The Theme is Freedom

Survival of American Liberty is essential to any hope that our country has at returning to greatness.  With new legislation introduced daily, that expands government and regulates every aspect of daily life, it is clear that the average American needs to examine exactly what it means to be Free, and what it means to be an American.   

To understand “where” America needs to get to, we need to understand the correct history of where America came from, what principles it was built upon, and how those facts greatly differ from the liberal view of American history that we are so accustomed to hearing and reading every day.

I was turned on to this book recently.  Below is a link to a free study guide and “cliff notes”, if you will.  Get the book, you can buy it on Amazon.com and get it shipped right to your door, for about $10 to $15.

http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=gov_fac_pubs

The author of this book defines clearly that competition (something that gave this country the ability to make advances in every field of work above all other nations) is being destroyed through regulation.  Our country is clearly spending more than we’ll ever be able to pay off.  For the first time, new generations will not be able to expect to earn a standard of living better than their parents.

It no longer is about Republican or Democrats.  It’s about defining the major problem in this country.  I highly recommend looking into this read.

Thanks for reading,

- GLSC Team

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

Our ability to survive, and thrive on this rock has its long term dependability based on the nutrition that we give to our bodies.

In the age of meals that are made predigested, Genetically Modified Organism foods, and rising grocery costs, we need to think about proper nutrition and what it actually means.

How much is my family’s health worth to me?  Is it worth a bit of investigation and meal planning?

How nutrition relates to our output, is a simple algebraic equation:

If, Input = Output

Then, (Quality Food + Knowledge + Exercise) = (Feelings of Motivation + Wisdom + Energy)

Motivation, Wisdom and Energy directly relate to how well we take care of ourselves and our loved ones when “bad events” happen.

It’s something to think about.  The link below is for a film called “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”.

Time to go after some Knowledge about Quality Food, and turn it into Wisdom:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead

Thanks for reading,

- GLSC Team

Turning your Body into a Survival Weapon: Just Do It

Progressive Fighting Systems – Taught by Paul Vunak

I don’t know him personally, but his curriculum is by far one of the best for Martial Arts and the average person.   Paul Vunak’s style of combining different martial arts was the majority of what I was exposed to through a former mentor, when I was first learning martial arts.   I have no affiliation to Paul Vunak and don’t sell any of his products.  But I do know what works.  I’ve taught this to my friends and family and admire good content when I see it.

This man has compiled many years of “in the ring” and “on the street” fighting, into hours of DVD instruction.  Mentored by Dan Inosanto (Bruce Lee’s good friend and student), Vunak has put together “Filthy MMA” that can easily be taught to adults and children and elderly.

Now, that last statement might turn some people off.  How can a program be easy to teach to children and the elderly, but still be brutal and devastating to bad guys?  All I can say is check it out.  One of the aspects that I like about Vunak is that he teaches the individual to be in control of how “brutal” they need or want to be in an altercation. 

Basically, along with teaching technique, he teaches to controlling one’s aggression and adrenaline.  When you’re in control of yourself, you can better control the outcome of your altercation.  That’s an underlying message that I think is lost among some of those teaching in the Martial Arts community.  Especially when you see it (MMA) on TV, everything is rage, attitude and bravado.

The idea in this curriculum, is that Vunak takes different arts, techniques that work particularly well together, and puts it in an easy to understand and more importantly, easy to train format.  Originally the combining of different Martial Arts, was or is called “Jeet Kune Do”.  The philosophy is to use the best of what each form of has to offer the individual and reject what is not useful.

I’ve listed  the DVD sets I recommend.  The recommended DVD sets should be supplemental for one’s training program.  In that I mean, you should have a more experienced person that helps you train at first, if you have not been exposed to martial arts.  A partner is needed too.  No one person can practice and become good at martial arts by performing drills in front of a TV, alone.   

For any person to become a good fighter, they truly need to have a good trainer to “spring board off of”.  The trainer needs to be live, in person, individually coaching them.  Even if you only train with that trainer a year or so off and on, it will make you levels better than if you didn’t.

