Richard Norton's Blog

I just returned from Sydney where I taught three seminars arranged by my buddy, George Adams and Robert Jancevski. The first class was at Robert”s school where we worked on Reality Based Training, covering defensive and pre-emptive techniques and adrenal switches. The next day was at George”s school and covered BJJ with the emphasis on Half Guard and Triangle attacks. Finally on Sunday we worked with Wayne Miller”s kids. I must tell you I haven”t taught kids for some time but I had an absolute ball with them. What a great bunch of well behaved potential Karate enthusiasts. So enjoyable to teach. Hat”s off to Wayne Miller for the wonderful job he is doing with these kids.
Once again though, the best time for me is with my mate George and Robert. We never stopped laughing on the weekend and for me, that”s what it”s all about. Sure the teaching and learning is good, but it”s kind of shallow without the company of great friends. Thanks again to George and Robert for putting the weekend together and to friends like Damien for making the trip down from Canberra.
I am looking forward to many more seminars whilst back in Oz, particularly as I have now been made a 4th Degree in BJJ by my teacher, Jean Jacques Machado, and his only official rep and affiliate here in Australia. This means that any one I decide to grade to a higher level in BJJ will also be officially recognised by a world wide organization as in JJ Machado Jiu Jitsu.
If anyone in Australia is interested in a seminar for their school here, please drop me or Dr George Adams a line and we”ll put something together.

Hey, ran into my friend and past training partner at Jean Jaques Machado”s BJJ academy, Eddie Bravo. Eddie now runs his own school, 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu and has an array of fantastic DVD”s and books out on his hybrid style We were both hangin” at the Long Beach Internationals..

I had the following article emailed to me by my cop and Jiu Jitsu buddy, Lou Salseda. It was in reference to and to honor four brave Oakland police officers that were gunned down in the line of duty. The article is long but I thought it very relevant to us as Martial Artists and the “Warrior” role that we can and should play in our society. We train for many years to develop the “weapons” skills and combat abilities” that enable us as “warriors” to be more than “spectators” to the insensitive violence that is that is so often perpetrated on those defenceless and weaker members of society around us. I have sometimes been asked about the seemingly violent nature of the training that we Martial Artists pursue with a passion. My answer is that we often don”t have the choice as to when we may have to deal with the “bad guys” who choose to prey on the helpless . Meaning that we can pray that we are never confronted by or have to deal with violence in our own back yards. But if it should come down to a life or death situation where the violence is brought to you, “Then it is better to be a Warrior in the Garden, than a Gardener at War”.
Please take the time to read the following article.
Thanks, Richard.
On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs
By LTC (RET) Dave Grossman,
Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? – William J. Bennett – in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997 One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.
Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin”s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.? For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial. “Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I”m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”
If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero”s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed. Let me expand on this old soldier”s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids” schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid”s school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep”s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn”t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.”
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones. Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn”t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.
There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.
Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I”m proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, “Let”s roll,” which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers – athletes, business people and parents. — from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.
There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. – Edmund Burke Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn”t have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior”s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for “heads to roll” if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids” school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.
Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, “Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?”
It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.
Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn”t bring your gun, you didn”t train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.
Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: “…denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn”t so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling.”
Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.
And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes
This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

2/18/2007 9:44:41 PM
I have just returned from Sydney where I conducted a number of seminars on complexes and real street survival tactics. I also tauught a seminar on BJJ. I must say I had a wonderful time with the various students and particularly my friend, Dr George Adams, who arranged the seminars. I also got to see my good friend Fari Salievski which is always great. It is particulary heartening to me when I see students and instructors of various styles daring to step out of their comfort zones and participate in areas they are not necessarily comfortable with. It really does take courage to, as I call it, unfold your arms and be found out for what you don”t know. In other words, dare to participate. I remember when I had my first BJJ intro with Rickson Gracie and later with the Machado Bros. I remember wrestling some Brazilian kid who was around 16 years of age and had trained for 11 years. I know I outweighed him by heaps and was at least 2 times as strong. Yet he tied me up in so many knots it was ridiculous and seemed to be giggling and going to sleep at the same time. Now as a “stand-up” fighter” I could have walked away with justifications like, ” well, I could have done this and I could have hit him with that”. Instead, I had to “check my ego in at the door” and acknowledge that I felt like a baby on the floor and that I had to learn this art. Some 18 years later I am still at it with my coach, the legendary Jean Jacques Machado. What I try to tell people that come to my seminars is that we need to continually search for new knowledge and that to never look at it as -”Instead of, but as well as”. It is not about the ending but all about the journey. This is why I have spent my life training with as many different styles and masters that I can and why I so applaud all of the people that took time out of their weekends to attend the seminars and “taste somebody else”s tea”. Thanks to all of you and I look forward to some more classes and training time with you in the very near future.

Firstly, I hope the New Year has started off in fantastic fashion for you all. I am starting to crank up the New Year with seminars and classes. I had a great time last week teaching at my friend Vince and Claire”s school called Ultimate Martial Arts academy. We pretty much kept it basic with the emphasis on the use and execution of Muay Thai elbow strikes and shin kicks. The students at Ultimate are great to work with because like their instructor, Renshi Vince, they are hungry and open enough to learn whatever knowledge comes their way. As I have always said, it is not about the finding, but the journey, and that so often means having the courage to step outside of your own particular comfort zone and dare to participate in an area you are unfamiliar with. I”ll also be starting up again with some classes at my another friends Dojo run by Frank Monea. There we will again focus on areas involving “complexes”, both empty hand and with weapons, Jiu Jitsu and real life street defence scenarios. Incidently, if any of you out there reading this have schools and are interested in the idea of me coming to your school to teach a seminar or two, please drop me a line and let”s see if we can put it together. We can focus on whatever training areas you like. So, until next time, stay well, train hard and dare to be the best. Richard.

