Tim Larkin is the founder of the fighting system called "Target Focus Training." TFT is a 2 1/2 day seminar that teaches practical street self defense. Mr. Larkin was injured in a diving accident, leaving him unable to reach his goal of becoming a Seal Officer. But because of his superior performance he was eventually assigned to train Navy Seals in combat. These same knowledge helped him to formulate what he calls TFT (Target Focus Training). Below are some of the combative tips that he has shared to millions of people who wish to be safe from any deadly harm from an assailant, which I now share to those who are willing to listen.
(Disclaimer: I do not own the philosophies and teaching of TFT. Everything belongs to Mr. Tim Larkin. This post is to inform only. Enjoy reading
.)1.Combat Training Principles -- Secrets For Staying Alive
When 'Rules' Don't Apply
Thanks for opting in to my Combat Training Principles
Newsletter.
Below is the first issue of what I trust will be the
most useful ezine you'll ever receive, packed with
insights into a world you may not have had much
exposure to.
In this newsletter I'm not just going to give you a
few techniques to ward off a local thug. Nope. You
see, when you train in my system I guarantee that what
you learn will keep you alive should you ever become
involved in a violent confrontation.
But to do that, you need to know something about
principles -- about the 'why' -- of what you're doing,
as well as the techniques. It's training your mind
along with your body. Without it, you're doing what
everyone else is doing -- just learning techniques for
specific situations. And in an upcoming issue I'll
explain why this is recipe for DISASTER.
So ... welcome aboard. Let's get started.
"Your Critical Decision"
**************************************************
"The indispensable first step to getting the things
you want out of life is this: decide what you want."
-Ben Stein
**************************************************
There are many constants throughout life and the
above quote truly defines one of the most critical
steps in your pursuit of any endeavor. So before we
even consider the principles of any good fighting
system or martial art, you must first answer this
question:
"What is my goal for this training -- to enhance my
athletic competition skills or to learn to effectively
deal with potentially lethal physical attacks from one
or more thugs hell-bent on harming me and/or someone I
love?"
It truly amazes me how many people just stumble into
various martial arts or combat sports never having
once considered the above question. Yet your answer to
that question makes all the difference in determining
whether you really get what you want from training.
Here's why.
If you answered "for competition", then understand
you'll find numerous martial arts and combat sports
that provide excellent instruction and challenging
forms of competition. There you can SAFELY match your
skill level against another competitor, within agreed
upon RULES and under the supervision of a judge or
referee.
The combat sport athlete has my greatest respect, and
you can certainly learn some very effective lessons in
competitive strategy and tactics from these sports and
disciplines. I know many of you may also enjoy the
sometimes-extensive physical training these arts
require in order to excel in competition.
Unfortunately, if "sport fighting" is your thing ...
if it's your answer to my first question, well, you
won't find this newsletter of much use. In fact, you
may even want to unsubscribe and save your inbox
clutter. No hard feelings. If you'd like, finish this
issue, though, to understand a little more of the
reasons "why".
Now, let's return to the question.
If you answered that your goal for training IS to
learn to effectively deal with real life or death
threats, then you've come to the right place.
You see, in upcoming issues I'll throw some
provocative stuff at you, give you insights you've
likely never been exposed to, challenge other stuff
you may hold as absolute.
It's my goal with this newsletter to arm you with the
necessary information to confidently seek out the most
effective hand-to-hand combat training.
But before we move on ...
There's one more group I must address. In fact, it's
these individuals that I really hope to reach with
this first issue of my newsletter.
The group? Well, it's those of you who answered the
question, "I want to train for BOTH athletic
competition AND life or death attacks."
Why am I concerned?
It's simply this ... YOU CAN'T DO IT!
---------------
That's right. And the reason is very simple: "You do
what you train."
Let me repeat that -- "You do what you train."
----------------------
If you train in a combat sport or martial art that
has rules restricting you for reasons of safety during
competition, then you'll react to a violent criminal
assault ...
--- Restricted By Those Very Same Rules!
But understand, those rules only apply to you. Not to
your assailant. He has NO restrictions.
That's why you must to be extremely careful when
physically training for self-protection.
You see, there's a coding process that gets
'installed' when training -- and it's this process
that ultimately determines your responses under
stress.
Examples? There are many.
But one of the more disturbing involved a major
police department's firearms training program.
The range where this city's police officers performed
their firearms training was run by a rangemaster more
concerned about keeping his range clean ... than
keeping his officers alive!
During practice with their revolvers, the officers
were required to shoot all six rounds, then eject
these spent cartridges into their hands and put them
into their pockets.
