Getting up after being knocked down.

It was a very hot and humid summer night in 2001.

I remember the air was thick and breathing was easier if you did it slow. The paramedics blamed what happened on a combination of stress, adrenaline, having my gear too tight around my torso, etc... I blamed it on being scared, nervous and new at something that I did not expect.

We responded to a fight in progress in the early morning hours in June of 2001. It was my very first night on patrol as a police officer and I was under the supervision of my 15 year senior field training officer (F.T.O.)

While en route to the call, I remembered what they had trained us to think in the academy, "Every call has a man with a gun...you." This meant that anything can happen and even the little old lady who called because her cat is missing may turn around and want to kill you.

I remember my heart racing as my F.T.O. shut off all the lights on the squad, including headlights, as we rolled up blacked out with 4 other squads. This had been fight involving 10 people in one of the worst parts of the town.

By the time we got there, a state trooper was on scene with one of the victims from the fight. The trooper had stated that the main offender had run off west bound. After gathering basic information, we accessed that the offender had actually lived in the immediate area.

Myself and 3 other officers went to the offender's house and knocked on the door...when I say knock at the door, I mean that I watched as the female officer with us kicked the door frame to get the person inside to open up. Now, I was accustomed to knocking on doors with your knuckles to get the home owner's attention...but apparently at 2am, kicking a door to wake up the household was acceptable when looking for a bad guy.

So, those initial actions had my heart rate jacked. Hearing the dispatcher say, "fight in progress involving 10 subjects", driving blacked out down the street, seeing people scatter upon our arrival and having a fellow officer pounding on a door with her boot.

I stood by in the front lawn of the house and watched as the officer spoke with the homeowner in regard to the subject we were looking for. After about 3 minutes I looked (for some reason) toward my left and down to the ground...and low and behold there he was!

The entire time I was standing there, this "bad guy" was lying in the bushes just a few feet from my left leg!

In an instant I jumped on top of him, cranked his arms behind his back and handcuffed him as he attempted to struggle... It was my first night and my first arrest.

I stood up, picked him up with help from my F.T.O. and started to walk him toward our squad.

As we were escorting him back I remember saying, "Hey...Um Greg...I, I..."

Next thing I remember I was sitting up against a wall and there were firemen all around me. One of them was taking off my bullet proof vest and telling me to breathe.

I had passed out!

As it turned out, I was told I had an adrenaline dump from the call, it was hot out, I was dehydrated and my gear was too tight around my waist. All of that combined equalled me passing out on my first night as a cop.

None of that info mattered to me though. I spent the next few hours in the squad wondering, "did I make a mistake? Can I really do this job? Is this for me?" Mentally I had been knocked down...and out.

From the ride home until the next day's roll call, I was thinking the whole time about other career options. I was afraid to face my new fellow cops, thinking that they would look down on me as someone who couldn't cut it. The smallest thing and I was defeated.

But then I remember the time and effort I put in to get to this point. I remembered the massive risk and career change I made to get to this point. I remembered that there are warriors out there who get hit and then get their asses back up to get into the fight again.

The adversary in this fight was my ego and embarrassment and I had let it get to me.

For me, the best part of getting back up was knowing that when I walked into the squad room the next day, I was going to catch hell from everyone there. Honestly, knowing there was a warped sense of humor amongst cops made me want to get back into the fight. I got knocked down...and it was the "want" that drove me to get back up.

For me, that was a strong moment in my life where I know that I am able to get up no matter what my downed circumstances are. It was a great "me against me" issue and showed me that most adversarial issues are.

So this was my short story of how we are all capable of getting our asses up and back into the fight. I have known many others who have had greater personal struggles than I and I respect them for it as I have seen them get back into the fight.

Don't quit. Embrace getting hit and even knocked down. If you don't you will never have fun stories of personal success to talk about!

Dominick Izzo
Lead Instructor
Izzo Training Systems
www.izzo-training.com

Self Defense and Personal Training in Chicago

Intent is Everything

My room mate in the police academy used to have a saying, "Intent is everything."

That is something that I have held dear to me through out my life. Yes, when you literally apply that concept to everything, intention is the fundamental "be all" behind everything we do, be it our work, our relationships...our lives.

Nothing can be said more true for the idea behind self defense. Your intent, your intensity must be high...it must be ALL.

