Free mini course thoughts and advice

[Taipan]

Welcome to Martial Talk, Taipan. Hope you enjoy it.

Where did you do your FBI SWAT training?

Thank you!

A friend of mine when I lived in New Mexico. He did their local divisions training. He put me and two other guys through his program. I am not LEO, but he let me take part.

I see you are federal law enforcement. Thank you for your service sir!

 

[Steve]

Thank you for sharing your site, and welcome to MT. I didn't see much training on your site, though I will admit I took only a quick look around. Looks like you started pulling it together in 2019, and the only actual content I was able to find were a few YouTube videos about "the gospel."

I have no idea whether you're competent or qualified to do this or not. Even if I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt for now, you have an uphill climb ahead of you. If you have a hard time establishing your credibility with this crew, it's going to be very difficult for you to successfully launch your own style.

 

[Taipan]

Thank you for the welcome!

I started it a couple of months ago. I've been confused with it saying 2019, but the platform does that automatically. I am making some basic courses now.

As for making my own style...

Well, I'm not sure I am. I am teaching a mix of styles. I know it is not traditional, but if it works that is all that matters. I hope to build friendships on this site. Friends that will help me hold up to high standards.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

So just looked through the 7-day course.
Who is your target audience here? The beginner or the experienced practitioner?
First impressions on Day 1: It seems like typical self-help material. Mostly stuff that I'd pick up in a book titled something like "the path to success, find your inner warrior". But keep in mind not everyone looking at a combatives course wants to be a warrior, so asking people something like "what drives the warrior in you" won't mean much. And the phrase at the end "Fear God Alone!" Feels like an empty platitude, especially since there are things to fear, they haven't learned anything to help with the fear, and not everyone believes in God.

Day 2: Tip 1 makes sense. Tip 2 doesn't-people have plateau's and dips. Being 1% better each day isn't really realistic. You're going to have off days, and there are some days you go through the motions just to make sure you don't forget, or to get that 15 minutes in, you're not actively looking for improvement those days, and that's fine. Tip 3 I sort of agree with. You want to train your weak spots, but you also should evaluate what you're good at and develop a personal style first. Then patch things up from there. just IMO-that one's up for debate. Tip 4 I get, but also doesn't really mean much. Tips 5 and 6 I agree, but they don't mean much for a beginner, and anyone who's training for a while should be aware of these.

Day 3: Has the same issue as tips 5 and 6 from day 2. It's basically a list of techniques and possible targets. Useful in a sense, but the people who don't know MAs won't understand half the techniques, and the people who do, don't need a list like that. Maybe if you included a video here going over each technique that would be better. You bolded "1 blow to a vital target is worth more than 20 blows to a useless one." And that's a highly debatable statement as well, and needs more clarification. A tap to my neck is absolutely not the same as 20 strong punches to my ribs, for instance. Not sure about the related blog post-I clicked on it to see if it was the youtube videos I suggested above, and didn't read through it when it wasn't.

Day 4: Some of how you wrote this is too gimmicky for me, and I didn't click the youtube link, but otherwise it seems fine.

Day 5: Didn't click the link, I'll look at it later. But unless it's really impressive it's got the same issue as day 3, with the addition that it's got some empty platitudes.

Day 6: You say what weapons do, but not how they do it (besides a note that they're a force multiplier, which doesn't mean anything to people that don't already know that phrase). The video also doesn't really provide any benefit to anyone watching, since you're not really explaining anything, just demoing random weapons.

Day 7: This is the only page here that seems actually useful. Assuming it's aimed towards people that actually know martial arts and just aren't sure what to train, it gives some sort of idea (that I assume would be better fleshed out in the 30day challenge afterwards).

Overall, I think you need to figure out what your target audience is, and focus it towards them. If it's beginners, you have to teach the actual how, not just the what. If this is meant to get them interested, then you should do some sort of teaching demo, focus on maybe a couple kicks and how to actually use them, so they know what they're in for. If it's for experienced people that just need an extra push, focus more on day 2 and 7. Flesh out the tips more, make them more practical and beneficial. And create some sort of timeline and varying schedules for day 7 that people can work with. As it is now, I don't see anyone going through each day and then deciding that they want to sign up for the course.

And please get rid of all the empty platitudes. Those are just going to make people uninterested.

