My lady and I have started a docuseries on Netflix about 9/11 and the events leading up to it. Pretty informative if anyone cares to watch.
@idaho - I’m 21 years old (born in ‘99, I was almost 2 on 9/11). I’m taking a history of the Middle East class in college right now. The professors were talking about 9/11, where they were, what they remember, etc. My family has been too. My grandma was a high school teacher on a US Army base in Germany for many years, and remembers the total shutdown of her base and no one having any idea what was going on. She would always fly home for summers and Christmas breaks and remembers for a few years after 9/11, people would cheer and applaud when their flights landed safely.
It’s hard for me to imagine what people were feeling when it happened. I can look at it now as a tragedy and feel sympathy for those affected, and respect for the people who worked to save others, but it’s tough for me to feel any different about it than any other large scale violence, you know?
I don’t know, everyone who was an adult when I was a kid can clearly remember the day, and I just can’t relate to the feeling.
(I’m not trying to detract from the solemnness of it, just noting the generational gap and the feelings that go along with it.)
I do understand and thank you for a very thoughtful post. You can only really relate to something that happens during your life time. I once met a WW2 veteran sniper who was kind enough to share details of his campaigns in France, Germany, and Italy. He was a very gifted speaker and his descriptions brought me along on his missions. However, where he would get emotional about his losses in battle, I could understand, but, not feel the same as he did, since I didn’t live the moment.
Moving on from yesterday. I went to a local 9/11 ceremony held at the county high school football field. I live in a semi rural county so the make up of the crowd was mainly military , LEO’s, and fire fighters and their families. Several ROTC units from the high schools and colleges were also present. The National Anthem was sang by the high school drama teacher and prayers were said by a local minister. Most of the children were wearing summer shorts or shirts with the American flag. The police and fire vehicles were all flying flags, along with about half of the private vehicles parked around the field. God Bless America.
To me, firefighter Gary Box shows us what it means to be a American hero. When his firetruck was stuck in traffic trying to get to the twin towers, he got out and starting running toward the towers. He was killed that day and his body never recovered.
From the standpoint of a singular terrorist attack, 9/11 to my knowledge ranks as the deadliest. The sheer brutality, level of sophisticated orchestration behind the attacks also gets to me.
What was the point of the whole ordeal? Such senseless death mediated by the extremist ramblings of a group hell bent on sending society back into the stone ages…
The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and injured nearly 10,000. As far as terrorist attacks go, it doesn’t get worse than that
The woke crowd can never give me a good answer for this… Why is it that the VAST majority of terrorist attacks worldwide pertain to islamic extremism? Have you looked into surveys pertaining to the views held within purportedly secular islamic communities? The results tend to be quite shocking
To note, I’m not against Islam, rather I believe the religion needs to undergo a degree of reform that mainstream sects of Christianity/Judaism have undergone as to become compatible with western society. I’d rather judge someone on the basis of their character as opposed to race, religious affiliation or sexual orientation.
If the woke are all about protecting minorities… where are the Jews in this equation? We make up 0.2% of the population, Islam makes up nearly 1/4th of the worlds population… yet universities and the youth over here seem to bend over backwards for the islamic crowd.
We always seem to be an acceptable scapegoat, a demographic to hate without incurring scrutiny.
Went back and reread some CQB books about training methods taught during WW11. Thought the martials artists here would be interested in these terms:
What would you like? The Japanese Strangle, the Rock-Crusher, or the Grape Vine?
These exotic names are only a few of the holds and blows agents perfected in their unarmed combat classes.
Other blows they studied were hand-knife strikes, open-hand chin-jabs, fingertip-jabs, boxing blows, kicks, knee strikes, and head and elbow strikes.
As for the best places to hit, the back of the neck was the prime cut. Anything from the nose to the base of the throat was a good target. Either side of the head and throat would work as well. And kidney-blows always yielded tasty results.
Along with these, they practiced in attacking armed and unarmed sentries, spinal dislocations, releases from holds, disarming an enemy with a firearm, defending against a rifle butt or a bayonet, snatching prisoners for interrogation, and searching prisoners — the easiest way, instructors argued, was to kill them first!
Knife fighting was another thing they became masters of. Their staple was the Fairbairn-Sykes double-edged commando knife. They had to perpetually keep them sharp to prevent seizing and to slash effectively.
