MamboArts.Com

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Mambo Martial Arts can be quite simply described as a realistic approach to adding a variety of "real world functional" self-defense techniques, tools, strategies, concepts, and mind-sets to one's daily life. We stress teaching the most useful elements of the following:

1. Remington 870 Shotgun for home defense
2. Glock 9mm and Colt 1911 .45 Handgun for home, automobile, and street self-defense
3. Stick and Blade Arts from FMA that are practical for self-defense
4. Western boxing, NCGF, and elemental "human joint manipulation, control, and disablement" for hand to hand combat, and a bit of Tai Chi, Ba Gua (PaKua), and The Feldenkrais Method for lifelong fluidity
5. Total understanding of the Legal Ramifications of all of the above approaches to "real world" self-defense (i.e. how to stay out of jail after defending yourself)

Philosophically Mambo Arts martial arts training is rooted in surviving any sort of transgressions from others in an immediate and appropriate way. In some instances a verbal warning will be adequate. In others, a "physical statement" is the appropriate response. We do not have any interest in wasting time trying to teach "necessary aggression" to those inclined to abhor viloence at any cost...pacifists who are willing to die before ever considering using "forceful" defensive measures (they usually claim to be willing to die for their principles...right!). We here at Mambo Arts have no interest in doing anything "passively," much less dying that way at the hand or hands of street vermin, thugs, perverts, power mongers, or limp wristed politicians and so-called "leaders."

Just like the best Mambo dancers blaze a trail on the dance floor that "takes no prisoners and leaves any and all observors visually and mentally stunned, the Mambo martial artist leaves the opposition in a state where they "can't function correctly for a while (or for posterity if the situation calls for such door closing)" within seconds. No dancing around and stylin' while gloating over an attacker or attackers. Not at all. We leave the dancing, groovin', and stylin' on the Mambo dance floor. On the street, within your home, or while in your car, you need methods of "situational termination" that work NOW! Of course, one must always keep in mind that sometimes "running away" is the appropriate self-defense response. A true Master of Mambo arts keeps all options on the clipboard.

Mambo Martial Arts has a visually beautiful side (most notably the Tai Chi, Ba Gua, and FMA drill aspects), but alway keep in mind the fact that survival is not a beauty contest. It is all about coming out of a physical confrontation alive and reasonably healthy at the conclusion. Unfortunately, most martial arts schools do not teach "real world" survival methods that can put the odds in one's favor if actually gets caught in the crucible of a life or death struggle. to be blunt, "real world survival training" is all about figuring out how to hurt the opposition before the opposition hurts you. Trust me when I say that trying to give a couple of street thugs a  verbal lesson in humanitarian compassion while you are being mugged will do nothing to lessen or stop the beating you will be receiving. 

My Mambo Arts martial artists have fun during some aspects of their training. Other aspects simply require stoic mental focus that most human beings would not describe as "fun," but they keep coming back for more, so the must find some 'fun" in it somewhere. I, of course, do find it "fun" no matter how tough the going gets in Mambo martial arts training. I enjoy hard physical work. I enjoy spending hours on a shooting range with a shotgun or handgun as much as I enjoy repeating a martial arts technique for 2-3 hours straight, or going through a weight training or athletic workout for several hours. I know how to spice the repetitiveness up in much the same way that a serious dancer or percussionist "plays" with the inherent that comes part and parcel with deep and focused training. My teachers taught me well. It's in my blood...my personality makeup.

If you want to get a glimpse at a bit of the "end point" mindset we have our students aspire to, check out the Dog Brothers website at http://wwwdogbrothers.com/ . we do not press the all-out, full contact regimen on our pupils all the time, but there is a time and a place for "dog play" in the evolution of a confident, self-assured, and capable man or woman who aspires to "walking tall" in this sometimes chaotic urban world that most of us must pass through each day. Yet, at the opposite end of that "ideal" I think you should look at the type of Tai Chi and Ba Gua study that we also teach our students. It is best exemplified on the "http://drtaichi.com/" website which is the brainchild of Mr. David-Dorian Ross. Check out the two video clips on that webpage and you will understand why I have been an enthusiastic follower of Mr. Ross's approach to Tai Chi FLOW training ever since I first viewed his PBS series, Tai Chi in Paradise (with C.J. McPhee) over a decade ago. David-Dorian Ross's concept of "exercising the soul" fits right in with the highest order of Mambo Arts training.

