Dilemmas in the CQB / CQC  – “How Close is Too Close?”
© Copyright Avi Nardia

Tueller Drill  –  OODA Loop and Hick–Hyman law

The Japanese have a saying – Even Monkeys Fall from Trees!

サルも木きから落おちる (saru mo ki kara ochiru, rare) – even experts occasionally make mistakes.

From early slogan of Kapap – Noah’s Ark was built by amateurs, while The Titanic constructed by Experts. That is why it is ‘Better to be students of reality, rather than Masters of illusion.

Each day we study something new, we can judge videos of Bruce Lee today, but we need to remember the time it was made, it was the best new knowledge at the time.

Over time things evolve and progress, we can’t look with today’s knowledge into the old, we need to look as studies progress and always remember than even monkeys fall from trees.

Tueller Drill is a self-defense training exercise to prepare against a short-range knife attack when armed only with a holstered handgun.

Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Salt Lake City, Utah Police Department experimented on how quickly an attacker with a knife could cover 21 feet (6.4 m), so he timed volunteers as they raced to stab the target. He determined that it could be done in 1.5 seconds. These results were first published as an article in SWAT magazine in 1983 and in a police training video by the same title, “How Close is Too Close?”

A defender with a gun has a dilemma. If he shoots too early, he risks being accused of murder. If he waits until the attacker is definitely within striking range so there is no question about motives, he risks injury and even death. The Tueller experiments quantified a “danger zone” where an attacker presented a clear threat.

• An armed (edged or blunt weapon) suspect can cross 21 feet in about 1.5 seconds
• An officer may draw from the holster and fire 2 rounds in 1 – 1.5 seconds
• Those first rounds may not stop the threat

Teller’s drill is the foundation for some of today’s action/reaction time research, which should be correctly applied to train officers to increase distance (when possible) in myriad situations. The distance increase is likely beyond what officers may have originally felt was sufficient.

Submitted as evidence are the following suspect-movement time studies:

• Study illustrates that seated suspects can cross five feet at an average of 1.3 seconds
• Study shows standing suspects can cross six feet at an average of 1.1 seconds
• Study shows standing suspects can cross 25 feet at an average of 1.6 seconds

The Tueller Rule as deadly 21 feet Zone giving martial artists a tricky problem dealing with the short distance – we all know the best defense is run a way, but what if you can’t run away, your locked into a situation and can’t escape.

I want KAPAP Krav Maga to lead the way in dealing with the issue of close distance, and create the best concepts in close quarter conflict. Krav means close quarter in Hebrew and Maga means – touch as combat touch.

Working with the Grom shooting team and Master Željko Vujčić, we have made a new DVD for Budo Magazine, ‘Self Defense with Guns’. The DVD is purely about guns, it covers empty hand working with NO time for reaction.

To make sure we all understand the problem and find better solutions (as the market is loaded with instructors selling fear, picking fault and not offering solutions – we have all been aware of the problems for many years, but can’t guarantee the best solutions as they are complex problems. We can buy many things but not time).

The 21 feet measurement is a deadly zone, even if we double the distance and make it 42 feet (12.8 metres). Most people think that doubling the distance means doubling the time.

BUT, it’s not as straight forward as it seems. In the first 21 feet, the attacker goes from zero to maximum speed. The next 21 feet the attacker has accelerated their speed and reaching that distance only takes 2 seconds. This shows us how the problem of short distance can be, and how we lose time for good reaction.

Let us add into it – Exsanguination this is the loss of blood to a degree sufficient to cause death.  It is most commonly known as “bleeding to death.” These words ‘bleed to death’ create more issues.

It can take between 6-14 seconds to bleed out depending on the injuries sustained. This means even if you shoot someone they can still run long enough to reach and stab you.

The Tuller drill can be applied to knife fighting too. Over the years I have watch Kali and Hubud drills, when I watch this reminds me that these are just DRILLS. They are too choreographed to work in real life.

Why? Because you don’t want to be working the same distance as your attacker. If you can cut them, they can cut you. One of my first KAPAP slogans used was: “Even a dead man can kill you”.

Based on this concept we take the risk away first, by attacking the hand of the assailant nullifying the threat. I have watched too many instructors filled with ego, teaching students to cut to the neck, rather than the hand.

This brings us back into shooting different ideas with the Mozambique Drill also known as the Failure Drill or Failure to Stop Drill, or informally, “two to the body, one to the head. We recommend using the death triangle, aiming between the eyes and mouth. But continue shooting until the threat has been neutralized. We talk on Stop Power and what’s called “Pocket shooting ” example as break hip be stop power , Ammo and velocity gun caliber all play in stop power as so drugs and others factors on object.

It’s important to note when hand to hand training, remember that just because you’re not bleeding on the outside doesn’t mean you’re not bleeding. Internal bleeding can be tricky, hard to detect and may show up only as bruising or swelling, if it shows up at all. However, internal bleeding can be extremely serious, especially bleeding from major arteries. You can bleed into your chest or abdominal cavity and die without ever showing a single drop of blood on the outside.

The next idea is – Hick’s law, or the Hick–Hyman law, named after British and American psychologists William Edmund Hick and Ray Hyman.

This method describes the time it takes for a person to decide as a result of the possible choices they have: increasing the number of choices will increase the decision time logarithmically.

Hick’s Law is a simple idea that says that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision.

You can find applications of Hick’s Law everywhere, not just in web and app design. Hick’s Law determined the number of controls on your microwave or your washing machine. A design principle known as “K.I.S.S.” (“Keep It Short and Simple”) became recognized in the 1960s for its effectiveness in this regard. Echoing Hick’s Law, K.I.S.S. states that simplicity is the key for a system to work in the best way.

