Mindful vs. no-minded mind

[Glenn]

My wife has two co-workers dealing with that problem, as is one of the professors in my department. Seems more prevalent than ever, or at least I've never known so many to have it at one time. Knowing what they are going through definitely makes my problems seem insignificant.

[Panther]

Thank you Bill-Sensei! Wonderful post and I couldn't agree more. I think Rory is the real deal, but I agree with you that training is always better than not training. The fact is that 99.999% of people just don't ever get into those situations to get the "real world" experience and it isn't feasible to ask them to! I've said that plenty of times. The first time you get into a "real world" situation where you need the knowledge, you don't have experience on your side... just training. This is true for subsequent "real world" situations as well. I'm not sure exactly "when" experience becomes "enough" or the over-riding factor, but IMNSHO, it isn't really early on. Personally (as you and Van-Sensei know) I had a number of "real world" successes before I had a very "real world" failure. I don't wish failure on the street on anyone, but I learned more from failure than from success. It took a lot longer to learn, but it has helped me... and it has helped me to be successful more and better since. I also not just believe, but know that earlier successes set me up for failure (for various reasons too numerous to discuss).

Anyway, Thanks for the excellent post and points.

Two favors in your copious spare time... Please join the discussion that I started on Van-Sensei's forum about advantages & disadvantages... and if you get a chance could you send me those probiotic recommendations we discussed awhile back?

Thanks...

[Bill Glasheen]

I think Rory is the real deal, but I agree with you that training is always better than not training

True about both.

You have to be around Rory a while to get to know "the real Rory." Often he shows you only a small part of the real man. But underneath it all, he is indeed the real deal.

As for training... I think Rory himself agrees with this. Rory trains TMA himself. And (surprise) he recommends a lot of tactics and approaches to real-world violence that are similar to his core style (sosuishitsu ryu). No surprise there...

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Did Rory get lucky and start with a style that fits real-world combat well? If you study your history, you'll see how this could be so. And interestingly enough, many aspects of Uechi Ryu (e.g. close-in fighting and a principles-based approach) fit in with what he likes in a martial art.

Also... The thing I *like* about Rory is that he helps explain and validate what I have found to "work" in self-defense. Before I knew contemporary thinking, I called what happened as "my body acting without my permission" (presumably from years of training). Now I know that I short-circuit the OODA loop. Whatever... it works for me!

Also... It's been difficult for me to communicate how things that most people would consider "non-martial" have been my best assets in self-defense situations. Rory basically comes to the same conclusion. How does all that happen? All I know is that it can. Perhaps my techniques and information evolved to knowledge and wisdom over time.

The fact is that 99.999% of people just don't ever get into those situations to get the "real world" experience and it isn't feasible to ask them to! I've said that plenty of times. The first time you get into a "real world" situation where you need the knowledge, you don't have experience on your side... just training. This is true for subsequent "real world" situations as well. I'm not sure exactly "when" experience becomes "enough" or the over-riding factor, but IMNSHO, it isn't really early on. Personally (as you and Van-Sensei know) I had a number of "real world" successes before I had a very "real world" failure. I don't wish failure on the street on anyone, but I learned more from failure than from success. It took a lot longer to learn, but it has helped me... and it has helped me to be successful more and better since. I also not just believe, but know that earlier successes set me up for failure (for various reasons too numerous to discuss).

All this makes me think about my line of work where we try to judge MDs by their bad outcomes. It turns out that these events are so rare that you really can't judge most MDs by the few experiences they have. "Stuff" happens, and it takes many, many man-hours of experience before conclusions can be drawn.

Another thought... I have to wonder about how much of being an "experienced" self-defense expert is by nature, and now much is by nurture. Would Rory have been good even without some really good training? Probably. But he's better with "the right stuff." Meanwhile, a lot of people can learn all the right stuff, and never repeat the successes that Rory is fortunate enough to have experienced.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Two favors in your copious spare time... Please join the discussion that I started on Van-Sensei's forum about advantages & disadvantages... and if you get a chance could you send me those probiotic recommendations we discussed awhile back?

Thanks...

As for the probiotics... My thought is more (variety) is better, and taking good care of your supplement (via refrigeration) is important.

I've had success with various brands of Nature's Way probiotics. You can find these in the refrigerator section of any Vitamin Shoppe. Two things to look for:

• Enteric coated, so that the live organisms make it past the stomach acids and into your gut.
• More different strains is better. The one I use has 14. But it also ideally should be more than just lactobacillus ("L") strains. The first letter of the name is the genus, Look for at least 2 different representations.

The one I'm using now is Primadophilus Optima. But I've used formulas by Nature's Way with fewer strains in them when I'm trying to penny-pinch.

There's still a lot of work being done on this good-bug vs. bad-bug science. Some research has also identified strains associated with obesity. Go figure... But this may be more of a chicken vs. egg phenomenon. It could be that people who eat crap and eat too much develop a unique cocktail of strains in their gut.

The most important functions of "good bugs" are enhancing your immune function, helping with release of nutrients, keeping the colon contents moving, and preventing bad bugs (e.g. c difficile) from blooming in the gut.

- Bill

[IJ]

I'd echo that, having read recently that kids rapidly develop different colonic flora on being fed different diets, with possible links to chronic health conditions down the line. I'll try to find the reference. Moral is, if you want healthy flora your nonsupplement intake may be more important.

Also don't ask too many questions about this stuff or I have to mention my favorite treatment ever, the poop transplant for recurrent clostridium difficile colitis. Oops, too late.

[Bill Glasheen]

Also don't ask too many questions about this stuff or I have to mention my favorite treatment ever, the poop transplant for recurrent clostridium difficile colitis. Oops, too late.

I read that article in the literature, Ian. Thing is... I gotta wonder why they're using this schitty approach rather than just putting someone on an OTC regimen of these probiotics.

As I understand it, they find another family member to offer the poo donation, figuring they have "the right stuff" to deal with whatever odd diet their family happens to be on. Makes sense I guess, but... Oy!

- Bill