I want to start by saying, I, Billy Reuter am a Martial Artist. By that I mean that I personally enjoy learning the traditions ,old school katas and I could easily go to Thailand, Japan or China and have a BLAST visiting some cool temples.
However, although I enjoy these things, 99.99% of my training is Reality Based Street Survival. Don't get me wrong, about every 6 or 7 months or so I will throw on some "Old School" training music and blast off my Kempo Katas and some times you can even catch me going through some of my old Kung-Fu forms that date back over 1500 years ago.
I do this because I have an eternal love and passion for Martial Arts. I have taught thousands of students in various styles of Martial Arts over the years and I have discovered some very discomforting actions taking by the "Masters" of the industry.
I have come to the conclusion that "generally" Martial Arts is not synonymous with Self-Defense. Although I know a lot of traditional martial artists that are GREAT fighters, I am coming from a student education and training standpoint. I STRONGLY believe that when a student comes to a school desiring life saving training to defend the life of him/herself and their family, they deserve the training that they require. I have always leaned towards that "street" applications of every technique of every style that I have studied.
However, about 10 years ago I decided to invest, research and commit myself to being a vehicle for my students for REAL Self-Protection! WOW, it is a different world! My eyes where opened to a whole new way of learning, training, thinking and teaching. My results as a Self-Defense Coach have been profound!
In my opinion if REAL Self-Defense is something that you want to learn then I suggest the following people for they have both played an integral part of my creation of the I.M.P.A.C.T. Street Survival System. I am eternally grateful to both of them, not just for my own personal gain but through them I have become an Elite Coach for my clients and I am constantly sharing their principles in my seminars and workshops.
Martial Arts training has truly benefited my life in SO MANY WAYS outside of the fact of my increased fighting ability. There are A LOT of Martial Art Schools that are imparting some AMAZING life enhancing values to their students. I encourage ALL instructors to humbly look at your program and ask yourself if their is any room for some Self-Defense evolution. Believe me, when I first decided to get Certified in the F.I.G.H.T. Program with Mike Lee Kanarek I had to drop my ego and make a decision that was based on my students well being not my personal pride as a Martial Artist. I am so thankful that I did, Mike has literally shifted my mindset when it comes to training and teaching. Thank you Mike. Tony Blauer, in my opinion is the authority on SURVIVING THE AMBUSH, and much more. I am also evolving everyday as a Coach and a eternal student of this material and Mike Lee Kanarek and Tony Blauer will ALWAYS be my top resources for education and training. I encourage everyone to look at your training and remember that "Every technique can work once"- Tony Blauer. Don't get caught up on forcing an application for the sake of tradition, remember that the true survivor is the one who has the ability to constantly and effectively adapt and evolve to their fast changing environment. I am looking forward to receiving some feed back on this subject. A very special thanks to Mike Lee Kanarek and Tony Blauer for you have paved an awesome path for Self-Defense Instructors to follow that will allow us to better serve our communities across the world. Committed to your Health and Safety, Billy Reuter P.S.- Train Hard, Train Smart & NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO BECOME A VICTIM!!!!
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