 

[Taipan]

So just looked through the 7-day course.
Who is your target audience here? The beginner or the experienced practitioner?
First impressions on Day 1: It seems like typical self-help material. Mostly stuff that I'd pick up in a book titled something like "the path to success, find your inner warrior". But keep in mind not everyone looking at a combatives course wants to be a warrior, so asking people something like "what drives the warrior in you" won't mean much. And the phrase at the end "Fear God Alone!" Feels like an empty platitude, especially since there are things to fear, they haven't learned anything to help with the fear, and not everyone believes in God.

Day 2: Tip 1 makes sense. Tip 2 doesn't-people have plateau's and dips. Being 1% better each day isn't really realistic. You're going to have off days, and there are some days you go through the motions just to make sure you don't forget, or to get that 15 minutes in, you're not actively looking for improvement those days, and that's fine. Tip 3 I sort of agree with. You want to train your weak spots, but you also should evaluate what you're good at and develop a personal style first. Then patch things up from there. just IMO-that one's up for debate. Tip 4 I get, but also doesn't really mean much. Tips 5 and 6 I agree, but they don't mean much for a beginner, and anyone who's training for a while should be aware of these.

Day 3: Has the same issue as tips 5 and 6 from day 2. It's basically a list of techniques and possible targets. Useful in a sense, but the people who don't know MAs won't understand half the techniques, and the people who do, don't need a list like that. Maybe if you included a video here going over each technique that would be better. You bolded "1 blow to a vital target is worth more than 20 blows to a useless one." And that's a highly debatable statement as well, and needs more clarification. A tap to my neck is absolutely not the same as 20 strong punches to my ribs, for instance. Not sure about the related blog post-I clicked on it to see if it was the youtube videos I suggested above, and didn't read through it when it wasn't.

Day 4: Some of how you wrote this is too gimmicky for me, and I didn't click the youtube link, but otherwise it seems fine.

Day 5: Didn't click the link, I'll look at it later. But unless it's really impressive it's got the same issue as day 3, with the addition that it's got some empty platitudes.

Day 6: You say what weapons do, but not how they do it (besides a note that they're a force multiplier, which doesn't mean anything to people that don't already know that phrase). The video also doesn't really provide any benefit to anyone watching, since you're not really explaining anything, just demoing random weapons.

Day 7: This is the only page here that seems actually useful. Assuming it's aimed towards people that actually know martial arts and just aren't sure what to train, it gives some sort of idea (that I assume would be better fleshed out in the 30day challenge afterwards).

Overall, I think you need to figure out what your target audience is, and focus it towards them. If it's beginners, you have to teach the actual how, not just the what. If this is meant to get them interested, then you should do some sort of teaching demo, focus on maybe a couple kicks and how to actually use them, so they know what they're in for. If it's for experienced people that just need an extra push, focus more on day 2 and 7. Flesh out the tips more, make them more practical and beneficial. And create some sort of timeline and varying schedules for day 7 that people can work with. As it is now, I don't see anyone going through each day and then deciding that they want to sign up for the course.

And please get rid of all the empty platitudes. Those are just going to make people uninterested.

Thank you!

That is exactly what I was hoping to get!

I see your point. In the back of my mind my target audience has been either begginers or intermediate level martial artists. I see that is something that I need to work with.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Thank you!

That is exactly what I was hoping to get!

I see your point. In the back of my mind my target audience has been either begginers or intermediate level martial artists. I see that is something that I need to work with.

From what I can tell, you're halfway between those two groups. My recommendation would be choose one group and commit, at least for this. You can always create a second course for the other group later on if you want.

 

[Taipan]

From what I can tell, you're halfway between those two groups. My recommendation would be choose one group and commit, at least for this. You can always create a second course for the other group later on if you want.

Thank you for your advice and taking the time to go through it!

 

[Steve]

Thank you for the welcome!

I started it a couple of months ago. I've been confused with it saying 2019, but the platform does that automatically. I am making some basic courses now.

As for making my own style...

Well, I'm not sure I am. I am teaching a mix of styles. I know it is not traditional, but if it works that is all that matters. I hope to build friendships on this site. Friends that will help me hold up to high standards.

