X-PO: The Final Count Down

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Subject: X-PO: The Final Count Down

X-PO: The Final Count Down!

Less than 4 weeks to go to the USA event! UK event 1 week later!

Hi All,

Only 4 weeks to go until “Crossing the Pond”! As most of you already know, this event will see Five World Level Instructors teach a full weekend in the USA and then a full weekend in the UK! In this special newsletter, I’ve included details of all the instructors teaching at this not to be missed opportunity to advance your martial arts. The full weekend costs just £75 (UK) or $100 (USA) which makes it a great price for such an amazing learning opportunity!

Further details can be also found on the dedicated Crossing the Pond website:

http://crossingthepond.webs.com

The first event will take place in Seattle in the USA (14th and 15th of August) and the second event will take place a week later in Coventry in the UK (21st and 22nd of August). Time is running out so act now if you are serious about being part of this history making event!

Any questions, please let me know and I look forward to spending time with you in Seattle or Coventry!

All the best,

Iain

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Crossing the Pond Links and Further Details

Crossing the Pond Website: http://crossingthepond.webs.com/

Follow link for USA Details & to Book Your Place: http://www.crossingthepond.webs.com/purchaseforusa.htm

Follow link for UK Details & to Book Your Place: http://shop.iainabernethy.com/acatalog/Crossing_the_Pond_UK_2010_21st_22nd_of_August.html

Preview videos from Alan Peasland and Iain Abernethy / Audio Invitation from Kris Wilder!: http://blog.iainabernethy.com/?p=442

A video from Nicholas Yang can also be viewed here: http://blog.iainabernethy.com/?p=473

Marc “Animal” MacYoung

(Teaching: knife, gangs, guns and jail)

Growing up on the gang-infested streets of Los Angeles not only gave Marc MacYoung his street name "Animal," but also extensive firsthand experience about what does and does not work for self-defense. What he teaches is based on experience and has proven reliability for surviving violence. If it didn't work, he wouldn't be alive to talk about it.

He is considered by many to be one of the most analytical thinkers on the subject of surviving violence and personal safety today. He has taught police, military, martial artists and civilians around the world. His message is always the same: Hand-to-hand combat is a last ditch effort when other, more effective, preventive measures have failed.

For civilians, the best preventative measure of them all is not to put yourself into situations where you need to fight your way out. That is what he teaches, lest people find themselves in the same kind of situations that he did. For professionals the message is "IT ENDS NOW! -- and of course in your favor." But even there, it's better if you can keep it from going physical (if for no other reason than the paperwork).

Although he often jokes "We had a name for murder, mayhem, destruction and despair ... we called it 'Saturday night,'" that's a grim truth. Unlike many martial arts instructors, who claim to have been street fighters, his past is not a marketing promotion. Nor is it an exaggerated list of victories against legions of thugs through use of his 'undefeatable fighting style'. It is filled with tales of ambushes, hit-and-run gang warfare, drugs, alcohol, bad behavior, stupid mistakes, weapons flashing in dark alleys, homicides, funerals and long nights spent in hospital waiting rooms praying for wounded friends to survive. That is the reality of being a street fighter. It is nothing any sane person would brag about -- much less pretend to be. As he often says It's a whole different ballgame when the other side shoots back...

Yet, as one who lived despite the blood-splattered streets, MacYoung knows that survival isn’t a matter of how "tough" you are or your ability to fight. Nor is it how many stripes you have on a black belt or how many tournaments you’ve won. Although some physical skill is indeed necessary, survival is more a matter of knowledge and awareness. And that is what he stresses. Without those two key elements, you won’t make it out of a dark and lonely parking lot.

About that "Animal" part of his name... yes, he did all the stupid and dangerous things one needs to do to earn that nickname. It is a lifestyle he no longer lives or endorses. Unfortunately, since Animal is the name he was first published under, like a tattoo, he's sort of stuck with it as a constant reminder of a violent and dangerous youth.

Qualifications

MacYoung grew up among -- and spent the last 40 years dealing with -- people who used violence and weapons to get what they wanted. Who would, in fact, not hesitate to use violence on another human being for nothing more than a whim. He knows, first-hand, that criminals and abusers are not good people gone bad, but bad people gone worse. These are the people he clashed with, fought, hunted and stopped from harming others. He lived to write about it and to teach what it takes to survive just such situations.

