music, music.bass

Precision vs Jazz Bass

Fender Precision Bass and Jazz Bass are among the most popular bass guitars out there. However; it is hard to decide which one you should buy. This article covers my (partially subjective) experience on the matter.

Common Perks

First of all, relax. You can’t really go wrong either way.

Versatility: Both basses have been used in all genres across the history of music. So, you can play any style of music with either bass guitar. Some people associate P-Bass with rock, but Michael League of Snarky Puppy uses a P-Bass in jazz context. Some people associate J-Bass with funk & slap, but Geddy Lee uses a J-Bass in rock context. I rest my case.

Familiarity: Sound engineers, recording studios and band leaders know both basses very well, and they are happy to see an industry standard bass in your hand. They know in advance how the bass will behave.

Aftermarket: Being proven industry standards, there is a very large aftermarket for both basses. You can find spare parts easily, they are very modifiable and can be sold / purchased easily on e-Bay.

Precision Bass Perks

You should prefer the Precision Bass if the following perks apply to you.

Simplicity: Precision Bass is really a plug & play instrument. It’s natural low-mid oriented sound sits in the mix really well, and you don’t have to turn a lot of knobs to sound good. Jazz Bass has more knobs; which can be bad tone traps for some players.

Noiseless: Precision Bass has a hum cancelling split coil pickup design, which eliminates the 60-cycle hum completely. So if low noise is a priority for you, P-Bass has the upper hand here. Jazz Bass is silent only if you balance both pickups; if you favor any pickup, you’ll get hum. Some Jazz Bass pickups are hum-cancelling, but they don’t sound vintage; which can be good or bad depending on your tonal goal.

Thump: Precision Bass naturally produces a thumpy, chunky sound with bumped low mids; which covers the low end of the sonic spectrum really well. You definitely hear and feel that deep warm vibe. Jazz Bass can get close to that, but it won’t sound & feel the same.

Jazz Bass Perks

You should prefer the Jazz Bass if the following perks apply to you.

Thin Neck: If you are a guitarist or have small hands in general, the thinner neck of the Jazz Bass would suit you well. P-Bass has a chunky neck, which is claimed to contribute to its chunky sound.

Soloing: If you are going to do a lot of soloing or busy & fast phrasing, Jazz Bass would be a better choice due to its faster neck and bridge pickup sound. However; some modern P-Bass players solo and sound equally well with the help of pedals; such as octave-up. Obviously, you can solo on a vanilla P-Bass too; but the vanilla Jazz seems to cut through the mix better.

Tonal Versatility: Jazz Bass has two blendable pickups, and they can be dialed to get various different tones. Some typical tones are:

  • Neck pickup solo: Warm thumpy sound, approaching the P-Bass (but not as thumpy)
  • Pickup balance: Scooped sound, suitable for slapping
  • Bridge pickup favored: Growly sound, approaching the MM-Bass (but not as growly)
  • Bridge pickup solo: Jaco (enough said)

Versatility Comparison

Don’t confuse tonal versatility with genre versatility. Both basses are extremely versatile, and can be used in any genre, really.

Versatility of the P-Bass is based on its singular but perfect tone; which sits in the mix really well.

Versatility of the Jazz Bass is based on tonal diversity, but that has some drawbacks:

  • It won’t get as warm & thumpy as the P-Bass; which is a drawback for some players
  • More tonal options = more bad tone traps
  • Single coil pickups hum when favored, which is disliked by some players and sound engineers. There are noiseless Jazz Bass pickups out there, but they sound different.

With the appropriate playing technique, an experienced player can get many different sounds out of the P-bass as well. But the tonal versatility of the J-Bass is easily accessible and much higher, which is preferable for some players.

Conclusion

There is no clear winner here. That’s why both basses are still best-sellers. You have to evaluate the perks & disadvantages according to your own needs, and decide for yourself.

My personal subjective choice is a P-Bass. Once I got used to that low-mid thump, other basses don’t feel as good. But I keep an affordable J-Style bass around for the occasional Jaco sound.

