Company: AJT Video Productionss
Name: Training to Survive/Tape Two
Tape Cost: $39.95 (buy 2 get 1 free)
Length of Tape/Time: 60 minutes
Number of Moves/Techniques: 12-15
Return Policy: for damages and defects
Experiences in dealing with this company: very polite and friendly
Instructor: Tim Bulot
Company's Address: 1045 Cutoff Rd, Ennis TX, 75119
Company's Phone Number: 800-460-8799
Web Page: http://www.ajtvp.com
E-Mail: ajtvideo@gmail.com

Main Grading Criteria:

1. Production/Tape Quality: 10
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 10
3. Comprehension Score/Immediate Understandng: 10
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better Martial Artist: 10
5. Score on delivery vs. hype: 10
6. Degree to which we'd recommend this product: 10
7. Wasted Time (The higher the number, the less "fluff" and repetition): 9
8. Playback Score/Watching it over-and-over again: 10
9. Would I purchase more of this company's or instructor's products: 10
10. Overall grade based on cost vs. value: 9

Total: 98% (Excellent = 4.5 stars)

Secondary Grading Criteria:

1. Beginners: Excellent
2. Intermediate: Excellent
3. Advanced: Excellent
4. Time to benefit: Immediate
5. The need to buy additional tapes to understand this one: a very minor concern, however some things were mentioned that might've required previous tapes to fully understand.

Written Summary:

A few years ago I was flipping channels late one night when I came upon a TV show that had several local martial arts instructors. Each instructor brought several of their students with them. And each instructor was given the opportunity to let their students demonstrate various self defense techniques. Numerous styles were represented, and a couple of local "big name" instructors were on this show. The program was OK, but didn't really become interesting until a guy named Tim Bulot was introduced. Bulot is a local policeman and kenpo stylist. Bulot brought with him a couple of his white and yellow belts. Initially I thought it might be unfair for him to bring his beginners, while others brought their advanced ranks. I was concerned that Bulot's lower ranks might seem ineffective to viewers, because many would probably compare his beginners with other instructors advanced students. Boy was I wrong! Bulot had a couple of students that he said had only been with him like 6 weeks, and a couple that had been with him like 2 months. And all his students looked and performed 100x better than any of the other students, from all the other instructors, and styles, represented. It was a HUGE noticeable difference. In fact, one well known instructor brought a couple of his teenage brown belts, and still Bulot, with his much younger beginners, was able to look 100x better than them. My first thought was what in the world is this guy teaching that makes his students look so much better. And how can he make them look so good so fast. Well it wasn't until I saw this tape that I was able to answer these questions, that I had been wondering about for several years now.

Most instructors train their students, especially their beginners, to be what I'd call self defense robots. These little robots learn to perform their self defense techniques at the lower ranks, and continue with the same exact techniques up to the higher ranks. Their techniques are usually very regimented and DON'T ALLOW ANY DEVIATION whatsoever. The student typically ends up thinking they are getting better by shear repetition of doing the same thing over and over again. Typically the student does get faster and more powerful, but doesn't really learn how to become instinctively "fluid". The student often has gaps in their arsenal, and misses out on what it takes to react well to all situations. Especially street situations that might be slightly different than those they've trained for. I believe that most martial arts schools fail, even at higher ranks, to make sure their students get this missing piece. All this of course goes back to reality based training, versus a guy always taking one step forward and punching, the student always countering at the same angles, and not learning how to deal with an opponent whose not going to remain stationary. In my opinion, learning how to really fight should you have too, is the most important part of one's training. Too many instructors spend 100% of their time, and that of their students, practicing katas and trying to win trophies. Then a student becomes black belt, has a false sense of confidence, and might one day get hurt trying to soley use his kata moves in the street. After watching this tape, it appears Bulot has figured out how to capture, teach, and make others really become street effective, from day one of their training!

The tape itself is about an hour long and is a wealth of information. The way the information is taught, it should require little effort to derive a great amount of benefit from it. The freestyle ability Bulot showed, in how one can rapidly execute techniques, reminded me alot of the Vee Jujitsu stuff that we like! There were rapid continuous strikes that pummel an opponent to no end. And Bulot shows how to effectively find and work on target after target. I've rambled on long enough about how much I love this stuff, so by now you probably want to know what's on the tape so here goes.

The tape covers 5 main concepts, and spends about 10 minutes on each.

1. Prefixing - how to add "softening techniques" to the beginning of specific/defined self defense routines

2. Suffixing - adding extra techniques to the end of a specific/defined self defense routine

3. Rearrangement Concept - taking an actual self defense routine and rearranging the strikes and blocks within it in such a way that they still make sense.

4. Combining Techniques - taking a specific self defense routine and adding some freestyle options to it

5. Grafting - how to cut & paste techniques

Along the way Bulot explains some of his theories, such as:

1. Why it's wrong to concentrate solely on developing and delivering that "one power shot" that will drop a guy. The explanation and justification Bulot gives makes lots of sense. Bulot cites some actual police examples.

2. Why you should keep hitting an assailant again and again and again.

3. Learning to expose, get to, and work the back side of a persons body

4. There is no guaranteed ideal situation each time you have an encounter, and you should learn how to immediately adapt to each situation, versus solely relying on, or trying to remember, specific techniques.

There are tons of instructors that say they know self defense, yet as Bulot mentions, few have really ever had to use what they know in real situations. Thank goodness for people like Tim Bulot, a policeman for 14 yrs that has had to actually use what he knows, and whose had to figure out what works and what doesn't. It was evident watching Bulot that he's the REAL DEAL. Another interesting part of the tape was getting to see some of his students responding to various less than ideal, reality based self defense situations. His students performed, as I suspected the might, remarkably. And you ask why is that important? There are lots of talented martial arts instructors, but typically only a small handful can create students that look as good as themself. Mr. Bulot, in my opinion, has been able to effectively take all his knowledge and experience, and not only can make his beginning students look 100x better than advanced students from many other schools, but can successfully get his ideas and concepts onto video for us too. Well done Mr. Bulot, my hats off to you!

This was a great tape and should open the eyes of any martial artist who has doubts he might not be able to react fast enough to every possible self defense situation. I felt it was an ideal tape on teaching someone how to get to the point where they just react, with endless possibilites, versus having to think, or perform like a robot. In my opinion this tape could breath new life into just about anyones training, even advanced martial artists from any style. Bulot's material comes with my highest possible recommendation.

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