The Map Magazine

If you are outside the world of law enforcement, chances are you haven’t had much “hands on” work with stun guns. Stun guns are as popular today as they have ever been and with the newer smaller packages like cell phone/stun guns, their popularity continues to grow. But before you deploy a stun gun, there are a few misconceptions you may not know about.

1. All stun guns are created equal. Not true. Don’t waste your time with anything under 300,000 volts. It will lack the impact that you need to get any affect on your target. Plus the chances of penetrating thick clothing are slim. Unfortunately, most popular size stung guns fall under the 300,000 volt bench mark.

2. All you have to do is touch the attacker anywhere on his body for the stun gun to work. In fact, most directions will tell you to attack the extremities of your assailant. In order to get the result you need you should stun the target in the same areas that you would strike them. Neck, face, genitals, inner thighs. These targets will give you the maximum effect you want.

3. The stun gun will work instantly. False. You will need to hold the stun gun on the target and drive it into the surface for, in some cases, several seconds. Let me tell you, five seconds will be an eternity. Prepare yourself now for what will happen.

4. The attacker will be incapacitated. Remember Rodney King? Not every one will fall over even if they’re shocked for an extended period of time. Not all of us are created equal. Some have different pain thresholds, may be under the influence or may be a emotionally disturbed person (EDP). You never know. So plan for the worst and hope for the best. But never expect ANYTHING you do to end the fight.

Should you throw your stun gun away? No way, but know that it is just a tool to help you survive. When a criminal sees the stun gun and even hears it, he may just start jumping around like his pants are on fire with out you even touching him. Great, knock him out or escape- the stung gun did its job. Look at pepper spray, stun guns, personal alarms are all excellent tools, but don’t expect them to take the assailant out. Expect the minimum. They will afford you a distraction that will allow you to inflict more damage on the target or escape.

The problem is that people, especially in law enforcement, become too dependent on these tools. They are just that, tools to make your task easier. The majority of the time, a shot of pepper spray or a taser will do the job. Personally, I want to go home all of the time, not a majority of the time. But its up to you, do you want to be alive 70% of the time of 99% of the time. I don’t know about you but you’re not keeping me away from my family, no matter who you are. I am going to bite, kick, scrape and use any and everything to get me home to my family. How about you? What did you do today that will make you stay alive? Nothing, I’m already training.

Everyday, on my way to the office, I am training my grip. Every opportunity I can, I train.

Picture your enemy, in prison, on the corner, wherever. Put a face to him. When wresting legend Dan Gable used to train, he would picture his opponent practicing. He would get up in the middle of the night and do calisthenics because he was certain his opponent was sleeping. When Judo Kimura heard that his opponents trained 3 hours a day, he trained 6. When they went to 6, he trained for 9. It’s up to you, but training is a habit, just like anything else. It starts small and then grows. Pick up the heavier load. Walk the long way around, take the stairs- it’s a start.

I’ll ask you again “What did you do today?” Like Vince Lombardi said, “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place.”

The only place for you is first place- Surviving.

PS. I know I started talking about stun guns, but what the heck- it’s all about training.

©2005 http://www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com

Damian Ross is the owner of Zenshin and instructor of Tekkenryu jujutsu and Kodokan Judo. He started competing in the combative sport of wrestling in 1975 at the age of 7 and began his study of Asian martial arts with Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do at the age of 16 in 1984. In 1989, Shinan Cestari gave a seminar at Sensei Ross’s dojo. Sensei Ross has trained under Shinan Cestari’s direction ever since.

In addition to Tekkenryu Jujutsu, Judo and Tae Kwon Do, Sensei Ross has also studied Bando. Sensei Ross continues his study of Judo under the direction of 8th degree black belt Yoshisada Yonezuka and Tekkenryu Jujutsu under it’s founder, Carl Cestari. Below are is a list of some of his title ranks:

Yodan (fourth degree black belt) Tekkenryu Jujutsu under Carl Cestari
Shodan (First degree black belt) Kodokan Judo under Yoshisada Yonezuka
Varsity Wrestling Lehigh University under Thad Turner
2nd Degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do

http://www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com

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Leadership is one of the most talked about and least understood aspects of human behavior. There must be hundreds of definitions of leadership, yet none of them is useful for success in life because none of them allows you to ‘create’ leadership from within your life.

Why is that? Why isn’t leadership one of those things you can go to school to learn, pick up through experience, or work on yourself to develop?