Finally; here are some buying tips:

  • Each bass is a little different than others of the same model. Play them all before deciding.
  • Fresh / dead strings can sound quite different when testing basses.
  • Beware of dead spots / wolf tones (check Google)
  • Basses with PJ pickups may look like the best of both worlds; but they are in fact “Precision” basses with an extra pickup. They can’t reproduce all of the classical J-Bass sounds, and some players even state that their P-Pickup doesn’t sound like a vanilla P-Bass (I don’t know if that is true).
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life, yoga

Siddashram

Bu sene, Özge ile birlikte bir haftamızı ayırdık ve sevgili Adnan & Lourdes Çabuk hocaların Alanya Siddashram‘da yürüttüğü yoga & arınma kampına gittik. Her açıdan, hayatımızdaki en faydalı haftalardan biriydi diyebilirim. Bu yazıda, kamp ile ilgili izlenimlerimi paylaşacağım.

Hemen belirtelim; kampa gitmek isterseniz, Adnan Çabuk Hoca ile doğrudan temasa geçebilirsiniz. Numarası: ‭+90 (533) 777 86 40.

Nasıl Gittik?

Bu sene, aynı zamanda “Acemi Yoginin El Kitabı“nın yazarı olan değerli dostumuz Esra Karaosmanoğlu ile Hindistan’a gitmeyi düşünüyorduk. Ancak, elde olmayan sebeplerden ötürü bu tura katılamadık. Bunun üzerine Esra, bize kendi hocası olan Adnan Çabuk’tan bahsetti ve onun kampını önerdi. Burada, gerçek bir Ashram ortamını deneyimleyebileceğimizi söyledi.

Kısa bir görüşme ve organizasyon sürecinin sonunda, Alanya Toroslar’da bulunan kampta iki kişilik yerimiz hazırdı. Günü geldiğinde, uçakla Alanya’ya gittik ve otogarda buluşarak Siddashram’a vardık.

Ashram Ortamı

“Bir Ashram nasıl olur?” sorusunu hakkında, Hindistan’da uzun süre geçiren ve ilk meditasyon hocam olan Nilgün Barkın sayesinde biraz fikrim vardı. Siddashram’daki ortam, gerçekten de duyduklarımla örtüştü. Bu açıdan Adnan Çabuk’a şükranlarımızı sunalım; uzun yıllarını geçirdiği ve gözlemlediği Hindistan’daki Ashram ortamını tabir-i caizse ayağımıza kadar getirmiş.

Siddashram, doğanın ve yeşilliklerin tam ortasında yer alıyor. Sevgiyle ve yoğun emekle kurulmuş olan Ashram’ın inşası sırasında dahi hiçbir hayvana zarar vermemek için azami dikkat gösterilmiş.

Ashram’ın her yerinde üzüm salkımları ve meyve ağaçları var, elinizi attığınız anda taze meyveler hazır. Bunun dışında; odalar ve çardaklar var. Hangisinde kiminle kalacağınızı hocalar belirliyor. Çift olarak gidenlerin ayrı odalarda kaldığını da belirtelim.

Yoga, yürüyüş, vb bir amaçla toplanmak gerektiğinde, hocalar bunu haber veriyor ve birkaç dakika içinde avluya gelmemiz bekleniyor. Zamanı düşünmeden yaşayabilmek anlamında büyük bir lüks.

Ashram’ın genel düzeni ve temizliğinden tüm katılımcılar sorumlu. Herkes kendi bulaşığını yıkıyor, yastıkları düzgün bırakıyoruz, (varsa) gördüğümüz atığı kaldırıyoruz; vb.

Ashram’da az ve gerektiğinde konuşmak makbul sayılıyor.

Ashram’da Bir Gün

Ashram’daki ortam ve alışkanlıklar, günlük hayattan biraz farklı.

Hayat, sabah erken uyanarak başlıyor ve ormanda yürüyüş yapıyoruz. Akabinde Ashram’a dönerek hocalarımızın hazırladığı taze içeceği içiyor ve sabah yogamızı yapıyoruz. Yogadan sonra, bir başka içecek bizi bekliyor ve sonrasında kahvaltımızı tamamlıyoruz. Kahvaltı sonrasında serbest zaman var.

