Thinking in the...Black Box

 

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.