC and US Marine Corps although not A veteran. Although I am A big guy at 305lbs. not at my optimal football weight of 265 lbs or lighter I have my two cents having met thugs all over NYC.
      Always have a sixth sense of awareness and constant preparation for every situation by sports visualization and ultimately practice.Having interviewed 500 NYPD Officers and some Federal Agents its best to avoid conditions that will lead to danger,and walk away and if you can't degrees of severity of martial arts is employed to proactively react to the same degree.Here is where I disagree with TFT that all cops and Feds Agents have the reactive commonsense...when to maim in degrees,when to avoid,and the least when you must kill or be killed.Must regular citzens can't think this way.I am appplying to Brooklyn Law School to work for the DOJ and I believe in studying several martial arts adapting to ones series of stages of life spiritually,combat and sports.

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  6. There are some great methodologies in this system. I believe if you train TFT and incorporate it with other types of training your growth will be explosive. Suppose you combine TFT with Fear Adrenaline Stress Training (FAST defense)than you'll be able to use full force and speed against a heavily padded assailant. Ahhhh, now we've got a recipe for a dangerous person.

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  7. Tim always says he didn't finish Navy SEAL BUD/S training because of an ear rupture. He got thrown back in Naval Intelligence and discovered Jerry Peterson who was training at a small studio in San Diego and I believe he was calling it San Soo but Tim noticed that something was different as he had seen San Soo and Jerry informed him of calling it that because it was to get students and he had basically analyzed the different martials arts, San Soo being one of them so he could see where it fell apart as all martial arts do. Jerry explains himself in youtube videos and I've personally gone to talk with Blake and I could say he and his assistant were obviously bad ass and very down to earth and I've met KM instructors and to be honest, they were impressive but I wouldn't be afraid to have fought any of them. Look, TFT is great and the original is great as well. So that being said, I like KM and I would train it if I thought it was in my best interest but for now Ill stick with SCARS and TFT.

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  8. This is interesting seeing that I just found this and the blog post was made in '11. I just happened to see this Tim Larkin on the Katie Curic show telling millions of people that you can defend a knife attack by only striking the bigger, stronger and faster guy. Not once did he instruct on giving attention to the threat(knife). I wonder what his instruction would be if confronted by an attacker with a gun. Hmmm. But seriously though not addressing the weapon could result in you loosing your life. Yeah you may knock the guy but you will get stabbed and cut a lot. Now I know from experience it in most case takes more than one blow to knock some unconscious. I know from being taught that it only take one deep puncture wound to bleed you out. I wouldn't want to take a chance on dying when I could minimize the amount of damage my body has to take by attempting to control the knife hand. I'd rather be punched than stabbed any day. Now as far as his Naval Career that is public record and I have submitted a request to BUPERS to have his service record.(Big Naval family)

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  9. Thanks for the many great comments! From a blog post back from 2011!! most of the critical aspects are with the knife. It seems to me, if you remove the knife, TFT provides low cost, available by internet, rather quick, ideas on self defense. I'm not certain $27 could be better spent??

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  10. I recently had a sit down with Tim. He is very engaging and a gentlemen. I enjoyed our conversation immensely and I believe that his heart is in the right place. I have not trained with him yet but now that we are on good terms I think that will happen soon.

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    1. That's very good to hear. True Warriors that are trying to help and instruct regular people should be working together as much as possible...the good guys are all on the same side. Thank you for being a real gentleman and engaging in communication with each other. Well Done!!

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    2. That's very good to hear. True Warriors that are trying to help and instruct regular people should be working together as much as possible...the good guys are all on the same side. Thank you for being a real gentleman and engaging in communication with each other. Well Done!!

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  11. Okay, here are my thoughts....

    I see a lot of 'fear mongering" in these articles, not just the one being disputed here, but almost all of them. I mean, where do you guys live? One would think you live in a war zone where you have to fight when you open your front door!