Öğle yemeğinde, Lourdes Hoca’nın taze sebze ve bakliyat ile hazırladığı nefis bir menü bizi bekliyor. Öğle yemeğinden sonra yine serbest zaman var.

Serbest zamandan sonra, çay ve sohbet ile grup bir arada oluyor. Akşama doğru yoga çalışması veya benzeri bir aktiviteden sonra hafif & besleyici akşam yemeği geliyor.

Ashram’daki Özel Günler

Ashram’daki ilk günlerde biraz baş ağrısı olabiliyor. Lourdes Hoca; güneşin toksinlerin atılmasında yardımcı olduğunu ve vücut toksin yakıp fazlalıklardan arındığı için ilk günlerde baş ağrısı olabileceğini söylemişti. Ek olarak; yüksek miktarda temiz hava, hava değişimi, sıcak gibi sebepleri olabilir.

Bir gün, inziva günü ilan ediliyor. O gün arkadaşlarımızla konuşmak, iletişim kurmak yok. Ancak önemli durumlarda hocalarla konuşulabiliyor. Benim en dingin günüm oldu diyebilirim.

Bu günün başarılı olduğu durumda, mükafat olarak ertesi gün mayolarımızı alıp çaya iniyoruz. Aynı zamanda içilebilen buz gibi çay suyu, herkes için serinletici ve ferahlatıcı oluyor. Çay kenarında gördüğümüz yengeç, bize suyun temizliği konusunda güvence vermiş oldu.

Bizim Ashram ziyaretimizde, milli takım spor doktorlarından Mustafa Bey ile bir araya gelecek kadar şanslıydık. Pek çok katılımcının bel, bilek, boyun, vb problemlerini tespit edip, doğru müdahale ile yardımcı oldu.

Bilgi Zenginliği

Adnan Çabuk Hoca, çok uzun yıllarını yoga ve sağlıklı yaşama adamış. Hindistan’daki mağaralardan tutun, büyük guruların yanına kadar pek çok yerde bulunmuşlar ve konularını bilimsel araştırmalarla da desteklemişler. Kamp boyunca cevapsız kalan hiçbir soru olmadı.

Hocalara gün boyu erişebiliyorsunuz. Yemekler sırasında herkesin ilgileneceği bilgiler aktarıyorlar, ancak özel sorularınızı da ne zaman isterseniz sorabiliyorsunuz. Kundalini, çakra sistemi, göz sağlığı, migren gibi pek çok sorumuza isabetli ve net cevaplar aldık.

Yoga, 8 bileşenden oluşan bir sistemdir. Türkiye’de gittiğim merkezlerde, genelde sadece duruşlar ve nefes üzerine odaklanıldığını gördüm. Adnan Çabuk, bu 8 basamağın tamamından bahsetti ve bunları Ashram’da belli bir ölçüde deneyimlememizi sağladı. Bunun yanı sıra; sufizm gibi başka yaklaşımlardan da bahsederek, sentez yapabilmemiz için gereken farklı bakış açılarını sundu. Kanaatimce; burada atılan tohumu sulayan biri, yoga yolunda sağlıklı ilerleyebilir.

Hangi duruş sağlıklı, hangisi riskli, hangi amaçla hangi nefes tekniğini kullanabiliriz, nefes alıp verirken hangi oranda al-tut-ver yapmalıyız gibi bilgileri çok net ve doğrudan alma şansımız oldu.

Lourdes Hoca ise bilhassa doğru ve sağlıklı beslenme konusunda çok kıymetli bilgiler paylaştı. Kahvaltıda ne yenir, meyve ne zaman tüketilmelidir, hangi yağlar tüketilebilir, kan grubuna göre beslenme modeli, hangi gıdalar karıştırılmaz, süt / süt ürünlerinin durumu gibi sayısız konuda çok faydalı bilgiler aldık. Lourdes Hoca’nın yaşını söylemeyeyim; ancak yaşının sadece yarısını gösterdiğini söyleyebilirim – bu açıdan, verdiği bilgilerin doğruluğunu bizzat kendisinde görebiliyorsunuz.

