Surviving Inside The Kill Zone Class

E

Ernest Emerson

Joined
Apr 5, 1999
Messages
460
Dear Members,

Since I am doing the Class in February titled, “Surviving Inside the Kill Zone,” with Ed Calderon I originally posted the announcement in the General discussion forum. I failed to take into account the age of many Bladeforum members. It is probably safe to assume that many are much younger than the number of years that I’ve been “playing in the game.” I assumed that most, being knife folks knew who and what I was. Never assume. Some asked for my credentials and my level of experience and expertise. In order to answer some of the questions I am reprinting an article for a Black Belt Magazine Interview from sometime in 2014.

For those who had some fun at my expense, just remember the most vulnerable position you can ever find yourself in is when you think you are safe. I’ve seen way too many bad things happen to people because they thought, “That will never happen to me.” The seminar is an outstanding opportunity to learn skills that I pray to God you’ll never have to use, but thank God if you ever had to.

357snubnose, dirc, Norcaldude and Biochemdawg, I hope you read this. Perhaps it will answer some of your questions.


--------------------------------------------------------------

Article for Black Belt Magazine 2014


Why did you choose to start your martial arts career with Korean judo?

The reason I chose to study Korean judo was very simple. Growing up in the rural area of northern Wisconsin, there simply were no martial arts studios or instructors anywhere. And I mean none. I found the only place were martial arts were being taught was in Duluth Minnesota at the Duluth YMCA which was 80 miles away. They had an instructor who taught Korean judo, so at the age of 16, I drove from my hometown twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays to train at the YMCA. That was 320 miles a week, just to train. You see it was my only choice at the time.



Later you added Kyokashinkai and Shotokan. Was that a difficult transition?

When I went to college, I got my first exposure to other martial arts. At the University at that time was a guy named Gary something that was a black belt in Chicago under the Miyuki Muri in Kyokushinkai and taught the University karate club. I immediately joined and trained every moment I could. He was a real tough guy and pushed the students very hard. In regard to Shotokan there was a brown belt student in my dorm who I also trained with every moment I could spare. He was a good teacher and a dedicated martial artist. He never joined the University group though because at that time you never mixed martial arts or trained with other systems or schools. That never really bothered me because I wanted to learn training anything, kung fu, boxing, wrestling, judo, to me it was all just fighting and I was a fighter. I paid no attention to whether this technique or that "belonged" to one system or another. If it worked for me I took it. If it didn’t I dropped it. I was a pretty good athlete, four-year Letterman in high school in three sports and was attending college on a football scholarship and later I played baseball in the minor leagues, so transitioning from any sport to another or any martial arts style to another was never an issue for me as it all just seemed to not conflict in my mind so as a result it never conflicted physically for me either. I will say though that in sport tournaments at that time there was minimal contact and every time I clashed with someone, I would sweep them or would take them down. Needless to say I didn’t win a lot of tournaments, but between me and most of my competitors we both knew who would’ve won the real fight.


With skills and grappling and skills in striking, did you feel as though you had all the bases covered for self-defense?

Yes, I did, until I joined the original Filipino KALI Academy and started training with Dan Inosanto and Richard Bustillo. In short, I got my ass handed to me many times for a long while. For thinking that I had everything covered I found out how big a gap there was between what I thought I could do and what I could really do and it was huge.


Why did you move to Southern California after college?

I was of course a huge fan of Bruce Lee. I even have one of the original Black Belt Magazine’s with Bruce on the cover as the Green Hornet that I bought off the newsstand as a young martial artists. And of course as so many others, I watched all the Bruce Lee movies. I probably saw Enter the Dragon 17 times and I read everything I could about Bruce and Jeet Kune Do. So the reason I moved to Southern California was to train in Jeet Kune Do. At that time outside of going to a boxing gym it was the only full Contact fighting school in the game. In fact, if you walked in to the Academy at that time you might have mistaken it for a boxing gym, with all the heavy bags ringing the gym floor and guys skipping rope, working speed bags and sparring. I remember going in to join the Academy. I signed up and then they told me it would be at least two months before I could come and train. As opposed to other schools where they will do anything to get a student through the door, they told me at the Academy that they’d notify me by mail when a new first phase class started up. It took almost 3 months before I could start. So, in the mid 1970’s I moved myself all the way across the U.S. to come and train at the school. Here's a funny story. I wasn’t the only one who did that. I met guys from all over the U.S. who had moved to Southern California for exactly the same reason. And it was not just Americans. I met guys from England, France, Spain, South Africa and a number of other countries who had moved halfway around the world just to train with Dan and Richard. So, after I was there awhile, I helped work the front lobby from time to time and met with prospective students to give them a tour. I would hear them say "yeah I like this school but Bob’s karate school is a couple of blocks closer to my house so I think I’m going to go there instead." A couple of blocks? I knew 20 or 30 guys who uprooted and moved across continents just to be there. Go figure.
 