The person trying to cause you or your loved one harm has a level of intensity or intent that you cannot understand. There is something "wrong" with him/her and they now have the intent on causing you pain, harm or even death...all this meet his/her needs.

Your need must be to survive the attack at all costs. This is where intent is everything. You must be willing to adopt a maximum attitude to do whatever is necessary to over come your attacker.

No matter what technique you learn in your martial arts self defense class, it is useless unless your level of intent behind it has an unmatched and superior level of intent behind it.

Train your body to become physical action...train your spirit to become your intent.

Dominick Izzo
Lead Instructor
www.izzo-training.com

Wing Chun Self Defense classes for the Chicago area.

Wing Chun, Ving Tsun, Wing Tsun...

A student stated in class the other week, "why is it that there are variances in all the YouTube videos I see in Wing Chun forms?"

I keep saying it, Wing Chun is art, not just a martial art, therefore we all have our own means of expressing it.

Think of all the great artists who use different kinds of medium to create works of art. We can consider Wing Chun artists as those who use oil paints, Karate artists as those who use chalk, and Grapplers as those who use clay as their material.

All of them are artists, however they follow their own mediums to create works of art within their own style. Within each individual means of art there are several ways to use their tools. Think of all the artists who have used oil paints...do they all produce the same looking works? No.

Same holds true for Wing Chun. Why then is Wong Shun Leung different from Leung Ting? Why is Emin Boztepe different from William Cheung? Why is it that even the very sons of Ip Man, Ip Ching and Ip Chun are different!?

The reason is because we are all different humans. As long as we follow the conceptual foundations of Wing Chun and the ideas of the movements, we are "correct." Centerline, linear movement, economy of motion, simple, direct and efficient... Wing Chun is all this.

It doesn't matter who adds, removes or changes the section of their wooden dummy forms. It matters that we adhere to the strict guidelines of what Wing Chun is.

Keep this in perspective when training. Polish your tools and learn to use them for you. As Wong Shun Leung had said, "do not become a slave to the art."

There are many amazing Wing Chun instructors out there. I myself know that my Sifu, Syed Ahmad, is by far one of the most intuitive Wing Chun instructors and he is someone who I model my Wing Chun after; but that does not mean I do not read, watch and even exchange conversation and ideas with other instructors out there.

Keep an open mind and embrace the art of expression that Wing Chun is.

Dominick Izzo
Lead Instructor
www.izzo-training.com
Wing Chun Classes in Chicago

Wing Chun is...boring?

In the past I have had students tell me, "I am having second thoughts about training...its moving so slow, and is, well...kind of boring. When will I get to the good stuff?"

Ah, America...land of instant gratification!

Wing Chun is a martial art, and like any art form, takes time to learn to use the tools required to express human movement and emotion.

Make no mistake about it, but fighting is absolutely a form of human emotion and must be expressed. Bruce Lee, a former Wing Chun student himself, formed countless philosophical theories based on this idea.

That said, we must learn the base of our art form before we use the tools on the canvas.

Conveying this to students is a task well entrusted to teachers with integrity. It is the teacher's responsibility to understand that there are those who want to learn to run before they can even crawl. In martial arts this can be dangerous for several reasons.

The first and most important is that as the teacher, if rushed, you are misrepresenting the art itself. As instructors, we have the responsibility of teaching what we know and we know that a 2 month Wing Chun student is not even remotely ready for chi sau.

Unfortunately, some students see the chi sau phase of Wing Chun as the epitome of where the want / need to be and rush to get there.

So, how do we tell students that learning Sil Lim Tao (The Little Idea form) and the centerline punch are two very important and training tools and must be practiced over and over and over again?

Rushing into exciting looking drills and chi sau without a solid foundation is dangerous as it gives students the worst aspect of hasty training...the false sense of security that they can defend themselves.

I had the very fortunate experience of learning this first hand as a student myself.

It was upon meeting my teacher Syed Ahmad that I was humbled and reminded that Wing Chun is about foundation.

I meet with my Sifu for the first time after talking extensively about training, theory, Wing Chun and our passion... My Sifu and I are within years of the same age, same height, same physical build and same years of Wing Chun training. I had left a former Wing Chun school with a massive amount of confidence in my chi sau and Wing Chun skill as being one of the top students; yet upon training with Sifu Ahmad for the first time, I was unbelievably humbled and not only his ability, but the ability I lacked in the form of basics. This was true of his students; my now Wing Chun brothers and sisters. They had an unbelievable ability due to their foundations.