Hocalar, başka bilgi kaynaklarına da açık. Kamp sırasında; benim naçizane Kuran araştırmalarımdan bahsettiğim bir bölüm yapıldı. Bunun haricinde, diğer katılımcıların psikoloji, sosyoloji, homeopati gibi konulardaki birikimlerini paylaşması için de fırsatlar verildi. Tüm bilgi kaynaklarına açık bir paylaşım ortamı oluşması, sinerji ve çeşitlilik açısından çok hoştu.

Sonuç

Sonuç olarak; kamptaki bir hafta hem uzundu, hem de su gibi akıp gitti. Evimize daha bilgili, biliçli, sağlıklı, arınmış ve yeni hayat alışkanlıkları kazanmış olarak döndük.

Vakti olan herkese, kendine bir iyilik yapıp bu kampa katılmasını tavsiye ediyorum. Katılıcılarımız arasında yoga hocalarından ilk kez yoga yapanlara kadar her tür insan vardı ve hiç kimse geride kalmadı; tecrübeniz azsa endişe etmeyin.

Tekrar belirtelim; kampa katılım için Adnan Çabuk Hoca ile doğrudan temasa geçebilirsiniz. Numarası: ‭+90 (533) 777 86 40.

Bu yazıyı sizlerle paylaşmam konusunda onay & izin veren değerli hocalarıma, tüm katkıları için tekrar teşekkür ederim.

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life, philosophy

They Make You Feel Inferior

Many organizations do it.

They make you feel inferior about intangible factors by showing you supposedly superior benchmarks. They follow with an insidious suggestion that you can somewhat close the gap if you purchase their commodities.

Lies

Some fashion companies show you desirable models; and plant the idea that desirable people use their products. Your subliminal function starts to believe that you will be desirable if you purchase some of their commodities.

Some entertainment companies show you elegant characters in their movies; and while selling you tickets already, they plant the idea for your next purchase that you can be elegant if you purchase the commodities you see in the movie.

Some instrument companies show you virtuoso players; and plant the idea that you can improve your music if you purchase the gear they use.

Some food companies couple healthy people with their products via ads & articles; and plant the idea that you will be unhealthy if you don’t consume their products.

Even drug lords do it. They impose the false belief that using drugs will make you cool by furtively annunciating that your favorite artists use drugs. Thug life video series is also part of the plan – they plant the false belief that winners have hats, sunglasses and smoke pot.

The Truth

The truth is; hygiene factors (commodities) can’t make up for lack of motivators (character).

If you are desirable, any garment will look good on you. Garments won’t make you desirable.

If you are elegant, it doesn’t really matter which commodity you use. Commodities won’t make you elegant.

If you know music, you can make good music with any instrument. You don’t need an expensive guitar; it won’t improve your music dramatically.

You can’t make it rain by opening your umbrella.

Misdirection

Self improvement is a natural orientation, and there is nothing wrong with it. You can choose a journey towards a higher version of yourself.

But that is an internal journey.

The organizations in question are repulsively using your natural aspiration for growth against you. They maliciously manipulate your psychological mechanism to create a misdirection.

You are deceived with an illusion that you will satisfy your spiritual demands if you simply give them money in exchange for their trifling products.

The truth is; purchasing things doesn’t help. It even handicaps you from climbing the stairs towards your higher self.

Direction

We are all different mixtures, and each of us walk a different path. What you need to focus is the higher version of your original self.

You can safely ignore dishonestly idealized models, which only suggest that you are inferior and must buy their products if you want to catch up.

What you see and like in those models is merely the higher version of you. Not the commodities in their surroundings.

There is nothing to catch up. You are unique already, you are who and what you need to be. Instead of investing money on commodities crippling your growth, invest time on growing your original self.

That’s what you are really longing for. Not some object.

See your higher self, make a plan towards it, and walk the path.

That’s where you really want to be. Not some surrounding.

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music, music.bass

Hafif ve Güçlü Bas Amfileri

Ağırlığı 10 kg altında olan, ev / prova / ufak işlerde kullanılabilecek, daha büyük işlerde de kişisel monitör yerine geçebilecek bir bas amfisi araştırdım.

Türkiye piyasasında bulabildiklerim:

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music, music.bass, music.guitar

Do You Need An Expensive Guitar?