But remember – Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Leonardo da Vinci

Finally, the last idea: The OODA loop. This is the decision cycle of observe, orient, decide, and act, developed by military strategist and United States Air Force Colonel John Boyd. Boyd applied the concept to the combat operations process, often at the operational level during military campaigns. It is now also often applied to understand commercial operations and learning processes. The approach favors agility over raw power in dealing with human opponents in any endeavor.

The one thing that is really good and effective in self-defense training, close combat training, Police training and military training is this. Experience teaches the student to fly through the OODA loop while keeping the enemy in the OODA loop.

OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. This process is what our brain must go through during any given task. We observe that something is happening, orient towards it (figure out what it is), decide as to what we need to do and then act.

The “OODA Loop” principle was developed by Lt. Col. John Boyd for aerial combat in the Korean and Vietnam war era. John R Boyd figured this science out as a young U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. John was cocky even by fighter-pilot standards… he issued a standing challenge to anyone who dared to try to defeat him in mock aerial combat. To make it even more of a challenge for him once in the air he would start from a position of disadvantage. He bet that he’d have his jet on the challenger’s tail within 40 seconds, or he’d pay them $40. Legend has it that he never lost. His amazing ability to win any dogfight in 40 seconds or less earned him his nickname “40 Second” Boyd.

What Lt. Col. Boyd discovered was that if he could keep the opponent in the loop, and he got through OODA, he had gained a great advantage. For example, if the enemy was observing Boyd doing a roll right, by the time they had orientated to this move and could decide or act, Boyd would roll left forcing the enemy back in the OODA loop all over again.

As Boyd taught the principal to airmen to use the loop (and keep others in it) he discovered that after five rounds of actual air combat that pilot became virtually unbeatable. After five attempts they would not get caught in the loop anymore and act first and keep the initiative. He put science behind successful pilots who fought in WWI and WWII, pilots who shot down enemy aircraft were called ‘Ace’s’.

Control the loop and keep the attacker in the loop.

The OODA Loop works on us as well as the enemy. That’s why we want to trap them, by constant observation. Experience has taught us to stay orientated and block their ability to make decisions fast enough. This can be done in two ways, by verbal domination and changing channels, and having a better relative position.

By keeping a constant step ahead of the opponent, using action / reaction, by studying, analyzing, training and learning to recover from the worst situation.

Then we can still win the fight.

Join Our Academy – www.avinardia.com                 www.avinardiablog.com

Introduction to Close Quarters Battle (CQB)
© Copyright Avi Nardia

CQB can be described as combat taking place within buildings, cars, hallways, stairwells, rooms, enclosures, and other constricted spaces. Although CQB training first started with military and law enforcement personnel, it is now being taught to security unit personnel and civilians. CQB is important to security forces because the techniques associated with CQB serve as the foundation for recapture tactics. As a result, security units and their personnel must have the ability to respond to a “worst case scenario” by recapturing the asset that it is protecting.

CQB can involve – individually or collectively, hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and more. As a result, we need to be proficient with every move. For instance, with hand-to-hand combat we cannot assume that the enemy will freeze up when we engage him. We need to think that he will counter our moves so we need to consider this and be ready for it in the fight – whether it is with a firearm or with a knife. That is why in Kapap we include these elements as a part of the hand-to-hand combat program.

Violent Confrontation

This term is used to describe a meeting of two or more combatants (even if one or more is passive) where there is the potential for or actual use of extreme destructive force. This type of confrontation usually occurs at close range in a short amount of time.

The SOP 9 Study

This study was conducted in New York and examined every shot fired in the line of duty by law enforcement officials during the course of one year. Out of a total of 2,047 shots fired that year only 217 actually hit their intended targets and only 10 percent of these shots hit vital organs. During interviews with the officers involved in these shootings the majority of them commented that they never even acquired their front sights when they engaged their target. Additionally, these officers also experienced some or all of the following:The confrontations took place at the range of ten feet or less with duration of less than four seconds. During this time, fewer than five rounds were fired.

* The typical response was from the holster.

* A sudden feeling of shock and surprise overwhelmed the officers.

The end result of this study showed that the police officers were NOT trained properly enough to handle these of life and death situations. Now, can you imagine what it would be like for a civilian who has even less training than these officers? That is why, for civilians, realistic training is needed and should be conducted by experienced firearms instructors.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

Psychological Aspects : Under severe stress, the normal mental processes become extremely difficult and the mind resorts to its most basic processes.

The following are examples of psychological effects you may experience during a combat situation or any other high stress situation:

1. Tunnel vision: Under extreme stress your attention will primarily be focused on the greatest threat and, as a result, you will have a temporary loss of peripheral vision.

2. Auditory Exclusion: As with tunnel vision, you will focus on the greatest threat and will have the inability to hear for a period of time. For instance, you will probably not hear anyone shouting at you.

3. Electro Dermal Stimulation: A reaction of the skin that makes the hair stand up on the arms and the back of neck.

4. Time/Space Compression: There will be a slow down in the perceived passage of time and a shift in perceived spatial relationship in times of high stress. This is caused by the inability to judge speed and distance and accurately balance the two. Also, you may experience a slowing down of time. In other words, everybody will seem to move in slow motion.

5. Mental Track: In most high stress situations, to include life and death situations, a person’s ability to keep track of the details of the situation taking place around him becomes nearly impossible. In most police shootings, a police officer being debriefed after an engagement does not usually remember how many rounds that he fired. This can happen even in training. Therefore, as a shooter, you must learn to beware of the number of rounds you fired so the weapon does not run completely dry in the middle of a firefight. This concept of awareness not only applies to a shooting situation, but also applies to hand-to-hand combat and edged weapons.

