You ever find that some things in your life and doings
are inexplicable, almost mysterious? I sure do. One of such conundrums is the
fact that I have been a real fan of work and instructional material of one Mark
Hatmaker for almost 25 years now, and despite his prolific output to my liking,
I don’t have any of it reviewed here. How did it happen is beyond me… Although,
I once did a thorough review of his Outer Limits Drills video for the Raven
Calling magazine, it is about time to rectify the situation on this blog.
To that end, instead of tackling a single product, I
would like to point your attention to his Black Box Project. If you’d prefer
reading what the author himself has to say about it, check out the overview at his website. But, here is my
summary:
Back Box is a series of DVDs from his RAW library, issued monthly, that
addresses the grey area of combat methods – the approach that relies as much on
the athletic physical attributes required in modern sports as it does on the “old
school” technical work that is both ring/mat proven and street savvy. In broad
strokes, the material presented belongs to the categories of standup striking,
upright and ground grappling, weaponry work (what Hatmaker call frontier tools,
i.e. tomahawk and trade knives), and physical preparation.
The interesting part is, however, that he did a huge
amount of research to find, test, filter and apply predominantly the training
methods used by the yesteryear generations of folks who had to use it in real
life, and did not have access to the facilities and gear that modern professional
fighters do. In other words, what you will find is the stuff that will work for
common people like you and I, who have daily jobs and limited financial
resources to invest in enhancing your fight game. On top of that, he focuses on
the type of training that minimizes the risk of injury typically caused by
following professional regimes without the professional support of coaches,
massage therapists, nutritional supplementation etc. Plus, there is a cool addition
of written outline of contents in each DVD, along with suggestions on how to
conduct the training, delivered either in hardcopy or electronic format with
each volume.
Now, as you could see, the production style is of the
homemade tradition, which might seem lo-fi to some viewers, but I actually like
it for its authentic feel. The sheer quality of the material is further
enhanced by Hatmaker’s excellent presentation. In line with the values of the
old-timers, Hatmaker is a rather eloquent gentleman, well read and able to
articulate his thoughts and advice very nicely. To get a taste of his worth in
this domain, I wholeheartedly recommend that you pay a visit (or several) to
either his audio podcast or written blog (or both)
according to your preferences.
After several months into his material, I can honestly
attest that Hatmaker’s Black Box stuff is excellent! The combative techniques
and tactics presented make a lot of sense, and with a little work can be
integrated in any existing program that you may be partaking in. And while that
portion is top notch, to me the physical training (culture) material contained
in the Unleaded sub-system of the Black Box has been a real blessing! It has
enabled me to get rid of some nagging injuries and discomforts that had been
hindering my daily training for a while, while also boosting my performance
ability in other areas.
As if all of the above was not enough, Mark happens to
be a true gentleman and enjoyable fellow to converse with, and inspires people
to do good work and live good life in the best way possible – leading by
example. All in all, digging into his offerings might turn out to be one of the
best investments (time, money and effort) you could possibly make.