On the other hand, in the “Information Age”, we truly have the benefit of a master instructor in our home teaching us and our partners.  This is a benefit that was not available 40 or 50 years ago.  If you’re looking for some survival skills to get you out of a bad situation, this is the curriculum to consider.

Vunak DVD Set 1

The first Vunak set I recommend is “The Enigma”.

http://www.fighting.net/view_product.php?product_id=41

It runs $197.  For what it contains, that’s a bargin.  He also says that this DVD set makes his older stuff obsolete . . . I disagree with that.  His older DVD sets go into a lot of detail that he just doesn’t have time to cover as “The Enigma” is so comprehensive. 

In this set he teaches the RAT system (Rapid Assault Tactics), that is very easy to learn.  He taught this system to Seal Team Six when he was consulting for them in the 80’s.  This guy definitely has the credentials.

Along with the RAT system, he also teaches knife and stick fighting.  He also includes how to train the curriculum so that you will never get bored and always have material to train.  It’s definitely worth the money.

Vunak DVD Set 2

The second set comes from a different website.  Don’t know if he owns the rights to these anymore.  This is the more detailed areas of instruction.  These DVD’s are FAR from obsolete.  Pricing is pretty good as well.

http://www.pfsvideo.com/paul_vunak.htm

Start off by getting the DVDs PV-1 through PV-7.  That’s $79 plus shipping.  All of them contain good material, but these are the basics and where you need to start to supplement what you and your training partners learn in “The Enigma”.

Wrapping It Up

In the best case scenario, you’ve taken some karate, you’ve been exposed martial arts, but you haven’t trained in a while.  For $275 you and your training partners and family can have enough material to train at home, that you will essentially never get bored with.  You already know the basics, so training safely won’t be a problem for you.  You might just need to brush yourself up and train those around you.

In the worst case scenario, you are new to martial arts completely.  Still, spend the $275, train with your family and training partners.  The RAT system can be trained without ever having stepped into a Dojo before.  You might not be the world’s best fighter at first, but no one is.

On the side, pick up some boxing lessons from a trainer; you can probably get a private tutor that will teach you the fundamentals of fighting, live and in person.  Once you have that experience though, you will be better qualified to teach yourself and those around you.

Either way, whatever your situation, make the smart decision to further your survival skills and get training.  Violent situations never seem to happen when you’re ready.  So train your body, train your mind and then train those you love.  

The DVD sets by Paul Vunak are a great place to start.

Thanks for reading,

- GLSC Team

The “Bug-Out-Bag” and METT-TC

Every survival blog, editorial, forum or article has discussed the over used term “bug-out-bag” or BOB for short.  There’s nothing really wrong with the term other than that it can be misleading to the purpose for which it serves.

First, the BOB is generally viewed within the “survival community” as a small to medium size satchel or backpack that holds essential survival items that one might need if they were displaced from their domicile or area of operations, i.e. their hometown.

Okay, you have a BOB, the question remains, where are you bugging out to and why?  Quite honestly, your BOB could be helping you get you and loved ones back home in a bad situation, not getting away from home.  I think that gets over looked.  You might not be using your BOB to go anywhere at all; you might just be helping apply first aid to a person who’s stuck in a traffic jam that doesn’t have access to an ambulance.  This brings up a good point:  The best BOB is the one you have with you when you need it.  So don’t be without it.  If you have your car with you all the time, keep one in there.

What should you put in your BOB?  The BOB isn’t supposed to have everything but the kitchen sink inside.  Then it would become a heavy ruck sack and you wouldn’t be as likely to have it with you.  There are so many things that “could” be useful to have, where’s a good place to start?

You might be familiar with the military acronym: METT-TC.  If you’re not, it’s used in military operation planning.  You might not be planning a military operation, but planning is no less important when considering what items to carry in your BOB.

Below is the breakdown of what METT-TC stands for and some of the factors that might come to mind during planning.

METT-TC STANDS FOR:

Mission, Enemy, Terrain & Weather, Troops & Support available, Time available, Civil considerations.

