Weapons Training ⁓Offense and Defense

Offense and Defense

Knowing both offense and defense of various weapons are equally paramount. In order for someone to get their black belt in Krav Maga you have to be able to demonstrate the ability to defend yourself from multiple attackers, all possible compromised positions with real life reaction response time while being held at knife or gunpoint whi

Show Less

Close Quarters Combat

Eric can train you in close quarters combat showing you how to do defend yourself with whatever is around you when being attacked up close. Eric can show you how to protect yourself with whatever is around you knives, staff, escrima likes the sticks and pipes pictured found along the beach. But he can also train you in more traditional martial arts close combat weaponry like single and double nunchaku, kamas and swords. He also has a lightsaber and a double-bladed lightsaber called a saber staff with light and sound effects to have fun training with.

Show Less

Long Range Weapons

From long range weapons like archery, shuriken, knife and axe throwing and firearms, Eric can train you to become more proficient in a variety of weaponry that can help you protect yourself from a safer distance further away from harm. Eric can set up scenarios for you to solve and make decisions with the weaponry you are limited to, the

Show Less

Ninja Training & Team Building Testimonials

DR. EMILY MAYO

I recently scheduled an office outing and our team had the pleasure of experiencing a 'Ninja Day' hosted by the incredibly talented Eric. It was nothing short of epic. From the moment we arrived, Eric's charisma and enthusiasm set the tone for an unforgettable day. He expertly guided us through a variety of activities, including ninja star throwing, axe throwing, archery, and more, making sure everyone felt comfortable and confident.

Ninja Day was a blast! Eric’s passion and dedication to creating an immersive experience really exceeded my expectations. I had never tried anything like throwing stars, knives or axes before, but Eric’s clear instructions, engaging demonstrations, and helpful tips along the way made it easy to pick up. He also adds thoughtful touches that make the experience even more unique and memorable. I'd definitely recommend!

DR. ERIN KEITEL

This ninja training day was an absolute blast! It was the perfect mix of silly fun and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. From throwing stars and ninja stars to knives, axes, and archery, every activity was a chance to try something new and embrace the unfamiliar. If you're looking for a unique and exciting experience that will challenge you and leave you laughing, this is it!

Ninja Team Building Challenge

Sneaky Ninja Entry 1

I challenged the team with coming up with a plan together to each enter my property in a different way but I was only able to see one person out of the four enter in order for them to succeed. I had left hidden tools and subtle ways for them to be able to accomplish this mission with planning together to all meet at the rendezvous point I designated for them and they succeeded. I told them that I would be roaming around the home at the appointed start time and they had 15 minutes to execute the assigned mission. They met at my residence, scoped out the possibilities together and were able to succeed! The chair was not placed there but was hidden yet accessible in another area outside the home they had to put the puzzle pieces together to solve the challenge as I had locked that door so they could not just walk in.

Sneaky Ninja Entry 2

Once one person knocked on my door and asked to use the restroom urgently, this sneaky ninja executed the most difficulty and visible entry while I was distracted by the chaotic Ninja diversion in my home.

Sneaky Ninja Entry 3

I was having construction done to replace my fencing which you can see is long overdue so I created a needed 4th entry point for the challenge to succeed. It was not obvious at first glance, you had to get up close to see that you could push it in, to sneak through this way.

Sneaky Ninja 4

This tricky ninja had the job of distracting me while the other 3 executed their plan of accessing my property while not using anyone else's property to enter mine as a rule. If I saw any more than 1 person on my property before they got to the rendezvous point in the back, then they would have failed the mission. But this was the plan they came up with and they succeeded!

Fencing Foil Sparring and Training with Mo

Fencing Foil Bout Timelapse

This was my first fencing sparring bout in years after a quick refresher from a client who has competed in multiple styles and is looking to return to competition soon. She helped me dust the cobwebs off so keep an eye out for more videos of the varied styles of Fencing and hand positions I plan to share. When we shot these videos she set a goal to be nationally ranked and since then she has achieved those goals!

"La Belle" Fencing Foil Bout

Bout to 5 hit points which only count if landed on the chest in Foil. This was only my second sparring bout (right after the previous timelapse) against a formidable and well experienced opponent. We got to what is called "La Belle", meaning the beauty of both opponents reaching a tie at 4 - 4, after I earned a very hard fought point coming back from 3 - 4. Watch the video to see who prevails. But be "en garde"!

Teaching Krav Maga with the Master

Gun disarm technique from one of the most compromised positions

Helping Chief Master Ken Church, one of the baddest men on the planet, demonstrate a technique to disarm a gun assault from a compromised position on the ground. It's always helpful learning the process from both the position of the assailant as well as the defender to fully comprehend each step of any disarm technique or attack defense.

