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“Combatives” from the root word COMBAT - “to fight in direct contact”, “active fighting between enemies”, “any fight or struggle”.

Well, let’s see………………..There is ONE singular glaring absence in the above definition. Notice it? Absolutely NO mention of Fairbairn, Applegate, or Coach Hanley. No mention of Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Savate or any member of the Gracie family. No mention of World War Two, the Punic Wars or the Spartans. No mention of Juji-Gatame, a smashing overhand right, an edge of hand blow, or even a good old kick in the butt!

Get it? THERE ARE NO SPECIFICS that define what is or isn’t so-called “COMBATIVES”! So why do so many people feel such an overriding need to “define” combatives into a narrow scope of limited methodology? “I know what you do”…………………..”That Fairbairn stuff”. A month ago this same guy thought FAIRBAIRN was simply a decent suntan. “Yea, I base my combatives on Applegate”……………..six months ago this dude thought Applegate was the entrance to an orchard! Everybody’s an “expert”. At what exactly? I’m not sure even “they” really know.

I won’t presume to speak for ANYONE else that uses this term “combatives”. Actually I wouldn’t want to! All I can do is offer a CORRECT semantic observation and proffer my view on what encompasses my study, training and understanding of so-called “combatives”.

If you really do your research and homework you will see that even in manuals describing man to man combat that are CENTURIES old there exists a very COMPREHENSIVE survey and presentations of MANY forms of armed and unarmed combat. ALL in the same manuals! A vast array of weapon skills are shown and even the “unarmed” combat is a diverse mix of “techniques”. Before the use of London Prize Ring rules and the Marquis of Queensbury, “pugilists” used and relied on a great number of different grappling/striking/kicking and gouging methods. Ancient Greek Pankration was a combined system of “ALL POWERS” combat. The original Koryu Bujutsu of the Samurai included a comprehensive catalog of both armed and unarmed skills. The unarmed combatives of the Japanese Bushi also DIDN’T limit scope or method. Grappling was stressed when THAT was the best method of gaining tactical superiority. Striking, kicking and even BITING was resorted to when THAT was deemed the most appropriate method. The Chinese have ALWAYS maintained fully robust systems of combat that included all manner of striking, punching, kicking, throwing, strangling and joint-locking. Original Okinawan Te (Ti) included percussion methods as well as “tegumi” and “tuite”. Punch his lungs out if that did the job best. Kick his gonads out the top of his head if THAT worked best. Or grapple him into submission and control OR grapple him into a spine lock and neck break. Whatever was called for and whatever GOT THE JOB AT HAND DONE!

The 19th century saw many methods of “combined” self-defense systems develop in the West. The French combined elements of Chausson/Savate (Basque Zipota as well) with Boxe Anglaise, Parisian Lutte, and even the “new” Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. The British did the same. The “BARTITSU” of Barton-Wright is a classic example. In the US a number of “self-protection” methods became available to the public that combined methods from Boxing and Wrestling. EVEN before any “organized” systems were presented, men who “fought” even for “sport” used virtually ANY device to insure victory. Just read Elliot J. Gorn.

The Twentieth century saw even MORE “mixed” combat systems. It CERTAINLY didn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out that in a REAL fight ANYTHING goes. Any and ALL manner of grappling, throttling, kicking, kneeing, butting, biting, punching, gouging, stomping and whatever other methods of mayhem could be employed were ALL “FAIR” when “fair” meant the difference between life or death. And it CERTAINLY didn’t just end at “unarmed” fighting! A “Gentleman” beset upon by a rough and tumble “footpad” on a lonely and desolate backstreet would feel perfectly JUSTIFIED in running said “footpad” thru and thru again with his sword cane or bashing his brains in with a “lifesaver”. Even when the highwayman wasn’t even armed with a lowly brickbat. What’s that old saying? All’s fair in love and war. Often it’s not a matter of who’s “right”, but simply who’s LEFT!

This IS “combatives” pure and simple. Whatever WORKS BEST at the time! A sort of “mixture” of varied fighting skills. HEY………………..wait a minute! A “mixed” fighting system? What a NOVEL IDEA!

