How to Keep Your Gym Clean

How to Keep Your Gym Clean

Cleaning an important, vital and necessary function of a gym, but it’s not the most glamorous side of owning a business. It has always been important, but since the covid pandemic it has become even more important. 

WHY KEEPING YOUR GYM CLEAN IS IMPORTANT

Keeping your place of business sanitized is important to prevent the spread of harmful germs, and keep the dirt and grime off of equipment. Your members will inevitably touch and sweat on the equipment so regular cleaning and disinfection must be part of your regular upkeep.

Cleaning the equipment also keeps the equipment working correctly, and you see signs of equipment needing to be replaced before it breaks. Your members also sense when you have a clean and tidy place, making them feel good about coming into your space. Member retention is a key driver of maintaining your cleaning schedule.

We hired Birch Specialty Cleaning Company to provide some information about the types of cleaning services they perform around the gym and the cleaning products they use.

(If you are interested in using Birch Specialty Cleaning Company for your business, you can contact them here.)

CLEANING A GYM BY MICHAL COFFIN, OWNER BIRCH SPECIALTY CLEANING COMPANY

 To start things off, cleaning a gym is a unique proposition. There is a ton of equipment and surfaces to clean, as well as wet areas like bathrooms and showers. In a typical home, these areas only get used by the home owners, but in a gym they are used by potentially hundreds of even thousands of people. These are high traffic areas and they can get very dirty, very quickly.

Here are some thoughts on cleaning a gym, but they really overlap with other types of business.

GENERAL CLEANING AGENT

An essential ingredient of any cleaning is your base general cleaning agent. This is basically a solvent of some type that aids in removing and disinfecting while applying pressure. We avoid using harsh chemicals on expensive equipment, which can damage them over time.

DISINFECTING AGENT

The goal of a disinfectant is to kill germs and pathogens. The thing to remember about using these agents is that they need to be allowed to remain wet on the surfaces for a set amount of time to work correctly. The product you use will indicate the recommended amount of time. What this means is that using a minimum amount of agent and just lightly wiping (which will evaporate quickly) will not have the desired effect.

DUSTING 

Remember that dusting and cleaning are not necessarily the same thing. You should probably dust first, which will often simply move the dust from one place to another (the floor usually). However, in most places simply removing the surface dust is the only cleaning needed.

VACUUMING AND FLOOR CLEANING

Want to save yourself a ton of time? Buy a commercial quality backpack vacuum cleaner. It will pay you back in time saved x1000. Be sure to vacuum

before you mop (duh!). The rule of thumb is start high with dusting, then clean the surfaces, then vacuum, then mop the floors last. The floors will need to be wet to allow the disinfectant to do its job. See above.

How to Clean Gym Equipment

Your facility might have different equipment than we list below, but you can likely infer what you might need to do. Each piece of equipment needs to be cleaned but some have some slight differences depending on the material or electronics involved.

FREE WEIGHTS: DUMBELLS, PLATES, and KETTLEBELLS

Sometimes hand held equipment gets chalk or other grime built up on it and you’ll need to use a medium strength bristle brush to clean it off. Spray your cleaning agent onto a cloth (microfiber works well) and wipe all the surfaces off. Do not spray the agent onto the equipment as it might pool up and rust.

CLEANING FOAM EQUIPMENT AND FLOOR MATS (YOGA)

In this case spraying directly onto the surfaces is usually a good idea. Use a cloth that will not damage the surface, such as a microfiber cloth. You can also check with the manufacturer to see if they have any recommendations. Quite often you will want to wipe in the same direction as the grain on the surface. Remember that mats need to be air dried.

CLEANING TREADMILLS AND OTHER MACHINERY WITH ELECTRONICS

The big thing to remember is that you cannot drip liquid into the mechanical or electrical areas of the machines. That can damage or destroy them. Make sure that you clean and disinfect all the surfaces that members touch. It’s not a bad idea to unplug them first.

Article by Birch Specialty Cleaning Company

What is Krav Maga?

What is Krav Maga?

May 15, 2018

I get this question quite often, so I think it is worth spending some time to explain.

Krav Maga is an Israeli form of self-defense, developed for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in 1948. Prior to the formation of the Israeli state it was used by civilians looking to defend themselves from prosecution during World War II. Once the Israeli state was formed, Krav Maga was implemented to train soldiers in self-defense tactics necessary for combat. Since its creation, Krav Maga has remained a key part of the training that all soldiers receive.

