Primal Realities

Twenty years is a long time. Time enough to see a lot of fads come and go, to see ‘the cutting edge’ information recycled every 3 years or so, and to become a jaded grumpy old man. My journey across the years has seen me train, dabble and immerse myself in lots of different things.

On the martial arts side of things I have trained seriously in a large number of martial systems such as Tai Jitsu, Karate, Judo, Aikido, Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kali, Silat, MMA, to name a few.

In the fitness side of things I’ve trained in many modalities in many styles, barbell, kettlebell, bodyweight, group exercise, gym based, outdoors, distance running, sprinting. I’ve trained using bodybuilding methodologies, powerlifting, ‘fat loss’, blood-shunting, etc, etc.

Let’s not forget the low fat, high fat, high carb, low carb, fruit diet, salmon diet, liquid diets, etc.

Over this time I seem to have found myself comfortable with, and teaching, two schools of training. One martial system and one strength and conditioning system. Both of which share a lot in common, which is what I want to share. These two schools of training are Dog Brothers Martial Arts (DBMA) and StrongFirst (SF).

Way back in 1997 (maybe 1998?) I had my first exposure to Dog Brothers and DBMA through the legendary UK magazine Martial Arts Illustrated. Back then I was training in Tai Jitsu, Judo and Karate. I saw an article of these guys who wore flimsy fencing masks and fought each other with thick, heavy rattan sticks. These guys swung sticks at, kicked, punched, threw and grappled each other. Did I say there were these big sticks? And ‘no-rules’, or referee, or other trappings of civilisation? To say I though these guys were ‘a bit mental’ is maybe falling short. Yet somehow (and documented elsewhere) I have become not just one of these guys, but a teacher and some type of focal point in the UK for people who like to hit each other with sticks (and I only wanted to learn a knife disarm!).

Around about 2003-05 I became aware of some Russian guy called Pavel Tsatsouline and his ‘Russian Kettlebell Challenge/Certification’ (RKC). For men this was to snatch a 24kg kettlebell 100 times in 5 mins, and be this awesome font of strength and conditioning knowledge. Not only this, but the RKCII existed, which on top of this meant pressing half of you bodyweight overhead with one hand! These guys were the special forces of the fitness community. I had them down as ‘another bunch of nutters’. Fast forward to 2015 and Pavel’s new company StrongFirst, and again I’ve done what I once believed was impossible. Earning the prestigious SFGII qualification, and the SFL (barbell) and SFB (bodyweight). That ‘impossible’ snatch test is something that I can pretty much do on demand (though I’d appreciate if you don’t! At certain times of the year it can still kick my ass!)

So what do these two schools have in common? (Apart from both men being regular guest instructors to many serious Law Enforcement groups? That is telling in and of itself!)

Guro Marc ‘Crafty Dog’ Denny (Head Instructor/Founder DBMA, co-founder Dog Brothers Tribe) talks about something he calls ‘Primal Realities’. This, to me, ties in massively to Pavel’s idea that “You have to be strong first’.

Crafty is talking about the idea that no matter how fancy or complicated your training system is, if you aren’t prepared for unbridled, malevolent, aggression focused solely on ending your life, then your training is probably not going to help you if someone does try that. If the guy trying to end you is solely fixated on that purpose, even to the extent of not caring about being on the receiving end of damage themselves, you’ve got a pretty big problem on your hands. This is primal aggression, and it is a reality.

Pavel has said: “If you have no strength, what is there to endure?” Once issues of mobility and asymmetry are cleared up, the first priority is to become strong enough to do the task at hand. If you are not strong enough to walk, then you are not strong enough to run. Strength is a relative term (defining strong), if you are a marathon runner we’re not going to take the same approach as a powerlifter. The ‘primal reality’ here is that you need to be entry level strong for the task at hand before you worry about endurance.

Both schools suffer accusations that they are ‘simplified’ schools of training, but that isn’t true. Looking from the outside in, it could seem that way from a cursory glance, but nothing is further from the truth. Both schools accept the fact that the foundations are so important, that they will focus on principle rather than sell out and focus on selling fads simply to increase their market share. These schools pride themselves on their principles and standards.

Both do emphasise the importance of the basics and creating a sturdy foundation. In DBMA these would be power, footwork and coordination (of both hands and feet), in Strong First these basics would be tension, relaxation and switching between the two states. The emphasis on the basics is all that lots of people see on a fleeting glance, they don’t see how these evolve into understanding how to manipulate a fighters psychological approach to a fight, multi-player violent interactions, how a turkish get up is good for runners, or why a bent press can be a one-stop-shop for strength and mobility (or why snatches, pull ups and get ups should be a part of every stickfighters training…).

Both schools understand that the bulk of success is created not in complexity, but in simplicity. Once simplicity is mastered you can make it as complicated as you want.

Once you’ve fought 300 real contact stickfights, of course you probably start playing around with more ‘complicated’ stuff. Of course once you’ve mastered a half-bodyweight press and the ‘secret service snatch test’ (200 snatches in 10 mins with a 16kg for women, 24kg for men), you probably start ‘playing around’. Because you have a strong handle on the ‘primal realities’ and you are now, as Crafty might say, exploring your art.

These three quotes sum up my approach to teaching and training. Thank you gentlemen!

‘Move well, move often’ – Brett Jones, Chief Instructor StrongFirst

‘Be strong first’ – Pavel Tsatsouline, Chairman StrongFirst

‘Walk as a warrior for all your days’ – Marc Denny, Head Instructor/Founder DBMA