    I am a private investigator, prior to being a private investigator I was a private sector bail recovery agent and I have seen my fair share of confrontations, not as much now as a private investigator as I did when I recovered bail skips though. To be honest, I have not seen a confrontation that I could not talk myself out of in 25 years. When I was picking up bail skps 99% of my pick ups were non-confrontational. and just required good communication skills, the other 1% required a hammer lock or some standard restraint technique.

    Don't get me wrong, one should be aware of their surroundings. One should also use some common sense and stay away from dangerous places, especially after hours. One should also know some basic self defense, enough to get away from an attacker is probably all the average, every day Joe needs to know.

    I think you guys are trying to make a ton of money by amplifying the possibility of random acts of violence. I also believe that CDs and Videos just simply don't do, if one is that afraid of being the victim of random violence, then they should go to a good school where they can actually practice how to avoid an attack under the tutelage of a good, practical instructor.

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  12. I hear all this crap their system is better, then its no this one.crap there is no one system.Bruce Lee made that comment. In a real street fight its what work then there.
    I have witness a ton of street fights an bar fights. I have yet to see some MMA guy in a Bar using dojo martial arts.one hit a the fights over some one get and some one goes to jail

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  13. The question that counts is how many knife fights has Tim had? Yeah they train slowly and expect like Jerry that their strikes will have predictable effects--not empirically proven.

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  14. I heard about TFT from a guy at work that is willing to pay a rediculous amount of money for a two day seminar that he believes will teach him to kill an attacker with targeted attacks and instincts. Naturally I was curious, and stumbled upon this blog. I see that it dates back a few years but was curious to know if the original author ever made it to a training seminar with the creator of this system.

    I generally don't participate in these blogs because martial arts is one of those funny topics like politics and religion that brings out strong opinions and a competition of who's style works best. I've already discredited the comments that couldn't make it thru an entire sentence without name calling.

    With that aside, I have a great respect for most disciplines but agree that entrepreneurs are constantly "inventing" systems to make a buck when really they are taking bits and pieces from centuries of combat defenses and organizing them into their own outline, complete with a spiffy name and a price tag. What I have seen of this TFT so far is no different.

    My problem with his concept is that someone who has not practiced target aim or focusing thier mind thru a fight or flight response will not simply break an attackers clavicle or push their testicles into thier intestines after a single seminar. I agree katas and forms are not preparing anyone for a life and death situation, but they foster focus, stamina, and precision. I remember what my strikes were like when I first started training, and not only would I not have broken a man's clavicle, I probably would have missed completely and fallen on my face. He seems to promise results without a sufficient foundation.

    The knife scenario has come up a few times and I agree with the notion that simply disabling an attacker without controlling the weapon is a recipe for disaster. I know the reputation Aikido has and the lack of respect it gets from some of the martial arts community, but this is a situation where it shines. Aikido uses small joint manipulation because it was used to disable an armed attacker wearing full armor. The wielding arm can be disabled and the weapon removed simultaneously. If there is full access to the arm, even better.

    The combination of Krav and Aikido, in my opinion, is tough to beat. I'm not sure why people are quick to dismiss any system that originated from war time as an imminent failure in a street fight. The more tools you have, the more situations you will be able to adapt to.

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  15. I studied Aikido for 8 years in Japan.When I came back to the US I went to 3 Aikido schools to see what they teach? GARBAGE-Black belt mills.As far as TFT ???? I would recommend someone take Krav Maga instead.

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  16. So then what I read from the various comments is that TFT is a decent system (meaning no worse or better than others), although the actual training presented in the book and online materials is somewhat lacking in the true representation of that system. As with most things, actual hands on training would be much better than any "at home" learning system. Good to know.

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  17. So many obvious spam comments in here. It's completely blatant that you've been paid or will otherwise make a profit from these comments.

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  18. So many obvious spam comments in here. It's completely blatant that you've been paid or will otherwise make a profit from these comments.

