My first seminar review

Hey guys.

Thought I'd copy and paste my first ever seminar review. I would have pasted the link but it was written on a private forum. Admittedly, I'm quite proud so I thought I'd share it here

Pure ego-stroking, I know

Quote :

The aim of the seminar was to give a good introduction to self protection -not self defence or martial arts, but a bunch of techniques to stay clear of violence, and protect oneself, if required. The Instructors were Curran & Sharif (Tacpro), both of whom have been learning, practising & teaching tactical protection for a long time.

The session started with a brief explanation of the psychology of violent people, who the really dangerous ones are (psychotics), and who are the ones that are more manageable. Curran went into the how fights build up and explained two basic formats:
1) Interview: two or more people arguing about something; argument getting escalated & turning to physical violence
2) Ambush : Surprise attacks with no words exchanged before violence

Sharif took us through video footage of fights and explained the body language changes that happen before violence erupts. He went on to explain the importance of awareness & a few techniques that would make one more aware of one's surroundings, thus reducing chances of walking into a situation that can lead to violence.

Sharif & Curran also explained the concept of displaying submissiveness, while remaining confident inside, and how it can help in deflating a situation before it escalates to violence. Sharif stressed the importance of not letting one's male ego take over, and asked us to stay clear of AMOG-ing etc. which stamps on another dude's male ego. After this, we moved on to specific techniques and drills:

1) Fence: Using a submissive-looking pacifist stance to de-escalate a situation, at the same time be well-positioned to strike first if required.
2) Various pre-emptive striking techniques
3) Techniques to lock someone's head in and knee their chest/ face real hard
4) how to handle groups - using members of the group as human shields against the rest of the group
5) how to defend against slaps/ punches/ knee-jabs etc, and switch from defence to offence at the right opportunity
6) how to disengage and run away while reducing the risk of being attacked from behind
7) techniques to switch the mind rapidly into fighter mode
8 ) this was the most important - we did some drills which got us into the similar physical state as what one feels when under fear... understanding this is important so that one appreciates how a fight situation is different from a normal sitiuation

Curran spoke a bit about the law; there were practical bits like reporting to the police if you ever strike anyone, and telling the honest truth; having a speed dial on the phone for emergency numbers, because fine motor functions stop under fear. Both instructors kept stressing the importance of avoiding fight at any cost, and that the best self protection mechanism is to:

a) not get into a fight in the first place, by being aware, and
b) if you do by any stroke of bad luck, run away at the earliest chance

Overall, it was a great learning experience and I would be interested in further sessions. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to improve the warrior/ fighter side of their personality, right from the core. The only negatives were that the instructors did not give a detailed follow up plan, at first (Curran rectified this later by emailing us about "how to practice going forward") I think it would also be helpful if the instructors organised follow-up sessions to practice the techniques

One thing which Sharif said stood out as a message that applies beyond self protection "Courage is not the absence of fear, but doing the right thing in the presence of fear"

well done mate. from rigor, returns. and now the trick--as one swami in
particular used to say to me, is 'not letting your head get so big that you
get derailed' , meaning keep up the good work

i think the fact that my head is as big as a basketball made that warning
particularly applicable to me--i simply couldn't afford anymore space being
taken up

Russ the Muss wrote:

i think the fact that my head is as big as a basketball made that warning
particularly applicable to me

Head like a basket ball lol

I've read couple of posts where you mention swamis, Russ. Seems like you've spent some time perusing enlightenment as well as self protection skills? Funny how fighting (even the non-traditional stuff) very often leads the individual to Eastern spiritual truths. Richard also seems pretty clued-up on the tao-buddha-dharma-karma-satori stuff

Sharif Haque (Tacpro) wrote:

Russ the Muss wrote:

i think the fact that my head is as big as a basketball made that warning
particularly applicable to me