Before going further, I do want to say that other systems such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay thai, boxing and others are excellent programs and have enormous value. Pretty much all of our instructors have and do cross train in all of these other systems. However, when all the aspects of picking a training system are evaluated, Krav Maga stands alone in its overall effectiveness.

Divisions of Krav Maga

There are many reasons why Krav Maga has become the go-to system for self-defense around the world, but not least of which is that it has been truly “combat tested”, over many decades, in many environments, by many different countries, and by many different security professions. What started as a military system has evolved to have several pillars:

• Military
• Law Enforcement
• Protective Services (air marshals, secret service, VIP protection, body guard, etc)
• Civilian

Each of these groups require specific training for the environment in which they operate, and Krav Maga has been modified to meet their individual needs.

When we say that the system has a modified to meet their individual needs, what exactly does that mean?

Essentially the use of force, environment, mindset, and available tools are different for each of these groups.  You can imagine that the use of force in a military setting under combat conditions is substantially different than a civilian. You can also understand that the outcome of an encounter with a police officer, whose primary purpose is to arrest and control someone, is different than a bodyguard protecting an important corporate executive. Also, imagine a mother protecting her children, versus an air marshal in an airplane protecting passengers.

Each of these individuals are in the role of protecting themselves or someone else, but the manner in which they execute that role is substantially different. One of the key aspects that governs how someone can perform their duty are the use of force laws. Krav Maga is a fairly unique system that takes into account the use of force available to people who are indifferent roles in society. For example, a private bodyguard who is protecting a corporate executive and a government secret service agent who is also protecting a corporate executive are being governed by different sets of laws and use of force capabilities; however, their roles are basically the same. No matter if a civilian is operating as a bodyguard, parent, teacher, or an individual, the use of force laws are essentially the same. However, if someone is in the role of a military unit or a law enforcement unit they are operating under different sets of use-of-force laws.

Most of the time when we are talking about self defense training people are generally considering only civilian use cases, like who can beat who in a fight given their training background. However, Krav Maga has the benefit of a military and law enforcement pedigree which gives it extremely unique insight into how to deal with complex situations such as multiple attackers, hostage situations, executions, third-party protection, and bystander intervention. This pedigree also provides for excellent training in situations involving weapons such as knives, pistols, rifles, and improvised weapons like rocks and bottles.

The  situations that people find themselves in often mirror quite closely with those scenarios that security personnel have to deal with. Even if we consider a basic bar fight scenario there are likely to be multiple attackers, improvised weapons, and situations involving third-party protection and protecting bystanders.

Timeline Based Training

Krav Maga also takes a unique approach to dealing with all kinds of threats in a universal format known as a timeline. The timeline of an attack can be thought of as a three part play. You have on one side of the timeline events that occur before in altercation, known as the pre-fight. in the middle of the play you have the fight scene. These are the times when people are actually using self defense techniques. And at the end of the play we have post-fight actions.

The reality is that fighting has very bad outcomes even for the winner.  Anytime people are involved in physical combat they risk injury, death, and legal prosecution. In almost all systems they will tell you to avoid fighting when possible, but they spend almost no time dealing with the pre-fight scenarios. In Krav Maga training we consider a technique to involve all three components, not just the fighting part. It is absolutely important to make students understand that the earlier they recognize the potential for a violent situation the more time they have to make decisions and adjustments that decrease the likelihood of involving themselves in a physical confrontation. In class we actually go through this pre-fight stage so that students experience what it is like to see a situation early enough to prevent putting themselves in harm's way.

Teaching Methodology

We also spend time going through how to defend against a variety of attacks and situations using many different elements to expose the students to scenarios that more closely aligned with what they would see in the real world. In general we use three elements to vary the training:

• Timeline
• Environment
• Variations

An example of a timeline based class might involve a simple choke. Students will learn how to get out of the choke, then learn how to prevent the choke from being applied, and then learn what to do after they have escaped from the choke.  To finish off the training we will put the students in a position where they have to make some decisions about whether they will prevent the attack, or deal with the attack and allow them to perform combatives Andy visions after they defend themselves.

One thing about self defense in the real world is that it will definitely involve an environment that is likely to be different then training on a wide open, beautiful soft mat. For this reason we often train with obstacles, chairs, against walls, among other students, and go outside quite often. The idea is that students need to realize the environment in which they are operating plays a significant role in what and how they can perform their techniques.