For another, more direct, glimpse at an approach to real world self defense training that I really appreciate, check out Michael Janisch's MARTIAL BLADE CONCEPTS website ( click link to view the site ). The website is a joy to behold, peruse, and to contemplate on. This is the real deal when it comes to contemporary self-defense training for the modern man. I really can't extol this site more than to say that you should visit it and wish that more instructional programs were as reality based and functional as what Mr. Janich teaches. Highly recommended! Mr. Janich is a Mambo Martial Arts Master even if he has never heard of Mambo Arts. A cool website, a cool teacher, and a cool way to view the outline of the way martial arts should be taught today.

We do not believe in making students paranoid or hateful of other martial artists or martial arts styles. Nor do we develop yahoos who walk around with a chip on their shoulder 24/7. Not at all. What we do is instill knowledge and skills into your personal arsenal of physical expression that will be keys to living a long and healthy life without fear or trepidation. You might want to call it your "survival backup." 

In the future we will post the names of books, schools, tactics, techniques, tools, and psychological edification methodologies that will go a long ways towards giving you a "taste" of what makes Mambo Arts martial arts training so Evolutionary and effective for the contemporary individual who believes in freedom and civil liberties. 

Herb April-April 16,2007

P.S. rather than wast your time watching competition or "point" karate / kung fu tournaments ( or even no holds barred fighting ), spend a good deal of time watching animals fighting in their natural habitats. Or, if you prefer watching humans going to blows in a way that is not as overtly brutal or over the top as the no holds barred and mixed martial arts stuff ( but still quite "survival effective" in itself ) watch western boxing title fights, or , better yet, check out videos of Thailand's Muay Thai (Thailand's lethal appraoch to kickboxing) matches as performed by Thai's' in Thailand rings, under Thai rules. It is a visually very addictive sport. Of course you can just cut to the chase and visit the great DOG BROTHERS website or the GABE SUAREZ website to check out what real American warriors bring to the table, which is a art of self-defense and all-out fighting that has it's own unique "sabor" and "beauty."

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 THE TEN BEST MARTIAL ARTS BOOKS EVER WRITTEN ( IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER )

• CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING by Jack Dempsey
• ARMS FOR LIVING by Gene Tunney
• A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS by Miyamoto Musashi
• BRUCE LEE'S NON-CLASSICAL GUNG FU by Jesse Glover

*List to be continued in the near future

A FEW SHORT WORDS ABOUT "WEAPONS TRAINING" MAMBO ARTS STYLE

It is my personal belief that if you live in an urban area within a state that does not allow it's citizens to carry "concealed weapons" for self-defense, or that have laws regarding the practical use of a firearm within the confines of your home (in the defense of that home) that lead only to being "taken to the cleaners" by "defense (???)" lawyers and/or being sued by the home-invading criminals that you give just desserts to, then you are living in a fantasy world. The truth is that the police are seldom on the spot when YOU are being assaulted, abused, or robbed. The truth is that the only way to deal with most home invaders (or carjackers) is with "deadly force." that means a handgun, a rifle, or a shotgun, or whatever you have at the ready for such "occasions.

Again, for the passivists out there in the cyber universe reading this material, I do not believe in turning the other cheek in a fight, although I do believe that sometimes it is far better to run away than to fight on the street. Knowing how to, and being able to, outrun a "lip service" mugger on the street is sometimes the best solution, but remember that you can't outrun bullets.

If you have an aversion to owning, training with, and practically using a firearm, you have my sympathies. I hope you never get in a situation where some scumbag on the street, at your front door, or standing next to your cars drivers seat window with "bad intentions." If you believe that you can reason with unreasonable or "high" individuals in a mano y mano situation at, let's say 3am in the morning, on a dark side street, you are more of a saint than me. I have more faith in the holy trinity of Glock, Sig, and Remington (870 Tactical Short Barrel) at times like that.

More on this subject in a future article on this page.

NOTE-Some of you site visitors may think that I am promoting a "Tony Montana" / SCARFACE  mentality of violence, but no, I am only presenting a conceptually realistic worldview of social survival for Mambo Arts enthusiasts who want to avoid being abused, maimed, assaulted, and possibly murdered by criminals and deviates who roam our streets today so freely. The martial arts info on this site is intended for law-abiding, intelligent, individuals who are interested in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness no matter where you are in this world. If you don't want to know how to survive in the "real world" ... skip this page, but keep in mind that what you ignore today may get you or a family member killed tomorrow.