With so many great teachers in LA, what made you study with Dan Inosanto and Richard Bustillo?

Why did I choose Dan and Richard? For many reasons, but most of all because they taught fighting skills and we actually fought. There were no belts, how refreshing that was. Yet, everyone in class, and there were several hundred students, knew very clearly who could kick whose ass, because we really fought - Full Contact. Now that may not seem that profound now, but in the 1970s the sport of Full Contact karate was just getting started. So it was very profound then. At least in the world of martial arts. There was another very important aspect of the training at the KALI Academy. Dan and Richard constantly brought in instructors or competitors from other disciplines. On any given day or weekend you might be training with judo Gene LaBelle, pro-boxers, or Pro boxing trainers, college wrestling coaches, Savate guys, Wing Chun guys (from Hong Kong), jujitsu (Wally Jay), Chai Sarasute from Thai kickboxing was introduced to the world at the Academy, and of course all kinds of Filipino masters whose names I couldn’t even pronounce. All of this was 20 years before the UFC and mixed martial arts and at a time when it was unheard of for a martial arts school to actively seek out "experts" from outside their parent systems.


What did you think of JKD?

Well, I thought Bruce created JKD just for me. That’s how I felt about JKD. It had everything I wanted, hard physical training, standup and ground fighting, full contact fighting, and lots of weapons. What more could a martial artist ask for? I started training every available moment. I trained at home starting at 4:30 AM every morning and was at the Academy 4-5 nights a week training three or four hours every night. People would ask me how I was able to progress so fast? I told him that my training was not just two nights a week while I was at my "official" class. My training was the other 20 hours a week I was spending training outside of class and the time I spent in my "official" class was "learning time." Most of the guys total training was when they were in their class and that was it. That’s why I progressed much faster than the rest. JKD was a martial system that allowed an individual to personalize their own individual fighting style. What I mean by that is that it was not a "cookie-cutter" system that forced every student to conform to a preconceived, structured mold that was the same requirement for every other student in the system. Although Dan and Richard provided a core curriculum for every student to use as a base and foundation, there was no pressure for a "boxer" to become a "grappler" or a short student to fight like a tall student. It was more an environment where students could become the best fighter they could be and not what some instructor decided all fighters should be, 200 years ago. JKD is therefore never the same for any two individuals. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. It allows you to shore up your weak spots and supercharge your strong points. This method of teaching was, I believe, why Bruce declined to open up a franchised series of schools when he was given the offer. I also believe that it was also why he chose his instructors so carefully. You had to have the right openness of mind, the correct skills and the right ego, to guide but, "let the student teach himself." I believe that is also why Bruce always said, "Don’t put me or JKD in a box." JKD doesn’t have any boundaries just as it didn’t with Bruce, it needs to be able to evolve and continue to grow. When you are forced to fight spontaneously and unrehearsed against other individuals of different sizes, strength and styles, you evolve quickly. What good does it do me if I only practice against an opponent who fights exactly as I do? You need to face boxers, grapplers, kickers and Street fighters to be an all-around fighter, who is able to react correctly to any type of spontaneous attack. That’s what JKD gave to me.


You later returned to your grappling roots with the BJJ. What was that experience like?

