Rory Kane Miller

A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real-World Violence.

Experienced martial artist and veteran correction officer Sgt. Rory Miller distills what he has learned from jailhouse brawls, tactical operations and ambushes to explore the differences between martial arts and the subject martial arts were designed to deal with: Violence.

Myths, metaphors, and expectatons of martial arts training.
Thinking critically about violence and your sources of information.
Predators, adrenealine, altered states, and crime dynamics.
Adapting your training methods to reality.
Making self-defense work.
The aftermath of violence.

Sgt. Rory Miller has been studying martial arts since 1981. He's a veteran corrections officer, teaches and designs courses in Use of Force policy and decision making; Police Defensive Tactics; Confrontational Simulations; and leads and trains his agency's Corrections Tactical Team. Rory Miller resides near Portland Oregon.

'Sgt. Rory Miller will wipe away any fantasy you have about fighting.'-Kris Wilder, Martial arts teacher, author The Way of Sanchin Kata.

'This book is a wake-up call to all those practicing and teaching martial arts...'-Sgt. Alan D. Arsenault, 24-year veteran Vancouver P.D., martial artist, author.

'Miller's insights could very well save your life one day.'-Lawrence A. Kane, martial artist, Pac-10 stadium security supervisor, author of Surviving Armed Assaults

'Not only do I highly recommend this book, but it will be required reading for my students.'-Detective Sergeant Antonio B. Urena, 7th dan, SWAT team squad leader and police sniper.

'...hands down, the beast book on Self-defense I have ever read. Bar none!'-M. Guthrie, Federal Air Marshall.

'I highly recommend this obok for anyone who may have to confront the reality of violence, especially martial artists who are often in the most need of a reality check.'-Robert Carver, Pres. U.S. Martial arts Federation, former U.S. Marine.

Sgt. Miller introduces the myths, metaphors and expectations that most martial artists have about what they will ultimately learn in their dojo. This is then compared with the complexity of the reality of violence. Complexity is one of the recurring themes throughout this work.

Section Two examines how to think critically about violence, how to evaluate sources of knowledge and clearly explains the concepts of strategy and tactics.

Sections Three and Four focus on the dynamics of violence itself and the predators who perpetuate it. Drawing on hundreds of encounters and thousands of hours spent with criminals Sgt. Miller explains the types of violence; how, where, when and why it develops; the effects of adrenaline; how criminals think, and even the effects of drugs and altered states of consciousness in a fight.

Section Five centers on training for violence, and adapting your present training methods to that reality. It discusses the pros and cons of modern and ancient martial arts training and gives a unique insight into early Japanese kata as a military training method.

Section Six is all about how to make self-defense work. Miller examines how to look at defense in a broader context, and how to overcome some of your own subconscious resistance to meeting violence with violence.

The last section deals with the aftermath—the cost of surviving sudden violence or violent environments, how it can change you for good or bad. It gives advice for supervisors and even for instructors on how to help a student/survivor. You’ll even learn a bit about enlightenment.

Contents

Foreword by Steven Barnes
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Metaphors
Preface: The truth about me
Chapter 1 The matrix 1
The tactical matrix-an example
The strategic matrix: What martial arts tries to be
Chapter 2 How to think
Assumptions and epistemology
The power of assumption
Common sources of knowledge about violence
Strategy training
Goals in training
Thinking in the moment
Chapter 3 Violence
Types of violence
The four basic truths of violent assault
The chemical cocktail
Adapting to the chemical cocktail
The context of violence
Violence happens in places
Violence happens in time
Violence happens between people
Chapter 4 Predators
Threats ain't normal folks
The types of criminal
Rationalizations
What makes a violent predator?
Chapter 5 Training
The flaw in the drill
Kata as a training exercise
Responses to the four basic truths
Operant conditioning
The whole enchilada
Chapter 6 Making physical defense work
Stages of defense: Movement-opportunitiy-intent relationhship-terrain
The 'go' button
The golden rule of combat
Effects and actions
The big three
Chapter 7 After
After
Acute events
For supervisors
Cumulative events
Dealing with the survivor/student
Changes
Bibliography
Index
About the author… (plus d'informations)

Solid book about the force continuum and general principles of decision making in violent situations. Emphasizes the extreme value of presence and verbal communication (levels 1 and 2), and the challenges of 4, 5, and 6 (empty hand restraint, less-lethal, and lethal force). I'm a fan of Rory Miller's books, as they provide a lot of examples from his own life (corrections and policing, in particular), aren't dull, and don't over-simplify things into universal rules.

I did find a lot of the level 4 stuff pointless (and he even said explicitly that it generally is only applicable to police and security); in general, unless it's being applied to someone you explicitly do not want to injure but dramatically overmatch (misbehaving child, drunken friend), a private individual is going to go from verbal to avoiding the situation, or in extreme cases less-lethal or lethal force without anything in between.… (plus d'informations)

A great book on self defense by Rory Miller. The key point here is that the "fight" itself isn't the only part -- there's a lot of pre-fight preparation, escalation, and then post-fight response as well. The one area where I'm not totally sold is the trying to distinguish the types of attackers ("Monkey Dance" vs. "Social Monkey Dance" vs. more transactional/resource predators, "process predators", etc.). I like to keep things simple, especially for someone for whom violence isn't a primary occupation, and while I agree there are different escalation components, I'd rather just have instinctive response to specific pre-designated lines in the sand.… (plus d'informations)