Erich
Member
And I finally got around to meeting him last night. 
a couple of years ago I met Lee Aldridge (of Reality Based Fighting Concepts, moderater at the selfdefenseforums.com) online. We knew we both lived in the Albuquerque area, but it was only when a mutual friend visited from out of state last year that we realized that our houses were less than two hundred yards from one another.
Well, last night Lee kindly invited me to come over for a practice session that he and a couple of buddies were doing. My martial arts experience ended with a year or so of hapkido back in ’88, so these guys were being very decent to the new guy (since it wasn’t as if I’d have anything important to add to the practice).
What a great time! Have you ever had one of those experiences where you just sort of get caught up in what you’re doing, mind racing, and can’t get it out of your mind even after you fall asleep? Well, all last night, I dreamt of gun disarms (which is what they had been practicing). And about two dozen other little tidbits I’d picked up (just talking to Lee is like randomly opening a book of remarkably useful and well-considered fighting advice – fascinating), all totally practical, totally useful. Terrific info!
Lee’s house has a terrific practice area set up with great equipment. Lee, Roger and Frank took turns as the aggressor in the bullet man suit, and worked on disarm techniques for a couple of hours. As I said, I knew nothing about this, but all three men were amazingly considerate and patient with me. I had the worst time adjusting my brain from the “be polite, you’re a guest in someone’s home†mode to the “HIT the guy in the bullet man suit, you doofus!†mode – I’d only just started to get with the program by the end of the evening. However, Lee, Roger and Frank were, as I said, really kind and encouraging despite my slow learning curve.
The use of the bullet man suit was really liberating. I could wail on the guy in the suit, full force, and get a feeling for what would happen set in my hindbrain. It’s not like a dojo fight where you’re pulling punches – you hit someone (even a big guy, and even only with the sort of halfarsed blow you manage to muster when surprised at short range), and he moves back. You have to move in, to move forward to keep engaged.
Here’s the, er, kicker. All the stuff that they teach can be done by anyone, male or female, large or small. It’s all totally practical, and that’s their aim. This was REALLY different from my hapkido days (even though my hapkido group was advertised as being one of the more “street-useful†classes around). I have every confidence that RBFC can teach my 5’0†wife to be able to handle herself if she’s grabbed on the street – and Gina will be in the next small women’s class Lee runs.
Wow. What a great experience! I just wish I could get my mind to stop racing with all of it!
a couple of years ago I met Lee Aldridge (of Reality Based Fighting Concepts, moderater at the selfdefenseforums.com) online. We knew we both lived in the Albuquerque area, but it was only when a mutual friend visited from out of state last year that we realized that our houses were less than two hundred yards from one another.
Well, last night Lee kindly invited me to come over for a practice session that he and a couple of buddies were doing. My martial arts experience ended with a year or so of hapkido back in ’88, so these guys were being very decent to the new guy (since it wasn’t as if I’d have anything important to add to the practice).
What a great time! Have you ever had one of those experiences where you just sort of get caught up in what you’re doing, mind racing, and can’t get it out of your mind even after you fall asleep? Well, all last night, I dreamt of gun disarms (which is what they had been practicing). And about two dozen other little tidbits I’d picked up (just talking to Lee is like randomly opening a book of remarkably useful and well-considered fighting advice – fascinating), all totally practical, totally useful. Terrific info!
Lee’s house has a terrific practice area set up with great equipment. Lee, Roger and Frank took turns as the aggressor in the bullet man suit, and worked on disarm techniques for a couple of hours. As I said, I knew nothing about this, but all three men were amazingly considerate and patient with me. I had the worst time adjusting my brain from the “be polite, you’re a guest in someone’s home†mode to the “HIT the guy in the bullet man suit, you doofus!†mode – I’d only just started to get with the program by the end of the evening. However, Lee, Roger and Frank were, as I said, really kind and encouraging despite my slow learning curve.
The use of the bullet man suit was really liberating. I could wail on the guy in the suit, full force, and get a feeling for what would happen set in my hindbrain. It’s not like a dojo fight where you’re pulling punches – you hit someone (even a big guy, and even only with the sort of halfarsed blow you manage to muster when surprised at short range), and he moves back. You have to move in, to move forward to keep engaged.
Here’s the, er, kicker. All the stuff that they teach can be done by anyone, male or female, large or small. It’s all totally practical, and that’s their aim. This was REALLY different from my hapkido days (even though my hapkido group was advertised as being one of the more “street-useful†classes around). I have every confidence that RBFC can teach my 5’0†wife to be able to handle herself if she’s grabbed on the street – and Gina will be in the next small women’s class Lee runs.
Wow. What a great experience! I just wish I could get my mind to stop racing with all of it!