Physiological Aspects: Regardless of how much training an individual has certain studies, along with the SOP 9 study; show that during a combat situation, one or more physical changes take place in an individual’s body. That is why proper training is necessary to help minimize certain aspects.

The following are examples of physiological effects you may experience during a combat situation or any other high stress situation:

1. Pulse and Breathing: In any excitable situation, pulse and breathing will always be affected. Your heart rate increases and your breathing becomes rapid and shallow.

2. Adrenaline: This is nothing more than a hormone that stimulates involuntary nerve action. The amount of stress you are placed under will depend on the amount of adrenaline released into the system. When adrenaline is released into the body, it stimulates the muscles. This causes them to tighten. Depending on the individual and the situation, this is more than adequate to affect an individual’s shooting position or fighting position.

3. Coordination and Reflexes: Under any type of stress hand and eye coordination degrade severely, especially the coordination of the hand and fingers.

The Chemical Cocktail

The reactions just discussed are the result of the body’s survival response to a potentially lethal situation. When suddenly placed in a life-threatening situation, the body will dump the below listed chemicals into the bloodstream and mix with sodium. This “chemical cocktail” creates an imbalance characterized by general muscle tightening and loss of fine motor skills. This chemical cocktail includes:

1. Epinephrine: An adrenal hormone that stimulates automatic nerve action (fight).

2. Nor – Epinephrine: A hormone that is formed naturally in the body’s nerve endings during times of fear (flight).

3. Cortazol: A crystalline hormone released to the body’s nerve endings during times of fear (fight).

The body’s reaction : The body’s response to this imbalance by releasing potassium to counteract the effects of the sodium. However, this process takes time and slows our ability to react. As a result, we must always seek to minimize the impact that this chemical cocktail has on us in order to improve our reaction times. We can do this by training to maintain the proper “mindset”.

Mindset is a term used to describe an individual’s state of mental readiness to act or react to a stimulus in our environment that ensures survival. This proper combat mindset is neither learned nor can it be taught, it must be developed from within. The tools you need for proper combat mindset can only be exposed in a schoolhouse environment to help you to develop yourself.

The Breakdown of the Mind:

Conscious Mind: The conscious mind is the thinking part of the mind. It takes seconds to make decisions when using this part of the brain. In any type of combat situation the conscious mind’s decision making process is too slow to keep you alive. The conscious mind is a hindrance causing you to have to react to every situation instead of acting.

Sub-Conscious Mind: Reacts to situations. This part of the mind works in quarter seconds, which is much faster than the conscious mind. It has to be trained in order for it to work properly.

When training, the skills being learned need not only to be simple, but sound and effective. The sub-conscious mind is only developed through proper repetition (muscle memory) in training.

You must strive for perfection each and every repetition.

If you train poorly, or if the training is too complicated or too detailed, when the sub-conscious mind takes over it will not be able to respond properly to the situation. What occurs is the conscious mind identifies the situation, realizes it cannot handle it, and then turns it over to the sub-conscious mind to react. That is why we say that in any type of combat situation a person must rely on his training in order to survive.

The Optimum Combat Mindset:

Optimum combat mindset is the state of mind where you have prepared yourself mentally (both consciously and sub consciously), physically, emotionally, tactically, and technically to endure the rigors of combat for prolonged periods of time and under extremely adverse conditions, and still remain effective.

Developing a Combat Mindset:

Like the body the mind needs to be conditioned to respond or function properly in combat. When faced with a combat situation you want your mind to be free of distractions so that all of your focus is on the mission at hand – such as getting out of a situation and if it’s at the killing zone, killing the enemy and surviving the encounter). You need to be mentally prepared for death and injury and you need to go into the fight prepared for the worst. For instance, if you find yourself in a knife fight you should expect to get cut or if you go into a shooting you should expect to get shot.

Remember, response time is a critical factor in surviving a violent confrontation in a CQB environment. Do not waste time analyzing and second-guessing in an attempt to make the best possible decision. The time that is saved in the thought process will in turn save your life as you fight to end the fight.

One of the most Important things to remember is do not forget the One plus rule – if you get into a fight hand to hand think he could have a knife ,if he has a knife he could have another one or a gun All the time keep alert and one step ahead!

Gross motor skills Fine Motor Skills and complex motor skills are part of the combat and the stress effect it in different ways we need to ready as set training to face reality and stress effecting 

Make KAPAP Combatives rules and “S-words of Wisdom” as a way of life

The first rule is that there are no rules….

KAPAP Combatives “S-words Of Wisdom”

Kapap – Martial arts that teach Traditional – Cultural – Contemporary Research and Explore study Personal – teaching evaluation of techniques with no conflicts

Most People like talk, we like to do!

Fearlessness and Determination are the key to the fighting Spirit, the key to winnning the fight!

“Israeli martial arts and CQB, a concept before it was a martial art”

“Always a student, sometimes a teacher”

“Better a student of reality than a master of illusion”

“Any weapon – one mind“

” be the weapon ” your self make yourself the  first weapon- than any weapon you carry be more effective – do not depend on weapon only 

“Edged weapons do not run out of ammunition and they not jam much as can also changing angels of attack ” thats what make them more risk to disarm than gun 

“If you fight an edged weapon assume that you may get cut if you fight a gun assume you get shoot – now see all from damage control concept and assume that make sure its not vital areas as set them on priority  in your defense 

“There are two kinds of fights: for your ego or for your life. Kapap is for the fight for your life”

KAPAP agenda – we look for quality not quantity!YOU buy your certificate with hard of and write it with special ink made from blood tears and sweat 

Because of the experience – no one can fight with experience. Find a good teacher!