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  19. To be an accomplished fighter you have to be a cognitive and be aware of all situations presented and your defense cannot be a complicated one due to stress levels of assault situations.

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  20. To be an accomplished fighter you have to be a cognitive and be aware of all situations presented and your defense cannot be a complicated one due to stress levels of assault situations.

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  21. I know this is an old article, but I thought I would try to add a few things.

    Tim never was a SEAL and he is up front about this. He did apparently make it into BUDS, but did not complete it, allegedly due to an inner ear injury.

    SCARS is, or was, taught to the SEALS as one of their combatives, but was not the only thing they used. Also their SCARS program was designed just for them and not for the general public.

    I'm sitting here watching Tim's videos, and quite frankly, I'm shocked at some of the stuff I'm seeing. There are no blocks whatsoever, almost every technique ends in you turning your back on your attacker, all techniques are taught at ridiculously slow speeds with absolutely no movement on the part of the attacker (in fact they are holding absolutely still with the exception of showing you the alleged response you should see). I could see a trained fighter watching this stuff and picking up a few moves, but as a system taught to you're average joe with no training...well, I watched a student's video, and it was painfully clear that they didn't have a clue about how to throw a proper strike. Also, if you ever ended up in court, and they showed the jury one of these videos, let's just say you better be 110% sure the guy was going to take your life. YMMV

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  22. This is already old, but I gotta say, anybody talking shit about TFT/Scars clearly doesn't understand anything. I have several TFT DVDs, and in all of them there isn't one single claim that requires for you to trust Tim or take his word for it. He speaks in facts.

    These systems are for life or death situations, not for bar fights. Tim always emphasizes how you should do everything in your power to avoid violence if possible. When that's not the case, he teaches you to cause injuries. Injuries at the very least result in a body part shutting down, or the opponent losing his consciousness or life. In other words, an injury is the worst possible thing that can happen in any violent encounter, it ends fights, and it requires professional medical help. He teaches you to cut through the bullshit, avoid hits which will cause only physical pain, and instead go straight to destroying his body. Injury is objective, and no matter how tough someone is, he can't walk it off, ignore it or anything, there never was a case where a person ignored or shrugged off a gouged eye, a ruptured testicle, a crushed trachea or whatever, and even those who jack off to MMA know that any match ends when someone manages to land a successful liver shot. The only difference is, other than those 3-4 targets everybody knows, Tim gives you plenty of others (73 total) so there isn't a body part or an angle you can't work with. On top of that he shows you how to strike to create more force (since that boxing/MMA snaps usually can't create enough force), which is something you can test yourself. After all, when people kick down doors, windows or whatever, nobody goes for quick retreating snaps like those in the ring, but for full blown hulkstomps, because they objectively create more force. Then he teaches you about the mindset criminals have, and why they, despite having no training (and not even having this detailed knowledge of injuries), manage to maim, cripple and kill much larger, much better trained people than themselves, which is, once again, observable.

    As for you questioning Tim's background in SEALs, who the fuck cares? We know for a fact that SEALs used SCARS, and they even openly admitted on their website that much of that material is used today under a different name, since Jerry was very hard to work with, they had to part ways with him personally. On the other hand, you have SEALs like Jocko Willink who think BJJ is the best, even though everyone knows BJJ is practically useless outside of the ring, so I think we may be overestimating SEALs when it comes to this topic, after all, the vast majority of their training and their missions revolves around shooting, swimming, jumping and other survival skills. The military in general doesn't use hand to hand combat very often.

    It's a long post, but I had to write it out, cause I see many martial arts fanboys trying to bash a system that relies on easily verifiable facts. This system isn't some fancy techniques bullshit or anything, this is back to the basics, how violence always worked, mixed together with scientific facts.

    I have yet to find an anti-TFT comment that managed to poke a hole or point out an objective flaw in the system, that Tim didn't already cover and explain

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