This 'RULE' was enforced because the rangemaster
didn't want his pristine range littered with empty
cartridges.
Problem was -- in a REAL life or death gunfight, an
officer must reload his or her weapon as fast as
possible. And to do that with a revolver, you
obviously just dump the empty cartridges on the ground
while quickly reloading with your free hand.
But surely these highly trained police officers would
not let their training impact them negatively in a
real situation, right?
Unfortunately, it wasn't until 2 officers were shot
dead in a gunfight that the facts were revealed ...
--- "You do what you train."
Both dead officers were found with empty cartridges
in their hands, EXACTLY as they trained on the range,
even though they faced a life or death situation where
those extra seconds may have been the difference.
So return to my initial question, and make your
decision: "What is your goal for training?"
Until next time,
2.Combat Training Principles -- Secrets For Staying Alive
When 'Rules' Don't Apply
"Almost Every Conflict Is Won -- Or Lost -- With
This One Weapon"
**************************************************
"Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the
size of the fight in the dog."
- Mark Twain
**************************************************
To truly prepare yourself for life or death
confrontations you must take inventory of those
weapons readily available to you.
When my trainers ask new clients to list the
"weapons" at their disposal, they give a variety of
answers. Most tend to focus on either the actual
weapons they carry on their person or objects they use
on a day-to-day basis that might be utilized as
improvised weapons (briefcase, umbrella, pen, etc.).
This response is not confined to the
"unsophisticated" trainee, either. Extremely
competent, well-trained military commandos and special
law enforcement personnel I train give the exact same
answers!
The difference is these operators usually categorize
the weapons available to them as primary (rifle or
submachine gun) and secondary (side arm, knives, etc).
In both cases, however, the highly trained operator
and the uninitiated almost ALWAYS fail to list their
most powerful weapon.
That weapon is ... Their MIND!
----
Unfortunately today, very little effort is made to
properly train your mind for violent confrontation. In
fact most martial arts and combat sports go out of
their way to actually negate this "primary weapon
system" by focusing on defensive-based training. Their
programs revolve around REACTING to your attacker's
actions rather than focusing your actions on DEFEATING
the threat.
This defensive thinking causes you to hesitate as
your mind tries to figure out what is happening rather
than focusing on "targets" of opportunity.
By constantly drilling on blocks and on counters to
attacks, and through being told never to initiate
action, your mind habitually attempts to protect you
by reacting to what is happening -- rather than
helping you to defeat your attacker.
Correct training of your mind is the CRITICAL
component that unleashes your ability to take
advantage of all the other weapons available to you.
Give your mind the wrong command ... and you
hesitate; hesitation causes fear; and fear causes you
to freeze, leading to an often-disastrous result in a
true life or death struggle with a violent thug.
Many people give lip service to offensive or
aggressive thought training.
But in my 20-plus years of training clients, I've
seen a mere handful of instructors who can competently
instruct offensive/aggressive thought training coupled
with effective hand-to-hand and hand-to-weapon
training.
I hope the industry changes in the future -- but I'm
not holding my breath.
Occasionally, I do get clients who come to me with
naturally aggressive or offensive thought processes.
For example, I recently trained a female CEO who had
fought off an attack in Paris.
She was traveling in a car with her husband through
the busy streets of that city when they were assaulted
by criminals on a motorcycle. The guy on the back of
the motorcycle jumped off at a stop, broke into the
back seat of their car and attempted to steal her
laptop.
She immediately attacked the first target she saw --
which just happened to be his helmet chinstrap. She
grabbed it and repeatedly slammed his head into the
door. He dropped the laptop as her husband sped off.
She sought out my services not because she had failed
but because she was annoyed she couldn't think of a
BETTER target to attack!
With that mindset, 50% of my work was done. She
excelled in training and is now more prepared to use
her already-perfect mindset to summons better targets
and weapons.
As in the Mark Twain quote above, by focusing first
on correctly training your most important "weapons
system" -- your MIND -- you significantly increase
your ability to take out anyone threatening you or
your loved ones.
Until next time,
3.Combat Training Principles -- Secrets For Staying Alive
When 'Rules' Don't Apply
"The One, Little-Used Training Principle That'll Leapfrog Your
Combat Fighting Progress"
******************************************************
"The way to avoid what is strong is to strike what is
weak."
- Sun Tzu
******************************************************
When most people think of martial arts training they
envision a class arranged in rows going through
various punching and kicking drills.
Form is emphasized to an incredible degree. I
remember early on in my martial arts training being
told by a master that until I had performed a movement
1,000 times (in this case it was a traditional reverse
punch) I would not be able to understand, nor properly
use, this strike.
