Stumbled upon this old Paul Vunak tape (attached and below.) Paul changed my traditional martial arts life in 1986. He also connected me to the Inosanto world. We hosted him back then, followed him, and oddly I am still a full instructor under him. I say “oddly,” because today’s people only see and hear the now so-called, “aged-worn” Paul? Hear stories. There are a few stories. Yes. And People say, why do you even EVER mention his name and list him on your creds (as I do)? But to the “new kids on the block,” there was once an amazing super-sharp, young, pioneer, articulate Vu. Athleticism? Wow.
The old VU-PFS mantra of “Knees, Elbows, Head Butts.” Oh, but listen…these head butts. As time marched on from the 1980s and 1990s, medical research marched on, mostly via football and even soccer – that splashing your head around, your brain around, is very dangerous. I have brain damage today from knockouts, and training ( stupid training like headbutting heavy bags, swinging heavy bags out and letting them swing hit my head – you know -toughening MY…HEAD! Butting helmets, etc.)
There are so sooo many stories of head butts now that stunned and even knocked out the head butter. WE DID NOT KNOW THESE THINGS BACK THEN like we do now. Some Forty years ago. Not common knowledge. We can no longer treat head butts so cavalierly. This is research you cannot dodge or deny.
It’s one thing to SIMULATE a head butt. Another thing to actually do one. But just simulating a head butt, thrusting your head forward faster than normal, hundreds of times, is it’s own aggregated brain splash problem.
Remaining proponents like to say, “Hock, I grab the head and use the hard part of my head to hit his soft nose.” Sounds great but necks lock, heads and torsos move in combat and that little “nose target” is hard to hit.
God did not make your head to be an impact weapon. We are designed to protect the head, not swing it around like a mace. This is why I consider-list head butting as a last resort not a first resort. Do they work? Sure, But often right back at you. But long-term, cavalier head butting, simulated or otherwise include concussions, accelerated and decelerated brain splash and usually lead to short-term, longer term and forever brain damage. Brain damage is absolutely research-connected to drug addiction and to psychological category problems. Anyway, this essay is not supposed to be about head butts. I have written extensively, elsewhere on that subject.
Martial arts “movers-shakers-leaders” can be quite colorful “characters.” This attached video is the multi-talented, articulate Paul Vunak I knew way back when. One new “kids-on-the-block” seem to have no idea about him these days. I will not go into the backroom origins of the RAT program, and I was there during the SEAL connection. I was there in those inception days and still rather proud to be a Vu-guy back in those tougher, origin days. Vu was also quite the Filipino stylist and he used FMA as skill developer (something I realized a while back, I still do a lot too of that approach, that way too, thanks to Vunak.)
I often say that like Ed Parker, Dan Inosanto is the “Elvis” of modern, evolved martial arts, and you need to go see him. But Vu is his own “Elvis” too, a pioneer that effected major changes, WORLDWIDE, in combatives-martial training. Today’s naysayers people don’t know this. This film is a fun reminder. Vu is in my prayer-rotation you might say. I will always thank him, and always wish him well and the best. Check out this clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ljvICeyBhv4
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