Krav Maga Gun Disarm from seated position

Krav Maga Gun Disarm demonstration from being assaulted by someone on top of you. It's important to know weapon disarms and self-defense from every position because you never know for sure where the threat will come from or where the fight will wind up.

Krav Maga Gun Disarm from back assault

This is a Krav Maga gun disarm demo of what to do when being assaulted from behind. Attacks most often occur at a blind spot in your vision and/or your awareness so always be aware of your environments and who you are sharing them with. Blackbelt testing for Krav Maga requires one to receive an attack blindly from every angle, then disarm knives, guns and prevent choking submissions positioned threateningly at various vulnerable points all over the body starting with your eyes completely closed.

Krav Maga Gun Disarm from standing

Krav Maga gun disarm technique demonstrated from a frontal assault. It is recommended that both men and women get comfortable with the feelings and thoughts that arise when feeling threatened. Practicing what you need to do in these situations help you not have to think about it when assaulted so the muscle memory can take over if the mind and body are starting to panic.

Archery Training Vids

Initial Draw

This is one of Brandon's initial draws after my preliminary instruction as there are a lot of moving pieces to remember and integrate into the body and mind. Overall he took the instructions well but the arrow goes up and to the right off of the main center target he was aiming for. You can hear it hit the wood behind the hay bail.

Corrected Draw

After observing his initial draws, I gave him some input on what I was seeing him and gave him some simple correction to improve his accuracy. I shared that once he gets set to just let the band slide off of his fingers smoothly without moving any other part of his body similar to but the reverse of pulling a gun trigger. Any slight movement more forcibly releasing the arrow has a similar reaction to the kickback of a gun being fired where the aim is not higher than the target and off center. On this one, he focuses in on that and hits the center paper target he is aiming for which you can hear and see in the video.

Improved Draw

One of John's initial draws went into the fence behind the target as you can see in the picture gallery below. This is his improved draw and targeting after giving him feedback as to what adjustments to make. You can see and hear him hit the paper target which is a major correction from missing the hay bails entirely and hitting the fence above it! I share his second attempt target which is much improved just left of my target results next to it at the bottom corner.

Solid From Start to Finish

Dan is a natural at most things if you can't tell by the wild mane and bare feet ;)

Ninja Star Training

John's Shuriken Throw Training

John prefaced before we got started that he is notoriously bad at throwing baseballs, footballs and sports of that nature so it made for an interesting challenge. On his first throw, somehow he hit a stone on the ground near the target area which broke one of the shuriken to give you an idea of where we were starting :D However, within a short period of time, we got him to successfully hit the target and get the shuriken to stick in 2 out of 3 tries by the end of our shuriken sheshion ;P

Shuriken Miss

We start with the proper stance just like with most motor skills. As an Occupational Therapist, I am experienced with breaking down the various mental and motor components of many skills (visual motor, gross motor and fine motor individual and combined). So first I taught him how to throw a baseball throw properly which he demonstrated well here. His visual motor skills improved from holding onto it too long to hit the ground to release and hit the actual target in the red which is huge progress! But then we had to move from the gross motor movements of the larger muscle groups down to the fine motor components to get him to have the shuriken stick when it hit the target.

The Play is the Way!

You have to find the fun in the process otherwise we will usually not return to the work of improving on a skill. If we take ourselves too seriously then we stress ourselves out in the process, kill the joy of the experience and can also let the inner critic get too loud for us to defeat us before we even get anywhere, leaving us worse off than when we started and discouraged from trying something new.

Kudos to John for finding the humor with me and trying to get better and something he knew would be difficult for him and succeeding quickly with the right support as I specialize in working with and around people's challenges to get them where they want to go.

In this video, he threw it well gross motor wise and visual motor wise to hit the target but still needed refinement fine motor wise with how he was holding the shuriken, how he released it to spin at the proper angle. Here he released it too flat to the side so it did not continue spinning directly forward enough to have one of the points stick as the side of the shuriken hit the board.

Great follow through

I had him point with his left hand to guide where he is throwing it. He misses the target entirely but then adjusts to get it to stick for the first time. You can see him focusing on following my specific recommendations for the proper fine motor grip before he throws the second time and it sticks. He gets it to stick to the target itself but still misses the red person outline. Still progress.

Direct Hit and Stick!

Here John hits the target directly in the center and it sticks to it's mark! Bam!!! Once you have initial success, the next question is ... Is that success repeatable, how often is it repeatable and how can you improve upon where you are? Did your brain and body mechanics embed the learning into your muscle memory so that you have to think about it less, not try as hard while having fun with successful effort and progress. John hit his mark again ... Eureka, he's got it!

