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Martial Arts: Part 1 Knowing your built-in weapons

Thomas Rye — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:00:39 +0000

This is the first in an intended series of posts on Exploration & Explanation. The first set is Martial Arts. I will be detailing my experience and exploration in martial arts and self-defense.

I decided to put on Bourne Supremacy today while I did some things around the house. Only minutes into the movie, I remembered my deep love and near obsession with all things “Spy” (See my favorites list on Spy Movies). If you’re familiar with the Bourne movies you will remember that amongst the secrecy, sniper-shots and fast car chases there is a good amount of close quarters hand-to-hand combat (also see Nathan’s Ten Steps: Being a Spy). Bourne and his Treadstone counter parts are all well versed in using their hands, feet and entire bodies to quickly incapacitate their opponents.

Part 1: Knowing your built-in weapons

The human body has been used since the beginning of time as a weapon potent enough to kill. And through the ages many methods and styles have been developed to hone this ability. Some focus on blunt force requiring great strength or multiple strikes to vulnerable targets. Some take a knowledge of anatomy and use of body mechanics to break bones or dislocate joints using leverage. Then there are still other styles that take the knowledge of anatomy to pinpoint pressure points and exploit weak areas of the body into submission.

Today we will start with the basics, though. Striking. There’s 1001 ways to hit a man, but the ones that are extremely efficient comprise a much shorter list. Here are 6 basic strikes to make your hands more useful in combat:

Strike	Best Target
Foreknuckle Punch	Solar Plexus
Half Fist	Trachea
Knifehand Chop	Brachial Plexus
Reverse Knifehand	Filtrum
Palm (Straight Strike)	Solar Plexus/Pubis
Palm Heel (Downward Strike)	Bridge of the Nose

More to come about Martial Arts exploration. If you have a punching bag at home or want to position a good thick pillow against the wall, you can practice familiarizing yourself with your built-in weapons.

How To: Be a Spy (10 Steps)

Nathan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:34:44 +0000

Aston Martin DB9 ~ $170,000	1. CARS Drive a car that is laughably and obviously way above your government pay grade. (If indeed you are officially employed by a government.)
Q & some Bond Gadgets	2. GADGETS If you happen to be a spy from the 60s or 70s, you absolutely must have an array of gadgets given to you ahead of time that end up being the following: a) the only gadgets you need other than the tools lying around you at the time, b) the exact gadgets you’ll need for incredibly specific tasks or points of danger requiring more than just the wits and dashing good looks you carry with you the rest of the time, c)each gadget must either fit inside some unassuming object (e.g. a camera case, a briefcase panel, the heel of your Italian leather shoes), be easily deconstructed and hidden, or simply appear to be a normal item of clothing (Note: you must carry with you a watch-based laser/grappling hook/mini-missile launcher or belt-based grappling hook/super-magnet)
Jason Bourne Bank Box	3. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY Always have what we like to call the “MultiDuff” — a duffel bag filled with multiple passports, multiple forms of currency, multiple concealed weapons and multiple medical kits.
Bourne: Newspaper as weapon	4. WEAPONS Possess the ability to assess which items in any given setting are viable weapons. Rooms of importance: kitchen, bathroom and office. (Minimum requirement: we request that you carry a very small, concealed gun)
Vesper's Death	5. WOMEN Stop thinking of women as meaningful pursuits and starting thinking about them as objects to be used and thrown away.
... and taking names	6. FIGHTING You must possess instinctive fighting skills that stretch across all easily conversationally recalled forms of martial arts. This recall must be instinctive, in case of unintentional amnesia.
Bourne speaks the language	7. THE LANGUAGE BARRIER You must be multilingual. (Note: See criteria for Fighting Skills) (Second Note: This is not required.)
Getting information, that's all	8. WOMEN, AGAIN Shortly after arriving at your first destination, it is important to become randomly acquainted with your muse for this mission. She must be worth destroying your career for while also being easy to forget should the need arise. Additionally, you must get close enough to her for your judgment to be clouded to the point of the mission nearly failing. Possibly muliple times. (Note: If you are a government agent and if you’re good, this can happen on the plane en route, or even at headquarters with your boss’ receptionist.)
Vesper Martini	9. ALCOHOL You must recognize alcohol for what it truly is. – Be able to drink it as often as an athlete drinks water. • Possess mundane details about it (e.g. the correct temperature to serve a chilled bottle of Bollinger champagne). • Drink it without looking like you care that you’re doing so. • Know the local cultural specialty drink ahead of time. Order it often while there. • Create complicated drink orders, while gambling, that get the rest of the table to order the same thing. (Note: if this pisses off your host, count it as a win.)
Perfect Accuracy	10. MARKSMANSHIP Be deadly accurate with any weapon that isn’t a sniper rifle. Despite it’s usefulness for accuracy, you need only use its scope to spy on those looking for you from across the street, or miss your target on purpose because she eventually becomes your muse (See: WOMEN, AGAIN).
Madmen & henchmen	11. COUP DE GRAS Appear physically unassuming, sexually dominating, mentally sharp and emotionally vulnerable all while battling to stop one of three things: 1. A madman bent on world domination 2. The government agency trying to kill you 3. Your impending death at the hands of your captors

Top Ten: Spy Movies

Thomas Rye — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:08:20 +0000

Quick List
1. Bourne Supremacy
2. Bourne Ultimatum
3. Body of Lies
4. Spy Game
5. Casino Royale
6. Bourne Identity
7. Mission: Impossible
8. The Saint
9. The Recruit
10. True Lies

I’d say I’m a spy movie junkie. I love the espionage, the con-ing, the martial arts expertise. It’s awesome! If it didn’t take years of training with no room for family or a real social life, I would probably have gone that route long ago. But alas, I didn’t, so I watch the movies to quell my desires to slip past teenaged security at Target and make my way into the “Employee Only” break room and slip someone’s lunch into my coat pocket.

These are my top choices.

Movie	The Awesome Spy (Actor)	Comments
1. Bourne Supremacy	Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) Kirill (Karl Urban)	It’s all there on this one
2. Bourne Ultimatum	Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) Desh (Joey Ansah)	Parkour on the roof and using a book with deadly force
3. Body of Lies	Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio)	Suspense at every turn. Plenty of espionage and tight situations in which DiCaprio has to rely on his stellar spy skills.
4. Spy Game	Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt)	Old spy takes promising new spy under his wing. Espionage on the field and in the office.
5. Casino Royale	James Bond (Daniel Craig)	Gadgets, Parkour, Crack shooting, amazing cars, out witting the bad guy… and of course a ripped up spy dressed to the nines.
6. Bourne Identity	Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) The Professor (Clive Owen)	Dozens of passports, Spy vs Spies, nonstop suspense
7. Mission: Impossible	Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise)	Micro-gadgets, mystery, real looking faces for disguises
8. The Saint	Simon Templar (Val Kilmer)	Multiple disguises and accents. Contraptions and specialized gear.
9. The Recruit	James Clayton (Colin Farrell)	Spy training course
10. True Lies	Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzeneggar)	Comedic elements and completely far-fetched, but tux under a wetsuit, Harrier jet, using spy resources to humiliate a used car salesman – fantastic!

To peruse a list of modern spy movies, check out this list:

Spy Movies at the Box Office – Box Office Mojo

Update: I’m thinking Munich should be on this list. A bit more of a realistic look at spy activity.

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ThomasRye.com » spy

Martial Arts: Part 1 Knowing your built-in weapons

How To: Be a Spy (10 Steps)

Top Ten: Spy Movies

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