Brandon J. Schmelter

Dear Martial Arts Practitioners everywhere, If you ever feel like you need to go easy on your teacher so that you don’t embarrass or show him/her up, then you need to find a new teacher. Our industry has a cancer. That cancer is martial arts teachers who can’t actually DO, at a high level, under pressure, what they teach. Why? Because either they were never any good to begin with or once they became teachers, they no longer kept up their own training at a high level. Fighting... skills are as perishable as they are valuable. If you don’t train, your skills erode. The teacher who can talk but cannot do is no friend of mine. I have no respect for you. You are lazy. I don’t understand you. I have no desire to understand you. In teaching people and in leading people, the most powerful element is to do so by example. The best teachers are forever students. They are never satisfied with their own level and constantly strive for self evolution, for self actualization. The day I stop striving is the day I hang it up. Excuses are simply that: excuses.

Today has never happened before. Let’s make it one for the ages.

Because it is far better to be a warrior in a garden... than a gardener in a war. Showtime. Let’s do this.

Young ICEicle Grayson training hard from home, working on his straight blast to rear elbow finishes on the mitts. Little sis is doing her best to keep up. Thanks to mom for her tireless efforts in partnering up with her kids along with the guidance from ICE instructor Caden. Keep pushing forward! www.fightwithice.com

To not hurry does not mean to wait around.

76 years young and had recent surgery on BOTH knees. If you know anything about punching mechanics, you know that you need your knees because your feet need to pivot in order for your hips to generate power. Working some isolated offense/defense punch combinations. And of course, some trash talking as always. Much respect, Jerry. The only way is FORWARD.

On KVTA radio discussing the benefits of training with ICE Urban Combat Martial Arts. If you haven't been to our school or one of our seminars or training events, you are missing out! This is not Karate, TaeKwonDo or MMA. What makes ICE different? Quite a bit. Learn more at www.fightwithice.com

Self OFFENSE invasion. Time to train.

Ladies, you have to deal with challenges that none of us guys can ever even begin to empathize with because we simply don’t experience them. However, this absolutely does not mean you are weaker or that you are inevitably victims. In fact, I firmly think you are stronger than us men. Maybe some of you just don’t realize it. That’s okay because you will eventually. So many of the people I have admired and held in high regard throughout my life have been women. I could never do... what y’all do. I’m simply not strong enough. No doubt, there are a lot of evil men in this world. And many of those evil men prey on women. That is not debatable in any way by any reasonable person. And believe me, I’d be the very first one in line to voluntarily deliver physical consequences onto these men. For the past two decades I’ve been helping people prepare for and train to fight violence of all kinds imaginable. So my job is not to protect people. My job is to teach people and to train people to protect themselves and others. My job is to empower. But for real. Not just the term people throw around cheaply as a hashtag. The truth is, the less I am needed by my students, the better job I have done. I want to get out of the way. So Ladies, here are a few things, perhaps obvious, I’d like to share: 1. Be situationally smart. Do not be in a bad place at a bad time. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. I get it. Life is chaotic and unpredictable. I know. But ideally, try not to be in a bad place at all. And if you have to be, try not to do so at a bad time. I realize this is easier said than done. And this is easier done by men than women. No argument there. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be made a safety priority and subsequently achieved (or at least close). 2. If you don’t follow #1 (whether by carelessness, accident or unavoidable circumstance), make sure to be trained with the physical and mental skills that will give you a much better chance than the average woman against a male perpetrator once the attack is on. The truth is, without those skills, your chances drop dramatically. 3. Do not fight him off. This is the real world. He will persist. Instead, FIGHT him. Having the passive mentality of being a victim will infiltrate your physical movements as well. You are NOT a victim. Unless you view yourself as such. Rather, you are a WOMAN and you will stand your ground. You can do things NO man can do. Remember that. You are not passive. You are not defensive. You must turn into the aggressor. You can. You will. Attack the attacker. Hunt the hunter. He will have no expectation as to what he’s up against. Crush him. He asked for it. He deserves it. Perhaps countless other women will unknowingly thank you because that same man will second-guess himself the next time he tries to assault somebody (if he’s not disabled already). This is how powerful you can be. You are a woman. You can be powerful beyond measure. Be it.

OPEN UP. Live in truth, not in fear. Do not allow your livelihood to be destroyed. ... Open your business. Make a living. Provide for yourself, for your family, for your staff, for your customers. The constitution, not capricious mandates from power-drunken politicians, is the supreme law of the land. Defy these unlawful and evil orders. Do it now or later on you’ll be looking in the rearview mirror and wishing that you had. And then you’ll have nobody to blame but yourself. Rise up. Do what you know in your heart is right.

The bad guys don’t take Covid off, so neither do we. We were trying to get some desk work done in the lobby during Rob’s class but kept getting distracted by this skillfully violent straight blast to elbow finish. Equip yourselves with the mental and physical skills needed to defend yourself and your family. Join us! www.fightwithice.com

Ladies and Gents, if you are not familiar with what we do: We provide martial arts training that is 100% designed specifically for street self protection application. Our goal every day is to help good people weaponize their minds and bodies with the skills they need to destroy bad people who try to do bad things to them. You need not be a great athlete. You don’t have to be in great shape to start training, so don’t wait for that to happen. You don’t need any martial ...arts background at all. You simply need a willingness to learn and an open mind. You need an open mind because we teach you that although we prefer to not be violent, we understand that sometimes the only defense against violence is superior violence. That’s what we do: the superior part. Although the mission of our teachings and our training is quite serious, that doesn’t mean you won’t have fun when you train. Because you will. Lots of it. We always provide a positive and cheerful learning environment.You’ll also work up a good sweat, which will help you with that fitness concern you had to begin with. A common question we get: do you guys also teach kids? Of course we do. We love working with kids and we’ve had excellent youth programs for two decades now. They learn a G rated and PG rated version of what we teach our adults, so it is always age-appropriate. The life lessons your kids will learn in here will stick with them for years to come. If you would like to learn more about what we do, please email us [email protected], call our school 805-376-8292 or you are welcome to call or text me directly 310-614-9007. And yes, we are providing training even during this Covid era. Because, for so many reasons, it has never been needed more than now. We are here and we welcome you.

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.

The greatest of all battles... is fought within. www.fightwithice.com

This is just a friendly reminder that the leaders who are prohibiting you from working or running your business haven’t missed a paycheck. Wake up. They don’t own you.