Contact Bruce
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Also
see:-
Violence
articles
(e.g.
avoid asocial violence with
Common Sense)
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Photo
Credits:-
TFT logo (TFT)
TFT book (TFT)
Tim Larkin
(Black Belt magazine)
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Disclosure:-
- The views and opinions in this article are those of the author Bruce
Mitchell and may not reflect the official policy or position of TFT.
- The author was not paid or asked to write this article. The author
simply believes that TFT is a powerful tool for vulnerable humans in an
uncertain world.
- The author completed a 2½-day high-density TFT course in
2008.
He has followed TFT since the early 2000s. He now practises solo (using
visualisation, dummies) and with the help of his sons and TFT's online
virtual training center.
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Target Focus
Training (TFT) is an effective
tool to be used
in asocial
violent situations.
Its beauty lies in:-
- Its simplicity and ease of
learning. Best learn it from TFT
(written, audio, video, weekend courses), but it can be summarised
as:
- Realise this is an asocial
situation. Assume an offensive mindset.
- Identify a presenting target that can be injured with
a strike, especially those that produce a
spinal reflex (TFT have a Strike
Chart; also watch here).
[This can be practised in daily life, to ingrain the
habit.]
- Close the distance and penetrate the
target with bodyweight. The forearm (little finger [ulna]
side nearest the hand) is preferred to the more fragile fist. Often,
the step is the strike, and you
will occupy the space they had. [It helps to be vigilant and/or use
feigned compliance or other trick to secure the first strike. Also read
here,
here.]
- Move to next
target until can safely walk away = until the body of the
attacker is
injured and cannot function. Anecdotally, this is 1 to 3 serious,
debilitating injuries. [In unstructured
practice, 5 to 8 targets are assembled, in case targets
are missed or do not cause injury.] [For multiple attackers,
complete 2 targets before handling the next attacker.]
- Note that the arbiter of asocial violence is
critical, debilitating injury - not pain! The first person to get such
an injury and/or take
advantage of it, will win. TFT focuses on results and aims to cause
such a debilitating injury. In training, the reaction partner mimics
the expected body position for injury, e.g. a groin strike has an
'injury profile' of bent over, chin stuck out, hands on groin. Learning
how to give these injury profiles as feedback is crucial to TFT, as it
trains the attacker's brain to recognise debilitating injury.
Summing up, your to-do list is
simple = INJURE.
This gives you a
coin-flip of a chance in asocial violence.
See their website for more information, to
subscribe to their mailing list and get access to free materials, e.g. PDF
of Tim Larkin's book How
to Survive the Most Critical 5 Seconds of Your Life.
- It
is implanted permanently into your subconscious in only a weekend
course. World War Two soldiers were trained similarly (see here).
TFT students have even used the tool of violence effectively in
real-life violence by only
watching TFT videos! Compare this with the years of training
required by many martial arts to reach competence.
- It
is practised at a slow and calm pace to maximise retention. Slow
repetition also allows awareness of imprecision, how you can improve
next time. Always aim to train with a slow, smooth, rhythmic flow.
[This can be increased when you are accurate, balanced, and your
partner gives correct injury profiles.]
- The
slow and calm pace of TFT also make for little risk of injury. Martial
arts, especially those that practise striking, risk serious brain
injury. It's not just concussions that damage the brain.
Milder
subconcussive events cumulatively age and damage the brain - see here.
- It
replicates the asocial
environment by discouraging talking and/or social cues during
training -
see here. Be silent, be focused on
creating injury [Injury
vs. Pain
is discussed here].
- It
dovetails
perfectly with the biological facts of violence/fear, i.e. you get
tunnel vision and lose fine motor skill. So, in TFT, you focus on a
small point on the other and target it with gross
motor
attacks (using large muscle groups, whole body movement).
- Its
reliance on principles - rather than having to learn numerous
techniques. This makes it far easier to enter a flow
state.
- Its
de-glamorisation of martial arts.
- Its
non-reliance on the likes of size, speed, strength, skill.
- Its
exceptional effectiveness.
- It's
not magic. It is work. The sort of whole body work you do in daily
life.
Some of the
additional benefits it can bring almost any human being are:-
- It
instils an innate confidence that you can handle the worst kinds
of violence.
- Associated
with this is the peace it can bring the world. Peace
is its purpose [first read
in December 2013 blog by Chris Ranck-Buhr, now broken;
also see When Violence Is the Answer
Chapter 10].
Scary thoughts are replaced by life-saving skills, by empathic humility
and calm confidence. "Peace
is
the purpose."
- It
brings a
real understanding of violence (Part 1). Most movies have the
characters
scramble for the gun or knife on the floor. TFT teaches
us that the
brain/mind is the most important tool, not the gun or knife.
The brain is the primary weapon. The body is then the brain's first
tool of convenience and choice. All other weapons can be used, but they
are not essential. Also note this means that our
primary
focus is on shutting down the other's brain/body (so, no disarms,
blocks, etc.). Watch here.
