©Copyright 2020 by Bradley J. Steiner ––– All Rights Reserved. Sword and Pen Official Newsletter Of The International Combat Martial Arts Federation (ICMAF) www.seattlecombatives.com www.americancombato.com www.prescottcombatives.com December 2020 Edition In Memorium Although not directly related to the field of martial arts and self- defense, the passing of that fine actor Sean Connery recently, deserves we feel, mention and homage. Connery was James Bond ––– as far as we and quite likely millions of others are concerned. He brought Ian Fleming’s fictional character to life on the silver screen, and despite Hollywood’s disgraceful efforts to portray Fleming’s Hero “tongue-in-cheek” (anyone reading the novels knows that was never Fleming’s intention) Connery splendidly portrayed the tough, suave, resourceful British agent 007 especially well . with Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball holding Bond out almost exactly as Fleming intended his character to be. Sean Connery’s seven motion picture portrayals of Bond will remain forever classics, and generations to come will doubtless enjoy the marvelous films where Connery played “Bond . James Bond.” Aside from the Bond films Sean Connery was a splendid actor who played other characters exceedingly well. Personally, however, we shall always remember him for his role as James Bond ––– and one other: Barley Blaire in The Russia House. May Sean Connery rest in peace, and may his soul be blessed. Brad Steiner E d i t o r i a l Tis The Season To . ? EVENTS of 2020 thus far have not been encouraging. Although we wish you and yours a blessed and Merry Christmas, we know very well that many out there have lost jobs, businesses, and have suffered greatly; not merely from the corona virus, but also due to the civil unrest and urban turbulance and violence plaguing our cities. This is normally a joyful time of year. For those of you who have suffered more than your share of the slings of fate we offer our hopes, wishes, and prayers that a turnabout will occur soon, and that you will then experience a preponderance of blessings and the best of good fortune, happiness, success, and good health in your and in your loved ones’ lives. We note with a smile that, at least as far as we are concerned, even the lunacy of 2020 as it grinds to a close has not taken away all of the beauty, color, music, and joy or this beautiful Holiday ––– Christmas. In keeping with our primary subject on this web site, let us remind you that your training in self-defense may well be more important now than it has ever been, before. For the civil unrest that may rear its hed unexpectedly again may call upon your ability to protect yourself. We earnestly pray that this does not happen, and that violence––– indeed trouble of any kind ––– never touches your life or the lives of those dear to you. But if it does, your ability with protective defense skills and tactics will be a godsend; you will be ever so glad that you took the time to study, learn, and train in the unarmed and armed arts of self-defense. We’re with you in this regard. We aim to encourage you, guide you, and instruct you in the true and authentic techniques, tactics, mental conditioning, and strategic living habits that have been genuinely proven to work. The confidence and poise that your training and knowledge give you is priceless . but that only comes with practice and discipline. The reward that you take out, for putting in the time, effort, and serious mindset to learn, is a thousandfold greater than what you put in. So put it in! The situation with this current covid-19 challenge makes training hard on your own at home not only highly desirable (much more so than attending a school), but also a means of making isolation ––– such as you may be obliged to experience it ––– actually productive, rewarding, and beneficial. (In this wise we have received unsolicited assurances by purchasers of our DVD Home Study Course that this is absolutely true for them ––– and they are glad to have this means of instruction available ––– most especially at this time.) Also . if you train in a system or with methods other than American Combato’s, take advantage of the series of instructional videos on YouTube done by 9th Dan, Prof. Mark Bryans. As a companion to Mark’s simple, effective, authentic self-defense skills videos (material drawn from American Combato’s extensive syllabus), we ourself have provided a comprehensive series of videos covering aspects of self- defense, training, mindset, and matters related to individual combat and defensive skills, which you may find extremely useful and helpful regardless of what you study ––– if you are training for self-defense. (The