Our next installment will look at “combatives” from the Russo-Japanese war and World War One thru to our “brandy new” millennium and all our new age “innovations”. Should be fun!

©2005 www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com

Carl Cestari began his study of the martial arts with judo at the age of 7 under the direction of Yoshisada Yonezuka. During the past forty plus years Carl has dedicated his life to studying the martial arts, hand to hand combat systems, history and religion. What makes Carl unique is his combination of martial arts, law enforcement and military and real world experience. Carl has been exposed to a multitude of people with a wide variety experience. The following is a list of some of Carl’s ranks and honors.

Shinan (Founder) Tekkenryu jujutsu
Ryokudan (6th degree) Koshinkai Karate under John Burrelle
Godan (5th degree) Jujutsu under Clarke of the World Jujutsu Fedaration (now defunct)
Sandan (3rd degree) Nippon Kempo under Narabu Sada
Nidan (2nd degree) Judo under Masafumi Suzuki
Shodan (1st degree) Judo under Yoshisada Yonezuka
Shodan (1st degree) Shukokai Karate under Kimura, Kadachi and Yonezuka
Shodan (1st degree) Daitoryu Aikijujutsu
Instructors Certificate- Charles Nelson System of Self Defense under Charlie Nelson
http://www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com

The words web conferencing encompass so many functions these days that
sometimes people aren’t sure what really falls under the umbrella of the term
and what doesn’t. Is web conferencing an activity, a type of software, or a set
of features? In the simplest terms, the answer is “yes” to all three questions
– it can be all of these things in one form or another. To understand how that
can be, you need to understand the basics of how web conferencing works.

Web conferencing is basically any kind of collaborative conference that takes
place via the World Wide Web between two or more participants in different
locations. It doesn’t matter if they are in different rooms or halfway around
the world from each other, so long as the meeting is being conducted over the
Internet. Audio, text or video can be utilized for communicating, sometimes in
real time, sometimes in an asynchronous environment, depending upon the type of
web conferencing system being used.

Add-ons make all the difference

The key to web conferencing, however, is that it always includes additional
components that take it beyond simply communicating back and forth as though
using a video phone system. Web conferencing enhances communication with the
addition of several other collaborative technologies to enhance meeting
functionality. Some of these may include:

• Co-browsing of the Internet
• Text messaging
• Applications and file sharing
• Desktop sharing
• PowerPoint presentations
• White boards
• Surveying
• Meeting rooms or private URLs
• Store, record and replay capabilities
• Scheduling programs

Web conferencing works by combining one of more of these additional elements
with the audio/video elements of conferencing so that participants can have what
seems to be literally an “in the room” meeting with visual aids, shared papers
and files and exchanges of information in real time.

Co-browsing

This is the ability for two or more remote members of a web conference to
simultaneously browse the same sites on the Internet. It can be a very effective
customer service tool — walking an important client through information on a
corporate website as you are conferencing is an effective and personal touch. It
can also be used to walk customers through specs or product descriptions during
a sale while you are on the line with them.

Text messaging

The traditional instant messaging option, which is great for sending
questions around during a presentation or when you want a hard copy of a
response. It can also be used in lieu of audio when audible conferencing isn’t
practical.

Applications and file sharing

This isn’t just zapping a file back and forth via email. This means actually
sharing a file or files and applications because you have a shared workspace to
be used and accessed by all members of your conference group.

You can tailor file sharing so that documents you show may be simply viewed
by everyone in your conference group, with all of your ongoing edits being
visible, or so that others may also do real-time edits of the document from
their remote location.

In fact, you may grant access to your own desktop during the conference if
you wish to allow access to your applications. This is the desktop sharing
feature, and is quite a common feature for technical conferencing with computer
systems specialists who need to be able to network into your computer to see
what’s up if there is a problem.

Other web conferencing functions

PowerPoint presentations, the dearly loved presentation tool, can be
simultaneously presented to all participants in your web conference for visual
impact. With file sharing, everyone can download and keep the presentation for
future reference.