Kapap-Krav Panim El Panim – The next step in Israeli martial arts – all you need is INTEGRITY – We get you the skills and knowledge need – ANA Moto (Avi Nardia Academy)

The Backfire Effect: Why Facts Don’t Win Arguments

What should be evident from the studies on the backfire effect is you can never win an argument online. When you start to pull out facts and figures, hyperlinks and quotes, you are making the opponent feel as though they are even more sure of their position than before you started the debate. As they match your fervor, the same thing happens in your skull. The backfire effect pushes both of you deeper into your original beliefs.

Many Martial artist claim I’m not an internet warrior, but in modern era Internet wars are common. Unfortunately, the internet warrior uses the safety of been in a distant to slander. People with big EGO and Flexible moral who like to critic’s others and stand on their shoulders just to seem to be taller.

Mostly it is between open minded teachers that will try any idea, to closed minded teachers. The second will block them self and more sadly their students from opening their mind as its scare them that the students may find that there is more than One solution. An open mind is a mind that is receptive to new ideas and information. Opposed to a closed mind which will reject ideas and is stuck in my way is the only way.

Another Philological effect is the Inferiority Syndrome – Martial artist that believe that what they do is best and Only way. That, leading their minds to The Dunning-Kruger effect – in the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias wherein people of low ability suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their cognitive ability as greater than it is.

It occurs where people fail to adequately assess their level of competency — or specifically, their incompetency — at a task and thus consider themselves much more competent than everyone else. This lack of awareness is attributed to their lower level of competence robbing them of the ability to critically analyze their performance, leading to a significant overestimation of themselves.

In simple words it’s “people who are too stupid to know how stupid they are”.

The inverse also applies: competent people tend to underestimate their ability compared to others; this is known as impostor syndrome.

That get us into internet wars and many times I heard friends say I’m not an internet warrior, but a warrior is a warrior no matter what be the battle field Internet, or any part of life and best example is Socrates

Socrates the Soldier – Most people think of Socrates (470-399 BC) as a, old philosopher.  People are often surprised to learn that Socrates was, in fact, also a decorated military hero, renowned among other army veterans for his courage on the battlefield, and for his extraordinary endurance and self-discipline.  Some scholars believe that it was actually Socrates’ heroism at the Battle of Delium that catapulted him to fame in Athens.

In the Book the Republic he set the first solider or warrior issue –

Solider thinking if we assault and win we can do it even without me any way, as some will loss life even when win, if we loss why should I risk myself? I better stay behind, and we call this moral issue ” fix your shoe ” as one droop and tell his friend I just fix my shoe and join you.

Moral and warrior code didn’t start today on Internet, but for sure the internet can be a stage to equations that are legit, but the sad part is that most internet warriors are only open to slanders and critics others and once get answer they run hide behind backfire effect.

Maybe it’s because “selfish gene” via “altruism gene” that help the once with more selfish and less skills better way and hope to survive.

As I read Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.” Gore Vidal 

Some time its Human weakness and happiness to see someone fall and fail to feel stronger.

Some Martial arts will ” have Based ” their skills on statistics (BTW without FACTS) and about statistic already said ‘Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.‘ it’s made most to prove your point BUT not a Fact.

It can go into character murder mostly done as a purpose, Understanding the power of Media and Google by using it as business weapon, and direct slanders to try take someone better than you out of the” game”.

While some get slander on line No friends or students or colleague try defending them, and it may part of the bystander effect, or bystander apathy. It is a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present and on Internet so many people present so no one feel it’s his obligation to defend his friend or teacher that get slandered.

Using again the “Genovese Syndrome” as 38 people witness murder but No one did anything, the same applies to the Internet. Character murder on people with know that the syndrome will work, and no one will do nothing, mostly for the lack of ” Open Mind “.

Let’s keep open mind and good attitude on the internet. keep open mind and educate our self as what is the meaning of open minds

“” It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

—Attributed to Aristotle

© Copyright 2018 Avi Nardia w/Aleks Nardia & Edited by David Meltzer

Terrorism and the Art of Game
©Copyright 2017, Avi Nardia

Smartial Arts – When We use Brain in Martial art – An Accomplished Martial Art

“You’ve got to be cruel to be kind” – Terror Mean – Fear

Fear Cut deeper than any sword – That’s the weapon of Terror

“Everyone wants to be a Hero until it’s time to be a Hero…”

“My greatest fear is dying unaccomplished,” because there is so much remaining to do and such little time to do it with the incredibly hectic lifestyle I have created. My teacher: Hanshi McCarthy Patrick. This sentence has run around my mind for years. At some point later in life I’d found Plato’s words: “A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.”

We say ‘after the war, the bar is loaded with heroes’ we see it on FaceBook, how everyone’s a weekend hero BUT as martial artists we want to be accomplished.

Today we live in a world that claims to be ‘reality’, like a reality show, reality TV, reality Martial Arts and it seems that we are succumbing to the big illusion of inferior people playing with illusional lives. Each instructor try make videos as he is the most devastating and fear killer cool instructor but forget that when we teach martial arts we must teach compassion First.

September 11 “and now each group want make much Mega terror incident to impress and win the crown of Best terrorist- that’s why we call last workshop “From Hollywood to Holly Land to Any Land “Now it’s not in Only part of world now terrorist is Virus that hit every place. Today, worldwide we all pay a big price for this game as we all face radical groups. The competition is for the title of who is more evil and brutal. Al-Qaida look like a Disney fantasy compared to the newest evil groups.

