I must be going through a mid life crisis.

I just went out and bought myself a Ukulele.

I haven’t a musical bone in my body, and I clear a room faster than a suicide bomber when I sing.  But I must say that after about a week of strumming the thing and tormenting my wife………I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

I guess it’s a change from the hum drum routine of everyday life.  The chords must reach a frequency within the body that resonates the “meditation” side of oneself……well, that’s if you’re the one playing it.  I’m not sure my wife appreciates its meditative value LOL!!!

I think the big factor here is that I’M LEARNING AGAIN.  It’s been a while since I’ve been a student.  Learning rather than teaching is a nice diversion.

In fact, I’ve booked myself for a few private lessons with a Ukulele instructor. I can see it now…………FFS - THE MUSICAL, … LOL!!!!

What is the martial arts application to this?  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Although, I must say that my finger tips have developed to the point that would make a Muay Thai boxer’s shins proud.  Imagine the finger jabbing and shredding capabilities!!!!

Balance in very important in life, family life, work life, hobbies and work.

I got to a stage where I couldn’t even watch a martial arts movie (although I did enjoy Kung Fu Panda).

There was a time where I did play percussion.  I was even fortunate enough to record in a few DVD’s and had the privilege to play at a concert in the NSW State Sports Centre.  I miss those times.

One thing I do ask myself now and then:

“WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU STARTED SOMETHING NEW….”

Well off to strumming again………

Ray Floro

I’ve long realised that the sports world holds many gems that the martial artist can glean from. Concepts and techniques that can effectively be adapted to the combat arena of our arts.

What I always try to develop in my students is a change in mindset.  Let every movement be a learning curve.  Let every item be an improvised tool for self protection. In fact the motto of the Military Unarmed Combat Cell in both the USMC and the Australian Military.

“ONE MIND, ANY WEAPON”

Is relevant.

Those who are familiar with my background is will know that I source a lot of my principles from Olympic Fencing.  In its purest sport form, it is not at all a combat art.  However, the ATTRIBUTES developed through the practice and application is INVALUABLE.  The distancing, the timing, the explosive attacks, the efficient defense, minimal movement.  All these have been incorporated into FFS.

Numerous students have asked for advice on what other “system” would be a good supplement for FFS.  I always suggest they do a stint of fencing. One just need the mindset to “tweak” the principles into a workable combat movement.

Let’s take another example……BASEBALL.

Even fewer people know that I used to be a baseball pitcher in my high school days.  The fact that I was probably the slowest fast ball pitcher, contributed to the fact that I don’t advertise that skill too much

But the standard baseball pitch (ie throwing a ball) translates to one of the most powerful strikes in my arsenal.  I actually did an earlier blog entry on this. If you analyze the baseball throw, it has all the excellent body dynamics of a strike, the way the body and arm is chambered, to its progression to the follow through.

Try this exercise.  Take any item and throw it.  Do it several times.  Then go in front of your heavy bag, and using the EXACT SAME ACTION throw your hand at the bag.  You can use your palm, edge of fist or fist.  Try all of them.

Make sure you use the SAME THROWING ACTION. You will soon discover the power you can generate.

Once you are familiar with the movements and making good impact.  Let’s now adjust the movements for a better application to the combat arts.Instead of drawing your arm right back.  Start with you hands on guard position.  I like using John Will’s “Shield”, which also looks like Rodney King’s “Crazy Monkey” guard.

From the position where your hands are ON YOUR FOREHEAD.  Step into the bag and THROW YOUR HAND to your target.  Make sure you don’t draw your hand back.  Start your strike directly from your forehead.

You will find that it will telegraph less, and you sill still generate excellent power.  As you get familiar with it, then you try more and more to minimise the initial movements. The great thing about this method of striking is it’s flexibility and deception.  You can strike the opponent’s head, but with the same motion, you can change the target to the ribs using THE SAME MOTION.  Hence, your opponent will have difficulty to discern where you are actually going to hit him…..very hard to defend.

The other strike I favour is what I call “Throwing the Frisbee”.  Go out and throw a Frisbee hard…….it doesn’t have to be a Frisbee; it can be a plastic plate, a flat piece of board or even a laptop that is acting up (that’s another story).  Take note of your body mechanics.  You notice that you chamber your arm and body.  Then you body actually starts to turn before your arm.  Rarely to do they move at the same time.  It’s the same body mechanics as in pitching the baseball, but on the backhand side.