Okay. Well. I have no idea how qualified you are to do this and that's, frankly, my main concern. Honestly, I really hope you're not seriously looking for friends. If so, I think you're going to be sorely disappointed, because I expect some folks will arrive to this thread shortly who aren't very friendly. Good luck.

 

[Tez3]

Absolutely no, no and no again to the religious stuff. A huge turnoff, I wouldn't be interested in any of the martial arts teaching if religion is involved. If it's not why is it on the website?

 

[Taipan]

Okay. Well. I have no idea how qualified you are to do this and that's, frankly, my main concern. Honestly, I really hope you're not seriously looking for friends. If so, I think you're going to be sorely disappointed, because I expect some folks will arrive to this thread shortly who aren't very friendly. Good luck.

Thanks for the warning!

And by friends... well, that was pushing it a bit.

 

[hoshin1600]

Just remember you asked for all this...
to play a bit off of @Monkey Turned Wolf comments.
i read your blog post about the GEN stuff. it was a turn off for me i had to read 480 words (yes i counted) of bad salesman pitches to get to the point that GEN was groin, eyes and neck. so i had to read the entire post to find out you want me to strike the groin and eyes. If i was a potential customer ive moved on.
in the same line of thought, if i came to your sight because of the promise of Combatives as soon as i see the samurai sword in the coming soon tab or the video of you twirling weapons, im gone.
Monkey restated what i already said ,,, know your audience. Combatives has developed a very particular expectation. back in the day it was called CQB or Close Quarter Battle , then CQC Close Quarter Combat then shortened to Combatives. At least thats what i recall. but either way you do not seem to be delivering a product that meets those expectations. It seems disjointed and confused. If you want to continue along the Combatives path for your product and art then you have to meet the standards for that community.
My advise ; Ditch all the weapons stuff except guns and knives. And IF YOUR GOING TO SAY A SINGLE WORD ABOUT GUNS YOU BETTER KNOW YOUR STUFF. i would advise to stay away from the topic and leave it to the experts, because there are some real experts in that field and a ton of knowledgeable people. Also like i said before you cant BS your way through. you stated earlier something about that if you learn one weapon you can use lots of weapons. that is not really true in a combative sense because the line of competence is about being effective not about twirling and swinging something around. which leads me to the next point. people looking for combatives will REQUIRE some kind of proof that what your teaching is effective. that hurdle can be over come in a few ways. First by how you speak and write and the topics you discuss, by your credentials and by video of some non staged non scripted free flow demonstration of what you teach.
For example this is bad.

this is good.

 

[jobo]

Just remember you asked for all this...
to play a bit off of @Monkey Turned Wolf comments.
i read your blog post about the GEN stuff. it was a turn off for me i had to read 480 words (yes i counted) of bad salesman pitches to get to the point that GEN was groin, eyes and neck. so i had to read the entire post to find out you want me to strike the groin and eyes. If i was a potential customer ive moved on.
in the same line of thought, if i came to your sight because of the promise of Combatives as soon as i see the samurai sword in the coming soon tab or the video of you twirling weapons, im gone.
Monkey restated what i already said ,,, know your audience. Combatives has developed a very particular expectation. back in the day it was called CQB or Close Quarter Battle , then CQC Close Quarter Combat then shortened to Combatives. At least thats what i recall. but either way you do not seem to be delivering a product that meets those expectations. It seems disjointed and confused. If you want to continue along the Combatives path for your product and art then you have to meet the standards for that community.
My advise ; Ditch all the weapons stuff except guns and knives. And IF YOUR GOING TO SAY A SINGLE WORD ABOUT GUNS YOU BETTER KNOW YOUR STUFF. i would advise to stay away from the topic and leave it to the experts, because there are some real experts in that field and a ton of knowledgeable people. Also like i said before you cant BS your way through. you stated earlier something about that if you learn one weapon you can use lots of weapons. that is not really true in a combative sense because the line of competence is about being effective not about twirling and swinging something around. which leads me to the next point. people looking for combatives will REQUIRE some kind of proof that what your teaching is effective. that hurdle can be over come in a few ways. First by how you speak and write and the topics you discuss, by your credentials and by video of some non staged non scripted free flow demonstration of what you teach.
For example this is bad.

this is good.

id stop walking round there if i was her

 

[Taipan]