I have recently purchased a supposedly entry-level humble bass guitar; but it’s quality and sound blew my mind. This motivated me towards sharing my opinion on cheap and expensive instruments.

My personal opinion is; you don’t need anything beyond gear which doesn’t dissatisfy you.

Skills over Gear

First things first: Skill is much more important than gear.

My master class instructor Selçuk Karaman (Selka) can pick any random bass & amp and make them sound great. Cheap, expensive, humble, flashy; no matter. No pedals, no effects, nothing. And he sounds like himself every time.

Kerem Türkaydın, Kerim Çaplı, Ozan Musluoğlu and Tanju Eren are some other people I played with & witnessed sounding great through humble gear.

Those people don’t cast secret spells to magically alter the signal coming out of the guitar.

The instrument itself is only one variable in a large equation.

Many factors regarding your own technique determines what kind of a sound will come out of the guitar; such as:

  • Right-hand positioning
  • Plucking style
  • Finger contact area
  • Clean string-to-string transition
  • etc…

Get them right, and you’ll sound good on any instrument. Is it completely unnecessary to buy an expensive instrument, then?

Two Factor Theory

Two factor theory distinguishes hygiene factors from motivators.

Hygiene factors are material elements; such as your guitar, amp, pedals, etc. If you significantly lack something in this area (such as inconsistent tuners or a wrapped neck), you’ll be dissatisfied. However, improving those factors can only get you to the point of no dissatisfaction.

Motivators are intangible factors; such as your enjoyment of your own playing, the reaction of the crowd, appreciation of other musicians, the bliss of making the music you love, etc. Those are the factors that would bring you satisfaction.

According to this theory; if your gear gets you to the point of no dissatisfaction, your gear is good enough. Real satisfaction starts there, which depends on intangible factors.

Musical Frustration

Many players get confused trying to pinpoint the source of their musical frustration.

In many cases, the frustration is really rooted down to lack of motivators. Improving your skills can possibly bring the excitement back. You can;

  • Learn new scales
  • Memorize new licks
  • Work on new songs
  • Study theory further & apply somewhere
  • Improve your dexterity
  • Improve your fingerboard memorization
  • Discover new musical styles
  • Release a new song
  • Join a challenging band
  • etc…

In some other cases, the frustration can really be rooted down to the lack of hygiene factors; such as:

  • A noisy rig
  • Strings getting out of tune
  • An undesired base tone
  • Instrument weight

That’s an important differentiation to make. Buying a better computer won’t make you a better programmer, right?

Buying a “better” guitar won’t make you a better musician. Improving your skills towards the premium level will.

Why do we see very expensive guitars in the hands of some famous artists, then?

Diminishing Returns

To answer this question, we need do understand the idea of diminishing returns.

Is the $100 → $500 jean quality surplus 5 times more than $20 → $100 jean quality surplus? Not really, right?

After a certain price point, what you get per $ decreases dramatically.

The quality difference between $200 – $1.000 basses would be tremendous; while the quality difference between $1.000 – $5.000 basses would be relatively small.

If an artist plays a $5.000 instrument, he/she probably found some minor improvements over a $1.000 instrument, and didn’t mind paying the surplus.

Such minor improvements skyrocket the price due to the manual labour & time investment involved; they are usually not crucial to have in a good instrument.

The artist you admire would probably sound great with your current gear too.

Besides; countless artists using standard instruments have successful careers. You definitely don’t need to spend money after reaching the point of no dissatisfaction with your hygiene factors. Work on your skills, and save your money.

Endorsements & PR

One should also remember that some artists get their gear for free anyway – due to their endorsement agreements. Who pays for their gear, do you think?

You!

When you purchase an artist endorsement guitar, mind you that a percentage of the cost of his/her free guitars are included in your price tag.

A portion of any big-brand instruments price includes such PR-related costs. So you are paying for the name hanging down your neck, not quality.

If the name is important for you and makes you feel synchronized with your favorite artists, then fine – this can be one of your motivators.

One needs to ask though: Is it worth the extra money?

Make-Up Psychology

Why would you pay $500 for a pair of jeans when you can get a very good one for $100? Is there a significant quality difference? Is it necessary to pay $400 more because some actor/actress is “known” for wearing them?