In an Israeli Army base there was once a sign that said: “My destiny is to live by the sword, for it is better in my hand than on my neck.”

To fight back is the only way to deny evil.

“You’ve got to be cruel to be kind.” In Israel we say “Who is merciful to the cruel would be cruel to the merciful.”

Anthony Poshepny was a CIA legend (seen later in the movies) during the Vietnam war. When the CIA Station Chief questioned his body counts, he told the partisans to cut off the ears of the dead enemies, which he kept in a plastic bag. When Poshepny considered that he had enough ears, he forwarded them to the Embassy in Vientiane.

Poshepny gained the respect of the Hmong forces with practices that were considered barbaric by agency standards. He paid Hmong fighters to bring him the ears of dead enemy soldiers, and on at least one occasion mailed a bag of ears to the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane to verify his body counts. He dropped severed heads onto enemy locations twice in a grisly form of psy-ops. By the way, he stopped sending ears to the CIA when he saw locals cut off their own kids ears because he would pay for ears and they needed the money to survive. That demonstrates the first law of human survival: first take care of yourself.

On November 19, 1935, the British ship HMS Lord Rodney, a hijacked European ship, arrived carrying 500 Māori cannibals armed with guns, clubs and axes. They proceeded to enslave some Moriori and kill and cannibalize others. A hui or council of Moriori elders was convened at the settlement called Te Awapatiki. Despite knowing of the Māori predilection for killing and eating the conquered, and despite the admonition by some of the elder chiefs that the principle of Nunuku was not appropriate now, two chiefs — Tapata and Torea — declared that “the law of Nunuku was not a strategy for survival, to be varied as conditions changed; it was a moral imperative.” A Moriori survivor recalled: “[The Maori] commenced to kill us like sheep…. [We] were terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed – men, women and children indiscriminately.” A Māori conqueror explained, “We took possession… in accordance with our customs and we caught all the people. Not one escaped…..” The invaders ritually killed some 10% of the population, a ritual that included staking out women and children on the beach and leaving them to die in great pain over several days. The Māori invaders forbade the speaking of the Moriori language. They forced Moriori to desecrate their sacred sites by urinating and defecating on them.

After the invasion, Moriori were forbidden to marry Moriori, or to have children with each other. They became slaves of the Ngati Tama and Ngati Mutunga invaders. Many Moriori women had children by their Māori masters. We see again in history that being a vegetarian and human keeping high morals is great, but sometimes against our basic survival instinct we need to fight cannibals with no ethics or morals or any code, otherwise we can become slaves to the barbarians that rape and murder us and later serve us up as food.

This brings me to the first human instinct, the survival instinct, that many have forgotten.

France’s terror attack, like the USA’s September 11th attack reminds us of the first rule: if we plan fight back – we have to be cruel to be kind. The art of war is not to grow flowers and shelter the rest of us from seeing man’s dark sides, the evil we want to forget and ignore but that we can’t. We’ve already found the enemy and decided to play the game called “burn the boat”: The point of no return, which is the point beyond which one must continue on one’s current course of action because turning back is physically impossible, prohibitively expensive, or dangerous.

When Hernán Cortés and 600 men arrived in Mexico in 1519, after a long and treacherous voyage across the Atlantic, he gave a rather interesting order. Burn the boats. The Spanish conquistador’s order was given prior to his stunning mission of battling, defeating and plundering the riches of the entire Aztec Empire – to prevent any return.

Terror today plays the same game as burn boat: there is no return point. The game of ‘chicken’ is a game in which two drivers drive towards each other on a collision course and one must swerve, or both may die in the crash, but if one driver swerves and the other does not, the one who swerved will be called a ‘chicken,’ meaning a coward to his peers. Now his peers must decide his fate, his status.

In France we say Vaut mieux prévenir que guérir – “It is better to prevent than to heal,” But this already late to prevent BUT world wide we can see as – Tous pour un, un pour tous. “All for one, one for all” (from Les Trois Mousquetaires [The Three Musketeers] by Alexandre Dumas)

– LETS WIN on TERROR as ONE

Tracking the “Way” in Budo and Combat Martial Arts
Avi Nardia

(Published in Budo Magazine 2006)

Finding the Right Teacher: “Without the right teacher, it’s not considered learning.“
It is said in Budo that it is better to spend 15 years looking for a good teacher than not to do so and to start training 15 years too soon.

Dogen, a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher and founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan said, “Without the right teacher, it cannot be called learning.“

The departure point for Budo begins with finding a good teacher, for if not, the exponent is likely to fall into the trap of doing Budo the wrong way.

A good teacher will impart the principles (called in Japanese – RI) of Budo to the student, and they will then be able to learn Budo the way it is meant to be. In other words, Budo becomes the instructor.

The instructor teaches the student how to learn the techniques. Even if the way this is presented is easy to follow, it is based on a series of profound principles. It must be remembered, however, that although the techniques used by the instructor are based on RI, they will be imbued with that individual’s personality, like adding flesh to a skeleton.

The famous Buddhist priest Kobo Daishi (774-835) said, “Don’t look at what your predecessors left behind, and look for what they were looking for.” The student or disciple must avoid duplicating their teacher. On the contrary, the student must look at the “way” their teacher is looking at, and how they have travelled that way so far. The techniques that the teacher has are his or her own answers to the question faced along the “way. “ They have been developed through the teacher’s personal experiences, trials, and tribulations. The student must look to the teacher for clues on how to proceed. This is what walking the same “way” means not simply replicating the teacher.