One of the instructors at the Filipino KALI Academy told me one day, "Ernie you’ve got to check out these Brazilian guys." He showed up at my house with the two original "Gracie In Action" tapes and I was definitely intrigued. I’d been in more than a few knockdown, drag out fights and every time, all of them ended up on the ground. And because I had wrestled in high school I felt natural and totally at ease on the ground. So the next day I went to the original Gracie Academy for my free lesson. I was in a private room with two other students and a Gracie brown belt named Lowell Anderson. He told me to lie on my back and try to get him off my chest. "No sweat," I thought. So about two minutes later and totally exhausted, Lowell asked me "When are you going to start trying?" I was hooked from that moment forward. And two weeks later, myself, my wife and both my daughters were all training at the Gracie Academy with Rorion, Rickson, Royler, and Royce, even Helio would show up from time to time. Looking back, I now realize how lucky we were to be there at that moment in time. This was still about two years before the first UFC. And what was very cool was that there really was the “Gracie challenge.” I saw a lot of fights where guys would walk-in off the street, just to give a beating to those "Gracie guys." It never happened. Lowell Anderson was called "the academy hitman" and he fought most of those fights. If you couldn’t beat the Brown belt, you are not going to get a shot at fighting one of the brothers. Lowell was never beaten. I was even lucky enough to fight in a some of those challenges myself since I was always there. Lowell would ask me "How are you feeling tonight?" "Good." "Cool, stick around after class tonight." I knew what was going to be going on after class. And I loved it. It was a true test of your ability to fight against spontaneous opponents who could kick, punch, head butt, basically do anything they wanted. But for us Rorian would only let us use pure Gracie jujitsu to counter their attack. Plus as I got older, I found that I was still able to compete and train at a competitive level, since jiujitsu is more like a chess game than a horserace.


Your website says you've studied the weaponry of ancient Greece and Rome. What attracted you to do that?

Well I’m a weapons guy, a historian and a hand-to-hand combat instructor. My specialty is ancient and medieval history. It was a time in the development of combat and warfare that, until the development of gunpowder, all combat would come down to hand-to-hand, man-to-man combat. As a weapons designer and maker, I naturally had an interest in the origin, history and development of personal weaponry used in hand-to-hand combat applications. I also collect ancient artifacts and have a fairly extensive collection of Greek and Roman weapons, including a 2000-year-old Roman Gladius and several medieval swords including a Crusader sword that is around a thousand years old from the holy land. I have published several pieces on ancient warfare and weapons in several publications and I have studied the pieces at various museums in Europe including the British Museum.


When did you create Emerson combat systems?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s I was asked to be the lead hand-to-hand combat instructor for a company called Global Studies Group International (GSGI) that was made up of U.S. Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six, before most people even knew of its existence. We were tasked with tactical training to both military and government agencies, security assessments and evaluations, and high risk security assignments in both domestic and foreign environments. This was 10 years before the 9/11 attacks and the explosion of tactical training groups which took place after the 9/11 event. In this environment, skills that I was teaching were designed to bring extreme violence of action and lethal consequence to the opponent. In other words, the bad guys that our clients would have to be facing would be trying to kill them, so the skills we were teaching were meant to kill the bad guys first. A far cry from my university karate team. This included firearms, edge weapons and unarmed skills. After GSGI wound to a close, I started teaching seminars at various venues, including Gun Site, Blackwater, various US military installations and government agencies. I also expanded that to foreign allies in both Europe and the Middle East. I needed to give what I taught a name so I called it the Emerson Combat System. I also developed a civilian course, a law enforcement course and a black course for military and select government agencies only. The Black course was developed around counterterrorist operations and is an all offensive protocol that is not centered on defensive tactics like law enforcement or civilian versions.
 
What was your goal in creating your own system?

My goal in creating ECS was to create a methodology based on principles and attributes more than individual techniques. Most instructors spend a lifetime learning their "art" and in turn teach in a way that has developed historically to present to students or trainees that are involved in ongoing long-term training. This clearly does not apply to soldiers being deployed to combat or to law enforcement personnel for that matter. They have a very limited time to learn and even less time to train, so everything must be distilled down to the bare bones essential skills that are necessary to destroy the bad guy and save the good guy. Heck, I’ve seen accomplished martial artists get the hell beat out of them in a real fight by unskilled yet savage and violent opponents, because they were relying on their “techniques,” pitting that against extreme violence and "bad intent." Against extreme violence and an intent to kill, there’s only one thing that really works; Extreme violence and an intent to kill. One of the maxims I use in my classes is this; "Apply the principle and the technique will happen." If you’re caught up trying to remember where your feet go or where to put your hand, you're going to get your skull crushed. In terms of edged weapons training for example, the easiest way to describe the edge weapons training that I teach is like this; it’s like football practice with knives. The Emerson Combat System is designed to enable the individual to access the inner warrior that exists within all of us and to make use of the instinctual triggers that are activated in both you and the opponent during physical conflict. By becoming aware of these ‘triggers” and taking control of them, you can use them to your advantage and then manipulate them against an opponent, to his disadvantage. These attributes coupled with techniques that actually work in life or death combat are the cornerstones of the ECS protocol.


Why are weapon skills essential for all martial artists?