Close the deal

Here you can see the proper techniques for grip, aim, throw and follow through from me with adjustments made when I hit the target dead center but too high or right off the shoulder. Then you can see two examples of a male and a female who have different throw styles to work with improve their form to hit and stick them with only a few comments and directions from me. Note the jokes and laughter learning through play ;)

Trigger Warning: Shooting Gallery

This video is a quick series of shots of me shooting non-live targets with various guns during different seasons out in the rural part of the country in Pennsylvania where my family many generations ago first settled the lands after the Native Americans were no longer in the area :( My great great grandfather built the first home and church out there both of which are still used to this dMy family still has multiple properties out there and are tied into to keeping the community alive and well.

Mr. Miyagi Dragon Dojo

"De-Fence" is the best offense ;)

In the original film Karate Kid, it is revealed that the Miyagi-Do motto is "When the fight comes to you, you have to be ready to fight back." Eric's Miyagi Dragon Dojo adopts this same motto. We study these skills and become comfortable in the state of offense and defense, not to aggress unnecessarily to bring any undue harm or discomfort towards others, but to be at the ready in case we need to employ these tools and mindsets if we and those we care for or elect to protect need protection in whatever form the situation calls for. Mr. Miyagi says, "Karate is for defense only."

"First learn to stand, then learn to fly"

Mr. Miyagi says, "First learn to stand, then learn to fly." We learn how to stand and walk but trying and falling but once we learn, we forget how to fall and it can become riddled with shame. We have to learn how to pick ourselves up when we fall and when we fail to rise again for another round. One of the most important lessons in life is to never give up. "It's okay to lose to opponent. Never okay to lose to fear."

It's important in martial arts to learn how to fall or be thrown gracefully, especially in Aikido. Even when others are not supporting you or are even trying to take you down taking the role of your opponent, try to stay on the path of goodness. When they go low, we go high. Mr. Miyagi says, " If you're looking for revenge, you can start by digging two graves."

"Balance is key. Balance good, karate good."

Mr. Miyagi's character in the Karate Kid movies inspired this Karate kid as a child. His methods are legit. Take the mundane & make it intentionally focused as a meditation. Take the chores & use them to refine some technique that is meaningful. Meaningfulness is key to contentment as finding purpose in life gives us something to ground ourselves in & a future direction to reach towards. It is actually where the title of Occupational Therapy came from, occupying yourself meaningfully is healthy.

Also, when performing exerting tasks like this that are quick and repetitive, find the space to breath in between or use the power of the exhale on your impact and inhale as you retract the weapon. Mr. Miyagi says, "Breath in through nose, out the mouth. Don't forget to breathe, ver important."

"One day, you do own way"

Mr. Miyagi says, "One day, you do own way." This is to highlight the importance of following the rules of traditional martial arts or other areas of learning. Once you have the foundational skills of these traditional lineages, then you can apply your own insights and inner wisdom to the application to them in the way that Bruce Lee took Wing Chun Kung Fu and fencing techniques to create his own Jeet Kune Do.

Mr. Miyagi says, "If something comes from inside you, it is always right." So listen to what is inside yourself to help guide you towards the directions you want to head in, especially on the roads less traveled or never traversed, as the pathways that you create may help those behind you find an easier way forward with the trails you blazed.

"Axe on, Axe off"

Mr. Miyagi says, "Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand." He shows how the same repeated techniques in what we need to do everyday can be utilized in defense. When a job needs to get done, go to work! Find things that need doing around your residence and turn them into a workout if they aren't just naturally already. Swinging an axe is a great workout and is a lot of fun. If it's not fun enough for you already, use your imagination and pretend you are training to fight a dragon. Mr. Miyagi says, "Man who catch fly with chopstick, accomplish anything."

"Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life!"

Mr. Miyagi says, "Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life!" The confidence gained in martial arts in moving your body through space, being able to command your body to repeat a technique and witness yourself improve is a tangible experience your mind can observe to apply those same strategies to the game of life in whatever area we are trying to improve ourselves in.

Mr. Miyagi says, "Whole life have a balance. Everything be better." emphasizing the importance of all aspects of life having balance which also relates to how I approach helping others find balance in all areas of mind, body, spirit and relationship with self and others, not just focusing on martial arts skills.

Who needs a break (room)?

Who needs a Break Room when you have a Demolition Property?!

Have some anger bubbling up to the surface? Have some destructive energy that needs to be expressed? Who ya gonna call? Chair-busters! Watch the master at work, who can show you how to express as well as release these frequencies in a healthy way and process whatever comes up before, during and after the process.