The last main areas that we include in training are variations of the attack. Variations might mean instead of being attacked from the front the same attack can be executed from the sides, behind, against the wall, or on the ground. In other words the attack is essentially the same but as your position relative to the attack changes the defense to it must adjust. Imagine someone takes two hands and grabs your neck to choke you. If you are standing in a open room, or against the wall, or in a chair, or in a car, or on the ground the attackers job is simply to take two hands and grab your neck. Your response to that attack could be quite different depending on where that attack happens and at what angle the attacker attacks you. by allowing students to explore these different variations we hope that they are better able to recognize attacks sooner and adjust their defenses more quickly.

Real World Background Matters

Before wrapping up this article I want to point out a few other areas where Krav Maga excels.  Defending against attacks from people with weapons is a fact of life for people in the military and law enforcement areas. Over the years militaries around the world using the Krav Maga system have had to deal with a range of threats with weapons. These threats are exceedingly dangerous and very often have  the very real possibility of life-threatening or life ending scenarios. Very few systems around the world have had to evolve and been used in these situations. As a practitioner and instructor I place a great deal of value and respect for a system that has successfully dealt with huge volumes of these types of threats in the real world.

It is also this real world use by security focused organizations that has informed the Krav Maga system how to deal with third-party protection and bystander intervention scenarios. first let me Define the difference between third-party protection and bystander intervention. Essentially a third-party protection scenario involves protecting someone who you know is deserving of your protection. This could be a loved one or someone you are paid to protect. A bystander intervention scenario is when you happen to come across and assault in progress but you do not know the actors involved in it. Imagine while out shopping and come across a scene of two people fighting. Would you jump in and stop the fight or protect the person who is being hurt? In some cases you would and in some cases you probably would not. Now imagine that you are shopping with your spouse and someone begins attacking them. Would you jump in and protect them? The answer is almost obviously yes.

The problem of dealing with protecting others is something that is almost only exclusively taught in Krav Maga. These are often difficult situations, and involve placing yourself in the middle of an altercation that did not originally involve you. In other words you are voluntarily taking on the chance of becoming injured, and all of the ramifications that come with physical conflict. For almost all situations that we learn how to protect ourselves in we also learn how to protect others.

Krav Maga is A Wide System

We like to say that Krav Maga is a “wide system” which means that we deal with a wide variety of problems and situations versus something like boxing which deals with a very limited number of problems and situations. When considering the type of self-defense training you are looking for you need to consider whether you are looking for training that is designed and purpose built for real world situations or is predominantly design for a sport situations and has been adapted back into the real world. As I hope you can see the difference can be quite substantial.

Thank you,

-Mike

Teen Dating Violence

Teen Dating Violence

May 14, 2018

Recent research has shown that a substantial number of women are unfortunately being abused while dating. In fact the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1 in 4 adolescents have experienced violence or partner abuse. The alarming fact about Teen Dating Violence is that this age group is particularly susceptible and it'll equipped to deal with violent situations.

Teen Dating Violence is actually a subset of intimate partner violence, which is by far the most common form of violence against women. Some people have the mistaken thought that women are attacked by strangers, when in fact this is highly unlikely. Approximately 80 to 90% of all attacks against women are committed by acquaintances that they already know. The generic term for this is intimate partner violence. It is a particularly difficult topic to deal with because the perpetrators are often well-known to the victims.

The reasons for teen Dating Violence often back to issues around self-esteem and control.

Low self-esteem

When a person in a relationship has low self-esteem they often look to control their partner. This stems from the fact that they may not believe enough in themselves or their self-worth. A person in a relationship who is not confident in themselves is more likely to attempt to control their partner through intimidation, fear, force and violence. People, especially young man, who are in their teens tend to have lower self-esteem then those who are older. Their lives are less established and they have less control in general over their circumstances. This lack of self-esteem often leads them to participate in actions that might be not in anyone's interest.

Immaturity

People of a younger age are still developing physically, mentally, and emotionally. The mental and emotional aspects of their development may still be substantially behind their peer group. Quite often women develop these traits earlier than young men. If someone is still immature for their age they may have difficulty communicating and expressing themselves, and they may not have the ability to control their responses to complex emotions like attraction, jealousy, and love.

Upbringing

We tend to assume that other people have been raised like we have and have the same set of social skills that we do. This is obviously not true and is unique to each person's circumstances. If a person was not raised well with the proper understanding and context of how to treat other people and how to express themselves through means other than violence they may act out their emotions in unexpected ways.

Peer pressure

When people reach a certain age their upbringing is often influenced more by the people they associate themselves with than their parents. if someone is surrounded by people who are pressuring them to behave a certain way or to exert a certain level of control, even if it goes against their own beliefs, they may end up succumbing to this pressure. The unfortunate outcome could be violence against their partners.