Just remember you asked for all this...
to play a bit off of @Monkey Turned Wolf comments.
i read your blog post about the GEN stuff. it was a turn off for me i had to read 480 words (yes i counted) of bad salesman pitches to get to the point that GEN was groin, eyes and neck. so i had to read the entire post to find out you want me to strike the groin and eyes. If i was a potential customer ive moved on.
in the same line of thought, if i came to your sight because of the promise of Combatives as soon as i see the samurai sword in the coming soon tab or the video of you twirling weapons, im gone.
Monkey restated what i already said ,,, know your audience. Combatives has developed a very particular expectation. back in the day it was called CQB or Close Quarter Battle , then CQC Close Quarter Combat then shortened to Combatives. At least thats what i recall. but either way you do not seem to be delivering a product that meets those expectations. It seems disjointed and confused. If you want to continue along the Combatives path for your product and art then you have to meet the standards for that community.
My advise ; Ditch all the weapons stuff except guns and knives. And IF YOUR GOING TO SAY A SINGLE WORD ABOUT GUNS YOU BETTER KNOW YOUR STUFF. i would advise to stay away from the topic and leave it to the experts, because there are some real experts in that field and a ton of knowledgeable people. Also like i said before you cant BS your way through. you stated earlier something about that if you learn one weapon you can use lots of weapons. that is not really true in a combative sense because the line of competence is about being effective not about twirling and swinging something around. which leads me to the next point. people looking for combatives will REQUIRE some kind of proof that what your teaching is effective. that hurdle can be over come in a few ways. First by how you speak and write and the topics you discuss, by your credentials and by video of some non staged non scripted free flow demonstration of what you teach.
For example this is bad.

this is good.

Thanks for the feedback!

The G.E.N strategy article is ment for those who haven't had formal training.

Obviously you didn't learn anything new. But to the young woman living on campus it could save her life.

Thank you for taking the time to read it.

I apologize again for this morning's exchange.

 

[hoshin1600]

Thanks for the feedback!

The G.E.N strategy article is ment for those who haven't had formal training.

Obviously you didn't learn anything new. But to the young woman living on campus it could save her life.

Thank you for taking the time to read it.

I apologize again for this morning's exchange.

I'm not sure you understand my point tho, the concept is good but even a beginner might have an issue with the sales pitch hype.
"This is the most important thing in life, you can't live without it, ill tell you what it is ...its so great, everyone will be wanting more, its just a little thing but its life changing..in fact without it you will die...and it is....
Oxygen. Thanks for reading"
It might have been better to just start with the description then move on to describe the impact on the human body when struck, how to condition your response to hit these targets ect etc.
I think that you have a dilemma. If you write everything out in a blog post then there will be no product left to sell.

 

[skribs]

Obviously you didn't learn anything new. But to the young woman living on campus it could save her life.

If you're claiming to save women's lives, you better be damn sure you know what you're talking about and how to teach it.

I think it takes a bit more than just reading "go for the groin or eyes" to be able to successfully attack the groin or eyes.

 

[hoshin1600]

Its ok Scribs we don't need to keep beating him up. I'm sure as soon as he starts talking women's self defense Tez will pop in and roast him. Lol
Its such a tough crowd here.

 

[Taipan]

Lol!

It is a tough crowd!

I don't claim that that post is enough for a women's self-defense. My point is simply that it might pop into their head if the time came. I wouldn't bank on it though. My point was more from the veiw that the article is ment for those with no concept of targeting at all.

I'm not sure how many videos I've seen where the woman is abducted while hammering dozens of light blows to the guy's chest. People like THAT need to learn that there are far better targets.

Heck! I've even known mcdojo blackbelts that have no concept of Critical Targeting!

 

[CB Jones]

I think it takes a bit more than just reading "go for the groin or eyes" to be able to successfully attack the groin or eyes.

I dunno....I don't think you need that much training to knee or kick someone in the marbles.

Most people learn that in elementary school.

 

[Taipan]

I dunno....I don't think you need that much training to knee or kick someone in the marbles.

Most people learn that in elementary school.

Lol!

Very true!

I'd rather fight a blackbelt with no concept of targeting than an untrained woman who knows how to nail 'em

 

[CB Jones]

But then I wouldn't expect a combative course to tell me to kick them in the marbles.

Kicking someone in the junk is already common knowledge.