input that we receive regularly from viewers who have benefitted from both the technical and lecture-oriented videos is very encouraging. An awful lot of people have expressed gratitude for our postings on YouTube. To them, and to those reaping rewards from those postings who have not emailed us but who are appreciative of our efforts, we say“Thank you!” It is indeed our pleasure ––– both Prof. Bryans’ and our own ––– to provide these samples and tongue-tip tastes of American Combato). Merry Christmas to you and to yours. We do hope that this is ––– for all of us ––– the season to be grateful as well as jolly. God Bless all of you, and again, we wish you a MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS in spite of whatever socio-economic problems there may be! Bradley J. Steiner You may find these encouraging . “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same” –––Rudyard Kipling- from IF “Never forget: Nothing is ever as good as it seems, and nothing is ever as bad as it seems” –––Anonymous “Tough times never last. But tough people do” –––Robert H. Schuller- from TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST, BUT TOUGH PEOPLE DO! DVD Course Now Available! You Can Learn Self-Defense and Close Combat At Home. Here are a few comments about us and what and how we teach, from a handful of the many genuine authorities in the field of close combat and self-defense who are familiar with us and with our work: “Brad Steiner is one of the three finest instructors of close combat and self-defense that I know of, in the world” —— James R. Jarrett, Former U.S. Army Special Forces and LAPD SWAT/Protégé of the late, internationally famous defensive tactics and baton master, Robert Koga. Mr. Jarrett holds a 5th degree Black Belt and is a renown firearms, self-defense, and counterterrorist instructor. He is a former university professor and an author. “[Brad Steiner] is simply the finest teacher of any subject that I have ever had . I feel deeply blessed to be able to know and to study under him” —— Greg Anderson, Third degree black belt, author of Weapons At Hand, accomplished professional athlete (wrestled at the national level and played college football), world- acknowledged authority on physical training, author, and Director of Ideal Exercise, one of the finest fitness facilities in the Western states. “Brad Steiner knows real self-defense and what works in hand-to-hand combat like no one on earth! His Method is incredible!” —— Detective Ralph Friedman (NYPD Retired), Ralph was, at the time of his retirement, the most decorated police officer in the history of the NYPD. He has received, among other awards, the coveted ‘Combat Cross’. Ralph was featured, along with his brother — an NYPD Transit Police Officer — on the TV Show Top Cops. “Your Method is excellent. You have expanded upon and improved considerably the method I learned from Fairbairn and Sykes during WWII and what the USMC taught to the Raider Battalions. And you’re a very good student and teacher” —— Maurice (“Maury”) Geier, Former U.S. Federal Agent and counterintelligence officer during WWII. Also a combat shooting instructor for FBI and other federal officers, as well as a hand-to- hand combat teacher who was so fierce he earned the nickname “Deathhouse Geier”. “Your American Combato is a very good System” —— Charles (“Charlie”) Nelson, WWII hand-to-hand combat judo instructor with whom we trained for nearly three years. It was from Nelson that we learned the O’Neill System, as well as what A.J. Drexel Biddle taught (Charlie was one of Biddle’s students). “You are indeed a ‘Professor’ of combat arts! I quote you all of the time” —— Grandmaster Jim Harrison, The premier pioneer in America of the Asian fighting arts of ju-jutsu and karate. The late Bruce Lee once said of Jim Harrison that he is the one person he would not like to fight. It would take a thick pamphlet to describe all of Jim Harrison’s accomplishments and contributions to the combat arts in America. “From you I learned the valuable lesson of ‘attacking’ instead of ‘defending’ when you have to defend yourself” —— Grandmaster John McSweeney, The “Father of Irish Karate”, John was one of Ed Parker’s first Black Belts. John also studied boxing, judo, ju-jutsu, and kung fu. The quotation above is from a letter John sent to us after reading our Tactical Skills of Hand- to-Hand Combat. We maintained a correspondence and friendship until John’s passing. “You certainly do make many excellent points about how mental conditioning for self-defense may be achieved. Although I had never anticipated RET (Rational Emotive Therapy) being utilized for martial arts training, you have done quite an impressive job.