SNAKE BLOCKER INTERVIEW BY OLGA ZHARSKAYA

Snake Blocker Interview by Olga Zharskaya

My guest is Snake Blocker. 
Interview was conducted by Olga Zharskaya

Snake Blocker is a Native American Tribal member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. He is a United States Navy War Veteran, Professional Muay Thai Fighter, Published Poet, and Survivalist & Combatives Instructor. He owns Snake Blocker Survival, Blocker Academy of Martial Arts and Executive World Fitness. He also works as an Insurance Specialists for Farmers Insurance out of Denver, Colorado. He is married to Melissa Blocker and together they travel and promote Survival and Self Defense around the world.


Snake Blocker, for me it is a great honor to interview you!
And so, my first question to you, on behalf of Mountain Lionesses, is why did you join “One Billion Rising” movement?

Snake Blocker:  The reason why I am supporting the "One Billion Rising" Event is because the violence towards women has been too large of a problem for too long and all real men need to make a stand to support our ladies. It's a global problem with "At least 60 million girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from various populations." Most is due to violent abuse from men. The numbers of crime towards women are too long to list. I encourage people to read some of the statistics at: http://www.feminist.com/antiviolence/facts.html

I have been offering classes on survival, self preservation, self defense and self confidence for women since 1995. All parents should put their girls in some form of self defense classes at an early age and teach them the dangers of this dark world we live in. All women need to be in a regular class to teach them survival and self defense tactics (this includes knife, stick and firearms training).
Media has promoted violence towards girls and women for too long and I would like to see the media focus just as much attention on heroic stories of women overcoming violence. Girls need more good role models of brave women that stand up for what is right. I want to see judges make a stand and stop being cowards. I want all judges to get tough on violent crimes towards girls and women. I want real men to step up and encourage our ladies to speak up and stand up against evil in this world.
With the support of events like this, we can stand up together and make a real difference in this world.

Snake Blocker, you're a very interesting person and I would like to ask you a lot of questions ... For example: about warrior’s mental discipline… About mental attitude of overcoming obstacles… About personal responsibility of powerful person before the world … This applies to absolutely all aspects of life! Otherwise everybody dreams to be an influential, powerful warrior, winner, successful… and when they meet obstacles or responsibility, get depressed, irritated, can be cruel and blame others for their own failures. This is a drama of the society, and I agree with you – the media is feeding this drama, and as a result, we get more education about how to be a loser and a victim, than how to be a fighter. We all need your experience and wisdom. So I very much hope that you will find the time to give us more interviews.
But for now, tell me about your upcoming Savate Danse De Rue Gathering: Start with what is Savate… And I wonder why, you're with well-deserved reputation as The Most Deadly Warrior, became interested in this little-known in America, sport  ?

Snake Blocker:  Savate is an old term, which came from a word for a type of shoe. Savate incorporates many kicks at all lines of attack.


 Kicks have superior power to a punch, and we wear shoes when training. The ranking for Savate is different than most martial arts. Instead of belt levels, they refer to glove levels, which are represented by a colored glove logo patches.
Glove Patches:
Blue Glove/Gant Bleu
Green Glove/Gant Vert
Red Glove/Gant Rouge
White Glove/Gant Blanc
Yellow Glove/Gant Jaune (equivalent to Black Belt)
Purple Glove (youth <18 br=""> Silver Glove/Gant D'argent 1st -3rd Degree/G.A.T. 1-3 (adult 18>)
Gold Glove (Special honor)
Savate Danse de Rue (sm) Sashes
Black Sash - Students (All Glove Levels)
Orange Sash - Instructor
Purple Sash - Full Instructor
Black & Green Sash - Professor
All Silver Gloves must be ranked with a minimum of two Silver Glove Instructors to give the exam.

I have been involved in French martial arts since 1993. My instructor, Rod Kei, was a 3 time World Champion Kickboxer and the first American to win a French Savate Box Francaise World Cup Championship in France.

I later began training with Nicolas Saignac, who was a French Savate Boxe Francaise Champion, who moved from France. Nicolas moved to California near me, and he was teaching at the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts, which was founded by Dan Inosanto.

Dan Inosanto was the highest ranked student/instructor under Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee incorporated a variety of martial arts into his own style which he coined, Jeet Kune Do [Concepts]. Jeet Kune Do means "The Way of the Intercepting Fist." Jeet Kune Do [Concepts] originated with some techniques from Chinese Wing Chun Kung Fu (Gung Fu), Western Boxing, European Fencing, French Savate, Japanese Judo, Filipino Stick Fighting and a few other styles were later added.

I did private lessons with Rod Kei and Nicolas Saignac and I attended group classes and seminars at the Inosanto Academy of Martial Arts. Rod Kei was my roommate for a time, and we opened up a studio, as equal partners, called Academy of Martial Arts in Rolling Hills Estate, California, in the mid 1990s. We later opened up our own studios. My studio was called Blocker Academy of Martial Arts and Rod Kei reopened his Ch'ng Mo Kickboxing & Judo Club.
As I continued my French Martial Arts quest for more knowledge, I began training with Paul-Raymond Buitron III out of Laredo, Texas.

I studied Savate Boxe Francaise and then added Danse de Rue Savate to my training. Danse de Rue Savate is a more complete self defense version of the European Arts, unlike the sport Savate Boxe Francaise, it is for street self-defense.

 Over the years, I had the opportunity to train with other Savate champions and instructors. Sometimes I trained at their seminars abroad, and sometimes they came to my studio and taught at Blocker Academy of Martial Arts.

I was blessed to meet and train with others Savate greats including: Andre "Big Blue" Grimes (French Savate Champion), Mary-Francis Person (Savate Champion), Richard Sylla (10 time French National Champion/5 time W.K.O. Kickboxing World Champion/Technical Director French Federation of Savate/Trainer of Frances Elite Squad & Trainer of French National Team. Sylla also defeated Pete "Sugar-foot" Cunningham during his career), Stephan Gougne (Savate French/European Champion), Salem Assli (Savate Instructor at Inosanto Academy), Gilles le Dui Gou (French Savate Champion), and Justou Laurent (Savate French Champion).

By the early 2000s, I met Magida Raguig who was studying in California at the La Verne University. Magida was a 9 time French Savate Champion, 2 time Savate World Champion and her brother was a Multi Savate World Champion. Magida and I trained together for the year she lived in California. We met later in France during my vacation.

I am grateful for all the opportunities I had being around such wisdom about the French arts and I continue my training. I incorporate what I learn into the Jeet Kune Do [Concepts] that I teach my students around the world.

What I like most about Savate is that we wear shoes, which is realistic to what we wear out in the street. A kick can increase in power when you wear shoes and you are less likely to damage your toes and ankles. You are also less likely to slip and fall during a fight. Savate is primarily a stand up art, which is needed for multiple attacker defense. You don't want to be wrestling when two or more people are attacking you.