I wanted to thank all the students and Master Fariborz himself for inviting me along to the Team Karate Dojo to teach a seminar on Thursday evening. I thoroughly enjoyed working with you all and was particularly energised by the enthusiasm of all there to get on the mat and learn some new techniques and most of all, have some fun doing it. I”ve always said it is so easy to accept mediocrity in our lives and not want to step out of our comfort zones and dare to try something different. By just being there the other night, you as students of the arts have shown that you are more than willing to “dare” to participate and to “taste somebody else”s tea”. Thanks again and I look forward to many more session”s with you guys at Team Karate. Sincerely, Richard Norton.

I had the opportunity to go the set of “Rush Hour 3″ and visit my old friend Jackie Chan yesterday. Jackie as always looks great and I”m sure Rush Hour will be another huge winner for him. Also got a chance to hang with a couple of aussie buddies, Any Owen, who is one of the best Riggers in the world, and Brad Allen, who is Jackie”s fight Coordinator. Brad met Jackie on the set of Mr. Nice Guy” and the rest is history. Brad showed that with determination and incredible abilty it is possible to work full time alongside one of the legends in the movie industry. I look forward to going back again next week before heading back to Australia for Xmas with the family. Cheers all.

To those of you who care, I had recently worked as Fight Coordinator on a WWE movie called,”The Condemned”, starring Stone Cold Steve Austin. Well the reports I”m hearing re some early test screenings for the powers that be, are that it is fantastic and Steve is great on screen. The thing is that we know there will be lots of good fights and action, but the real glee is that there is a real depth to the story which is getting more and more of a rarity in action movies. The Director, Scott Wiper, has really tackled the issue of today”s acceptance of and more importantly, the apathy, to the ultra violence served up by various forms of media entertainment into our lounge rooms via movies and the internet. Keep a watch for this movie when it hits the screens early next year as I really believe you will enjoy this one.

Here’s a little article on my thoughts on real life street defence.
Confrontation involving close range interpersonal aggression is one of the most traumatizing experiences a human being can face. If you haven’t “pressure” tested your techniques and understand the contemporary enemy you may be facing you can be taken out of the street arena before you even realize you are in it. If your training has not been designed to simulate reality, if it is not sufficiently stressful, if realistic scenarios are not considered and explored, you risk being unprepared if you ever have to defend yourself in the street. It is not just about training in high reps of the different punches and kicks. It is about training the stimulus scenarios that trigger the particular techniques needed to respond to the possibility of life threatening street confrontations. This is called stimulus response training. In other words, how you train is how you react. Keep asking yourself what you are training to use a particular technique for. Is it to win a point in a non contact tournament or is it to give you the ability to take someone who is threatening to attack you completely off the planet. You must put as much work into learning how the street thug thinks and fights as he does in selecting and taking out his victims. Learn and understand pre-fight rituals and when you are being set-up. Know absolutely what you would do as a first response and most importantly, keep your initial responses simple. The first thing that happens when you are literally scared for your life is that your heart rate sky rockets due to stress hormones and adrenal dump and you lose fine and complex motor skills. Trust me when I say that in this state you will not be able to perform a series of complicated “dojo” learnt techniques. Learn to trust your instincts and be pre-emptive. Again, proper response is a factor of preparation.
Finally, the most important thing of all is to stay “switched on”. If you are aware of changes to your environment and impending trouble then you can give yourself the best option of all, total avoidance.
Richard Norton
Martial Artist/Personal Bodyguard.

This was me teaching Big John a lesson in MMA. He kinda got the hang of it but I still felt in control of the situation. Right?

Hi friends,
Well, I had a great Jiu Jitsu class last night, with Jean Jacques Machado. I think I particularly enjoyed it because once again, I become so aware of why certain Martial Artists are called Master’s in their disciplines. We started the class as usual with a grappling drill that we had done many times before. Fine, we got to refresh on certain aspects of the technique. Then the chess game began, and what seemed to be the revisiting of a reasonably basic technique suddenly morphed into a plethora of possibilities that I had never even considered were there. Both my friend Lou and I were kind of just shaking our heads at the skill of a Master instructor such as Jean Jacque in explaining his art to the class. It once again made me feel so proud to be a Black Belt with J.J. and certainly made me realize why we, as his students, bother to turn up night after night.
Anyway, just wanted to share that moment with you guys.
Richard.

Hi,
Just a quick update on what I”ve been doing. I have just returned from Australia where I was a guest at our first Martial Arts Super Show which was held on the Gold Coast in Queensland. It was a great event and I must mention that it was a thrill to be awarded the Lifetime Achievement award for my contribution to the Arts. I have also been working on getting my new official website up and running again. My friend Fariborz is a whiz with this stuff and it is going to be a great site with acting and action movie clips and my latest demo reel. The site will also have a photo gallery full of shots from movies, martial arts eventsetc. Finally I will have a News section where I will be able to update you all on whatever it is I am doing presently in the movie and martial arts world.
Thanks and please check out the new site.
Warmest regards,
Richard.