Inexperience

Like any other endeavor, dating can take time to figure out. When someone is first starting out dating they may not understand the complexities of relationships or how messy they can become. They may not understand the emotional toll that it can take on themselves and other people. They may have preconceived notions of what a relationship is like and how their partner should behave. When these expectations are not met or utterly obliterated, combined with elements that we talked about above, they may take unfortunate actions against their partner.

One of the main things that both parents and teens need to understand is that violence at this age is not uncommon. As mentioned above as many as one in four teens experience violence while dating. When you think about the sheer numbers of people this could represent you begin to understand why this problem needs to have a certain amount of seriousness and attention paid to it.

What to do when being followed in your car.

Care Driving Safety

January 18, 2018

Many people are followed while driving in their cars. Most of the time it may be innocent and inadvertent, but sometimes it can be malicious and with intent to harm. The key is to figure out if someone is actually following you and what their intent may be.

1. To determine if they are following you take a series of turns in the same direction (to the right or to the left). It is highly unlikely that someone will be randomly taking that many similar turns as you are.
2. Notice identifying features of the vehicle and person driving. Items like the make, model and color of the car, as well as the license place number can be relayed to police. Also, try to get any details about the driver.
3. If you have protective equipment on you or in the car, this is the time to get them ready.
4. Call the police. Inform them that you are being followed, where you are and describe the car. They will direct you to the nearest police station. 

Being followed can be a very serious situation. For more information please check out the video below: 

The problem of safety with ride sharing is probably larger than you ever imagined

Ride Sharing Safety

January 4, 2018

Recently I did a short safety video on tips to ride share safely with ride sharing systems (Uber, Lyft, etc...).

(If you haven't seen it click here)

The problem of predators pretending to be ride sharing drivers (Uber, Lyft, etc..) is probably much larger than you have ever imagined. A recent article at ESR (Employment Screening Resources) outlines numerous pending lawsuits and new laws aimed at making these services more safe. Would you believe that there have been:

• 345 reported sexual assaults
• 88 reported assaults
• 46 DEATHS

*Reported is italicized because reporting rates are notoriously low for these types of attacks*

According to a recent Washington Post article  "Nearly 15 percent of new ride-hail drivers in Maryland have been booted from the apps over the past six months for failing state screening, despite having passed Uber and Lyft’s background checks, according to the state Public Service Commission (PSC)." Obviously, these services are not nearly as safe as many of us (myself included) have thought.

I recently did a google search for "rape uber" and "rape lyft" and "rape ride sharing". The results were eye opening to say the least. Some examples of the results:

• Two anonymous women recently filed a proposed class action lawsuit
• Uber driver arrested for allegedly raping 16 year old
• Man accused of raping drunk DC area student
• A list of known incidents involving Uber and Lyft
• The case of PAVE ambassador Carl Westlund who was raped by a man posing as Uber driver

And many others...

The point is that while these services are extremely useful, they are not always as safe as we might think. Here are some very high-level safety tips:

• Make sure the car and driver match
• Have a "digital designated driver" when you are out drinking with friends - this is a person who's job it is to make sure you get into your ride home safely
• Share your trip with someone (CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW)
• Text or call someone at your destination so they know to expect you
• Check to see that the locks, handles and car are in working order. The car should be clean and look like it is professionally used.

One of the problems with background checks is that they only catch prior criminals. If someone decides that this is the day they are going to break the law, no background check will prevent that. This is where having a good background in self-defense is well worth the time invested. If you do end up having to fight, do this one thing:

• Point your feet towards the person and keep kicking as long as you can
• Avoid being grabbed at all costs
• If you are stuck in the back seat kick the window, door or seat
• Make the driver step around the front of the car where you can see them before exiting

This is a very difficult problem to deal with. Hopefully we can raise more awareness to the problem and keep people.

Stay safe!

-Mike

Key self-defense concept - Attack timelines

Attack Timelines

August 21, 2018

One of the most important concepts that I have learned from KMG is the timeline of attacks. What we mean by timeline is that attacks develop over a period of time, one that is unique to each attack. The point in time where the attacker has decided to move against you, and that sequence of events meets you in reality, determines your response. A response from you early in the timeline will likely not work at the end of the timeline.

Learning to recognize attacks

Why is it that we need to train for so many years if we could simply avoid be attacked in the first place? The answer is that we can only respond early if we recognize the attack, and one of the best ways to recognize the attack is to have seen it many times previously, making it very recognizable. 