So for much of my youth I would spend hour after hour
performing the various punches, kicks, and techniques
I'd been taught, until I acquired 'proficiency' in my
performance of these movements.
Often QUANTITY was emphasized over QUALITY. In fact
looking back on these training experiences I believe
the main goal was FATIGUE.
This often produced humorous results. Whenever I was
able to sneak a glance around the room, I'd notice the
agony on the faces of my fellow students as they
executed say, a high roundhouse kick, for the umpty-
umth time, -- a kick that now barely rose above knee
level!
The instructors were very SPECIFIC when it came to
form. Everything had to look just so -- and you were
judged by your ability to reproduce this look. You
were instructed in use of your natural body weapons
but the emphasis was on form rather than function.
The subject of whether or not this particular strike
was effective or even biomechanically correct was
never addressed. Any such questions were dismissed
with some vague reference to the art being this way
for 1000's of years, blah, blah, and blah...
Here were just some of the questions I had about
those methods:
1. What was the purpose of these drills? To make me
a better fighter? And if so, how?
2. What was the point of doing a drill to fatigue?
What did I learn from that? Did it make me better at
that drill?
3. How did the movements I learned work under the
stress of a real fight?
4. Why are some of the ways you're teaching me to
use my body seemingly more prone to hurting me than my
attacker?
Unfortunately I got nowhere asking these and other
similar questions. It took me many years of WRONG
training to find out how to correctly train my skills
for maximum fighting effectiveness under stress.
The difference is dramatic ... as are the results.
When you train with me, especially those with
extensive martial arts training, you'll be surprised how
little I correct you on 'form'. I'll rarely have you
performing 'drills'. And I never instruct you to
'memorize' a technique.
But I am very strict on whether or not you are using
your body weapons to correctly strike the targets on
your attacker. I am also a 'stickler' on the proper
biomechanical use of those body weapons you use to
execute your strikes.
Why?
Because the ONLY thing that matters when you are in a
real fight is that you -- HIT YOUR TARGETS!
The focus is not "how you look" when you execute a
one-knuckle punch to your attacker's temple, but...
--- DID YOU HIT THE TEMPLE?
How you look when you strike is a very minor concern.
I do address how you look in training but in a very
specific manner. One that helps you to more
effectively hit your targets while generating the
MAXIMUM amount of force with each of your strikes.
Still, one of the most difficult things for me to
'unlearn' from a trained martial artist or fighter is
the formatic drills their prior training inculcated in
them.
Often I'll watch as a highly trained individual
executes a picture-perfect kick or punch during a
training session, a blow that rightfully sends the
partner reeling backwards due to the force. Then,
however, I watch them stand in place (again, often in
a picture-perfect stance) rather than DYNAMICALLY
moving with their attacker.
With my training you won't make the same mistake.
Focus on what your goal is -- DESTROYING the other guy.
In order to do that you need to ensure you hit your targets.
If you can focus on that FIRST, I'll help you look
good doing it later.
Until next time,
4. Free Combat Training Principles -- Secrets For Staying
Alive When 'Rules' Don't Apply
'When Positive Thinking Falls Short'
******************************************************
'Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it; he
that fears not, gives advantage to the danger.'
- Francis Quarles (1592 - 1644)
******************************************************
As I travel throughout the world presenting seminars to various
clients I get a common response to my seminar topic
'Using Violence As A Survival Tool'.
Most of the attendees are wildly successful
individuals and influential in the business and
political circles of the countries they live in. They
often are very calculating in their business and
political lives -- always with multiple back up plans.
Yet after my presentation they often tell me that,
prior to my talk, their answer to potentially facing
violence was one of thinking positively and not
allowing such thoughts of possibly facing asocial
violence to enter their lives. Believe it or not this
is a common theme with many of my clients, wealthy or
not.
I have a very personal experience with the failure of
positive thinking.
Most that know my background know that at a very early
age (14) I was introduced to the US Navy SEALs. I
lived in Navy Housing across the street from their
training center in Coronado, CA.
When I found out that you could get paid to hang out
at the beach, shoot automatic weapons, blow stuff up,
parachute, and dive, I realized had found my calling!
(Ah, the simplicity of the 14 year old mind)
There was just one catch -- I had chronic ear problems
throughout my childhood, resulting in over 9
operations which barely saved my hearing, let alone
would hold up to the rigors of combat diving. But I
read many books on people who had overcome adversity
and won. I was determined not to let this little
genetic defect keep me from my destiny.
And I almost pulled it off!
After college I was selected for one of only 2 slots
available that year for officers to attend training.
