BAMA NEWS - Snake Blocker

mass, 54" beams and a whole lotta tines. At 430 yards he shot just over him with the first one,
but shots 2 & 3 were perfect and a few seconds later the bull was down. We actually had him
figured at 403" - 406", but his mass was so big that we under judged that a bit, and because of
the huge mass we though his beams were shorter than what they actually are. I had the beams
figured at 51", but the huge mass made the bull look shorter than what he actually is. The main
frame is 388", with 31" of extras, for a total 419" gross.
The Deep End
By Amo Guro Michael Blackgrave, SEAMOK Tactical Solutions (TM)
Martial arts teachers are a fickle bunch to be sure, most believe that a slow steady progression
from a dogmatic position is the only way for an adult beginner to understand the nuances of an
art. They take their raw recruits and place them at such a low level on the learning curve that it
truly hinders growth and confidence. I have found it detrimental to adult students to place them
on the same ladder as a child student. Adults and children are different in their mannerisms,
experience’s and desires. Often times child students are only there for their parents and will in all
likely hood be an in and out student. On the other hand adult students who attend martial classes
may in fact be looking for something totally different, something they can covet and call their
own, for whatever reason. To place them on that same sliding scale is in my opinion doing a
grave injustice to them and not addressing their desires.
If you look at the make up of most martial arts curriculums you will see a very methodical
approach to learning. Everything is laid out softly with little or no challenge. This will hinder the
production from an adult student, especially those who have the fire for truth and are there for
the simple reason of finding it. They have come to you because they feel you can deliver to them
their much needed remedy for confidence and ability. An adult will not stick around for very
long if you approach him as a child and throw him into the shallow end of training along side
pre-pubescent 13 year olds whose only real reason for being there is because Dad said “Your
going”.
A kick is a kick and a punch a punch and both techniques along with many others will be
taught to both child and adult alike. The difference between the to will lie in the intent factor.
The child may be enamored by the flash of a technique because he is a child. Children work off
of a very different stimuli make up than an adult. The adult may and probably will see that flash
technique as futile. He isn’t there for that. As a teacher you will now run into the explain game.
The explain game is a place where you have to quantify every nook and cranny of a technique.
You have to be able to sell this flash as function to the youngster yet somehow convince the
adult that it is still functional form. The former may be easy but the latter will be a hard pressed
sell. This quagmire can be avoided by simply removing the adult from a child geared class and
gearing the work equal to the intellect and desire.
I am a firm believer in the deep end continuum. I will take a new adult student and put him
straight into the deep end of training. He will show up and find himself so overwhelmed that he
will think he is drowning in information. On the contrary what he perceives as a suffocating
immersion is really a liberating approach, the only thing lacking is understanding which will be
gained moment by moment as he starts to float back to the surface of WHY. In this way you can
take a raw recruit and give him the necessary work needed and boost his confidence from day
one.
My approach to function is simple. It all starts with belief. The student must be confident in
what he is learning and his abilities to learn and use it. If you take this student and place him in