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INTRODUCTION

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Over the years, many people have tried to put a label on the exact style of martial arts that I teach. I have explored, studied, and practiced many different martial arts for over 30 years. I have always tried to look at the good and bad aspects of different martial arts systems and take the best of what each system had to offer. This is the core theme that martial artists should work for: seek to improve our martial arts skills instead of trying to label a martial arts system or criticize another style. It is the individual martial artist who makes a martial art work, not the martial art itself. Throughout my martial arts career, I have not put much emphasis on naming the system I teach, which is an eclectic blend of the many different martial arts systems.

Through my current profession as a police officer, I have adopted an informal phrase that we used in patrol to name my system. The term often used by my fellow officers when we were about to confront a dangerous situation was “Let’s rock and roll.” As the years went by, I grew to like this phrase, because just saying those words before a dangerous confrontation seemed to help us relax and perform our job more effectively.

I later coined the term “Young’s Rock & Roll” to denote the style that I teach, expressing my way of handling a dangerous confrontation, using whatever method possible to sub due the situation. I like this informal name, because it takes off the rigid edge or seriousness that many martial artists seem to have about the name of their great style. Saying the name “Young’s Rock & Roll,” one cannot help but smile and wonder what this style is about.

This is what we all need in this world today, a little humor, a little wonder. I joke with my students about the name of our style, continuing with the musical analogy: “it’s not classical (traditional martial arts), it’s not jazz (“improvised” or untraditional martial arts), it’s only Rock & Roll,” a simple blend of different martial arts systems trying to play a catchy tune (an effective fighting method). More simply put, it’s “martial arts to a different beat!”

“THE FEEL”

Throughout this book, in every chapter, I constantly discuss what I call “the feel.” Describing “the feel” is like describing the wind—you know what it is, you know how it feels, but it is very difficult to explain. I will try to give you the best explanation of what I am referring to when I use this terminology.

Whenever I train to develop, maintain, or improve a martial arts technique, I always try to “feel” the proper technique within my body. I believe that the human body has an intrinsic knowledge of proper body mechanics when executing any physical activity, whether it is martial arts or shooting a basketball. No two people will execute the same technique in exactly the same way. There will always be a slight variation because of size, strength, flexibility, coordination, and ability.

This is why the individual must stay in touch with his or her body and be sensitive to its subtle movements and positions, to “feel” the proper technique within the body when a particular physical activity is executed correctly.

Who taught Michael Jordan the proper technique to sink so many baskets consistently in a game? Who taught Muhammad Ali to leave his hands down when boxing or to execute his lightning quick jab? Who taught Bill “Superfoot” Wallace how to kick so flawlessly in competition on one leg? The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is that most stellar athletes listen to their bodies, to how their bodies feel, “how they should be doing it,” then they do it so many times that their techniques become flawless and unstoppable. And what techniques are they using? Their own, which have been developed and perfected after countless hours of dedicated practice, or “home training,” if you will. Their techniques are not developed only in the gym, at practice, or in the dojo—true technique and training start at home. Home training is what this book is basically about.

So, when training on your martial arts technique at home, strive to feel the proper technique when you execute it correctly. This is why I’ve always built custom-made home training devices. What feels right for me might not be right for you—the home training device must be specifically designed for you, to accommodate your physical and mental attributes.

Feeling “the feel” or becoming sensitive to “the feel” takes hours and hours of repetitive practice. As your body’s muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become strengthened and accustomed to the movement, your body will be able to sense whether a technique is being done correctly.

But practicing and feeling what you think is the proper technique is not enough. The technique now must be performed under stressful conditions: competition, the game, sparring, or in combat. This is the empirical test as to whether one’s technique works or not. Also, one cannot be discouraged if a technique doesn’t work perfectly the first time—this is why we practice.

Once the technique can be utilized correctly under stressful conditions, remember that “feel.” Take this “feel” or “frame of mind” back to your home training regimen, and train with that specific mental state. The combination of the two “feelings,” the physical skill and the mental state of mind, is the “true feel” one should be striving for when doing home training.

This is the feel one should be looking for when one is home training! This I “feel” is true Rock & Roll.

Keep on Rocking!

—Mike Young