White boards are just like the marker boards in a real office, but
done online. You may set them for broadcast only so that everyone can see your
mark-ups and additions in real time, or make them interactive so that all
participants can make their own changes and revisions to the board.

If your conferences rely on feedback from participants, automatic
surveying features can be built in to make it easy to tabulate and record
responses. Store, record and reply capabilities also make it easy to
record entire conferences for later playback. If someone misses a conference,
they can replay it at a later date and reply at their leisure to individual or
group participants.

Scheduling programs make web conferencing quick and easy by sending
alerts to participants and updating and synchronizing group web conference
calendars. A variety of security features include encryption to prevent
tampering by those outside the conference administrative team.

There’s a web conference solution for every size business

Ten years ago web conferencing was the domain of enterprise size businesses
because it was a costly, high-end investment. It only made sense if a company
was going to use it on a very large scale to defray the hefty price tag.
However, with Internet costs going down and broadband connections making web
conferencing more practical, more web conferencing options have become
available. And, as always happens, with competition comes competitive pricing.
Today there are web conferencing packages from enterprise solutions to small
business packages.

Enterprise Solutions

The leaders in enterprise level web conferencing have always been WebEx and
Raindance. Both of these providers offer a choice of bundled options that
provide everything you could think of in the way of web conferencing bells and
whistles.

WebEx offers a variety of options, including Meeting Center, Training Center,
and Support Center, all web conferencing applications designed with specific
corporate needs in mind. One of their stand-out offerings is Presentation
Studio, an on-demand web conferencing application that can be used to offer
training tips, sales presentations and follow-ups to whole teams or entire
companies at the convenience of each staff member.

WebEx’s SMARTTech is a web based technical support application that enables
access to thousands of centrally linked computers. It uses web conferencing for
applications only access to do routine maintenance, software upgrades and
troubleshooting remotely, even without the remote operator present.

Raindance excels at client service, providing support personnel for those
enterprise level clients who may need support in the event they only
occasionally use web conferencing. You can contact Raindance and have a personal
assistant aid you with your Web Conferencing Pro conference for up to 2,500
participants, from pre-polling participants to wrap-up and maintaining a
participant list for your corporate records.

Raindance Meeting Edition is for smaller groups and provides greater
interactivity. Moderator features like muting, chat and participant disconnect
mean precise control of all meetings for the leader of any group.

SMEs and SOHOs can choose leaner versions of web conferencing

Small and medium enterprise businesses have a wide range of choices right now
because the market is filled with web conferencing companies that provide
mid-range services in a buffet-style so that they can pick a range of features
to fit their needs. Some of the better known web conferencing companies in this
mid range include IMConferencing, Communicast and GoToMeeting.

Small office and home office users have less choice simply because they don’t
have the available cash flow (in most cases) to spend on a regular web
conferencing solution that would tie them to multiple users on a regular basis.
Fortunately, in most cases they also don’t need to be networking via the web
with 2,000 people simultaneously, so they won’t necessarily be missing the
features that aren’t available in the more streamlined offerings for SOHOs. Two
leaders for small business web conferencing that do provide reliable service are
GRCLive and Voxwire, although their approaches are quite different.

GRCLive caters to the small business owner who will grow into a medium-sized
business owner, or the medium business owner who is just starting out with web
conferencing. The company offers three levels: GRC Lite, which can link 5-10
users for text chat and document sharing with a few other features, but no audio
or video (a good start for those not yet comfortable with broadcast style
meetings), GRC Business Edition, which adds audio and video, and GRC Pro, which
significantly increases the users capability. The costs range from $30 to $500
per month, with options and price differences within each group.

Voxwire is a “strictly basics” web conferencing service. Yes, you can post
documents for viewing. Yes, you can do audio/video conferencing and text
messaging. No, you can’t have a white board or document interactivity. The

beauty of Voxwire is the price; you can have ten people in a virtual conference
room for unlimited use for only $29.95 a month — much less than your long
distance bills would be. If you have a home office and one person you regularly
need to contact, get a personal meeting room for only $9.95 a month for the two
of you and talk all you want.