If you want to get shit done, then you have to be ruthless in your execution. You’re going to have to move faster, hit harder, and take more punishment that your opponent. Good men have to be dangerous and the best men are savages. No better friend, no worse enemy. ‘Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’ - Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis
I’m closer to the end of my career than I am to the middle and in that time I’ve been tested. In reflection of this grand experiment: so far, yes. That doesn’t mean I’m not putting in regular work in the gym, on the range, pacing out miles on the road and learning. Honestly, in some stretches not nearly enough. There will always be people stronger, faster or more skilled. There will also be practical physics problems that I may not be able to solve. Each month I strive to mitigate those variables/deficiencies through both physical and mental work.
Good morning. Jus found this thread and super stoked to be able to learn and grow from it. First my background jus to say hello. I have been doing martial arts and boxing since 1993. I train some kids that fight competitively and used to run an MMA school. I’ve been in law enforcement for around 10 years. I’m a DT instructor and Firearms instructor. I also teach self defense and Handgun classes for the public. Been around some great operators and instructors and always wanting to learn. Thanks for the great info looking forward to reading more.
In a video interview with the American Veterans Center and posted Youtube, Graziano described how he came ashore in the third wave of American troops on Omaha Beach.
“I drove a gasoline truck … onto the beach and I jumped out of it real quick and got my guns and flame thrower," Graziano said. He “laid down on the ground of the beach there with the dead soldiers.”
As German gunfire rained down, he crawled over to the cliffs. Using his flamethrower he shot up the cliff to take out a machine gun. After D-Day, Graziano took part in weeks of fighting across Normandy and months later took part in the Battle of the Bulge, where he nearly lost his feet to frostbite.
When I read stories concerning the warriors from WW11, I place myself in their circumstances and wonder if I would measure up. I draw on my own experiences and then realize I never went into combat without ballistic protection, superior weapons, soldiers, battlefield medicine, communications, and transportation.
I have also, never faced a flamethrower or used one. I have had the pleasure to talk to about a dozen WW11 vets and after each conversation came away felling a like wimp).
God Bless these warriors, there are not many left.
My instructor’s coach continues to carry the torch. BJJ is not a “gentle art”. The following is copied from his social media post.
BJJ is NOT a submission art.
It is NOT about making them tap.
This is a fundamental disservice to the style and fucking borderline negligent as a teacher to present it like that.
It is not about submission. It is about destruction. It is about ending the fucking guy. It is about causing them to be UNABLE to continue doing you harm. The TAP is a function of TRAINING. It is inefficient in training to break your partners arm, or put them all the way to sleep. It is just inefficient. So… We tap. To say… “yeah… that was it. It would have gone”. But… We get fucking distracted. We chase the “tap” and things get fucked up. You start believing BJJ is about getting the tap. And… You start sliding into pain compliance. Not as the cumulative, eventual, waterboard type of thing where it can be useful. But… as a “tap”. Because the soft hearted person that BJJ is trying to build up so they can drive to their desk job in less fear… that person will tap from shit that a killer would literally not register. And then you get an unrealistic perspective of what is and isn’t real. And then we start going down the “yellow bamboo” path with BJJ.
I remember a fight in the late 90’s early 00’s when I didn’t understand this. I was distracted by the tap. I would have defined BJJ as a submission art. It was vs a kid named Gabe Garcia and let me tell you… That guy’s a killer. I did a few joint locks early in the fight… and… He didn’t blink. Didn’t make a face. Hit me with the arm I just popped. It broke my heart. He stood me down for like 30 minutes (no rounds back then). I couldn’t do shit with him. It was heartbreaking. And after the fight, my teacher Amal could see I was in a “maybe BJJ doesn’t work” moment. And he very plainly changed everything in that moment. Said… “Yeah… You kept expecting him to tap. You thought each one was the end. You never just tried to take him apart. Look for the choke. Joint locks just break them down and make them easier to choke.”
THAT moment. That throw away line… That made me see the truth. It’s not about getting the tap. Tapping is just your partner saying “yep… that did it”. It’s about taking them apart until they stop. Hunting the choke until they sleep. Breaking everything that keeps you from that until they can’t stop it. Having recovery plans from each submission to get you back on the ladder and climbing for the choke.
Any way… That’s it.
BJJ is not a fucking submission art. It’s a destruction art.
Tapping is a training aid. NOT THE GOAL.
(Yes… you can use BJJ to control without harm. And to cause a submission. Or to destroy. But you must understand each aspect or it won’t be there for you. So settle down with the stories of how you wrestled drunk uncle johnny into submission at a bbq when he was drunk. If you are a skilled predator you can toy with prey if you choose. I want to make kind, loving, killers who can choose to be nice. Not people skilled at complex “uncle” that can’t get it done when they meet that nightmare.)
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