His lifestyle and professions have always put him in danger. Over the years he has worked as the director of a correctional institute, bodyguard, bouncer, cooler and security at events with a daily gate of 30,000 (and entirely too many beer stands). Intermixed with those high-risk occupations came the perils of living in some of the worst areas in Los Angeles and the problems arising from going head-to-head with local gangs, drug addicts, abusive husbands, thugs and bikers. He was first shot at when he was 15 and has since survived multiple attempts on his life, including professional contracts. Some were work related, others were personal, arising from his "somewhat dim" back ground (With hindsight, he wonders if the definition of "dim" refers to "shady" or "not too bright" -- unfortunately, both often applied to his actions).

His main skill, however, is to find the easiest and best way to handle violent situations. His ability to talk down and resolve situations that were about to become violent grew and it became of greater use for surviving in the dangerous situations he often found himself in. That has become his main focus -- over just breaking someone's head open. Which, while he can do that with great ease and proficiency, is not what he is about. His professional standard these days has lead him to the conclusion that if he has to go physical, he didn't handle the situation correctly. An attitude that has done wonders for saving him from all kinds of paperwork.

Since the age of 10, he has studied several styles of martial arts, including Karate, Wing Chun, Baqua/Hsing-I, Five Family Gung fu, Boxing, Western swordsmanship, Kali and various forms of Pentjak Silat. That's thirty five years of training and application. He has field-stripped and bastardized every style he studied in order to make it street effective. However, out of respect to his teachers and their styles, when it comes to martial arts, he doesn’t claim to teach anything other than the training system he and his wife Dianna have created, Dango Jiro. A body movement and tactical application system that draws from all of those arts (Don't be confused by the Japanese name, it means "Mulligan Stew"). When it comes to street survival and professional use of force he teaches No Nonsense Self-Defense. A combination of formal martial arts techniques and principles and his real life experience, supported by research into the areas of psychology, criminology, sociology and legal use of force.

He is now "retired" from that crazed and dangerous lifestyle. He lives in Colorado with his wife Dianna, where he writes, lectures, teaches internationally. He teaches personal safety and self-defense to the public, making your martial art street effective and knifework to martial artists, defensive tactics to law enforcement and he doesn't talk about what he shows the military. He spends the rest of his time raising his "kid" and trying to convince cattle (the only animal stupider than a gang member) to go from Point A to Point B.

Writing and the ability to laugh

Besides all the four through eight and twelve letter words he has been called (and their equivalents in many other languages), MacYoung has been likened to everything from Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Porthos (Oliver Platt) in The Three Musketeers, Animal-mother in Full Metal Jacket, to a teddy bear with fangs, to a Care Bear with a hatchet and even a two-legged ferret.

All of which he cheerfully admits are accurate assessments of his very wide and varied personality. If they aren't accurate now, they were at another time of his life. (One of his youthful mottos was: It's you and me against the world. Let's attack!)

Despite people occasionally trying to play show and tell with his vital organs, he’s managed to keep his sense of humor. In fact, while there were a great many events stemming from his being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just as often altercations occurred when someone took umbrage at something he said -- and the fight was on. (Of course, sometimes he said it to make the guy swing, but that’s another story).

Yet, it is his quirky humor and ability to take such a serious subject and make it funny that has won him and his writing a devoted following (deeply disturbed, but devoted). This wild and weird sense of humor has made his books very popular and easy to read. It also has prompted one reviewer to describe reading his books as if "sitting down with a six pack and an old friend – a very twisted and dangerous old friend."

MacYoung began to write about street self-defense in 1989 when he sat down to make up a small booklet for his students. Fifteen books and five videos later (no they are not all listed in the next column, we ran out of room), he is considered one of the leading experts on the subject of surviving high-risk situations. His works are used by individuals, academies, schools, police departments and military academies around the world. His video Safe in the Street and it’s five stages of violent crime system have become an internationally recognized standard for teaching personal safety.

It should be noted however, that his early writings were street oriented and might offend the sensibilities of more civilized readers.

To Train with Marc "Animal" McYoung in the USA: http://www.crossingthepond.webs.com/purchaseforusa.htm

To Train with Marc "Animal" McYoung in the UK: http://shop.iainabernethy.com/acatalog/Crossing_the_Pond_UK_2010_21st_22nd_of_August.html

Kris Wilder

(Teaching: Okinawan structure, power, and mind set)

Beginning his martial arts training in 1976 in the art of Tae Kwon Do, Kris Wilder has earned black belt-level ranks in three arts: Tae Kwon Do (2nd Degree), Kodokan Judo (1st Degree) and Goju-Ryu Karate (5th Degree), which he teaches at the West Seattle Karate Academy. He has trained under Kenji Yamada, who as a Judoka won back-to-back United States grand championships (’54-’55); Shihan John Roseberry, founder of Shorei-Shobukan Karate and a direct student of Seikichi Toguchi; and Hiroo Ito, a student of Shihan Kori Hisataka (Kudaka in the Okinawan dialect), the founder of Shorinji-Ryu Kenkokan Karate.

