Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
By tim b on May 31, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Rory Miller has released his ‘next’ volume of his famous Chiron Series as an e-book through a few different outlets. Titled Chiron Vol.6 , 2010, it’s affordable at $2.99 through Amazon.com. I think this series was my first introduction to who Rory is – and I haven’t looked back. I have enjoyed each and every e-book, and can only compare them to the joy I get out of reading my Bathroom Reader’s – able to read short bits when time permits, and always something new to learn!

If you aren’t familiar with Rory, but want to learn from an expert on violence – about violence – pickup any of the Chiron series or go read his blog:

http://chirontraining.com/Site/Home.html

Rory is a deep thinker, so be prepared to get a real education on something you think you might be familiar with, then learn why you really aren’t that familiar with it at all!

If you deal with violence, you owe it to yourself to get educated – how to spot it, how to avoid it, how to deal with it. Even LEO can learn something here from an ‘operator.’ Don’t kid yourself that your training was enough exposure, trust me on this, it wasn’t. Think you know how to deal with violence when you encounter it on the job? Try doing it without backup, or all those belt tools, then come talk to me about it – let me know how that worked out for you. Let’s face it, if you’re relying on your academy training, your tools, and your backup, you’re not ready to deal with violence the way Rory can show you to.

© Copyright 2013, tim boehlert

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
By tim b on March 15, 2013
Format: DVD
Lock-On: Joint Locking Essentials (Alain Burrese)
Volume 5: Combining Locks and Lock Flow Drills

In Volume 5 of the Lock-On series Alain expands upon material previously demonstrated in the Lock-On series Volumes 1-4 — finger locks, wrist locks, elbow locks and shoulder locks. This volume ties it all together through his use of the concept of Flow Drills. With my limited Martial Arts training and experience, the ideology and use of Flow Drills as a training regimen is new to me. Flow Drills are designed to ingrain the techniques demonstrated, and to train the mind and body to transition from one technique to another – seamlessly as well as effortlessly. The flows teach you to look for transitions based on your current circumstances or needs, but they also teach you to look for the flaws, and to look for the principles employed and what makes them work.

All of the information shown in this set can be useful in the context of a negative social encounter. The ideas here would be useful for some of those self-defense scenarios. I find that the information here is going to be of use to Security, Bouncers, and anyone that needs to safely deal with an aggressive opponent, in a safe manner, which could also be those in Law Enforcement.

Alain does a good job of explaining some key principles throughout this volume as well — weight distribution, anchoring or basing as it’s been described, proper grip — but also surprise, speed and the need for PRACTICE!

At 21:00 into the DVD, Alain starts to demonstrate combinations – using two techniques chained together in sequence. He goes through Finger Locks to Shoulder Locks, Wrist Locks to Elbow Locks, a lock called the ‘V’ Lock, the use of the Standing Center Lock, and the Chicken Wing Lock. These are all demonstrated as responses to some common grabs — cross-arm, same side, etc.. Alain also demonstrates an ‘S’ Lock, something I learned during my brief training in Aikido. Another important concept here is the takedown and finishing moves — proning out an aggressive person to gain control for possible cuffing techniques, or even to transition back into an exit escort technique after verbal commands have been given and the aggressor starts to comply again.

At 40:00 into the DVD, Alain gets into more complex chains of techniques – 3 and 4 techniques strung together as transitions. This is where he also starts to demonstrate the ability to initiate contact rather than being in a self-defense mode. The techniques don’t always have to be done from a strictly defensive mode, but could be implemented from an offensive mode as well, meaning that YOU are initiating the technique without waiting for a trigger-event. Initiating would usually be done by those aforementioned individuals in Security or Law Enforcement that have a responsibility to take action when the situation deems it necessary to do so.

At 57:00, Alain ventures into a few very complex drills – chains of 10 or more techniques – these I believe will just enhance your ability to transition in smaller chains, to enhance the overall educational value of your previous training.

The DVD ends with some PREVIEWS – something I’m definitely looking forward to as well. Alain explains that this series is meant to be a series of add-on techniques that can be used with any other Martial Art, which I totally agree with.

There are of course many things that need to be considered, and Alain summarizes some of those here – using other skills along with these techniques – that could be strikes, kicks, throws, and maybe use of weapons. He talks about Use of Force, which is something that every Martial Artist needs to learn, understand, and follow.

For my own needs, this series has been a very good find — it has given me many techniques that I could use to deal with less-than-pleasant situations that my job requires me to deal with. In watching this DVD alone, for the third time tonight, I learned a few things that I had missed in previous viewings. I also learned that I am learning — seeing things differently than I had previously. Alain is very good at explaining all of the techniques in this series.

You can learn from a DVD and from books — but training it is essential. Alain makes the learning part easy, and straightforward.