Web conferencing will continue to grow and expand, with new features and more
interactive features every year. As the global community and Internet
connectivity continues to explode, it’s only natural that more and more
companies will take advantage of how easy it is to bring their far-flung teams
together with web conferencing.

This article on the “How Web Conferencing Works” reprinted with
permission.
Copyright © 2004-2005 Evaluseek Publishing.

About the Author
Lucy P. Roberts is a successful freelance writer providing practical information and advice for businesses about everything related to web conferencing software and web based meetings. Her numerous articles include tips for saving both time and money; product reviews and reports; and other valuable insights for persons searching the Internet for information about the history of web conferencing and related topics.

The most important factor is what we do with our anger. How we manage our anger makes all the difference.

Pop psychology once taught that the way to handle anger was to express it all, to let it all out. That’s another way to inflame the anger, as it can keep you stirred up, and then the anger feeds on itself.

We have choices

One choice we have when we are angry is to defuse it.
Anger, and especially what we do with it, is always a choice.

No one makes us do anything in response to our anger.

How to manage anger and what we do with it begins with understanding from where it comes. It is rarely, if ever, the first emotion we feel.

The big 3 emotions

In order to get angry, you first must feel something else, and it’s usually frustration, hurt or fear, or some combination of these three big emotions.

So, one powerful way to defuse your anger is to stop and ask yourself which of the big three you are really feeling, and then deal with that.

When you effectively deal with the big three, you will have made great strides in managing your anger.

Visit http://www.TheArticleGuy.com for more leading edge tips and tools for writing articles that bring you prospects, publicity and profits. You can also subscribe to our monthly Article Writing & Marketing Tips Newsletter. You are also invited to visit my Express-Start Article Writing Program for more information on the next article writing tele-seminar.

Who hasn’t become angry at one time or another? I’m sure you’ll agree that for what ever reason, you found a reason to justify the need for your anger the last time you found yourself in that state.

So the question I have for you is: How do you justify your anger?

That is, how do you justify the fact that you allow yourself to feel, entertain and/or act out feelings of anger ever?

You’ve probably never asked yourself this question. The reason I say this is because had you ever done so you would begin to uncover a deep falsehood about the negative emotion we call anger. Let me explain.

A common trigger for anger is, say, a slight, coming from someone else that makes you perhaps feel hurt and like a victim.
Another example is more innocuous like something just doesn’t happen to go your way on a particular day. In other words, the universe is not looking out for you.

In any case, whatever the trigger I think you’ll agree that the actual experience of the anger is the same. For a moment re-familiarize yourself with that experience, that is allow yourself to feel angry and notice what it does to:

1. Your sense of inner peace and composure,

2. Your energy level once the anger has subsided,

3. To you concentration,

4. To your feeling of being in control of yourself,

5. To how it makes you feel about yourself, as a human being,

6. To your self esteem, your self worth, your self respect, the level of guilt you feel inside,

If you reflect on the sum total of these observations I think you’ll find that the anger is a “toxic” state because in summary what it does to you is that it robs you of your vital life energy, your self esteem among other things. Another way of saying this is that it is killing you.

Does that make you feel more or less empowered?

Does it make you feel more or less like a victim?

If you know what I’m talking about and you’d like to take your life to a new level of personal mastery then you may wish to hear the special messages I have posted on the web link below.

Dr. Nick Arrizza is trained in Chemical Engineering, Business Management & Leadership, Medicine and Psychiatry. He is an Energy Psychiatrist, Healer, Key Note Speaker,Editor of a New Ezine Called “Spirituality And Science” (which is requesting high quality article submissions) Author of “Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation” (available in ebook format on his web site), Stress Management Coach, Peak Performance Coach & Energy Medicine Researcher, Specializes in Life and Executive Performance Coaching, is the Developer of a powerful new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) that helps build physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being by helping to permanently release negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories. He holds live workshops, international telephone coaching sessions and international teleconference workshops on Physical. Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well Being.