During my years as a Navy Brat in Coronado, I
befriended many SEALs who gave me all the insider tips
on how to train in order to succeed in training: cold
showers, prescribed calisthenics, swim and running
programs. I used this info during college to prepare
for SEAL training.
More importantly they gave me great tips on how to
complete various stages of the training. How to pace
yourself, hide food, keep the instructors off your
butt. All great stuff -- and my boat team benefited
greatly from the tips.
Problem was, at some point my ears were going to be
radically tested for combat diving. That day didn't
come until all the 'hard parts' of the training were
completed. This was the stage most people easily
completed and graduated from the program and went to a
SEAL team. I had a couple of easy dives that everyone
cruised through that week -- except me.
My eardrums ruptured spectacularly. The docs tell me
today I'm lucky to have my hearing. But my eardrums
now have the flexibility of cardboard. Every ENT
doctor that sees my ears calls nurses and associates
to check out the 'war zone' inside my ear canals.
That accident ended my dream of becoming a SEAL
Officer. I was medically disenrolled from SEAL
training and instead slotted to the intelligence
community.
It all worked out OK for me as I got an incredible job
supporting the SpecOps Community and was introduced to
the base hand-to-hand combat system from which I later
developed my program, Target-Focus Training.
Then, after my military career I was able to work as a
civilian close-combat instructor in a company I co-
founded. We had clients from the various elite
branches of the military, law enforcement and
corporate community. I couldn't have designed a better
outcome. I love it.
I was lucky, though. The folly of believing that mere
positive thinking would overcome a serious genetic
weakness only cost me a career objective.
But people who believe positive thinking will protect
them from asocial violence truly are taking a much
higher risk.
When their positive thoughts fail -- they have no back
up, nothing else in their toolbox. Unfortunately when
random asocial violence enters the life of someone
unprepared -- that person often finds himself maimed,
crippled, or killed.
These newsletters are to get you thinking about
putting together your backup plan when positive
thinking fails.
What's in your toolbox?
Until next time,
5. Combat Training Principles -- Secrets For Staying Alive When
'Rules' Don't Apply
Asocial Violence vs. Anti-Social Behavior
(and other questions)
******************************************************
'The smart ones ask when they don't know,
and sometimes when they do'
-Malcolm Forbes
******************************************************
I'm going to answer a few questions in this issue. Let's start
with Tony's:
(Q) Dear TFT group,
Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't the techniques of martial
arts the principles their creators made to defend one's self?
Since everybody is different, everyone will find it difficult to
perfect a principle that would work perfectly for the
grandmaster. This is evident to a number of testimonials you have
posted. But principles that work because everyone can pick them
up are because they are based on scientific laws, not one's
individual form. It figures why there is hundreds of martial arts
each work best for their grandmaster at that time. There was one
martial art that was based on scientific principles, and it is
known as Wing Chun, Bruce Lee's first martial art he learnt from
grandmaster Yip Mann. What you learn in it isn't technique, but
countering, which is easy to learn but hard to master. I would
like you to comment on this, if you can, on your next newsletter,
this may make things clear for customers like my self on how your
products work to everyday people.
'kick arse...take names'
Tony T
(A) Tony what you are describing is the number of 'legacy systems'
out in the market. A 'legacy system' is one that was developed
with certain moves and applications that require you to mimic the
way the instructor performs the moves. Your success or failure in
such 'legacy systems' has a good deal to do with your genetic
make up.
If you are genetically predisposed to be a good kicker, grappler
or puncher you tend to drift to those arts that instruct that
approach. These arts tend to place a good deal of emphasis on the
physical dynamics portion of training (basically, how well you
can mimic the moves) rather than the results (did that last move
create an injury in the other guy?).
A principal-based fighting system like TFT is concerned with one
thing and one thing only... results. Understanding the fact that
all humans possess a central nervous system and that it is
extremely vulnerable to trauma places the focus on causing injury
to the body that interrupts the central nervous system. This
simple focus allows you to use this information regardless of
your physical limitations.
We have successfully instructed thousands of clients in TFT with
all sorts of genetic limitations (most recently we instructed a
blind client). When the goal is based on verifiable results, your
ability to successfully use violence as a survival tool becomes
infinitely easier. I cover this subject in depth in my 'Nuclear
Weapon' DVD's which I'd highly recommend to truly see what I'm
talking about (http://www.targetfocusweapons.com).
(Q) Dino asks me to clarify my newsletter on the young Marine in
Fallujah who shot the 'wounded' insurgent:
What about raping and torturing the people on the other side, do
you support that as a means towards destroying the enemy? I
believe this is what they call PsyOps? This would destroy the
moral of the opponent. What if their children are tortured to
death and raped on camera as well, this could really break the
enemy's will to fight back. What is your expert opinion?