- It
brings a real understanding of violence (Part 2). Become the
sheepdog, not the sheep. TFT tells us to
view violence outside of a social lens. Stop seeing yourself as the
victim.
In this way, we move beyond intimidation and see what works = intent.
We just need to produce injury (spinal reflexes and consequent critical
injury) by
consistently targetting specific body areas, often those barred from
MMA. It's
like learning to swim; you will probably
never need it to save your life, but it brings peace-of-mind to know
that you
have the skill, and if you ever face a life-or-death or asocial
scenario, you will be glad you have it! "Violence
is rarely the answer, but when it is, it is the only answer."
- It
brings a real understanding of violence (Part 3). Rare
knowledge. Asocial
violence is so misunderstood, so distinct from other types.
The
world really
needs to get this message! TFT's
message is to avoid violence, if you
can. Only in the face of asocial
violence is violence advised. We learn what is asocial
violence, how to avoid it, how to use the
tool of violence when it presents so that we act dynamically
and with
intent to injure. Self-offence
is what we do in
asocial violence, whilst self-defence
is for the aftermath (police,
law) - see here.
- It
has the power of equalising worldwide gender violence -
see Tim Larkin's book Surviving the Unthinkable - A
Total Guide to Women's Self-Protection. Also see
his 2014 Time
article 'Why
Self-Defense Needs To Be Part of the Violence Against Women Conversation': "If
we give women the necessary tools to protect themselves in situations
where
self-protection becomes unavoidable, we will make them safer. Our
daughters,
our sisters and our mothers deserve a fighting chance. And until we
abandon the
idea that women are simply victims at the mercy of their attackers,
another
generation of women will be forced to live in fear, rather than walk
with
strength." (Time,
posted 22 October 2014, accessed 24 October 2014)
- It
has the healing power to reduce the fear of violence, allowing us to
enjoy our lives more freely - see here.
- It
reduces the macho,
egotistic, competitive dynamic that pollutes authentic relating between
males, and between anyone. Effectively, anyone can kill you and anyone
can be killed by you. This realisation, based on appreciating the
body's reflex system that bypasses the brain, is humbling and is an
equaliser. Reflexes are not about your muscles, not even about being
judo-like in using the attacker's momentum against them - but rather
targetting and hitting their reflexes forces attackers to move
away themselves (by the power of their
muscles/weight). As a result, the instinct of human
co-operation is more
likely
to emerge all over the world, no longer likely to be muddied by
aberrant uses of violence. Combat sports will continue. But,
in everyday life, antisocial power games and
confrontations
are likely to become a thing of the past, to be replaced by equality,
harmony, peace and co-operation between humans.
- TFT
training is not competitive. Rather it is win-win or cooperative, as
the profile
partner (who models successful injury) is helping the trainee prepare
for the real threat of asocial violence. This is a different feel to
most
martial arts. (Secrets
for Staying Alive When Rules Don't Apply, pp.139-140)
This - along with its slow training - involve many that otherwise avoid
violence training (dropping out because the experience of pain
is
far more common than any pleasure or skill acquisition).
- It
surely could be taught to all young men and women as an adolescent rite
of
passage! It avoids the 'wussification' of men and
society. I've seen and heard of guys at self-development
courses
wanting to connect with their animal or aggressive side. They
can spend hours in group workshops posturing, shouting and
punching pillows. However, by learning something like TFT, you
integrate your ability to use the tool of violence quickly, effectively
and wisely. It is psychologically empowering. Surely any
parent or
carer would want their daughter or son to learn this? You feel strongly connected to
your inner warrior.
- In
terms of The
Truth about Killing, TFT increases the amount of
heroes/heroines in society. Or, using another
analogy, there becomes far more sheepdogs guarding sheep than
wolves hunting the sheep.
Resources
Social Media & Websites
Interviews
- Tim Larkin on Digital Social Hour Podcast with Sean Kelly #467.
- Tim
Larkin on LLA podcast #34, #132.
- Tim
Larkin on The Art of Manliness podcast #81.
- Tim
Larkin on Knowledge For Men podcast #113.
- Tim Larkin on
The American Warrior Show podcast #177.
- Tim Larkin
interviewed by Alex
Jones of Infowars [uploaded 2022; dates from ~2012].
- Tim Larkin
interviewed by Jeff
Anderson.
- Tim Larkin
interviewed by Joe
Polish.
- Tim Larkin
interviewed by Tucker
Max [also here].
Other
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TFT quotes
"Peace is the purpose."
(Chris Ranck-Buhr &
Tim Larkin)
"Violence is
rarely the answer, but when it is, it is the only answer."
"Learning to apply violence in
the defense of your life, the life of your spouse, children or even
your crazy best friend...is an act
of LOVE."
(Tim Larkin 12 February 2019 email)
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