Not as easy as it looks huh?

Chris contacted me the night before letting me know she needed to work out some frustrations and I had just the thing ready to go for her.

Some more support

After getting a chance to see what she did with my initial instructions with how to use it. I gave her some more personalized feedback on how to prepare and aim to break it which she then did for the first time on her next swing.

Demonstrating to how to safely break parts of the chair with your body

Showed how to break parts of the chair with the body to help get out the aggressive, destructive energy out without a weapon or tool too. I wanted to do another axe trick in the middle but gave up on the third attempt to go back to hacking it up and finishing with slamming it which is what I wanted her to do, sans axe trick throw ;)

It's good to also just use your body to break things

Started out with targeting the parts of it that she could break with her foot safely and then the axe to finish the job.

Victory!

No longer needing any guidance, just working it all out on her own.

Wrecking crew

I set up the remnants into a nice burn pile to chop up instead.

Work-Out vs. Play Within and Play Outside

Too often we can make working out more like a chore, bore or work. I struggle with the monotony of this approach and continue to find life hacks to try to motivate me to get the "work" in. But the easiest hack is to make exercise and activity less about work and more about play. Here are a few short clips of trying to make working out more playful and fun. The last clip was during covid where a friend challenged me to do the push ups challenge so I upped the ante by doing more difficult push ups

Star Wars Inspired Play & Wisdom

Mini Saber Battle

These are my friends mini light sabers we enjoyed a playful battle in an enclosed space. Mine are life size and have the color and similar sound effects with and without contact. Remember to play to learn. That's how we learn when we are young, but often we forget that from being taught not to play to learn at school.

May the Force Be With You

My official Star Wars Jedi robe and full gear from the Star Wars world theme park.

This Is The Way

Now that's a lightsaber! Well, technically 3 of them that can be combined into a saber staff! They are fun to play with. These are not from Disney, they are from another company.

Master Yoda's best nuggets of wisdom

"Many of the truths we cling to, depend on our point of view."

"A challenge lifelong it is, not to bend fear into anger."

"When you look at the dark side, careful you must be. For the dark side looks back."

"In a dark place we find ourselves, and a little more knowledge lights our way."

"You will know good from bad when you are at peace and passive."

"A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."

"No! Try not! ... Do or do not. There is no try."

"Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."

If no mistake you have made. Losing you are. A new game you should play."

"The greatest teacher, failure is."

"No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."

"Much to learn, still you have. Patience you must have, my young Padawan."

Weapons Training ⁓Offense and Defense

Offense and Defense

Close Quarters Combat

Long Range Weapons

Long Range Weapons

Ninja Training & Team Building Testimonials

Ninja Team Building Challenge

Sneaky Ninja Entry 1

Sneaky Ninja Entry 2

Sneaky Ninja Entry 3

Sneaky Ninja 4

Hired by my amazing Chiropractor Emily Mayo to run a Ninja Themed Character Development and Team Building Training Workshop for her and her employees

Zombie Apocalypse Themed Women's Group Weapons Training

Fencing Foil Sparring and Training with Mo

Fencing Foil Bout Timelapse

"La Belle" Fencing Foil Bout

Teaching Krav Maga with the Master

Gun disarm technique from one of the most compromised positions

Krav Maga Gun Disarm from seated position

Krav Maga Gun Disarm from back assault

Krav Maga Gun Disarm from standing

Advanced Archery Practice/Fun

Archery Practice with Dadio's Bow

Training a client in archery, shuriken throwing and beyond

Archery Training Vids

Initial Draw

Corrected Draw

Improved Draw

Solid From Start to Finish

Archery and ShurikenTraining

Ninja Star Training

John's Shuriken Throw Training

Shuriken Miss

The Play is the Way!

Great follow through

Direct Hit and Stick!

Close the deal

Trigger Warning: Shooting Gallery

Mr. Miyagi Dragon Dojo

"De-Fence" is the best offense ;)

"First learn to stand, then learn to fly"

"Balance is key. Balance good, karate good."

"One day, you do own way"

"Axe on, Axe off"

"Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life!"

Who needs a break (room)?

Who needs a Break Room when you have a Demolition Property?!

Not as easy as it looks huh?

Some more support

Demonstrating to how to safely break parts of the chair with your body

It's good to also just use your body to break things

Victory!

Wrecking crew

Work-Out vs. Play Within and Play Outside

Star Wars Inspired Play & Wisdom

Mini Saber Battle

May the Force Be With You

This Is The Way

Master Yoda's best nuggets of wisdom

XMA Background Track