Now go out and try the same movements with the heavy bag.  Then proceed to minimise the initial movements.  Then do the same motion starting from the guard.

After a while, you will find with a little variation, you can strike at any angle.

The purpose of this blog entry is to help you discover that every motion, every sport, every martial arts out there has gems waiting to be discovered.  With the proper mindset, anything can be converted into effective, efficient systems.

COMMENT ON THE IMAGE:  Can you imagine the power and impact generated by the pitcher if he connects with a fist, palm strike or hammer fist.  Imagine the power if he is holding a hammer, axe or any other improvised weapon.

Ray Floro

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Brett Fenton for becoming one of the FFS representatives in Queensland.

Brett is the founder and head instructor of Red Dragon Kung Fu, located in Caboolture.

Their website is:    http://www.wingchunsites.com/rdkf/index.cfm?page=1

His experience and expertise extends to Jow Ga Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Tai Chi and Lion Dancing.

His facilities are one of the best I’ve seen, and it’s easy to see that his priorities are in the growth and development of his students.  And it shows as well, as I was fortunate enough to be invited to teach at his academy.  His students demonstrated solid foundation and great character. A fantastic bunch of people.!!

We are currently doing a joint collaboration to develop a program that can be adapted by Taxi drivers who are frequently exposed to risk situations.  We are calling it T.A.X.I (Tactics Against Xtreme Incidences).

Ray Floro

In the weekends my wife and I love to explore Sydney.  Learning about this great city, it’s culture and history has been a hobby for us. Plus the fact that we are on the constant quest in finding the “perfect” Caffe Latte and Mocha coffee.

This weekend saw us visit the Norman Lindsay Gallery.

Normal Lindsay was probably one of Australia’s most controversial, exceptional and prolific artist.  In a word, an Icon.  Well known for his nude art works, and his writings; the children’s book “The Magic Pudding”.

In fact the movie “Sirens” starring Elle McPherson was LOOSELY based on his life. So why does this legend make it to an FFS blog.

Well, it wasn’t going to……until we took the tour and visited his studio.

I was expecting some great “Alladin’s Cave” where the soul and secrets of this great artist would be revealed.  I pictured a cornucopia of paints of every color of the rainbow……and brushes of all types sticking out of vases like roses at full bloom.

BOY DID MY EXPECTATIONS COME CRASHING DOWN!!!!!

When the tour guide prised open the LOCKED DOOR we stepped into a world that looked exactly like……..A DISUSED STOREROOM. A room which was only lit by a narrow strip of window about the door.  A room which has no view of the outside world.

Not cosy, it was cold, dark, dusty, and unwelcoming.

What was amazing is the fact that the room was preserved EXACTLY as he left it.  Completed with unfinished works.

His brushes, palettes and easels still poised as if the artist has just gone out for a cup of tea, only to return to continue his masterpiece. What did make the most significant impression to me is that it was minimal and functional.

Although there was only one strip of small windows, the light fell directly on the one easel in the room which dominated the middle of the room. By the way, it was made from an old large window frame.

His oil paints and water color paints, of which there were very few, were kept in two small drawers in a little old table next to the easel. There were probably less than ten tubes of each.  It was obvious that he knew his tools, and made the maximum use of each.  With these few colors he was able to portray and life painting that came into existence in his mind.

His pallet was an old tile and a few tea cup dishes looked like chewed up twigs.

One of Australia’s greatest known artists didn’t have the largest, best lit, most impressive art studios. He had a backyard shed with the very basics - he knew what worked for him and that’s all he used! Minimal!!!

That’s the concept of FFS…….It’s not how much you have.  It’s what you do with what you’ve got!

Ray Floro

I had one of the nicest emails sent to me the other day.

It was from a gentleman who bought my Essential Ray Floro DVD.  He thanked me for the sequence where I explained knife defence from a seated position.

My initial reason to show scenarios from the seated position was from requests amongst “Air Marshalls” and other Military and LEO professions where they might be caught “sitting down on the job” when attacked.

Little did I know that this sequence would be appreciated more by this gentleman because he was confined to a wheelchair?