If you feel inferior, you might be willing to cover it with flashy hygiene factors; such as clothing, cellphones, cars, etc. Generally, the excessive hygiene factors that people surround themselves with, reflect what they feel like they are lacking.

The same approach can be applied to musical gear.

If you lack confidence and enjoyment in your music, you may want to cover it with gear.

This doesn’t mean that everyone playing an expensive instrument is in this trap. But if you are in this trap, you know at this very moment that I’m talking about you.

It’s better if you work on your technique instead. Better for your psychology, emotions, wallet, and listeners.

It’s obvious too, you know? When we see a mediocre player with a $5.000 guitar, we know why he/she spent a fortune on it. Unfortunately; some people even look down on others with “lesser gear”; allegedly making up their musical deficiency (motivator) with gear surplus (hygiene).

The instrument in your hand can only make a brief first impression. If you play & sound bad, no one will accept you because of your gear. If you play & sound good, no one will dismiss you because of your gear.

Fair Upgrade Reasons

The urge to upgrade your guitar even has a name: GAS . However, there can also be fair reasons for that.

  • Your musical orientation may have changed, and you need something your current guitar can’t provide; which could be…
    • …different pickup types and/or positions
    • …a different wood combination
    • …more / less strings
    • …more / less frets
    • …a tremolo bar
    • …an onboard EQ
    • …a long/short scale neck
  • Playing may have become uncomfortable, and you need…
    • …a lighter guitar because your back hurts
    • …a different neck profile to suit your hand better
    • …better craftsmanship in details; such as sharp fret edges
  • You may need to upgrade an immutable feature; which puts you in the market for…
    • …a better resonating wood
    • …more sustain

You can think of more reasons, but you get the idea. If your reasons really make sense, there is no reason why you shouldn’t upgrade your guitar – possibly to a more expensive one.

Be careful not to buy a commodity which is too expensive for you, though.

What Is Too Expensive?

My criteria for being too expensive is one simple question:

Can I loan it to someone else comfortably?

If this question triggers a financial anxiety, then the instrument in question is probably too expensive for my budget.

Technology has improved, and it is possible to produce high-quality instruments with low costs. Do your homework, and you’ll find the corresponding brand / models. A good instrument doesn’t need to be expensive.

You can probably get 85% of a “premium” guitar at  50% of its cost.

At the end of the day; it’s just wood and electronics. The humble production guitar you find in a shop may even have the exact specs you might want a luthier to build for you.

In a blind-test, would you be able to tell them apart? Or, if you were tricked that the production bass was built by a famous luthier, would your perception be positively affected?

Conclusion

I have owned more basses than I would like to admit – including custom shops and even a Fodera. Was the Fodera really worth it? The answer is arguable, but my personal opinion is;

You don’t need anything beyond gear which doesn’t dissatisfy you.

Beyond the point of no dissatisfaction; what matters is the music in you, and the technique in your hands.

For further ideas; I recommend checking the video “Does Gear Matter“.

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life, yoga

Cenk Güçbilmez ile Ses Masajı

Ses şifası konusuyla hem akademik, hem de pratik olarak ilgilenen değerli arkadaşım Cenk Güçbilmez; prova için bir araya geldiğimiz bir günde bana ses masajı yapmayı teklif etti. Bu yazıda, deneyimimi paylaşmak istiyorum.

Ses Masajı Nedir?

Ses masajının tanımını, doğrudan Cenk’in sitesinden alalım:

“Ses masajı, ses kaselerinin (ses çanakları) kişinin giyinik bedeninin belli yerlerine konulup, çanaklara nazikçe vurulması sonucunda, ses çanaklarından çıkan titreşimlerin bedene yayılması temeline dayanır. Ses çanağının titreşimleri dalga dalga önce deri yüzeyinde, sonra dokularda, sonra organlarda, kemiklerde yayılır. Bazı hassas kişiler bu titreşimleri ayak tabanlarından saç diplerine kadar hissedebilirler. “

İşin gerçeği, bu masaj sırasında terapist bedeninize dokunmuyor bile. Bunun yerine, vücudun belli bölgelerine koyduğu metal kaseleri çan gibi çalarak, titreşiminin o bölgeye yayılmasını ve nüfuz etmesini sağlıyor.