© Copyright 2013, tim boehlert

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bytim bon November 9, 2012
Format: Kindle Edition

I received a copy Alain Burrese’s newest e-book, and it took me about 3 days to whittle it down. Basically this e-book sets up the reader to honing his/her fundamentals of a fighter’s mindset. Mindset is KEY to all things self-defense. Mindset is the fundamental building block that anyone must establish if you wish to WIN, or even survive. Without mindset, proper mindset, you lose. Period. I’ve spent the last four years reading, viewing, and asking those experts that I was able to find what it took to not only survive, but to prevail. Time and again it all led back to mindset as the fundamental building block that needed to be in place to proceed. Alain is one of a small handful of experts that I relied on, and continue to rely on to sharpen my skills, to bounce scenarios off of, and continue to seek out new ideas, or to sharpen my understanding of things I thought I might have already mastered. IF you plan on surviving an assault, or have a career dealing with less-than-desirables, work in law enforcement, or even healthcare you need to obtain proper mindset. It seems easy, but the concept is broken down into various components. Putting these together will get you on-track, but maintaining this set of building blocks takes determination – not only to master, but to make second-nature, as it should be. Alain highlights several areas of study that anyone should at least consider. I’ve used many if not all of these pieces in my daily navigation of the unknown – situations that crop up, scenarios that play out, and to make sure that I get to go home safe – every day on the job. This type of information may have been available before my search began, and likely it was. It seems to me to be more prominent as more people decide to enhance their training regimen with doses of reality. Alain is part of a small group of highly trained and educated beacons that I rely on to make my life as safe as it can be, doing the job that I do. All of them KNOW the fundamentals, have perhaps had their own spin on them, have definitely shared them in writing or in video context, live by them, and have each mastered this subset of new training ideas. Alain is a very good educator, a very talented Martial Artist, and a great source for new material related to the refinement of the martial arts, self-defense, reality training, etc… This book should be required reading IF you haven’t started your journey yet. It should be required reading for everyone – safety is important to all of us, sadly too many people are still living their day to day in denial AND unaware of things that they should be aware of. Pick up this introduction to some of the fundamentals that you will NEED if you want to be prepared for dealing with your own safety.

For the NEGATIVE reviewers – you’re wrong, and if you didn’t like it, you should have asked for a refund instead of showing your own negative qualities. Better to be a ‘has-been’, than a ‘never-will-be’, and it’s ‘do’, not ‘due.’ Those who can do, those who can’t write bad reviews of good material.

© Copyright 2012, tim boehlert

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
By tim bon February 3, 2012
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

I’d like to start by saying that Loren is a friend – we’ve never met in person, but have kept in touch through the magic of the internet over the last few years. I’d also like to state that I am a Loren junky of sorts – I have a LOT of his books, and just a few have made it also to my e-book library to date. I have actually bought this e-book 3 times now! Once to read, once was most likely a mistake on my part – getting old and forgetful I guess – and now this newly revised variation!

So, my review is somewhat biased, but I’ll be honest – I wouldn’t write one if I couldn’t be honest otherwise.

I started to read Loren’s material about 3.5 years ago – in my search for knowledge that was relevant to my needs. I found one book, read it cover to cover, and then sought out more by this author. I think I currently own about HALF of his output, and funding being what it is lately, will just have to wait to fill in the holes. Loren is a very good author, puts out a lot of good and useful information that is easy to grasp, and applicable for my needs. Now I am a dog-owner, of recent ownership, and really have no need that I can see for any of the information that this book addresses. Nonetheless, it has a ton of good information, and I MAY need it someday – I own an anklebiter, and I guess that is definitely addressed herein.

As an author, Loren has put out over 40 books to date, probably closer to 50 I’m sure. He is also a video author, having put out several MA/LEO style videos for those of us looking to learn new skills and techniques, and add tools to our personal repertoire. His style is easy to read, and the information is not to be found elsewhere for the most part, at least in my opinion. Loren has re-written this piece form one of his books, and made it available as a separate entity, which I think is very useful. After reading this new book, I learned a lot more about how to deal with errant dogs in general, and now have a grasp on some things that I may be able to use to deter an attack, or fend off one that is underway.

Buy this book if you want to be able to walk your streets without fear. Follow Loren’s suggestions and arm yourself with the knowledge and or tools provided therein. Buy this book if you want to learn more about what could possibly happen when you do go out for a walk – even if you think you know what to do. I’m sure that unless you’ve been a dog-handler (like Loren has), you’re likely to have more than a few AHA moments, as I did. Buy this book if you want to add some more tools to your belt – knowing what to do is never a bad thing, right?

© Copyright 2012, tim boehlert

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
By tim bon January 1, 2012
Format: DVD|Verified Purchase

This very affordable 2 DVDR self-defense package was released in 2002 by Paladin Press and Alain Burrese (pronounced: Alan Burr-ee-se.) At that time Alain had been a Martial Artist for 18 years. Korean Hapkido, a Martial Art with emphasis on Self-Defense, is what Alain references for this set.

Alain served in the U.S. Military, and has performed security and bodyguard work since leaving the military. Besides producing several videos, he is also an author, and e-book author. Alain authored the hard-to-find book Hard Won Wisdom, and recently an e-book or [..] traditional print [..] series called Tough Guy Wisdom. He also produced the videos Hapkido Hoshinsul, Hapkido Cane and the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series.