Head like a basket ball lol

I've read couple of posts where you mention swamis, Russ. Seems like you've spent some time perusing enlightenment as well as self protection skills? Funny how fighting (even the non-traditional stuff) very often leads the individual to Eastern spiritual truths. Richard also seems pretty clued-up on the tao-buddha-dharma-karma-satori stuff

you're correct in your assumption as to which came first. my 'guru' was really patient with me
as i arrived tattoo'd up and sort of distrustful but searching. in the end i couldn't deal with the new
agey whispy voiced sorts who hid what part of the path they were really on--in favor of the company
of swamis, who were actually quite unambiguous and refreshing for edgy responses and consistancy.
i knew i wasn't going to be a swami, but i really liked being around them. i actually felt closer to them, even as i was leagues from them. i guess because i wasn't in some 'performance' state--glowing with
my own inner congratulatory light .

i left, imperfect but happy enough. maybe when i'm old and my kids are grown up, i'll take a longer stay and see if i can get calm--on the inside, where it counts [until then... ]

as for Richie, he tends to know about twice as much as i do on all subjects--relating to my interests
don't know how that happened but i'm not complaining

I know what you mean about the whispy voiced folk. I'm supposed to be a Buddhist, but find myself increasingly distancing myself from this particular sect. Ironically, because there's just too much ego amongst them. They spend so much time trying to act like Buddhists, they have no chance of revealing their 'real' self It's that inner congratulatory light thing you were talking about lol

Sharif Haque (Tacpro) wrote:

I know what you mean about the whispy voiced folk. I'm supposed to be a Buddhist, but find myself increasingly distancing myself from this particular sect. Ironically, because there's just too much ego amongst them. They spend so much time trying to act like Buddhists, they have no chance of revealing their 'real' self It's that inner congratulatory light thing you were talking about lol

nice--i'm a Buddhist too. my guru always said 'keep good company'--meaning 'like-minded-company'. it's why i take the ashram in doses, and enjoy conversations with you, and Richie. Maija's got a deep side to him as well. hmmm probably Buddhist

I would say it's a nice coincidence, but being buddhist, we don't believe in coincidences, right?

Well, seeing as you asked, I admit to having a fascination with all ancient wisdom - love the Hindy trinity, very insightful to have The Destroyer on the same par as The Creator and The Preserver. Buddha seems to have had a bunch of good ideas, and I very much enjoy the 'crazy wisdom' stuff.
Now, if I was to pick a personal tendency, it would be for Taoism, not the wizards and potions side, but the side based on the natural world. My acupuncturist is a student in the Dragon Gate sect of the Complete Reality school of Taoism (which gets 2 thumbs up just for it's name!) and I have learned a bunch from him - very interesting. Sensible stuff, using the physical body as the start point to understanding everything else, which fits right in with martial arts, and Bagua which I practice, meditation etc etc ....

maija wrote:

Well, seeing as you asked, I admit to having a fascination with all ancient wisdom - love the Hindy trinity, very insightful to have The Destroyer on the same par as The Creator and The Preserver. Buddha seems to have had a bunch of good ideas, and I very much enjoy the 'crazy wisdom' stuff.
Now, if I was to pick a personal tendency, it would be for Taoism, not the wizards and potions side, but the side based on the natural world. My acupuncturist is a student in the Dragon Gate sect of the Complete Reality school of Taoism (which gets 2 thumbs up just for it's name!) and I have learned a bunch from him - very interesting. Sensible stuff, using the physical body as the start point to understanding everything else, which fits right in with martial arts, and Bagua which I practice, meditation etc etc ....

awesome. my two greatest influences--next to gurudev and my mum, are Buddha and Adi Sankara.
Adi Sankara was thought to be an incarnation of Siva. that man single handedly created the swami order in his 32 years of life before passing. he was one of those insightful enough to
"not break the commandments of God in order to keep the commandments of man".
as a swami, he wasn't supposed to remain close to his mum, but broke all taboos prepared her for her death when the time came. none of the swamis wanted a part of it, so--slight of frame, he was forced to dismember her before preparing her body [for transport]. imagine a man so compassionately detached that he could calmly dismember the body of his deceased mum, because it was her wish that he perform the rites.
as is often the case with India, the literal and the metaphorical merge...there are four main sects in India and--of course, Adi Sankara was forced to cut the body of his mother into four pieces for carrying.

a peaceful man that dared to say,
i am not the vedas, i am not the breath, i am not the mantras, i am not...etc, the list was endless and potentially blasphemus
i am only Siva [the soul].