Weapon skills are essential for all martial artists who are not training for art’s sake or purely sport applications. For all those who are training for real martial skills, weapons are absolutely necessary for the following reasons; notice I never did say for self-defense skills. The reason is that in a real, actual fight you cannot fight defensively, because if you do, that means the bad guy is on the offense and he will kill you. You can’t play catch-up against a capable opponent. This is not a match, there is no referee, there are no rules and no points. Like I said you can’t fight defensively and win, it’s physically impossible – – try counterpunching a guy stabbing you with a knife. You stab me and every time I get a good counter punch in. How long do you think that would last? Remember the old adage; "The best defense is a good offense?" Well the reason it’s been around so long is because it is true. In fact, I’ve simplified that same adage for my use; "The only defense is offense."

We all know that most good people carry some kind of knife these days. And every bad guy carries a knife. So you better be learn how to deal with a knife wielding opponent. The only way to do that is to train with and against a knife. You need to know how to fight unarmed against a knife, with a knife against a knife, and with any other available weapon against a knife, in order to be truly prepared for such an attack. A deadly weapon dramatically changes the dynamics of a physical encounter. It means, if someone engages the use of the deadly weapon in the physical encounter, they are trying to kill you. Now, in a life or death situation I want to be the one that lives. Unarmed against a knife wins only maybe one out of 100 times. Not the odds that I'll gamble my life on. The only way to up the odds is to bring an equalizer into the equation, a knife, a club or a gun. Think about this, in every single shooting incident, mall shootings, school shootings, theater shootings, the only thing that stops the gun is another gun. The principle is simple, to fight a weapon, you need a weapon. Deadly hands and feet only work against weapons in movies and on TV. Mind you that I’m not saying you shouldn’t try or that you should just give up when you have no primary or secondary weapon, after all your mentality, the warriors mindset is that you are never unarmed, whether it’s with a rock, your fists or your ferocious resolve. I’m just saying that the odds are against you. A lucky shot with a fist gives you a black eye. That same lucky shot with a knife penetrates your brain cavity. And it can come from a 95 pound, 14-year-old kid and still kill you. The bottom line is this; In order to fight against a weapon you need to learn how to fight with that weapon.


What was your goal in creating your own system?

As the owner of Emerson Knives, I’m able to do pretty much whatever I want. We have a beautiful training facility in house, The Black Shamrock Combat Academy/Royce Gracie Jiu Jitsu South Bay where classes are taught throughout the week. We are Royce Gracie’s anchor school teach Royce Gracie jiujitsu there every day. The instructors are; Royce Gracie, Black Belts, Khonry Gracie, Lynn Dorsey and Slavena Zlateva one of only a few female Royce Gracie Black Belts in the world. I teach seminars both at my Academy and on contract around the US. I’ve also written several books; "The Seven Essential Skills of Hand-to-Hand Combat, Surviving Inside the Kill Zone, Bad Guy with a Gun, Chain Reaction Training, and The Seven Essential Skills Needed to Survive a Deadly Attack." In addition, I give numerous lectures around the country on terrorism, counterterrorism, surviving inside the kill zone, active shooter countermeasures and pre-emptive self-defense. I am a World Martial Arts Hall of Fame and a Black Belt Hall of Fame inductee and I’ve produced two series of DVD/downloadable videos titled “The Combat Karambit” and a 10-hour long course titled “Unconventional Edged Weapons Combat.” I am an expert witness for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and I also own a knife company, so I keep myself pretty busy on all fronts.

But a wise man told me a long time ago. "Ernest, find a job you love to do and you'll never work another day in your life." I followed his advice.

My Best Regards,

Ernest Emerson
 
This is why I'm not a fan of social media. Ernest Emerson doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. He's an accomplished businessman who has trained real warriors and makes bad a$$ knives. Keep doing what you do best and have a Merry Christmas.
Dave........
 
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Dear Dave,

Thank you for your kind words. I believe that in referring to the age of many members here that it was perceived as an insult. It was not, and if read without a preexisting sensitivity, it should not be taken as such. It was literally the same as me expecting a 20 or 30-year-old baseball player to know the career stats of players that I grew up idolizing like Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, or Roberto Clemente let alone even further back Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson or Bob Feller. If I were to assume that a young ball player of today’s age automatically knows those names, I would probably have assumed wrongly.

I have not been asked to verify my credentials or my experience to anyone in any time I can remember. I carried a top secret clearance and compartmentalized clearance for almost 20 years and circulated in an environment where I was already vetted and well-respected. So, I guess I carried the assumption (wrongly) that people, especially knife related would know who I am. But so be it. Offense was obviously taken by some.