I like to say that we would rather you prevent being choked than escape from a choke. However, the only way to prevent being choked is for your brain to recognize that a choke is imminent, and have the associated motor skills to respond in a beneficial way. 

Achieving mastery 

Mastery in self-defense / fighting is having your brain recognize the attack that is developing, and to begin the correct response to that attack immediately. Imagine we take a video of an attack and look at the individual frames of the video. If a few seconds of film flash by at 30 frames per second, a novice will only recognize the attack near the end of the video, after hundreds of frames have passed. Their ability to respond and the type of usable responses will be limited by that point in time.

If you were to compare that to a master, ideally they would have already recognized and simultaneously started to respond on the first frame. Your instructors / masters are not necessarily physically faster than you are. They have simply seen the attacks so many times, and performed the correct responses so many times, that they react immediately. 

Freeing your brain

If your brain is able to respond pretty much on auto-pilot to a stimulus, it allows you to start thinking at a higher level. Instead of worrying about what hand they are striking with and how to defend it, you are thinking about 1 - 2 moves ahead, learning how your opponent responds to certain stimulus, and able to deal with higher level problems. 

This is why we spend so much time focusing on the fundamentals of movement and striking. It takes literally thousands of repetitions to achieve mastery of any particular movement. Sometimes this seems boring, but the end result is that your mind is capable of doing the necessary in the moment while starting to think ahead to the next move. 

Applications beyond fighting

The timeline of an attack may extend many minutes, hours, days or longer prior to any physical contact. This could involve all kinds of stalking or other pre-attack indicators that are situationally dependent. Once we intimately know the behavior of attackers, we can learn to see indicators much earlier than most. We like to say that are "prepared, not paranoid", and this is what we mean. You become much more situationally aware of your surroundings.

One of the benefits is that other types of problems, such as dealing with potential accidents, become easier to predict and respond to. You see the warning signs of road rage much earlier and begin processing your response sooner. When someone is about to fall or cause an accident, you can see it and respond earlier. (A simple example - I once saw a waiter next to me with two plates of food on it. I knew if she removed the wrong one it would be off balance and cause the other to fall. As I thought, she grabbed the plate closest to her, causing the platter to become unbalanced and tip over. I grabbed the now-in-flight plate from the air and placed it on the table. It looked like I was fast, but really I just anticipated the accident.)

Keep training

The answer to all things is self-defense is "keep training." At some point in your training career you will start to understand that the techniques you have been working on, are now working on you. Training systems have been around for thousands of years for a reason - they work. A good training system will cross over into vast parts of your life, not just your physical safety while under attack. The key is to keep training - forever. As in most things, those that persevere achieve the greatest rewards. 

Kettlebells and Krav Maga - Connecting the dots

Kettlebells and Krav Maga - Connecting the Dots

August 8, 2017

When I first opened Crucible we did not have a fitness, strength or kettlebell program. We simply had a fundamental striking class and a Krav Maga class. At the time I did not yet understand the linkage between body mechanics, learning capacity and achieving technical proficiency. I did however know that students needed to be more "mobile" and "flexible" to perform some of the Krav Maga movements.

What about yoga?

At the time the only thing that came to mind when I thought about mobility was yoga. So we implemented a yoga program at my gym in Dallas and then also the one I had in Plano. And for a time it seemed to be a good fit. However, I noticed something in my own training - I was not getting more mobile, and sometimes it even hurt. Other than to simply keep trying to perform a yoga pose, there was no instruction on how to get from point A to point B, or understanding of the underlying body mechanics that governed if it was even possible for my body to get into the positions they were asking. So I continued to look and came across Kettlebells (www.strongfirst.com). It also happened that many top Krav Maga instructors were also top Kettlebell instructors. 

The Hardstyle System

What I like about using Kettlebells is that the instructors that certify and promote their usage are well versed in proper body movement. Safety is the number one metric that is considered. But what determines if a movement is safe? This is where the real gems of the system start to shine. The biomechanics of the movements have been studied extensively. They are backed up by many smart people and have a reputation for making your movements better and stronger. I highly recommend you dive into the vast number of articles on the StrongFirst website here (www.strongfirst.com/blog). Grey Cook and the team that developed the Functional Movement Screen are big advocates of the system as well. 

The hardstyle kettlebell system that Pavel Tsatsouline pioneered is just that: a system. When I first started learning it, I realized I would never think about strength training in the same way again. Looking back at all the time I spent in the gym, I realize that I probably wasted a lot of time and effort doing things that were not very beneficial - and sometimes they may not have been safe for my body. After learning hardstyle kettlebell training, my body is more resilient, stronger, more mobile, with better range of motion and conditioning than at any other point in my life. And I did it faster. 