Business URL #1: http://www.telecoaching4u.com

Buying collectibles is one of the most enjoyable things to do on eBay, simply because you can find so many things that you just can’t get anywhere else. Here are a few tips to help you on your way.

Find your Category.

You’ll probably find that all the items you’re after are listed in a single category. Add this category to your browser’s Favorites, and keep coming back.

Look for Mistakes.

If you collect something, the chances are you know a lot about it. This can be your opportunity to make a mint from a seller’s mistake. They might not realise that they have a rare version of an item, or they might have left off the key information that makes it valuable. If you’re willing to email the seller and ask them a few questions about the item to confirm that it is what you think it is, then you should be able to buy items like these. You can then resell them at a big profit, if that’s what you want to do.

Don’t Always Believe Descriptions.

If you find something you haven’t heard of, and the description calls it ‘rare’, don’t assume that it actually is. Far too many sellers just put ‘rare’ into all of their descriptions - the chances are that the item is common and has just been described wrongly. Don’t bid unless you know what you’re buying.

Stalk Other Users.

When you collect something, you’ll probably notice that there are four or five sellers who seem to come up with consistently good items - and the same buyers buying them. Add their user pages to your Favorites, and check back often to see what they’ve got - or what they’re bidding on - that you might be interested in.

Don’t Get Too Attached to an Auction.

There are millions of items being listed every day on eBay - whatever you want, it’ll come around again, and if you don’t get it there are plenty more things to buy. This is similar to the golden rule of negotiating: always be prepared to walk away. If you can’t walk away, then expect to pay over the odds. There are few things so rare that another seller won’t have one to sell. Go and bid in a lower-priced auction, instead of getting into a bidding war in one that is already expensive.

Beware of the Postage.

If you collect lots of small things with a relatively low value, you might end up paying as much for postage as you do for each item. You should take these costs into consideration when you make your bid. Another good strategy is to always buy a few things at once from the same buyer, as they will almost always offer you a discount on the postage.

When you’re bidding, you might notice that some auctions go more slowly than others, going days at a time without any new bids. The next email tells you how to take advantage of these ’slow’ auctions.

Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.

Let’s face it; all games in online casinos are games of chance. Some people can win on pure luck, but the rest of us need to tip the odds in our favor. This can be done very easily by playing games that have better odds, and by playing games that require some degree of skill.

Playing the games with better odds can help you win more often and collect more money. In games like roulette, there are many different types of bets all offering different odds. The best bets can sometimes be the one’s with the worst payout. In roulette betting on many numbers lowers payout, but increases your chances of winning. Games like craps can have worse odds than others, so it is advisable to stay away from those types of games.

The best games to play in online casinos are the games of skill like poker and blackjack. In poker, you are playing other players, so if you have higher skill then you can make quite a bit of cash. Tipping the odds in your favor is easy in games of skill because all you need to do is study up on how to play the game better. In blackjack you are playing the dealer. Blackjack is slightly tougher than poker in terms of odds because you have to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. Even the odds in blackjack can be tipped in your favor if you are smart with when to take a hit and when to stay.

Online casinos also have slot machines. The odds in slot machines are pretty bad. The payouts can be great, if you know exactly when to press the buttons, but there are still odds against you, one of the bad things about online casinos is that you are not physically present in a casino. Therefore, games that you usually have a physical impact on do not serve you as well. Video poker is also not as good because you are simply playing against a computer. You only win if you get certain hands, so skill is not as important. In online poker where you sit down at a table against other players, you can bet well, and make a lot of money. Video poker is completely random.

Online casinos are great places to have fun and make money. It is important to know a lot about every online casino game that you play. Stay away from games that you have no impact on, and try to play the games that require a certain level of skill. Following these suggestions will tip the odds in your favor and increase your chances of having a very successful and fulfilling online poker experience.

Josef Gagne is very familiar with online casino gambling strategy. Learn more at www.casinochoice.co.uk .