I was discussing this with a longtime friend and he had suggested to assuage those concerned, that I just get an article from the archives and post it so that those who weren't aware would have the chance to become aware and others would get the chance to glean some more history on the Emerson story. Since this was generated regarding a training class, I grabbed an article from the training category. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, all this being said, I must make a few comments which I'm positive will again insult some and probably produce another bevy of negative comments and insults.

Dave, a fighter, a warrior, knows one thing no one else can ever know. In a fight or in combat, there is a unique state in which you are forced to face yourself; the true you with no false pretense and no self-flattering falsehoods. There is only truth; the truth you will face about who you really are. At that time, it does not matter your status, your lineage, parentage, wealth, education, or any self-gratifying notions of your own self-importance. At that time, we are no more than who we really truly are. It is you and the opponent or the enemy. Nothing more, nothing less. This is a place where you are truly - on your own - where your success or survival depends solely on yourself, your skills, your training, your wits, and your will to win and survive. And even though you will depend on your brothers around you, who you will give your life to protect, it still comes down to that in order for others to depend on you, you must be able to depend on yourself in order to close that loop. Most people will never experience this and it may be through the circumstances of chance or choice that some do. But nonetheless, it exists. And it is the crucible that forges men who, before, stopped when facing things, they thought they could not do, will now do things most others would think impossible to do.

Bear in mind that I'm not glorifying the harsh reality of conflict, the terribleness of violence, or the horror of war, but only the simple and undeniable truth which is that it can break a man, kill a man, or, in the best of circumstances, create a man, so many times fate being the only and ultimate dictator of that outcome.

Yet there are those who willingly enter into the ring again and again under no outside obligation to do so. These are the ones I have dedicated my life, and my body, and my well being to protect. If I have helped even one father, one mother, one son or daughter return safely to the arms of their loved ones, then it has all been an effort well spent and I have no regrets, save that I wish I could do it all over again. Most who do know me know of me simply as a knife maker or knife company owner. This is not and has never been my true avocation. It is a byproduct of my true calling, which has always been to be a teacher, which I have always pursued with my greatest effort. The subject I had chosen so long ago has been my lifelong devotion to enable our soldiers, our law enforcement officers, and our loved ones the ability to overcome violence and danger whenever or wherever it may present itself.

Many may not understand such a passion or dedication, ofttimes calling it paranoia, addressing an unrealistic need, or totally an unnecessary precaution, or waste of time. To them, I would only remind that saying so to anyone who has survived or who has lost a loved one or child to any killer's hand would draw a much different response. If any could go back in time, they would have prayed that a trained shooter would have been on the scene to halt or, better yet, prevent the carnage.

Dave, once again, thank you for your kind words. I am always surprised at how easily so many are so easily offended. I believe so many of them have never faced true hardship or adversity because those that have can take a much harder beating without complaint or offense. Dave, you know I am one who does not hide behind words. I have never hurled an invective, an insult, or a curse at another man unless he was looking directly into my eyes. This has served me well in two ways. It has made me very reluctant to do so without extremely good cause and I would only do so when I truly meant what I had to say. And as it gives your recipient the ability to directly respond, I better be ready to back my convictions. I understand that most people are not of this ilk, and I am, in a great way, saddened by that fact as civility between individuals, even of great disparity, would, I'm sure, be forced to rise once again to the top if anonymity and the thin shield of the internet were not a buffer between those involved. There is an adage in the publishing world; “It takes hard work and courage to write a book. If you possess neither of those virtues, become a book critic.”

I believe that is why I take a great comfort in the company of my friends, individuals who are not of that timidity, while yet still self-possessed of such great, albeit, paper courage. I believe you know and understand of what I speak and that for you it will always serve to be a good thing.

To Bluesbender and gotgoat I am sorry that I so sorely offended you. To Norcaldude, no it was not a question but perhaps I misjudged the intent of your post. If so, I apologize.

My Best Regards,

Ernest Emerson
 
Ernest Emerson said:
Dear Dave,

Thank you for your kind words. I believe that in referring to the age of many members here that it was perceived as an insult. It was not, and if read without a preexisting sensitivity, it should not be taken as such. It was literally the same as me expecting a 20 or 30-year-old baseball player to know the career stats of players that I grew up idolizing like Sandy Koufax, Whitey Ford, or Roberto Clemente let alone even further back Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson or Bob Feller. If I were to assume that a young ball player of today’s age automatically knows those names, I would probably have assumed wrongly.