The teacher instructs the student on how to master the techniques. The student uses this to find his or her own answers. I heard an old Escrima (Philippines Martial art) teacher named Ramiro Estalilla say something similar, “ I direct my students to find the techniques by teaching principals, body movement, and sensitivity that give clues and directions to find the answers.”

The Right Attitude

Budo cannot be learned for you. You have to make great efforts and learn it for yourself. In order to do this the right attitude is required. This entails your instructor providing you with problems to work on. The student must listen well and take his or her ego out!

The traditional and modern martial arts and combat systems are all the same. We have only changed the tools used in the battlefield, but at all times, we preserve the principle of “any weapon, one mind.”

In the past, many “teachers” tried to market themselves by posing with Japanese swords, but any sword man could look at the photograph and immediately discern that they possess no knowledge. In today’s “reality-based” styles we see many instructors dressing up in combat uniforms and gripping guns, but it’s the same wrong attitude.

There is a saying that there is no bad student only a bad teacher. But it doesn’t go far enough. There are many bad students that later on become the bad teachers.

A true teacher is always a student and his attitude must be “always a student, sometimes a teacher,“ and it needs to remain so. As you pick your teacher avoid anyone who represents himself as a grand master, for in combat, no one is a grand master.

If a teacher prints on his DVD cover something to the effect of “Not a traditional martial art – this is a no-nonsense martial art, “keep as far away as possible. Why? Because all modern martial arts are based on traditional martial arts and no one can change that.

And, finally, remember that your ego can kill you much like the principle that even a dead man can still kill you with his final breath.

© Copyright 2006 Avi Nardia

“Failing To Prepare Is Preparing To Fail”

© 2016 Avi Nardia w/Tim Boehlert

One of KAPAP’s fundamental modern Martial Arts goals is to enhance it’s traditional Martial Arts roots by assimilating hand-to-hand and combative skill-sets but also CPR and emergency medical components that can save lives. We also add skills such as Rope Adventures that work on team building and rescue operations through the use of ropes including how to even make ropes from toilet paper! Knots can play an unexpected important roll in making fire, or can be utilized for rescue, but ropes can also come into play in self-defense. Someone having a heart attack needs CPR. Someone choking on food may also need that skill applied on them. We also incorporate nutrition and fitness education, and  as I’ve said in the past when some have asked me how to disarm a knife –  I try to teach people how to disarm a fork first! More people die from over-eating and being over-weight and more yet will likely die from living the wrong lifestyle. This is why Kapap is more about teaching people how to live a quality lifestyle and not to live fearing people. All of the “Don’t be a victim” slogans are generated for those that are most likely to be become a victim through their own hands and by living a dangerous lifestyle. Fear cuts deeper than swords and this is why we teach people not to fear others, but to approach them with love and peace and friendship.

Another Part of KAPAP – Israeli Krav Maga, is survival. We include survival skills as yet another component of our modern Martial Arts package. We teach subject matter that includes SERE school components, which used in the Army teaches Psychology, mental preparedness and mindset skills, and also teaches hand-to-hand (CBQB), medic skills,  navigation and more. In the U.K., SERE is an acronym for Survive, Evade, Resist and Extract. SERE also provides U.S. military personnel, U.S. Department of Defense civilians, and private military contractors with training in evading capture, survival skills.

We do not go so deep in training these skills as our military models do, but we do try to teach the mental aspects that you’d need to deal with a bad situation that you might face and how to keep calm and not panic. We teach escape, hand-cuffing and  escape from kidnapping situations in part to prepare our students to know how to deal with a ‘bad day.’

We add urban survival techniques to prepare our students how to deal with situations that can happen within inner-city neighborhoods in bad times and during crisis incidents that come about due to terrorist events, mobs, protests or any other urban unrest due to any number of unseen events, including storms, floods and other natural causes.

We teach parts of what is professionally called ‘TradecCraft.’  These skills can include cleaning runs, surveillance, counter-surveillance and third-party protection. We also teach basic security training – how to secure your own home, and also how to build your own security program. Kapap is a progressive and dynamic Martial Arts program, but also much more than to be simply labeled as a Martial Arts discipline  – we are progressive in that we always strive to expand our educational program, to always include new technologies, new ideas, but we also strive to learn from what has already been examined, and to re-examine and improve on that, to revise, and expand on what came before us.

We are not a ‘normal’ Martial Arts training program, because we provide more tools for our students including training in tactical driving, swimming and free-diving and cold weather survival – all components that make Kapap a Modern Martial art.

“Genuine wilderness exploration is as dangerous as warfare” Theodore Roosevelt wrote after nearly dying on an Amazon river tributary in 1914. Survival skills are an important component in what Kapap offers, and for good reason. You may be more likely to need those skills than fighting skills! I can add the words of my friend and trainer from Thailand “in our jungles everything is designed to kill you.” After experiencing it first-hand, I thought: so true. If you study how to survive and survive, you also get a great bonus: mental training and mental stamina! We are starting to build a seminar we call ‘Warrior by Nature.’ We’ll have you start your day meditating somewhere deep in a jungle, where all of the insects and creatures of that habitat will be bothering you and this is where and how you will learn to keep your mind calm and relaxed.

Kapap can also teach you to understand how much your own ego will not help you here, and show you that you’ll need your integrity – and here we can say that using your integrity is doing the right thing because no one will see what you do here. There is no Facebook, or Twitter, you’ll have no access to mist modern electronics devices or personal media. You won’t be able to post your very own ‘hero’ pictures as many do from their own comfortable surroundings while pretending to be warriors. This is where we will introduce you to our unique program that we call ‘Only Knife.’