in swami terms, the deity is a reflection of one's disposition..once you get there, all the roads disappear, but you choose the road accordingly [to include other religions--in their view]. visnu is the path of the heart [devotion and love], siva is the path of knowledge and tends to hold the attention of ascetics and other such deniers of hedonistic pleasure. the meditator, the faster, the renunciate monk. brahma the absolute is the formless seed of all. brahma the creater, visnu the sustainer, and siva the destroyer. the destroyer of attatchment, the destroyer of ignorrance, etc...chinamasta is associated with kali [who is associated with siva, and so on]. my son's middle name is kali and my daughters middle name is tara [a Buddhist goddess]. hard to seperate things like this when the influences all rub shoulders

i almost got 'citananda sivo'ham sivo'ham tattoo'd on me [i am siva, siva i am] but as a Buddhist, i went with a giant skull and an emerging dharma wheel from the top of said skull

i like the taoist stuff too. it was a swami who explained to me the essence of their symbol. those two dots mean so much more than people know. they are the seed essence of the antithesis of the dichotomy. with the large tear drop lies a hint of the other. nothing is completely evil or good. no absolutes exist. like the tides, one carries the hint of the other. in short, even hitler had a mum who loved him , etc...but i'm sure i could have came up with another analogy

I might be tempted to call my self a taoist. But to be honest I've kind of given up on the labels. It's all starting to look the same to me. Especially since I got into Eckhart Tolle's stuff. Anybody ever read The Power of Now? It's mostly comparable to zen which makes sense seeing as Alan Watts says that Buddhism is a refinement of Hinduism and Zen is a refinement of Buddhism. I guess this is a refinement of all of that. It's so simple a lot of people reject it lol

I like taoism in the same way you do Maija. It's very to-the-point in some ways. Although in others there is a lot of what looks like hocus-pocus when Tao is applied to the diet, sex and general living (feng shui). I actually wrote a small book when I was about 18 about how the ninja applied the five elements (and five manifestations) concept to their warrior strategies - everything from unarmed combat, psychological warfare and even placing agents. Did quite a bit of research. I self published it last year as an experiment to test the self-publishing world for current manuscripts. It's called The Five Elements of the Ninja if anybody wants check it out on lulu.com or amazon.

My friend Geoff Thompson has become DEEPLY spiritual after living a life of violence as a bouncer. Most people have read his biography here in the British SP community (and have most likely met him) but the truth is even those gritty biographical books leave quite a bit out with regards to the situations he's been in. That combination of having experiences of so much violence and his spiritual practices gives him a weird aura these days. Hard to explain but his eyes are like bottomless pits when he looks at you

Spooky....

very cool mate, Geoff Thompson is someone i'd like to meet.
i really soaked up his talk on creativity, how we're all reservoirs of energy,
and we can either be prolific or a problem.
one can really see this in how great people fall--depending on where there
energy is focussed [the money chakra--at the bottom; the sex one; the emotional
one...it is why the edict to be compassionately detatched and consistant isn't just
ideal, it's essential].

having come from a chakra culture, it wasn't hard to absorb--in spite of how
some folks prefer him non-mystical [no other way to say it].

sounds like you're keeping good company mate.

Sharif Haque (Tacpro) wrote:

Richard also seems pretty clued-up on the tao-buddha-dharma-karma-satori stuff

Not to mention the other type of "swami". (Now he's given NLP the elbow and probably knows what Derren Brown really gets up to. )

Bing_bang wrote:

Sharif Haque (Tacpro) wrote:

Richard also seems pretty clued-up on the tao-buddha-dharma-karma-satori stuff

Not to mention the other type of "swami". (Now he's given NLP the elbow and probably knows what Derren Brown really gets up to. )

I was thinking of asking Richard about Derren. I'm sure he knows all his tricks! But he seems pretty busy these days. If you're reading, Rich, please let us in on his tricks if you get the time

Well, thing is, most NLP'ers don't actually realize Brown uses NLP/psychology as a cloak for tricks the same as Geller used the paranormal. Made me laugh watching Dawkins trying to interrogate him about his "cold reading" techniques and Brown trying to extricate himself without blowing the gaff that most of what he does is tricks. And yes I do know of Ian Rowland's book. And yes, he can do some stuff that's 'out there', and might not come off. He's very good at it. But most of what you see on TV is not that.