MISSION:  Your mission should be to get yourself and/or your loved ones to safety, and more resources that you cannot carry with you.  This will bring up questions like, how far could I possibly be traveling?  Who will I be trying to get to safety with me?  The mission can change at anytime, and it’s important to remember that.

ENEMY:  Your enemy will be anything or anyone that threatens your life.  The elements, injury, lack of water, exhaustion, and hostile people in a bad part of town.  The list goes on.

TERRAIN & WEATHER:  What region do you live in?  What time of year is it? Snow can easily effect southern US states more than northern states.  If I did not have transportation could I get to safety and more resources on foot? These are things to thing about.

TROOPS & SUPPORT:  For civilian purposes, this comes down to: Am I own my own or do I have friends to help me out?  Maybe I don’t have to traverse 20 miles on foot with no transportation, when my friends that live only 5 miles away are willing to help me.  It always helps to have predetermined support for “bad times”.  Being a hermit is not a good thing to do.  Have friends and lots of friends you can count on, and who can also count on you.  A 20 mile drive home from work during severe tornado weather might not be so bad if your buddy lives right around the corner and has a basement.

TIME:  How much time do you have available to have to accomplish your mission?  Your mission is to get you and yourself to safety and more resources during a “bad event” right?  Okay, so how quickly do you think you can make that happen?  How much time do you have to get things done before other issues become a factor?  Time may or may not be on your side.

CIVILIAN CONSIDERATIONS:  Just as important as terrain and weather, are the considerations of the people you might come in contact with during a “bad event”.  What is the population level like?  Is it rural or urban?  What is the civilian culture like?  Do they not like outsiders, are you considered an outsider?  This is important when realizing that the people around you can be support, enemy or just indifferent to your existence.  If you’re familiar with the area you are in during a “bad event”, you might be able to better read the populous around you and predict whether you’re going to run into support, enemy or indifference.


In the picture above, I’ve listed my “Bug out Bag”.  You might notice the items show are a pistol, extra mags, a holster, head lamp, a lighter, paracord, a wrist compass, a bottle of water, assorted Band-Aids, medicines and creams, a topo/road map, a tube of peanut butter, a survival straw, a tourniquet, a compression bandage and a good size folding knife.


All of these items fit very nicely into a rather small BOB.  I can always have it with me.  It fits my mission requirements, which because we are not all the same person, are different than yours.  My BOB fits my area of operation and has taken into consideration the distance I regularly travel from better and more resources.

Regardless of what you call your Bug Out Bag, hopefully you do similar “mission” planning when considering what you put into it.  Not every BOB is same, because your mission might be different. So don’t feel like yours should have a trendy kit item if you wouldn’t use it.  Always have some cord, a knife and a sparking device, but other than that, tailor your bag to YOUR individual METT-TC requirements. After all, getting home safely, is YOUR mission, wherever “home” happens to be during a bad event.

Thanks for reading,

- GLSC Team

Great Lake Survival Opening Post

This blog will attempt to broaden the scope of “Survival” discussions on three important levels that affect Americans today.  The idea is to look at the many applications of “Survival” as it relates to the individual person, the family unit and to our freedoms as Americans. 

Perhaps most “survival discussions” around the water cooler are about Boy Scout techniques in case one is lost hiking in the woods or caught a post apocalyptic world that is chalked full of “zombies”.

However, the word survival is broadly defined by Merriam-Webster as: “the continuation of life or existence”. 

The continuation of life and existence is not only an important topic, but should not be left just to the wilderness, (although wilderness survival will be talked about here).  There are too many scenarios to list, but one can easily think of reasons that they could be displaced and lost, without shelter in urban or rural settings.  A broader look on “survival” might better prepare the family unit to take on a bad situation and turn it around.

The third concept that this blog will discuss is the importance of protecting our freedoms as Americans, which are outlined in the Bill of Rights.  In today’s world, the survival of our freedom is not guaranteed.  Everyday it seems as though new legislation is introduced that is “good for Americans”, yet steps on another part of the U.S. Constitution and destroys freedoms.  We aim to explore those legislation issues and get the word out.

Thanks for reading,

- GLSC Team