Anladığım kadarıyla; bu titreşim, özellikle çakra noktalarının uyarılmasını sağlayarak aktivasyon ve dengelenmeye yardımcı oluyor. Belki biraz akupunktura benzetilebilir.

Deneyimim

Benim deneyimimi sorarsanız; elektrik veren fizik tedavi cihazlarının akımına benzer bir akım hissettiğimi söyleyebilirim. Cenk‘in ayak, bel, omuz gibi çeşitli yerlere koyup çaldığı kaseler, bana bunu hissettirdi.

Ancak benim için en büyük sürpriz, göğüs bölgesinde oldu. Cenk göğüs bölgesine uygulama yaptıktan sonra, beni ciddi bir öksürük tuttu. Kendimi tüy yumağı çıkarmaya çalışan bir kedi gibi hissederek, sanki göğsümden / genzimden bir şey atmak istiyormuş gibi, yarım saat kadar epey öksürdüm.

Ama bu sağlıklı bir öksürüktü diyebilirim; midenizi bulandırmayayım ama fiziksel anlamda bir şeyler sökülüp atıldı.

Göğüs bölgesinde benzer bir deneyimi bir keresinde yoga sırasında da yaşamıştım, ancak bu daha çok duygusal bir patlama / rahatlamaydı. Fiziksel bir şeylerin de sökülüp atıldığını görmek, kase masajının etkisini birinci elden gördüğüm anlamına geliyor.

Cenk, fiziksel birikimin duygusal / ruhsal birikimle paralel olduğunu ifade edip, “blokaj açma” terimini kullandı. Bana birer hafta arayla 3-4 seans daha yapmamızı önerdi. Henüz gidemedim, ancak bu etkiyi gördükten sonra tekrarlamak istiyorum.

Cenk‘in de öngördüğü gibi, öksürük bittikten sonra toparlandım ve vücudumda genel bir rahatlama ve akış hissi kaldı. O akşamki uykum ise çok rahattı.

Sonuç

Deneyimlerim bu şekilde. Seanstan çok rahatlamış ve memnun halde ayrıldım. Ses masajı ve diğer ses şifası teknikleri ile ilgili daha fazla bilgi almak isterseniz, doğrudan Cenk ile temasa geçebilirsiniz.

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Best Style For Street Fights

Due to my humble background in martial arts, I’m occasionally asked about the best style for street fighting. Obviously, this is a question without universal rights and wrongs. Nevertheless, I would like to share some of my opinions.

Please note that this is a subjective opinion article; I don’t mean to praise or disrespect any martial art style.

The scope of the article is casual practice for street defense. If you are interested in philosophy / cardio / chi power / pro fighting / etc, this article is probably not the source you are looking for.

Street Basics

One should be aware that there are multiple distances in a fight.

  • Avoidance: This is the distance where you avoid the confrontation totally
  • Verbal: This is the distance where you exchange words
  • Kick: This is the distance where you can kick, but not punch
  • Punch: This is the distance where you can punch
  • Grapple: This is the close wrestle distance

Street fights are not fair, and they don’t have any rules. Your opponent may have a weapon, or multiple allies nearby; which you didn’t see yet. Therefore, it is a risky situation to start with.

In terms of self-defense and safety, one should prefer the former distances over the latter ones. If you can avoid the confrontation, do it. If you can talk out of it, do it.

If you can finish the fight with one good punch, do it and get away quickly. Because if you get the fight to the ground, someone else can hit you in the head with a steel pipe. Steel pipes hurt bad.

You get the idea. Bravery is good, but thinking that you are invincible is foolish.

Fighting Aspects

If you get into a fight despite your best efforts, you can’t foresee how the fight would develop. You might have room for punches only, your opponent can take it to the ground, you may face multiple opponents, etc.

Therefore, a fighting style focusing on only one aspect of fighting is generally not advisable for the street.

An oversimplified list of fighting aspects are;

  • Striking
    • Punches
    • Kicks
  • Grappling
    • Wrestling
    • Locks

If you are a boxer, you would know how to punch. But if the fight gets to the ground, you may end up being helpless despite knowing how to punch.

