Systema North Pinellas Russian Martial Art

There are lessons that rear their ugly heads again and again in my life.

And it usually moves from topic to topic, but occasionally, it shows up in the same areas.

That’s because even when I think I’ve learned the lesson well enough that I don’t have to repeat it, it sneaks back up on me.

It’s not always a bad thing, though.

Sometimes when the lesson repeats, it takes me further into understanding. You can think of it like a spiral of refinement.

That’s what I’m feeling today.

And why the idea of ‘How to ACTUALLY get results from anything you do’ came to mind.

As I see it, the answer to that has multiple layers. But at its core, there are two parts.

You do the thing… consistently ( we’ll talk about that in a moment )
You measure your outcomes.

Let’s talk a little about the second one first.

To measure your outcomes, you’ve got to have an idea about what you’re trying to accomplish in the first place, so you can see when you’re on the track or not.

Imagine your goal is to have effective strikes that you can use to protect yourself and others.

Well, we first need to define what we mean by an ‘effective strike.’

Does that mean a single strike that makes the receiver feel like he’s having an out of body experience that makes him question everything he thought he knew about life?

Kind of like what in the first Dr. Strange movie, when the main character met The Ancient One.

Or is an effective strike simply something that redirects the moving mass of an incoming object so it doesn’t break you?

Both are good skills to have.

And as long as you know which one you’re training for, at which time, and which result you’re after, you’re far more likely to get what you want.

And when it comes to recording and measuring your results, you have plenty of options. You might just need to make a mental note of what you did and what happened so you have the highest chance of repeating it.

Or you can record your findings on video, you could type them into your computer, or your physically write them down with pen and paper.

The latter has its own unique benefits that we can talk about another time.

Okay, what about the important part of this?

The consistent doing of the thing.
This can be tricky for many reasons.

But the one reason that seems to cause the most problems with consistency is setting a single, giant-sized goal.

I know this has been a problem for me at times, and maybe you can relate.

If we look at nothing other than the Goliath-like end result, we may find ourselves losing our drive to get there.

Because the gap between where we start from and where we’re going seems to make the Grand Canyon look like a crack in the sidewalk.

We need to train ourselves to see and be thankful for the teeny-tiny daily accomplishments that we make.

Those Liliputian results often feel meaningless, in the moment.

But they do something incredibly powerful.

They break us out of doing nothing.

And they kick the snowball down the hill, where it picks up speed and mass.

The next thing you know, not doing the thing you want every day feels weird.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be roadblocks.

So don’t beat yourself up when you fall off the horse.

Just get back on and start again from where you’re at in the moment.

Even if you’ve lost some ground and you feel like you’re starting over.

That’s fine. It happens to the best of us.
I know that was a little long-winded, but it felt right.

By the way…

The Split Second Defense program is still 50% off through Sunday night.

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At checkout, use the code: SSD50

Jesus Revezzo
God bless

𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻?

Last week, I was in a team meeting, and someone used the phrase “holding space.”

Or maybe it was “keeping the frame.” One of those.

It’s a phrase I’ve been hearing more and more over the last few years.

I always kind of understood what people meant… but I realized I’d never really looked into where it came from.

Turns out the idea goes back decades in psychology.

Originally, it meant staying regulated, steady, and emotionally grounded so someone could explore something without fear and develop a stable sense of self.

That part makes sense.

But like a lot of terms, over time, it’s been softened.

Blurred.

Sometimes even used as a way to coddle instead of strengthen.

What does interest me is how this concept translates into self-defense.

Because in an emergency, “holding your space” isn’t just emotional.

It’s physical.

You need to stay regulated so you can do what needs to be done in the moment.

There’s plenty of time after an event to decompress, feel the emotions, or seek help if needed.

Physically, holding your frame can mean that your head-to-toe structure is connected and stable.

When you move, your whole body moves together.

That’s what allows you to transfer energy forward into another person.

But here’s the nuance: you can’t stay rigid.

If you’re overly tense, physics works against you.

Force rebounds back into your own body.

Effective striking requires the ability to contract and release almost instantly.

Brief structure, then relaxation.

That allows more kinetic energy to go forward into your attacker, as less comes back into your "frame".

Understanding this intellectually is one thing.

But ultimately, it needs to be felt.

So get with a friend or family member you trust and start pushing, pulling, and striking each other with these ideas.

Start to feel what holding your frame can mean.

Test out striking with a rigid body compared to being relaxed, employing wave-like motion, then instantly tense on the strike and relax just as quickly.

Let me know how it goes.

𝟮 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲

Regardless of what martial art or combat sport you train in, they will all fail against real-life violence if you don’t get the following two things right.

The first:

If you’re not paying attention to your surroundings, you get clobbered by an attacker who you didn’t see coming.

I think we can both agree that if that happens, it doesn’t matter how much knowledge you have or how long you’ve trained.