Survival teachers will tell you that people who try to be heroes quickly die. They may have stamina but they lack the proper attitude. A Martial Arts teacher will say the same thing same as self-defense starts and ends with proper attitude, and there are no heroes in self-defense. This is why in Kapap – Israeli Krav Maga we always avoid slogans like  “touch  me and your first lesson is free.” When your ego is driving the bus, it’s not about self-defense.

The ‘Only Knife’ seminar concept came about as an idea to demonstrate that most knife teachers and systems only demonstrate the evil aspects of using this simple tool. They teach you how they can kill with knives, but we should all know that any fool kill someone with something as simple as a stone. As an example of one of the problems within the knife culture, and the recent love of the Karambit knife specifically, we feel it was designed for only one purpose – to kill, like the gun. A lot of this comes from the movie culture, and our own gullible nature – we get sucked into the newest fad and buy into it without ever questioning it.  Think of the Karambit as a tool – and wouldn’t you really be better off having a survival knife due it’s multiple use nature and it’s multiple functions, than having only a one-trick pony like the Karambit in your survival kit? A knife is a tool first and can also be used as a weapon if necessary. But, keep in mind that you can kill someone with almost any other item used as a weapon too. You will be much better prepared and for more possibilities if you learn how to use a knife for survival.

We will come out with a new DVD soon, produced by Budo International Magazine, that will  introduce you to why survival skills are important skills that we need to add into our Martial Arts programs. We hope that our friends, instructors and students all enjoy this latest production hosted by our Survivalist Trainer Toby Cowern and gain knowledge and skills through viewing it. This DVD is not to teach survival skills but more to explain the connection between Martial Arts and survival. To truly study survival you must take the  training. It’s not something you will learn simply by watching a DVD or by being a YouTube Sensei!

© 2016 Avi Nardia w/Tim Boehlert

“The KAPAP Gideon Test”
By Avi Nardia and Ken Akiyama Tim Boehlert © 2015

Trust people is the ONLY way to know if you can`t trust them,But been as a bird that trust her wing and Not the brunch its seat on ,and when a weak brunch break the trust the bird just fly a way as the bird know each branch that fall from tree is green for few days and than dry out ,that’s my simple test in KAPAP for years to Instructors and “partners “ as also to my student that think after got the first level of Trust after week training as kapap level one or as a second week as level 2 they took anything they need which is nothing more than empty papers with out the moral ethic and code of warriors. Its more as self test they are not aware as their ego that this is a mirror test into them self and that’s why most of them failed and in ANA I found fails of 75 % of people as seem today we missing the code of moral in life and also in Martial arts as present life. there actions will show better than their talks .
In order to maintain the highest quality instructors, we at ANA (Avi Nardia Academy) use the Gideon test. At any given time, we have dozens of KAPAP instructor candidates in levels 1-4 of our program. Depending upon the person, successful completion of the KAPAP instructor program is either very easy, or else completely impossible.

With enough time and effort, virtually anyone can gain the technical and tactical skills to become a KAPAP instructor. However, the biggest test in KAPAP is to demonstrate integrity – an attribute which candidates either embody completely, or not at all. For instance, those who only seek to collect ego certificates will find our KAPAP program impossible. Thus, we use the Gideon test to distinguish our team members.

The story of Gideon tells us how God quickly distinguished the 300 best warriors from amongst 32,000 soldiers. First God instructed Gideon to proclaim, “Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.” In response to the Lord’s directive, two-thirds of the soldiers retired. With ten thousand men still remaining, God told Gideon that there were still too many men. He told Gideon to march his men down the hill, as though they were going to attack the enemy.

As the army passed by a body of water, Gideon watched the men stop at the water’s edge to drink. Most of the men set their shields and spears down, dropped to their knees, and drank heartily with both hands as a cup. Gideon ordered those men to stand in one company.

There were a few warriors who took water differently. These soldiers cautiously stooped at the riverbank with their spears and shields in their right hands while cupping water with their left hands. If the enemy would suddenly appear, they would be ready. God said to Gideon, “These are the men whom I have chosen to set Israel free.”

Even though there were only 300 men in this company, every one of them embodied the spirit of a true warrior. They were focused on their purpose and held their bearing in spite of thirst and distraction. They were vigilant – neither would they be victims of a surprise attack, nor would they miss their opportunity to seize victory at the opportune moment.

That is how Gideon selected 300 warriors from amongst 32,000 men. I have written before that it is better to search for 15 years to find the right teacher than to study for 15 years with the wrong teacher. In KAPAP, we think that it’s also about finding the right students.

Fifteen years ago, I began to open my teachings to civilians. Before that time, I had only taught my system of KAPAP to select military and police personnel in Israel. As the first step of opening KAPAP, we ran a course called Kapap Level One Instructor and it was a full 5 days basic training. The primary objective of the course was to assess how much progress the students would have to make in order to be called full KAPAP teachers.

I emphasized that the course was more like an “interview” phase for the students. Even though I read the student’s credentials and many where ranked as “experts”, they quickly demonstrated that their previous ranking was far from reality when it came to fighting on the mat.

These candidates, came from a particular modern martial art that specifically states it is “Not Traditional Martial Arts – It’s No Nonsense Martial Arts”. When they came to us to learn KAPAP, the top system, our assessment was that they were ‘full’ of nonsense and nothing more. They carried exaggerated titles and their idea of self-defense was based on three basic moves with lots of sound effects (fu, fu, fu…) and choreography.