Dino
(A) I got a couple of emails like Dino's about my newsletter 'Why
We All Can't Just Get Along'. I basically said that we as a nation
still had a long way to go in understanding the facts... that the
way you win a war is by killing the enemy. Dino has now gone on a
tangent about rape, torture etc, which was not what I was
advocating in my newsletter.
But my answer to Dino's question is I don't advocate such
measures. One of my last jobs in the military was in a 'human
intelligence unit' of which one of the 'specialties' of the unit
was interrogation. What I learned during my tenure there was
that, beyond the moral objections, the cold hard facts are that
such measures (as you described) proved to be counterproductive
in the long run. Any short gains in advantage from such methods
are usually vastly outweighed by the numerous disadvantages.
Even the recent ridiculous actions by some US military prison
guards at the camps, although relatively juvenile, were very
counter-productive. But in that case, I rarely heard anyone ask
the question just who those 'poor prisoners' were in the pictures
and what actions might they have taken on the Iraqi/Afgan people
prior to their capture.
The reason I bring this point up is because these same issues
come up when I prepare clients for asocial violence. Most confuse
asocial with anti-social behavior. For clarification, asocial
violence is unavoidable -- the dirtbag is going to jump you and
do violence without ANY provocation. Anti-social behavior is the
obnoxious drunk who harasses you at a baseball game and instead
of you leaving or getting security to handle the situation, you
opt to take matters into your own hands.
Asocial does not give you an option to use violence. Either you
use it... or violence will be done to you. Anti-social behavior
gives YOU the choice to disengage -- which is ALWAYS the smart
move. Unfortunately people often confuse the two, treating
asocial as anti-social and vice versa.
Our forces are not out 'arresting' burglars or recidivist
criminals; they are destroying an enemy that would use any means
necessary to do the same or worse to them. Luckily the guys in
the field seem to have that approach to the war.
You should train to deal with the asocial violence of the
sociopath... and KNOW the difference... so you don't participate
in the avoidable anti-social behavior of others.
(Q) JF Writes:
Hello Tim:
There are no secrets. True, authentic traditional Chinese Martial
Arts were created for and serve only one purpose. Namely, they
destroy the human form. Period. All the 'artsy fartsy' fortune
cookie bullshit psychobabble in the world cannot obscure this
straightforward fact. If people are looking for general health
conditioning ... they would be well advised to ride a bike, run
or power walk, and swim for about 20 minutes each and 3 times per
week. There, it's just that simple. REAL martial arts put the
emphasis where it properly belongs, on the very first word ...
MARTIAL. It is first and foremost War conducted in an artful
(skillful) way and NOT artistic expression in a martial medium.
To earn dangerous hands a person MUST engage in dangerous
practice.
Cordially,
JF
(A) Gee JF, howd'ya really feel?
I'm not sure which newsletter JF was referring to but I wanted to
comment on this one because I don't think it is correct to
compare one martial art or fighting system to another to see
which is better. The purpose of this newsletter is to discuss the
use of violence as a survival tool so the question should be how
does (insert martial art or combat sport training here) compare
to real violence?
That IS the standard we use for TFT. I don't teach people to
'TFT' someone. I teach them to use violence -- which ANYONE can
use with ZERO training right now. Our prison population is full
of SUCCESSFUL users of violence with little or NO formal training
in any martial art or combat sport.
Other than that, I like the email JF.
(Q) Hi, just wanted to say I received the 'nuclear' DVDs yesterday.
They are awesome! Everything is amazingly clear and practical,
and really well presented. Your service and response times re the
order have also been excellent, so I've now ordered the 'Joint
Breaking' DVDs. Keep up the good work, and please let me know if
you intend to come to England.
Regards
Peter
(A) Thanks Peter. I am fortunate to have a very dedicated staff
that offers great customer service. I'm glad you liked the Weapons
package. We have received incredible response on that product.
The Joint Breaking DVDs are fast becoming the hot item for all
martial artists and combat sport practitioners. It really answers
the question of joint locks and leverages once and for all. We
show it from soup to nuts and give you the complete range of
information. MMA fighters have been getting these like crazy as
soon as word spread so I'd order soon since the first 2 DVD runs
have already sold out (http://www.tftjointbreaking.com).
As for another UK training... we usually make it there once or
twice a year. So any of my European clients who
would like to attend a session, please email us at the
address below and we'll let you know once we finalize dates. By
the way... we are also looking at possibly offering a session in
Rome.
Well, that's it for this newsletter.
Until next time,