The second:

When attacked, if you can’t immediately change that attacker’s mind… your chances of escaping unharmed fly like a lead balloon.

That means you have to do something that makes the attacker freeze in their tracks… at least temporarily.

Once you do that…

Then you can apply your Kenpo, Systema, Jiu-jitsu, boxing, or wrestling technique, or a technique that you spontaneously develop in the moment based on the principles and concepts from your favorite art.

Now, how do you actually stop someone in their tracks?

I’d love to give you a specific answer, but…

There are far too many variables to give a single answer for everything in this post.

But, hypothetically, when someone attacks you, the perp has already decided, in their mind, what they believe is going to happen.

And that’s to your advantage.

Because anything you do outside of their preconceived notion… causes their brain to malfunction, temporarily.

And in that moment, when the criminal is recalculating what happened, you get to dismantle this crackpot.

That surprise could come from an unexpected counterstrike…

It can come from your ability to ‘absorb’ the attack…

Or even shouting an obscure phrase such as:

“I love pancakes with olive oil.”

As silly as that sounds, that can short-circuit someone’s brain momentarily.

But as I often say, you actually have to put your hands on another person to build this skill.

Preferably, with a trusted training partner, you can work through these concepts and principles with real bodies in real time with real force.

That way, you’re not surprised if you ever have to use these skills in real life.

Happy Independence Day #249 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
Be careful with fireworks and remember...

Don't do anything Eagle-Man wouldn't do.

I admit it.

There are plenty of days I don’t feel like working out, training, or creating new programs.

Especially when I have BIG plans for what I want to accomplish and I’m not seeing results instantly.

Damn that 80s microwave mentality.

So, I skip a day.

And that day turns into two days. And three days. Then four. Then the next thing I know, I’m scraping the bottom of the ice cream carton and feeling blown out and tired.

So here’s a trick I learned from a friend and guide, Matt Furey.

Just do 1 rep.

1 rep of any movement.

And if it feels good, do another.

I’ve found that when I take this advice, just do 1 rep, the next thing I know, 20 or 30 minutes have passed, and I feel great physically and mentally.

Here’s why this works…

Doing just 1 rep breaks inertia and builds momentum.

This is great, because one of the hardest things any of us has to do in life is overcome the inertia of inactivity.

Whether that’s in our fitness, self-defense training, or even business.

So, the next time you don’t feel like doing something you know you should be doing, just do 1 rep and see how it feels.

I’ll bet that 1 rep feels good.

And I bet you’ll find, like I have, that reps 2, 3, 4, and 5 feel just as good.

That’s all for now.

P.S. A quick warning.

Don’t overdo it either. A couple years ago, I was coaching a young 25 year old who was having trouble staying consistent with his training.

So I gave him this same golden nugget.

And it was working fine for the first few days. Then he jumped ahead of himself and tried to do 30 pushups instead of the 5 or 6 he had worked up to over the previous few days.

He didn’t make it.

So he felt defeated and fell off the wagon. He felt he failed himself and me, and shame set in, and he ghosted me on the rest of his training.

His loss.

Remember, just do 1. Build the momentum. And you will become unstoppable.

Last night at my training studio my training partner and I were working on evading club attacks and taking out the legs.

Here's what we discovered...

Almost every time my training partner tried to destroy my base he failed because he wasn't bringing his mass in close enough and with sufficient force.

After a couple of attempts, I said: "You've got to be in hugging distance for this to work."

You've got to understand that my training partner has always "played it safe" when it comes to distance because, historically, he's been smaller than a lot of his training partners. So, he doesn't feel comfortable being close in to someone.

But as soon as he made the shift to "hugging distance" I started falling like a big o' pine tree in a Cat 5 hurricane. (That's a Florida reference for sure)

What's my point?

When you're training, be as honest as possible with what you're doing and realize that if you don't move the other person's structure, you're not being effective.

Meaning each time you touch your training partners you want to make their spines shift. Preferably in a downward-spiraling direction.

If you've got any questions about this shoot them over by simply replying.

Two nights I was working with someone on his sledgehammer strikes when a new vision on how to get this done came to me.

It worked so well for him I wanted to share it with you.

I told him to imagine his strike is attached to a conveyor belt that's constantly moving forward.

Then use your imagination to place the conveyor belt inside the target so the strike moves THROUGH the person at a nice consistent speed.

This immediately took him from simple surface striking to easily driving my whole body several feet away.

Which is great because if you don't move someone's spinal position, you haven't really done anything.

The best way to practice this is with another person. But if you don't have a training partner at the moment...

You can use a hanging heavy bag or a free standing one.

Either way, you've got to make those items sway and move off their base.

You can also practice the "explosivity" drill I demonstrate in module two of my Sledgehammer Punch course.

That drill and the others in module two can all be done on your own. No partner needed. They only require you a wall and a floor.

If you don't own the Sledgehammer Punch training yet, grab it here: https://sledgehammerpunch.com/start

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