Target Focus Training

A Baby Made of Snakes

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:50:23 +0000

“But what if he [INSERT AWFUL THING HERE]?” This question tells me a lot about a person’s frame of mind, and how they see themselves in violence. They’ve chosen second place, victimhood, with a wait-and-see attitude that makes them perfect prey for the best predators out there. Now, this is not a conscious choice — [...]

What Is Strength And Why Do You Need It?

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:11:07 +0000

What Is Strength? There are varying definitions available, but in the global sense, strength is the ability to do work. More specific to our discussion here, strength could be defined as the ability of the neuromuscular system to create force. In strength-coaching circles, strength is classified as one of the many “motor abilities” that permit [...]

First Principles

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:48:59 +0000

Target Focus Training is a “principle-based” system, meaning that instead of starting with moves or techniques we seek to identify and understand the elements at work in every successful use of violence. Once you know why the winners win and the losers lose it becomes a simple thing to discard useless movement and technique and [...]

7 Questions People Ask Me About Fitness

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:49:39 +0000

For my first post here at Target Focus Training I thought I’d share my responses to 7 fitness-related questions that I’m commonly asked when people learn that I’m a fitness “expert.” These questions reflect several common misconceptions that many people hold about fitness and the process of acquiring it. My hope is that my responses [...]

“Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast”

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:02:09 +0000

A singularly misunderstood element of TFT is the fact that we preach slow practice. It’s easy to dismiss what we’re doing at a glance since everyone knows that violence happens at full speed, right? And, unfortunately for us, it requires several layers of explanation and then a fair amount of hands-on experience to get what [...]

Collide with Utter Abandon

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:56:15 +0000

Hitting < Striking < Colliding The most common mistake I see in training to wreck the human machine — beyond poor targeting and worse tools — is people lashing out with their arms and legs while they leave the belt buckle behind. For most of us, our center of mass rests behind our belt buckle [...]

Conditioning to Take a Hit?

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:26:49 +0000

Frank Z. writes: “I expect the idea of being able to condition oneself to take a real hit and continue as if nothing happened is BS. But I have seen people so unbelievably sensitive to pain as to render them helpless for a short time. I have developed a high pain threshold over my life [...]

Injuring The Groin – Part 2

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 08:05:31 +0000

Warning: Video Contains Graphic Content // Injuring the Groin – Part 1 covered the myths and misconceptions of strikes to the groin. I appreciated all the responses to that blog and now want to focus on illustrating real injury to the groin. To do so I have 3 different videos that clearly show the effects [...]

Injuring the Groin – Part 1

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:33:59 +0000

The Topic: Injuring the Groin – Part 1 First off, let me thank everyone who left comments on my last video commentary about delivering blunt trauma to the Lower Margin of the Rib Cage. With nearly 150, it’s the most commented blog we’ve put up so far. (And if you missed it, here’s where this [...]

Why Everyone Should Know How to Break a Neck

Tim Larkin (Tim Larkin) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:14:03 +0000

“Why would anyone EVER need to know that?” Usually the question is leveled as a kind of shocked riposte, a condemnation for what it is we train. Through experience I’ve found that the easy answer, “Well, wouldn’t you want to know how to do it if that’s exactly what you needed to survive?” fails, weirdly, [...]