Fisticuffs at dragondoor.

http://www.dragondoor.com/cgi-bin/tpost.pl?smessage=77431

From: tylerhasselhoff

Subject: Fitness

Date/Time 2002-04-07 05:24:36

Message

Recently, Scott Sonnon sent me his series of tapes called Fistcuffs. I was immediately blown away by them. In his first tape, he shows some drills reminiscent of SJ, but perhaps more complex. They take a lot of practice to get down, but they are very effective for learning how to move in a relaxed state. You will soon discover why this is a called a performance enhancement system.

The next tape focuses on using your body as a weapon. Scott basically shows how to use any part of the arm as an effective weapon and utilize its pivot points to maximize speed. The demonstrations of the drills in here are incredible. Scott moves with Matrix-like speed and precision. He also dispels some of the common myths that plague people's understanding of martial arts. For example, he discards the notion of "fluid" movement, and replaces it with "plasticity", which emphasizes articulation of joints and bones in a mechanical way. Thinking in these terms allows you to understand how to maximize the effectiveness of your architecture.
The next two tapes are the best. They deal with the mental aspects of combat. I've also found them useful for my tennis game. For example, I always hit my best returns of serve when my opponent hits it out. This is because I take my eye off the ball, relax, and just let my body think for itself. I always thought it was just bad luck that I could crack the ball back when it didn't matter. Scott takes this "soft eyes" approach and teaches how to manipulate it for combat effectiveness. He also explains the difference between different mental states and how they relate to peak performance in different situations. This tape was kind of like a catalog of all of the different athletic successes and failures I have ever had. The best part is that Scott puts words and principles behind what I was feeling during those moments. This is always helpful for me because nothing ever clicks until I have words to express what is happening. Pretty soon, I'll be sending my opponents into the vortex.

Tapes 2 and 4 contain some demonstrations of ROSS at work. I was incredibly impressed by the realism of it. Especially on tape 4! They pulled no punches. At one point, one person was pummeling the other guy, and Scott had to stop them. Then he motioned to stop the cameras! It was hilarious. There are a few other funny moments, but like Pavel's materials, it is very to the point. No wasted space here.

I've barely scratched the surface on these tapes. I need to keep studying them. Their is a lot of "thought work" that has to be done on the part of the viewer for these tapes to mean anything. This is one cool part about the ROSS system. There is nothing secret or mystical about. It's all for the taking.

On that note, I decided to join Scott's organization right away, and I will be buying more of his stuff pretty soon. I'm pretty excited about this right now. I might even get a chance to work with him this summer! I can't wait to expand into new territories with this material. It ties in perfectly with Pavel's materials. Scott evens mentions kettlebells in tape 1.
End of infomercial rant...

Tyler Hass