Sifu Ahmad has spent countless hours refining, exploring, listening, feeling and living his Wing Chun basics. Doesn't matter if it his centerline punch, footwork, Sil Lim Tao, etc. Sifu has done his homework over and over. Under Sifu Ahmad, I have had to return to basics and have noticed that my Wing Chun has not only improved, but I understand Wing Chun better than I had under any previous teacher. And this is all due to patience and basic training.

Wing Chun must be learned and the process respected as being one of diligence and patience. As teachers we must be able to recognize that some students will request speeding up their training, or they will leave. It is the nature of the beast. But as Wing Chun artists, we must not compromise structure and integrity for money or student base. This will only hurt our schools, students and future reputations as well.

Is Wing Chun boring? Depends how you want to look at it. As one Chinese saying puts it, "I do not fear the man who has practiced 10,000 techniques one time; rather the man who has practiced one technique 10,000 times."

Dominick Izzo
Lead Instructor
www.izzo-training.com

Fitness for Fighting? Hell Yes.

It is a common statement in the Wing Chun community that one should not lift weights if they want their Wing Chun to improve.

The thought among Wing Chun purists is that by increasing muscle mass, you will slow your Wing Chun down and / or lose sensitivity in your chi sau and fighting ability.

My thoughts are these: Wing Chun was created 300 years ago where people were not as large as they were today. The average male height in America today is 5'10" and the average male height in China is 5'6". Although height has remained average over the last 50 years, weight has increased an average of 25 lbs! Our enemies are bigger and badder.

Evolution plays an endearing role in the survival of the fittest game and we can see how this applies in fighting or combat.

In the concept of mass on mass, or the larger fighter; the fighter with the more mass doesn't necessarily always win. Wing Chun shows that skilled mass has a greater chance of winning. Wing Chun uses economy of motion, angles of attack, leverage and body mechanic.

But if Mixed Martial Arts has shown anything, it is that fitness and muscle plays a huge role in a person's ability to endure in combat. Granted, this is specific to the individual. For example, google MMA fighter Roy Nelson. In an episode of Ultimate Fighter, he defeated Kimbo Slice who was by far in better shape.

Being fit has direct effects on a person's ability to supply oxygen to the body, and this has a massive impact on a person's ability to fight. As a former police officer, I can attest that fighting for 10 seconds is a very long time when you cannot breathe. Life is not Mixed Martial Arts...there is no time to prep for our fights. Some times we must run or sprint from or towards danger and then fight...and by then you are already winded!

Wing Chun purists also claim that strength plays no part in fighting...again, I respectfully disagree. Strength may play no part in Chi Sau, however in an actual fight, yes, strength may be the difference between you going home or not. I read an article once in where Wing Chun legend Wong Shun Leung stated that he chi sau'd with Bruce Lee after Lee had been in America for several years. During his American years, Bruce Lee had become a fitness enthusiast which is evident by his amazing physique.

Wong Shun Leung stated that Bruce Lee's chi sau was not as good as it once had been and Wong Shun Leung attributed the declination to Bruce Lee's muscle mass.

Granted, my assumption is that this is useful information in the realm of chi sau in itself. Wong Shun Leung, in my opinion, is the greatest Wing Chun practitioner that has ever lived. In my opinion, he far surpassed Bruce Lee in Wing Chun fighting skill. Bruce Lee, however was a more overall well rounded fighter (I qualify this statement by saying Bruce Lee studied all kinds of fighting; therefore making his approach with fitness invaluable.) Bruce Lee, however again, was never able to "defeat" Wong Shun Leung whenever they trained against each other.

So what does that mean? Who knows! In my opinion, maybe Bruce Lee could run faster, or lift something longer or heaver in the context of fighting...or maybe Bruce Lee had the initial physical edge in that he "looked" like the greater threat, therefore ending a fight by intimidation before it even began. But for the average person training in fighting who can never achieve the Wing Chun development of Wong Shun Leung, I strongly believe that being fitter plays a key role in a person's survival. And lifting weights is a key element in staying fit.

Bottom line, yes, fitness is essential for fighting. Lifting weights does aid in muscle endurance, which is something we need for fighting. A stronger muscle is a muscle that can work longer...and in some combative contests, this may be the difference between life and death.

Dominick Izzo
Lead Instructor
Izzo Training Systems
www.izzo-training.com