This email had such an impact on me.  It made every effort, frustration and time spent making the DVD worth every second of it.

It has opened my mind into thinking that those with “unique” requirements are those that are the most vulnerable.

One thing I am thankful for in learning a weapons system is that it does give you an “equalizer”.  Many times, I have injured myself; such as leg or ankle injuries…….and even though at the time, I may be in crutches, I was still able to teach and SPAR effectively. The disadvantage of my profession and running my own business is that if I don’t teach, I don’t earn money.

Should I have been teaching say BJJ or Muay Thai; then those injuries I had suffered would have put me out of action for a while.

So in our training……….we need to keep in mind if we can effectively defend ourselves if we are seated, lying down, or whether one limb is injured.  These factors would definitely affect what and how we learn.

Ray Floro

Life is a constant discovery.

And it is the discovery of simple, useful things that I like the best. When I started this blog journey, I knew it was going to be a challenge for me.

I am NOT a writer. Getting through my Degree and Diploma was a DAILY struggle, as the constant writing of assignments and exams, was just way out of my comfort zone. The fact is that writing just doesn’t come natural for me.

So even though, I love sharing FFS and passing on my discoveries. Putting in down in words is not the medium I would prefer. BUT, I feel that it needs to be done. I am a firm believer on making things easy for one, so I tried many ways to motivate myself into writing. I also experimented with many methods of putting my thoughts down on paper.

Originally I went out and bought myself a nice brand new pen, and a nice notebook, only to find that I write so slow that by the time I wrote down the 3rd word; I have forgotten what I wanted to say.

Plus the fact I ended up not being able to read my writing………….

So….back to the drawing board.

I then bought myself a nice small tape recorder, justified I thought by the fact that I am more of a “speaker” than a writer. I’ve seen doctors, lawyers and high level executives “dictate” letters on this. And it looked cool.

But alas, it was just another gimmick. I kept losing my trail of thought, and it was an endless frustration to keep rewinding to what you have just said, and then trying to get the rhythm back of what you were trying to say. Also, in the end, you still had to transcribe what you said in writing or type anyway. So I was just doubling my efforts.

But the BIGGEST MINUS of this method was that, I just HATED the sound of my voice.

Back to the drawing board again…….SIGH!!!

So for weeks I procrastinated and avoided writing blogs, forum entries and work on the FFS structure. It was all too much to worry about so I decided to divert my thoughts to a hobby…photography!!.

And it was here that I FOUND MY ANSWER.

One of the photographers I like reading about is Galen Rowell, highly acclaimed Nature Photographer, who has explored most mountains and glaciers on all continents. He has written numerous books and articles on the subject. His life was tragically cut short when the plane he and his wife Barbara were travelling in crashed in 2002.

His website www.mountainlight.com is a continuing legacy of his works and achievement.

I found an article written by him describing his method of writing books. He describes how he spends at least half the year “in the field”, and yet he still finds the ability to write monthly columns and books.

His secret weapon…………

The ALPHASMART NEO. In fact, the last few blog entries I made were typed out with this beauty.

In the era of PDA’s and Laptops, this simple tool is little known. It is nothing more complicated than a word processor. It sports a full size keyboard (try typing a 1500 word document on a small PDA), and weighs as much as that. In fact, it looks like a keyboard with a little window. It boots up instantly, downloads to Mac or PC, and HERE’S THE WINNER FOR ME…….it runs more than 700 HOURS on just THREE standard AA alkaline batteries. That equates to nearly A YEAR of regular use before having to replace AA batteries that is easily bought cheaply in the supermarket

I can now travel virtually anywhere with my Alphasmart without the worries of running out of charge. Even a long flight to the USA is no worries. I now have something to do in the nearly unbearable wait to get to my destination.

Other features I love is that whatever is typed is AUTOMATICALLY saved. How many times have you typed something at length, only to be lost when the wrong button is accidentally pressed? The other deciding fact on why I settled on the Alphasmart is that I CAN TOUCH-TYPE. This means that I can put my thoughts faster onto my word processing as compared to typing and I don’t have to listen to my voice through any recording.

A REAL WINNER!!

Those interested in the Alphasmart Neo can visit the sight on www.batterypoweredcomputers.com

Anyone interested in purchasing one…drop me an email, as I can get discounts