This set was designed for the person that doesn’t want to study a Martial Art for years. Period. Alain distills his Hapkido art down to the essentials necessary to help you learn self-defense for use on the street, and it will also will help the dedicated Martial Artist cross-over to learn real Self-Defense versus what he or she may practice in the dojo.

Alain has done a great job of presenting a lot of material that is easily learned, easy to understand, and likely to save your bacon when the heat gets turned up.

DVD1:

In Chapter ONE Alain introduces a very important principle that is your best defense against in any situation – awareness. We are all way too caught up in our cell phones and other personal electronic devices and we tend to lose track of what else is going on all around us. That leaves us vulnerable to attack. The first thing you’ll learn here is to become more aware of what’s going on around you, at all times. Failing to do so will present someone else with the opportunity to relieve you of your belongings, simple as that.

Chapter TWO teaches you proper stance and footwork. Alain explains stance and how to move your feet to maintain balance and proper positioning. The moves and principles are again easily acquired. Alain goes on to demonstrate some simple scenarios of how to implement these movements in relation to facing a potential aggressor.

In Chapter THREE is Alain describes over a dozen strikes that can be used on the upper-body of an aggressor. Alain demonstrates a strike and then an upper-body target and explains why the particular strike/target will work.

Chapter FOUR is about lower-body strikes/targets. Again, Alain presents suitable strikes and targets.

DVD 2:

This dvd starts with some common grabs and chokes that you may fall victim to. These techniques may also be used against larger and/or stronger aggressors, which makes them very useful.

Chapter TWO is dedicated to break-falls – learning how to fall properly, and safely. Alain demonstrates a few ways to ease yourself into these techniques. Learning how to fall and recover will be very important in your overall study.

In Chapter THREE is a brief study about being or ending up on the ground, while being attacked by an aggressor. You don’t want to end up there! Alain shows you a few very effective strikes that will fend off an attacker and perhaps present you with the opportunity to regain your feet.

Chapter FOUR ties it all together. Alain demonstrates a few combinations and encourages you to create and practice your own. All attacks are different, and how you choose to defend against them will never be the same twice. In some other systems, these are known as flow-drills.

This is a great DVD set that will help most anyone – students, martial artists, security personnel, healthcare professionals, and anyone that wants to have more confidence when facing a threat. Alain’s style is very easy to watch and learn from, the audio and video are topnotch, and there’s a lot of great material here. Being a healthcare professional I found many techniques that I will recommend that our institution consider in our training regimen. Do yourself a favor and buy this very affordable set – you’re sure to learn something new, useful, and most of all – effective!

© Copyright 2012, tim boehlert

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
By tim b on June 8, 2011
Format: DVD

Alain Burrese has a series of DVD’s out (aikiproductions.com) which I’ve recently found. This series seems to be extremely good in explaining the methodology of Locks and Holds if this DVD is representative of the rest of the series. The series is called LOCK ON: Joint Locking Essentials w/ Alain Burrese. This title was release in 2010 with a promise of a Volume 5.

The videos are well-shot and with good audio, unlike a lot of titles on the market that describe various MA techniques – many suffer from bad video, and sound – which makes them useful only to the extent of mining any knowledge from the content. Alain approach and style are very easy to relate to, he doesn’t preach, he gives you exactly what you need and explains most of the essentials toward understanding the principles – and principles are THE KEY to understanding any of the MA techniques. With my limited experience, I am able to understand exactly HOW to apply the techniques demonstrated but more importantly, and this info is missing on MANY video titles from other authors, WHY the technique works as it does. If you can grasp the essentials – the principles – you can then expand your ‘vocabulary’ to add new techniques based on the principles. What I really take away from this video is that in this instance, it’s not about muscling an opponent, but about finessing the opponent, using his weakest points!

The other thing that I like about this video, and here again this seems to be a unique touch that Alain has added, is that he not only shows you the technique, but explains it in detail and then follows up with CLOSE-UPS of the technique. I recognize some of the material and concepts through the teachings of Wally Jay, and Alain mentions his Hapkido ‘circles’ theory and Wally Jay’s as being similar ideology.

I highly recommend this title, especially if you are in need of learning techniques of Control & Constraint – i.e. – a cooler/bouncer, a personal protection provider, a security officer. These techniques provide safe and effective methods of dealing with problem encounters, without permanently injuring the offender, but with the option of doing damage under the right/justifiable circumstances.

Alain mentions a Volume 5, which I’m told will be shot in 2011. He also mentions a specific future volume regarding techniques that are focused on Control & Compliance – for use by those individuals that are in jobs/situations requiring techniques aimed at minimizing any collateral damage and any resultant litigation, I assume. I hope that Volume 5 is just that, as the marketplace seems to be lacking specific training materials that reference this subject matter in depth. I’ll be on THAT waiting list if and when it appears!

To Alain: If you’re watching: Thank you for sharing your knowledge with those of us that seek such things. In my quest for more knowledge, I’m finding that picking the right TEACHER can make all of the difference in getting the RIGHT training. You’ve now been added to my short list of well-qualified exemplary teachers. Looking forward to buying the rest of the series!

© copyright 2011, tim boehlert