Even if a candidate has low skill, I am happy to teach them as long as they have a good heart and maintain integrity. I have never turned a student away merely because they lacked physical talent (in fact, one of my most rewarding projects was to teach handicapped children). While I have no shortage of instructor candidates who want to learn the physical skills of KAPAP, only a a fraction our candidates are interested in upholding our morals and ethics.

At ANA (Avi Nardia Academy) we constantly work to distinguish our Gideon Fighters/Instructors. In order to find those who will lead KAPAP into the future we actively weed out others who only chase certificates and titles but fail to behave like professionals. This constant process ensures that our team maintains the highest standards.

After all, Gideon could have instructed his troops to maintain their weapons. Instead, he preferred to observe their actions in order to learn about their nature. Similarly, I believe the fastest way to to find out if a person is trustworthy is to afford them your trust and see if they will maintain it each day. Along this route, some people forget that KAPAP Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 are a screening process. If one of my students forgets morals, ethics, integrity, or skills development, they fail the Gideon test.

Gideon dismissed the soldiers who momentarily set their shields and spears aside. At Avi Nardia Academy, we dismiss those whom set their morals and ethics aside. This is the test of a person’s spirit. We can try to teach techniques and fix errors but without the right spirit, one can’t learn much.

So far, only a very small number of KAPAP instructors have passed all four levels. We give Level 1 certificates so we can begin to learn who people really are. I say that I never ‘test’ my students. Rather, people reveal their own character through their actions. If someone fails the Gideon test at any level, they fail completely and are out of KAPAP.

I can only smile when I see new “grandmasters” appear in Israeli Martial Arts who have failed KAPAP or simply watched our DVDs. Suddenly, techniques which are unique to KAPAP become the “New Official Curriculum” in their systems.

Anyone who is not my student who claims to teach KAPAP or “the real KAPAP” is either dishonest or deranged. Can you imagine during Bruce Lee’s lifetime that a person would suddenly appear and claim to be the “Real Jeet Kun Do?” Much to my surprise, some of my former students who only learned a small fraction of KAPAP now open their own “federation” and claim to be the “Real KAPAP”. There are other people who I have never even met whom claim to teach KAPAP.

Nobody can be the “Real KAPAP” if they never learned the first lesson: Integrity. There is a saying, don’t argue with stupid people, or they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. It’s funny and true. There are times when one must fight but mostly the way of a zen warrior is to allow ones foes to destroy themselves. At Avi Nardia Academy, we ask people to either stay real, or stay real far away.

As the founder of KAPAP combatives I lead KAPAP worldwide with a family model. I am very pleased to attract so many good quality members and representatives. Today, 15 years since I first began teaching KAPAP to the public, I am proud to see KAPAP spreading its wings and beginning to soar very high with new members around the world joining my team each day.

“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on her own wings. Always believe in yourself.”

“The KAPAP Gideon Test”
© 2015 By Avi Nardia, Ken Akiyama, Tim Boehlert

Tokku in Japanese: True-Jutsu
©2015 Avi Nardia w/Tim Boehlert

Tokku in Japanese Budo means to win with honor and integrity.

A win is only for yourself as no one else can see it, but you will always know that you can hide the truth. Even in Zen it’s said that you can’t hide 3 things: the moon, the sun and the truth. The truth is that humans always hide the truth. All leaders do it daily, friends do it, even parents do it with their kids. The truth will pop out, but it may be well after the win. With some Olympians we see sports players lie, cheat, and fake to show a win, but truth will find a way out and show as does noon and the sun.

There are two Japanese words that describe this: ‘Tatemae’: the mask that we present – the fake us and ‘Honne’: the truth – us as we really are.

We can hide the truth to win, but we can’t win ‘Tokku’, meaning the respect of ourselves as we know that we lied and just hid the truth to win, and so you will die as a loser.

For Samurai whom carry the honor code, what’s the use of it if you disrespect yourself and die as a loser with a fake trophy? This is where true-jutsu plays a role in the ‘go’ or code.

In Samurai movies we see how he died by the sword of another samurai, and thanks him for an honorable death and in Tokku death carries his integrity to the grave. It’s better to win with honor than to win, but lose Tokku.

This is hard for westerners to understand as a win in life for us means to do anything to win, but the samurai way is the art of death. He needs to be ready each day to die, and to die with no respect and honor is the most shameful loss in life. He would ask to die in honor by seppuku, by blade, and earn Tokku honor death. This is why the code forces the budoka to live by the honor code and Tokku, true-jutsu integrity as one of it’s principles.

In kapap we teach to keep the Budo Code. The western lifestyle is to break any of them and lie and live by that lie, where that win means money, and where more money is better than even the price of friendship. Cheating and loss of the Tokku, the truth that you know inside means a loss of your integrity.

This is why I teach that principles in life are more important than any techniques. Keeping a clean hearth is hard to teach and that’s why we teach principles first and foremost over techniques.
“There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

There are not more than five primary colors (blue,yellow,red,white and black) yet in combination the produce more hues than can ever be seen.

There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet and bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavours than can ever be tasted.” Sun Tzu – The Art of War
There are not more than five principles in modern Kapap (push and pull, balance displacement, high and low, relative position, two points of contact) yet combinations of them produce more techinques than can ever been seen!

One is the most common principle in all martial arts, it’s done by humans but to be called human we need to first keep the Code. To teach only techniques and to build the body strong but neglect a weak mind and spirit will never win you Tokku.
The Mind controls the Hand. The Heart controls the Mind. The Soul controls the the Heart and only then will you live by BUSHIDO.

martial_arts_magazine_budo_internat_a97022cadda72d/63?e=1589527/31081004