To answer this important - life-changing - question, the first thing you need to understand are the false assumptions - the myths - about leadership. Then you’ll come to realize that leadership is one of those things you can go to school to learn…

…if there was school that knew how to teach it.

You can pick it up through experience…

…if you know what leadership is and, as importantly, what it isn’t.

You can work on yourself to develop it…

…but you need to know what to work on.

The first barrier to developing leadership is breaking through the false assumptions we have come to accept without questioning. You may not believe all the assumptions listed below but it’s a good bet you believe some of them. Yet, they’re all false.

THE FALSE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LEADERSHIP

• 1. Leadership is innate - you’re either born with it or you’re not. Absolutely false!

  Leadership consists of a set of skills that can be identified and learned. It’s true that some people have a greater aptitude for leadership but all of us can be leaders and can build our leadership skills.

• 2. Leadership is charisma and style; it’s the way we do things, not what we do. False.

  We’d all like to be charismatic and stylish, and many leaders are just that. But leadership is substance, not style. Leadership has to do with what we do and the impact we have on others. There have been great leaders who were dull as dust and others who have been charismatic. In our own time Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, is dull, “nerdy,” and as uncharismatic as one can get, yet look at what he’s led others to do and the impact he’s had on Today’s world.

• 3. There’s no structure or system to leadership; it’s situational. Again, absolutely false.

  Not only is leadership - true leadership - structured and systematic, it can be duplicated again and again. Students in the Mastery Leadership program learn how to do this during the course of their study. Leadership has principles, skills that can be learned, and specific ways to get results. All those things are the building blocks of the successful accomplishment of goals, managing the aspects of our lives, and creating a life worth living. And if you can systemize it, you can duplicate it.

  Believe it - leadership can be built into your life as a workable, predictable system.

• 4. The top person - the “boss” - is the leader, and it can’t be any other way. False.

  In fact it’s the exact opposite that is so often true. In the best businesses, families, schools, and groups, anyone in the group can exhibit leadership. Leadership should be encouraged at every level of the organization (with a few rules of behavior to prevent conflict and confusion).

If you believe any or all of these myths, you’ll need to revise your beliefs or you’ll never build true leadership into your life.

SO, WHAT IS TRUE LEADERSHIP?

Leadership is nothing more than a core set of skills that can be learned. There are five of them:

• Vision

• Discrimination (or discernment)

• Strategic Thinking

• Commitment, and…

• Inspirational Communication.

You’ll learn about them and how to develop them in yourself and others as you progress through the Mastery Leadership program’s Mastery Keys for the Emerging Leader. At the same time, you will be able to assess your own leadership capabilities and of those you associate with, and devise a leadership development program for enhancing your skill level.

THERE’S NO MYSTERY TO LEADERSHIP

Contrary to popular belief, there’s nothing mysterious about leadership. Once you know its core skills and specific systems, it becomes a straightforward personal development task, just like any other system in your life.

Like many other seemingly mysterious things, once you know the secrets of duplicable leadership, you’ll want to say, “How simple! Why didn’t I see it sooner?”

Leadership is probably the single-most important aspect of your life and ability to produce the results you want.

It’s leadership that figures out what you need to do to enhance your life and give it the power, thrust and momentum it needs.

And it’s leadership that determines how to do it.

Then it’s leadership that makes sure it gets done.

Without leadership, life is aimless, purposeless, random, ineffective, and - no exaggeration…

…terminally ill.

With effective leadership, your life will thrive, you will navigate through any storm, and surpass every goal you ever set for yourself.

Leadership is the cornerstone of the warrior’s ability to create the life worth living and developing the skills necessary for protecting that life from anything that would threaten it. And so it is also the cornerstone of the Warrior Concepts Life Mastery Program. Here at WCI, just like every other solid, educational institution, we create leaders - not just in the martial arts, but at home, school or work, and in the community.

We create the light that will cause others to engage in our vision with us and that will brighten the Path for others to follow.

Read more articles like this by subscribing to the author’s newsletter at: http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com/newsletter.html Jeffrey M. Miller is the founder and master instructor of Warrior Concepts International. In addition to regular classes for local students, he is called upon by groups and organizations as a speaker, lecturer, and seminar leader on such topics as leadership, personal development, self-defense, and the benefits of training in the martial art of ninjutsu He may be contacted for media interviews and seminar/speaking information at (570) 988-2228 or through his website at http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com

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