old dogs

Life has had many twists and turns for me. I never was welcomed in the "old boy's" club, with its quaint blazers and pretty crests and instead of the "silver spoon" mine was a rust-covered one. As the decades went-by, I scratched and clawed for every morsel I got with a simple notion that I'll never be vanquished and never stay down for the count.

If you were a betting-man, the odds were staked against me but despite being counted-out on a number of occasions and cheating the death dealer, I made it back up and withstood all challengers. I suppose more than anything that wasn't a matter of chance but part of the stock I came from as the claret the teems through me is that those whose hearts are emblazoned with the words honour, commitment, loyalty and faith. It may be bold to say and easily mistaken as arrogant but I am a man who walks forward with each step knowing I will burn a trail for others, honouring my family name and all the while recognizing leadership must start with each individual. Though repetitious, that comes not from chance but of a stock this modern world knows little-of but I shall save that for another time.

Of the many things life's lessons have taught me, it is that principles never have a price-tag and right is never wrong. Simple, honest notions that the modern world has forgot are the measure of the man. In this substance ravaged world, men of conviction are a rare breed and leadership is twisting in the wind. All too often "style" has overtaken true substance and all the glistening new baubles are bought up as fast as the public can slide its plastic through the till.

It is the oldest tale a raconteur spins a yarn of walking by the worst part of town. The dark lonely streets, rife with danger and crime are no place to be this time of night and you stroll by a desolate spot, a young dog snarls at you from a distance. Protecting his property the young pup, snarls a nasty growl and stands it ground as you continue your way as you know the youngster's bark is worse than its bite. However in the distance, sitting on rotting porch is a old dog. His beard is graying, the bounce from the those days of youth aren't quite there anymore but this is his home and he holds down what is his. One eye opens as the visitor walks-by, an efficient turn of the head, the paws reach up as the hair of his old coat stiffens. The old dog is ready, ready to to put up a fight to end all fights and that is the rawest sense of danger the visitor can ever face. The visitor is no fool, his heart picks up more than a few beats as he knows that old dog has nothing to lose and there will be hell to pay if you cross that line.

This past weekend Danny Dring and I ran our very first MMA certification class and after mulling over it for a few days, I think it was my highlight seminar of the decade. While I have had the luxury of very well received speaking engagements and the like, this was the perfect ending to the decade. Not only was it the perfect mix of practical work and promising young athletes but it reminded a bunch of old dogs, there still is a lot of life left to be lived, a lot of lessons to be taught.

Any discussion of the class would begin the day before as I started a 1,000 mile plus road-trip with Frank and Danny Lupiani. Fueled with bad coffee, beef jerky and the endless assault of a Jimmy Page riff's, we ate up those miles at a maddening clip before our Friday evening training session. The "blow by blow" recount of working with Danny Dring is easily summarized as within a career of many accolades, this was a honour I will not soon forget. While I am obviously quite biased the delivery was seamless and though we had no rehearsals, our unit was tight efficient team from the get-go. Though the work was a challenge our young bucks did well and of-course in a moment of need, like a great reliever coming in from the bullpen when we needed the most, Frank Lupiani stole the show to how it's done. Maybe it was the simple, if not brutal training that was stripped down basics, the raw boned work on the mats needed to produce champions or even that much of our group set-up an impromptu "campgrounds" but the weekend will forever known as the level that all are judged against.

Yet there still is more to be said and in-fact a lesson came from a old dog. A fine spirited old sort, who like me recognizes all too many tend to count him out. In a playful moment gone array, a testing parry drew some claret, not enough for serious concern and far below a full-out effort but still enough to prove the old boy is ready to go toe-to-toe. Quick as can be, fleshy sinew pieces get put back together just fine and after the claret is cleaned up, what is remembered is that old graying dog proved he still has a lot of life left him.

We finished up our clinic and after a quick interview with Danny, with that old graying dog trying to scale his backyard wall now, to which I claim it his new-found blood lines, we poured ourselves back into the car for the return trip. Another road trip fueled by bad coffee and Jimmy Page riff's and a decade of clinics was put to rest. It could not have ended on a better note and with 2010 in the horizon, these old dogs are about to prove we should never to be counted out.