When I see students come into the gym for the first time, I am usually looking for two qualities: coordination and mobility. I tell students that if they are mobile and coordinated, I can teach them anything. If not, it is very hard to learn anything. Practicing yoga made me neither stronger nor more mobile. This is not a generalization about yoga, just my personal experience. However, the ability to make the vast majority of our students both more mobile and more coordinated by learning the hardstyle system is what made me a big believer. The concepts are fully scalable to nearly every person that walks in the door, and can be put to use immediately. 

Why we use kettlebells

The reason we advocate for training with kettlebells is not that they make you stronger than any other tool. You can get strong with pretty much any tool. The reason is that we can engrain proper body movement, improve coordination, and make people safely strong at any level of current physical condition. It truly is a Swiss army knife type of system that is very adaptable.

Daily application

When new students come in to learn our kettlebell program, the first thing we do is put them through a Ground Force Method based mobility warm up. This allows me to assess their movement skills and to start getting their brains re-wired immediately. With a simple crawling drill I can tell almost instantly who is moving well, and who will require some additional work. 

In our typical first day of our 3 Part Fundamentals program we cover a large amount number of strength and movement skills:

• crawling
• hinging
• dead lifts
• swings
• hardstyle planking
• pull-ups
• push-ups
• farmers walks

After just one session we can teach a substantial amount of material. 

Connecting to Krav Maga and Self-Defense

How does all of this relate to Krav Maga? As I said earlier, the two main factors I look at are mobility and coordination. 

Mobility

Mobility, as I define it, is the ability to safely and with control put your body into a position. The ironic thing about training in hardstyle kettlebells is that while we are strength training, we are going to gain mobility at the same time. Traditionally when I think of strength training, mobility is usually something you give up. But by constantly reinforcing proper body position, and doing so under load, your body adapts in a positive way. Your shoulders and back become stronger and more mobile. With more mobility comes the ability to deliver more power in your strikes.

Coordination

Coordination is one of the most under appreciated skills in self-defense. As self-defense instructors we do not understand just how much more coordinated we are than average people. Traditionally the way to get good at fighting was to just do a lot of fighting - which is still true, but there are more effective ways to improve a persons coordination which will allow them to learn other skills, like fighting, faster. 

A kettlebell swing, turkish get-up, or a snatch are wonderful movements that require a high degree of mobility and coordination. When we first start students in the kettlebell program, one of the first enlightening thoughts they have is - hey this is harder than it looks and requires a lot of coordination. Being able to disassociate your shoulders and hips, and allow your limbs to do independent activities are some of the hardest skills to learn in self-defense. Learning the hardstyle kettlebell program will allow for a much higher degree of coordinated movements which will directly translate into an accelerated learning process for Krav Maga.

Core Strength

I'm going to add a third element here, core strength. It really can't be overstated that having a strong and mobile core are absolutely critical to your training. All of your movements in self-defense are basically a transfer of power from your feet and legs, through the core, and out to the limbs. And by "core" we are not referring to just a six pack of abs - your back, spine, pelvis, and posterior chain can also be considered part of your "core". 

When we learn how to leverage our striking through the core of the body (vs just hitting with the limbs) the amount of force we can deliver or repulse goes up very dramatically. When we say "use your legs to strike" what we really mean is "use your legs to drive, transfer that power through the core, and deliver with your limbs." Learning how to store and leverage the strength of your core can increase the strength of your striking by 2x - 3x. 

Conclusions

I consider the hardstyle system of kettlebell training to be the martial arts of strength training. It is versatile, safe, and effective. It makes everything you are doing today, better. It will make you a more resilient person, allow you to transfer power more effectively, and give you the kind of body control that enables you to learn material much faster. 

Stalking - What to do when someone is stalking you

What to do when someone is stalking you

August 1, 2017

Unfortunately I have had numerous students who have had to deal with stalkers. Sometimes they are violent, sometimes just a nuisance, but they almost always disrupt your life in some way. Dealing with a stalker is not an easy task, and may involve more time and energy than you think it should. (As an aside, we have a great Escape and Evasion course offered - check here to see if one is on the calendar) Lets dig into some of the specifics of how to handle this.