I have not been asked to verify my credentials or my experience to anyone in any time I can remember. I carried a top secret clearance and compartmentalized clearance for almost 20 years and circulated in an environment where I was already vetted and well-respected. So, I guess I carried the assumption (wrongly) that people, especially knife related would know who I am. But so be it. Offense was obviously taken by some.

I was discussing this with a longtime friend and he had suggested to assuage those concerned, that I just get an article from the archives and post it so that those who weren't aware would have the chance to become aware and others would get the chance to glean some more history on the Emerson story. Since this was generated regarding a training class, I grabbed an article from the training category. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, all this being said, I must make a few comments which I'm positive will again insult some and probably produce another bevy of negative comments and insults.

Dave, a fighter, a warrior, knows one thing no one else can ever know. In a fight or in combat, there is a unique state in which you are forced to face yourself; the true you with no false pretense and no self-flattering falsehoods. There is only truth; the truth you will face about who you really are. At that time, it does not matter your status, your lineage, parentage, wealth, education, or any self-gratifying notions of your own self-importance. At that time, we are no more than who we really truly are. It is you and the opponent or the enemy. Nothing more, nothing less. This is a place where you are truly - on your own - where your success or survival depends solely on yourself, your skills, your training, your wits, and your will to win and survive. And even though you will depend on your brothers around you, who you will give your life to protect, it still comes down to that in order for others to depend on you, you must be able to depend on yourself in order to close that loop. Most people will never experience this and it may be through the circumstances of chance or choice that some do. But nonetheless, it exists. And it is the crucible that forges men who, before, stopped when facing things, they thought they could not do, will now do things most others would think impossible to do.

Bear in mind that I'm not glorifying the harsh reality of conflict, the terribleness of violence, or the horror of war, but only the simple and undeniable truth which is that it can break a man, kill a man, or, in the best of circumstances, create a man, so many times fate being the only and ultimate dictator of that outcome.

Yet there are those who willingly enter into the ring again and again under no outside obligation to do so. These are the ones I have dedicated my life, and my body, and my well being to protect. If I have helped even one father, one mother, one son or daughter return safely to the arms of their loved ones, then it has all been an effort well spent and I have no regrets, save that I wish I could do it all over again. Most who do know me know of me simply as a knife maker or knife company owner. This is not and has never been my true avocation. It is a byproduct of my true calling, which has always been to be a teacher, which I have always pursued with my greatest effort. The subject I had chosen so long ago has been my lifelong devotion to enable our soldiers, our law enforcement officers, and our loved ones the ability to overcome violence and danger whenever or wherever it may present itself.

Many may not understand such a passion or dedication, ofttimes calling it paranoia, addressing an unrealistic need, or totally an unnecessary precaution, or waste of time. To them, I would only remind that saying so to anyone who has survived or who has lost a loved one or child to any killer's hand would draw a much different response. If any could go back in time, they would have prayed that a trained shooter would have been on the scene to halt or, better yet, prevent the carnage.

Dave, once again, thank you for your kind words. I am always surprised at how easily so many are so easily offended. I believe so many of them have never faced true hardship or adversity because those that have can take a much harder beating without complaint or offense. Dave, you know I am one who does not hide behind words. I have never hurled an invective, an insult, or a curse at another man unless he was looking directly into my eyes. This has served me well in two ways. It has made me very reluctant to do so without extremely good cause and I would only do so when I truly meant what I had to say. And as it gives your recipient the ability to directly respond, I better be ready to back my convictions. I understand that most people are not of this ilk, and I am, in a great way, saddened by that fact as civility between individuals, even of great disparity, would, I'm sure, be forced to rise once again to the top if anonymity and the thin shield of the internet were not a buffer between those involved. There is an adage in the publishing world; “It takes hard work and courage to write a book. If you possess neither of those virtues, become a book critic.”

I believe that is why I take a great comfort in the company of my friends, individuals who are not of that timidity, while yet still self-possessed of such great, albeit, paper courage. I believe you know and understand of what I speak and that for you it will always serve to be a good thing.

To Bluesbender and gotgoat I am sorry that I so sorely offended you. To Norcaldude, no it was not a question but perhaps I misjudged the intent of your post. If so, I apologize.

My Best Regards,

Ernest Emerson
Click to expand...

Sorry if I ruffled some feathers, I just felt like your credentials were being questioned. Thanks again for sharing your talents with us.

Dave.....
 
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