Though now retired from Judo competition, while active in the sport Kris competed on the national and international level. He has traveled to Japan and Okinawa to train in karate and has authored several books on the martial arts, including co-authoring “The Way of Kata.” He has also written guest chapters for other martial arts authors and has had articles published in “Traditional Karate,” a magazine out of the U.K. with international readership. He also regularly instructs at seminars worldwide.

Kris lives in Seattle, Washington with his son Jackson.

To Train with Kris Wilder in the USA: http://www.crossingthepond.webs.com/purchaseforusa.htm

To Train with Kris Wilder in the UK: http://shop.iainabernethy.com/acatalog/Crossing_the_Pond_UK_2010_21st_22nd_of_August.html

Al Peasland

(Teaching: Real World Self-Protection)

Al started his martial arts training at the age of 12 where he was lucky enough to stumble across the training class of Geoff Thompson (7th Dan, acclaimed writer, script-writer and BAFTA winner). Through many years of blood, sweat and tears including being part of Geoff’s Animal Days, Geoff mentored Al to become the person he is today. Now a 5th Dan, Al has written his first book and filmed an instructional DVD entitled Fence Concepts.

In addition to the many years training in relatively safe environments (gyms, karate dojos etc.) Al spent over 7 years working as a nightclub doorman in Coventry which was deemed the most violent city in Europe in relation to population and size. This culminated in Al running his own security company and leading security teams at key nightclubs across the city. Furthermore, Al trained as a professional bodyguard and spent many hours training with skilled military and law enforcement officers and trainers.

In addition to this very physical, front line background, Al also studied and worked as a design engineer in very traditional engineering companies such as Rolls Royce Aerospace, resulting in a First Class Honours Mechanical Engineering Degree and a Chartered Engineer Status with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). He now works on a part time basis for a leading Formula 1 Motorsport team whilst running Complete Self Protection.

Although it may appear a strange partnership of interests both aspects of Al’s life and expertise compliment each other in many ways and it is these two facets of his life that have enabled him to deliver Self Protection into the corporate world – out of the gym and into the boardroom.

Al takes on board every new experience thrown at him to enable him to grow as a person and we are fortunate enough to benefit from these experiences by his writing skills. He often writes an article about such events and posts them on his website www.completeselfprotection.com. He is gifted enough to write from the heart and draw parallels to every aspect of his life. Believe me it is worth reading his witty articles as he has the ability to also laugh at himself – a very rare trait indeed.

Al’s gentle mannerisms coupled with his humour enable him to reach a wide audience and he often has a group of people hanging around after training to gain more help and advice from the master himself. He is a very knowledgeable, intelligent, likeable, well mannered individual.

To Train with Al Peasland in the USA: http://www.crossingthepond.webs.com/purchaseforusa.htm

To Train with Al Peasland in the UK: http://shop.iainabernethy.com/acatalog/Crossing_the_Pond_UK_2010_21st_22nd_of_August.html

Nicholas Yang

Teaching: Chinese Long Fist and White Crane

Martial arts has long been an ingrained and very essential part of my life, largely due to my father's influence and presence when I was growing up. It has significantly challenged my thinking and capabilities, shaped much of my behavior and mannerisms, defined many of my values, and changed my overall way of living. I have learned many things about myself and my life through the practice of Kung Fu. While martial arts cannot answer all the questions and difficulties that I have, it has brought me a level of stability, direction, and peace of mind. My experiences in Kung Fu have taught me to learn, adapt, and push my limits, both physically and mentally. They have also led me to constantly challenge my thinking and thought process, encouraging me to follow a path of righteousness, discipline, and morality. To me, that is the greatest gift that martial arts has given me and has to offer; it presents new perspectives, and a methodology, in walking the path of life. I do not believe martial arts should be trained to fight. I always tell people that I train students to be martial artists, not fighters. I have found that the meaning of Kung Fu never truly is a gift that can be told or shown. The discovery of it is earned only on the journey, and to every individual it has a different meaning and purpose.