The first thing I usually ask: is this person known to be dangerous? When presented with a stalker I want to know if I'm dealing with someone who has already been violent. If someone has been violent in the past, I 100% expect they can be again in the future. If they have not, I assume that they could be, but that we may have a little time on our hands. Based on their history we can start to build a background on what types of actions are most likely to happen in the future. Once we start painting a picture of their history, I want to know more about them and relationship they have to the victim. Everything is on the table, but a background on someone starts to fill in the missing pieces.

The next thing I want to know is the victims immediate circumstances. Where do they live? Where do they work? How much free cash do they have? Do they have safe people in their circle? Do they have a safe place to go? Are they armed? What plans have they already made? The questions about the victim tell me about their state of mind, their personal circumstance, and how much of a safety net they have to fall back on. The type and detail of the plans they have made tell me if they are taking this serious or not. 

In many cases (most actually) people do not take stalkers nearly serious enough. When someone is stalking you, and is dedicated to it, a tremendous amount of their time and resources are dedicated to the effort. It is something that is clearly important to them. If you are the subject of the stalking, you should keep that in mind before dismissing it as just someone who is seeking attention. They have already put their lives on hold to pursue you, threaten you, and interrupt your life. You should take their threats seriously.

Tips to become better prepared

Here are some good tips I've developed over the years.

Mindset

Imagine that you get a call - "You cannot go home and you need to be hard to find. NOW!" What would you do? That is the mindset you need to have when thinking about how to deal with a stalker. When you think about everything through that lens it changes everything. The comfortable life and luxuries you have now can suddenly be removed for an undetermined about of time. 

Action

Establish a plan of action.

1. Create distance! The more dangerous and disruptive the stalker, the further you may need to go. The safest place to be is not anywhere in the vicinity of the stalker.
2. Where would you go if you needed a safe place. A family members home may be a good short term option, but if your stalker knows your family they will look there first. Have a backup family member or friend to stay with. Alternative housing/hoteling is a good option if you can afford it.
3. How will you survive financially? This is where a safety net comes in very handy. You may need some financial assistance in the short term. I recommend keep at least $100 on your person (more if you can swing it) for emergencies. 
4. Document every interaction with your stalker. It can be used as evidence to support your case against them should it end up in court. 
5. Arm yourself. You might want a taser or some other non-lethal weapon, or even a firearm. The degree to which you arm yourself will depend on the perceived level of violence and your ability to use it. 
6. Have a bag of essentials. Sometimes referred to as a "bug out bag" or a "go bag", this is a bag of essential items that will help you survive for a short period of time should you find yourself needing to be on the move immediately. 
7. Create a police report. The police can't help if they don't know you are in trouble. Even if you just file a police report, at least the paper trail is officially started and will be reference point should anything escalate. If you need a restraining or protective order, I suggest you file one as soon as possible. This will also let the stalker know that you are serious about stopping them and that the authorities know about them. If you are successful in getting one, and the stalker violates it, there can be very real and serious consequences. 

Be aware of your surroundings

This sounds a bit cliche, but it is all too often true. We get comfortable with who and what is around us. We fall into routines, eat at the same place, work at the same place, and generally have a very similar schedule on a daily basis. You should be very mindful as you move through life, especially when you are being stalked. I tell students to be "prepared, not paranoid." Sometimes I hear that this is a huge amount of effort for some, when in reality it's just being conscientious of the goings on around you, and especially who is doing them. Being on the lookout for suspicious people, vehicles and situations should be a common practice anyway, and is a must when you are being stalked.

Worst case scenario's

As I mentioned earlier, many people do not take their situation as seriously as they should. Just because someone is stalking you does not mean they will be taken to jail or otherwise stopped through legal instruments. When I tell people this they seem to be taken completely off guard, not understanding that even though a stalker is bothering you it may not elevate to the level of legal enforcement. Many times people can't understand why their stalker just doesn't stop stalking. 

In the worst case scenarios, stalking can lead to:

• Being taken hostage (in various forms)
• Being injured or killed
• Having property damaged or destroyed 
• Having your entire life, image, work, business, and relationships affected

In some instances I simply recommend that people relocate to another part of the country, even if temporarily. Given the seriousness of some situations, your life is more important than what you might lose by staying. I tell people that they aren't running, just starting a new chapter in their lives.

Students attending one of our Escape and Evasion courses.

Promotion to KMG National Team

Just a quick note that our founder and chief instructor was recently promoted to the KMG National Team. You can find more information here:

KMG National Team Website

The KMG National Team provides training and workshops across the country and is selected by Eyal Yanilov himself. 