John Davies
Founder Renegade Training International

Training Camp

This past weekend saw a gathering of renegade individuals at the inaugural athletic performance for martial arts training camp. The camp was spearheaded by Coach Davies and myself and was attended by fitness professionals and martial arts practicioners. What a blast!!! The focus of the camp helped everyone connect the dots of training movement as it related to technique and reinforced the concept of training to fight and not just training to train. The passion of performance preached by Coach Davies inspired everyone. After the saturday session even my dog attacked his tug of war with a surprising ferocity no doubt motivated by the events of the day. The combination of renegade philosophy and athletic performance training geared specifically to the combat athlete is a ground breaking approach to martial arts. My mantra of training smarter was constantly reinforced by the volume of subtle detail taught in athletic and skill development. I live for camps like this!!! I was thrilled to host everyone at my gym and in my home as we trained, ate and watched fights together. The energy of the camp was contagious and so was the laughter. This was an unforgetable event and one I hope many of you that were unable to attend will be able to experience in the future.

Living Defense and Living the Renegade Lifestyle

Danny Dring

50 years

Last sat. was a milestone in the life of my parents--- they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Fifty years equals a lifetime of joys and sorrows that they have shared together and is an accomplishment that is somewhat
rare for this day and age. The night was bittersweet with the thought of Mom's cancer lingering like an elephant in the living room. On the day of their 49th anniversary they found out she had cancer so making it to the 50th anniversary was an uncertainty over the trials of the past year. Chemo therapy is brutal and made planning anything special to mark the occasion problematic as she has good days and bad and it is hard to know when the bad days will lay her down. Fortunately
she was having a better day and was able to keep a good spirit and we celebrated as family will with love and laughter.
I share this because life is precious and brief and we should all remember to cherish the ones we love.
I love you Mom and Dad.

Love your family,

Danny Dring

A busy summer

Either my wife or I had to stay home this morning to let the pest control guy in for our regular spray and I readily agreed to handle the chore. A 9am appointment meant I could sleep a little longer and since I have people fighting this weekend in Memphis we are tapering back and focusing on recovery thus a morning off is timely. So with coffee cup in hand I fired up the laptop and checked the renegade site and saw to my horror just how long it has been since I last blogged. Incredible yet it feels like yesterday I was with Bill and it has in fact been a couple of months. And during those months I had a team fight at the International Kickboxing Federations world amateur championships and brought home two world titles. I have taught several seminars and have stayed very busy. And I have to admit that between my training, travel and teaching schedule I have let this whole blogging thing slide.

My training discipline reigns triumphant while my blogging discipline lags behind.
Today I begin anew and commit yet again to get the blog rolling.

Delay is not denial.

Danny Dring

Superfoot

Back from a busy weekend in Mobile, AL where Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace just had his annual blackbelt camp.
Bill Wallace is a martial art icon central to the development of martial arts in America. (Just google his name and browse) In addition to working his famed superfoot kicking system we all trained boxing, wrestling (Bill was the wrestling coach at Memphis State University) judo(Bill's first martial art) and some submissions from BJJ which he asked me to teach. Blackbelts in the Superfoot system come from a variety of martial art backgrounds and were all just great people. Paul Acklin from Tamp FL had even brought an indo board and I discovered he was working with Hunter Joslin on using the Indo board for martial athletes and we had a good discussion on how we were each incorporating the indo board into our classrooms.

Both Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis have been profound influences in my martial art career and both were the 'renegades' of their era. Their influence on the development of American martial arts will live on long after they are gone. Joe's camp is in Oct. and I am sure that my time spent with Bill will keep me charged up until then.

Train on

Danny Dring

Seminars

I Love seminars (and camps, clinics, workshops, etc...) and the training environment that the seminar offers. When I am not teaching seminars I am attending them. This month has seen me teach a women's kickboxing camp here in Little Rock followed by a BJJ/ Weeping Style Jujutsu seminar in Gulfport, MS and then last weekend a MMA camp back here in Little Rock.
The information exchange and training at these events motivate me to maintain my daily routine and stay excited about working out.

Catch a seminar or training camp when you can. From brushing up on your form at a Renegade camp taught by Coach Davies to learning new moves on the mat the seminar experience can breath new life into your training regime.

Stay alive.

Danny Dring
www.livingdefense.com

Check out the June issue of Black Belt Magazine

Check out the June issue of Black Belt Magazine for an article on recovering from a martial arts injury
written by Danny Dring and Johnny Taylor. While geared to the martial athlete the information in the article pertains to any injuried athlete.

The authors highly recommend reading this article;)

Danny Dring