I train and teach primarily Shaolin Long Fist and White Crane Kung Fu, as well as Yang-Style Taijiquan. I encourage students to embrace attention to detail and to constantly evaluate how they learn. Through this process, students begin to understand and examine much about themselves, the way they think, learn, and move. By knowing what details to correct or enforce, they know how to make themselves better martial artists and better students. I always allow students the opportunity to correct and improve upon themselves on their own, without the help of an instructor. To me, instructors, teachers, and masters are, and only should be, guides to a student's training. A student should not be led every step of the way, as they learn much more when the walk the path themselves. It is my belief that every student should strongly embody self-discipline, patience, endurance, and perseverance in their training regimen.

To Train with Nicholas Yang in the USA: http://www.crossingthepond.webs.com/purchaseforusa.htm

To Train with Nicholas Yang in the UK: http://shop.iainabernethy.com/acatalog/Crossing_the_Pond_UK_2010_21st_22nd_of_August.html

Iain Abernethy

Teaching: Close-Range combat / Applications of Kata

Iain Abernethy has been involved in the martial arts since childhood. He began his training in karate under Doug James 7th Dan; who was in turn a student of Toru Takamizawa. Iain gained his first black belt at the age of seventeen.

Iain has also trained extensively with British Combat Association chief instructors Peter Consterdine 8th Dan and Geoff Thompson 6th dan. Iain was awarded the rank of 5th Dan by Peter and Geoff in 2004. The British Combat Association is one of the world's leading groups for close-quarter combat, self-protection and practical martial arts and Iain is one of the very few people to hold the position of “Coach” – their highest instructor rank – within the BCA.

In addition to holding a 5th dan with the British Combat Association, Iain was also awarded a separate 5th dan by the English Karate Governing Body in 2005. His joint “traditional” and “reality based” approach puts Iain in to a unique position in British martial arts. Iain regularly writes for the UK’s leading martial arts magazines and he is a member of the "Combat Hall of Fame".

Iain is of the view that karate should be a holistic civilian self-protection system. In particular, Iain strongly supports the idea that the traditional kata of karate were created to record such a self-protection system. Over the years, Iain has developed a four stage approach to “unlock” the information in “solo kata” and then take that information into the live application of kata techniques and principles in what Iain calls “Kata-Based-Sparring” or “KBS”. KBS is a training method that utilises the techniques and principles of kata in a live and contested way that has genuine relevance to civilian self-protection. Iain sees his approach as easy to adopt and this has seen him travel all over the globe teaching seminars so that others can add aspects of his approach to what they do.

Iain’s first book, “Karate’s Grappling Methods” was published in 2000 and at the time of writing is on its fifth reprint. Iain has also written “Bunaki-Jutsu: The Practical Application of Karate Kata” (2002); “Throws for Strikers: The forgotten throws of karate, boxing and taekwondo” (2003); and “Arm-Locks for All Styles” (2004). In 2005 Iain wrote his fifth book, “Mental Strength: Condition your mind – Achieve your goals.” Although firmly rooted in the philosophy of the martial arts, “Mental Strength” was a more mainstream book on the subject of personal development. Iain has also produced a large number of DVDs on the combative applications of the traditional forms and applied karate. In 2007 he also produced the first fully interactive solo training DVD: “Iain Abernethy’s Martial Arts Fitness Drills: Solo Trianing”.

In 2003 Iain launched his website: www.iainabernethy.com. Over the years the website has grown into a popular source of free information which receives thousands of page hits each day. The monthly newsletters have thousands of subscribers from all over the globe. The website also features Iain’s monthly applied karate podcasts which have the maximum popularity rating on i-tunes.

Iain lives in the extreme north of England with his wife, two sons, daughter, dog and cats.

To Train with Iain Abernethy in the USA: http://www.crossingthepond.webs.com/purchaseforusa.htm

To Train with Iain Abernethy in the UK: http://shop.iainabernethy.com/acatalog/Crossing_the_Pond_UK_2010_21st_22nd_of_August.html

Crossing the Pond Links and Further Details

That’s all folks! If you’ve any comments or suggestions relating to the website or these newsletters, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line: iain@iainabernethy.com

All the best,

Iain Abernethy

E-Mail: info@iainabernethy.com
Website: www.iainabernethy.com

24 Hour Order Hotline (UK): 01900829406
24 Hour Order Hotline (Overseas): +441900829406

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Subject: X-PO: The Final Count Down