Ground Fighting Workshops

The first and second events were jam packed with students, and we are expecting the third event to be the same. Be sure to be there Saturday August 12th from 1 - 4pm. We have a great class of ground submissions planned, including:

• Triangle chokes
• Arm triangle chokes
• Arm bars
• Shoulder locks
• Rear naked choke
• Anaconda and other front arm chokes
• Escapes from all of the above

These are courses you don't want to miss!

-MIke

Escape and Evasion August 5 - 6th

We have a few spots left for our August 5th - 6th Escape and Evasion workshop. Be sure to register quickly! Here is the link.

Women's Self Defense

I have either been at a gym training or owned one myself going on about 25 years. Over those years I have seen a distinct lack of women training in self-defense. Usually women consist of about 10 - 20% of the schools population. I noticed this problem when I was training in BJJ/MMA and again while a newer student in Krav Maga. There were just not that many women training.

Women have some distinct problems that men usually don't face:

• They are sexually harassed at a much higher rate
• They are stalked at a much higher rate
• They suffer from physical spousal abuse at a much higher rate
• They are raped at a much higher rate
• They are injured or killed by partners at a much higher rate
• They may feel scared or unsafe in many places where a man feels no threat
• They are often physically smaller and have less muscle mass than many men
• Their nature is to be less physically violent
• Socially they are not brought up to fight (at least not like many men are)

The reasons for women to learn self-defense are numerous. Beyond just the physical safety skills learned, there are emotional benefits and the empowerment that comes from the training. I have had so many life changing stories of women learning self-defense, even coming to just one class, that I made it my mission to make our gym as female friendly as possible. The results speak for themselves. 

• We have conducted over 30 women's self-defense workshops in that last two years
• 40%+ of our daily students are women
• We have observed many classes where there are more women than men training
• We have several advanced female students and assistant instructors
• We recently booked an event for 100 (yes, 100!) women to attend a women's self-defense workshop
• Our MeetUp group has 1200+ members!

How do we succeed in getting women to train? The answer is we encourage women to train and we make our school welcoming to them. We present classes in a way that allows women to participate without being intimidated or talked down to. We also have noticed that parents want their daughters to train in self-defense, so we made family memberships affordable. 

-Mike

How we do testing at Crucible

This question comes up a lot, so I thought a blog post about it would help. Here is my basic philosophy on our daily curriculum: teach what can be used, not for a belt. We teach our daily classes so that you can learn how to defend yourself in the shortest amount of time possible. But Krav Maga also has a ranking system, so how do we address the needs of those who want to rank? 

The answer is that we test about every 6 months, and the two weeks leading up to the test we start to focus the nightly curriculum around material found in the tests. You should notice that you probably already know 85% of it, you just didn't know you knew it. This allows us to fill in the gaps for students. We also have pre-testing workshops on the Friday evening and Saturday afternoon prior to the test day (on Sundays from 1 - 6pm). This gives us even more time to fill in the gaps and allows students to ask questions. 

While testing is not a focus of the school, it is something that I HIGHLY recommend every student do. Why? Mostly because of the opportunity to compress a lot of great knowledge in a short period of time. At the instructor level this is basically how we learn as well. We attend workshops with those that teach us (KMG Global Team) over a long weekend to get our techniques tuned up. 

It also gives students a chance to understand where there may be gaps in their knowledge, and work with instructors to fill them in as needed. We teach the courses so that students can basically come to any class and fit in perfectly. However, that means that you might have missed those nights when we covered a key part of the testing material for your rank. By attending the workshop and test, you may uncover material that you didn't know you had missed. 

If there are any questions, please just ask! 

-Mike

Discipline is greater than Motivation

I recently put a post on my Facebook page (here) that discipline is greater than motivation. To start, lets define each. Motivation is wanting to do something. Discipline is doing something even when you don't want to.

Discipline is the number one thing that will determine how successful you are at almost anything. You can have all of the physical, mental or financial gifts imaginable, but if you can't apply yourself over the long haul you will have a hard time reaching your goals.

During summer there are a huge number of distractions from vacations to just doing fun things with friends and family. We usually see a dip at the end of summer going into fall. When back to school starts to take priority, training takes a back seat and students start to drop out. In my personal experience, if a student has less than 2 years of consistent training, taking a two week break will almost always cause them to lose track of training permanently about 70% of the time. I've read that it takes 90 days to make a permanent change in your behavior, but for something that takes as much commitment as training in Krav does, I would say that is way too short of a window. 

How can you keep your training on track with so many distractions? Set your schedule and let it run on auto pilot. Schedule events around your training, not vice versa. If your training times are unmovable blocks on your calendar, you will likely stick to them over the long term.

-Mike