If you are a BJJ practitioner, you would know how to choke someone. But if your opponent lands a good kick on your liver, good luck trying to breathe.

You get the idea.

When picking a fighting style, you should preferably pick a style where you can focus on multiple aspects.

Which Style?

After the long introduction, here comes the vital question: Which style should I pick?

Ignoring all other factors and accepting a purely theoretical point of view, here is my subjective list of the most effective styles for the street.

Krav Maga is not even a martial art, it is a military system developed to survive on the street. It has collected arguably the easiest, dirtiest and most effective techniques from various styles. You can learn it relatively fast, and you wouldn’t need a lot of power & stamina to apply.

MMA is a close second. It is debatable if MMA is a style by itself; but MMA trainings include punches, kicks and grappling – a mixture you want to have in your toolbox on the street. The reason I put it after Krav Maga is, you still have some rules in MMA; like not kicking the balls. In a street situation, your opponent will make you spit your balls out with a single kick if he/she sees the opportunity.

Boxing lacks kicks and grappling, but it still has its solid place in the list. Most street fights start standing up and can be ended with a single good punch. Besides, the boxing footwork and defense is the base for any sparring situation.

Muay Thai can also be very effective because it adds up new tools on top of punches. However, Muay Thai partly relies on hardened bones; which requires a lot of wall punching & kicking – not necessarily the most realistic approach for casual practitioners.

Kickboxing could also be considered effective; however, I consider big kicks risky on the street. If you didn’t train enough, you may lose your balance during a kick and fall to the ground – which is something you want to avoid at all costs. So even if you train kickboxing, avoid the fancy kicks on the street.

Other Factors

Sparring, sparring, sparring… I can’t emphasize the importance of sparring enough. You can train all you want, but if you don’t put it into practice regularly, you probably can’t apply anything on the street either.

Frequency of free style sparring is maybe even more important than the style you pick. That’s where you learn how to confront someone, control your adrenaline, attack, defend, fall, stand up, feint, read your opponent, etc.

If a club offers daily sparring opportunities, you would want to prefer it over another club which offers monthly sparring; ceteris paribus.

Limits of your body is also a significant factor. If you have a disc hernia, for instance, you shouldn’t do any grappling and can lean towards boxing (with the approval of your doctor, of course).

Available teachers in your area is also a very important factor. If you find a very good boxing teacher with 10 medals, but the MMA trainers have never been in a real fight, you might prefer boxing for now. You can always train other styles later on.

The people you are going to train with can also make or break you as a fighter. You should be looking for a challenging but friendly and respectful environment, where your teachers and mates will help you grow while you help them too. Avoid fight cults blindly following an egomaniac teacher. Instead, look for a clean environment with a realistic & flexible mindset.

Unmentioned Styles

There are a lot of martial art styles I didn’t mention. You may be wondering why.

The first reason is; competition styles contain a lot of rules, which don’t exist on the street.

For instance; many karate competitions prevent face punching. If you train that for 10 years, your muscle memory can develop in such a way that your reflexes can’t even confront a basic punch. Your opponent would knock your teeth down your throat so hard you would have to drop your pants to chew your food.

Another reason is; a style focusing on singular aspect is a risky bet in a street fight.

For example; aikido assumes a certain starting position where the wrist or sleeve is held. If a wrist grab really occurs in a street fight, you can apply your aikido knowledge – but this is a very slim chance. I subjectively wouldn’t want to invest my time in a style which would help me only 5% of the time.

Wing Tsun assumes a peculiar starting stance, and focuses on arm based scuffles; where you seek an opening to apply your chain punches. Your training will definitely help you in a scuffle situation; but will this really happen in a street fight? I subjectively think that it is not very likely. Your opponent will swing a baseball bat to your head, that’s what will happen.

It must also be said that physical power, reflexes, talent, experience, etc. is as important as the style you pick. For instance; watch the videos of Emin Boztepe. He is a Wing Tsun practitioner, and despite what I said about the style itself, I am pretty sure that he’ll kick any *ss on the street.

Likewise; Royce Gracie forced many strikers into submission with his BJJ style, and I’m pretty sure he’ll do well on the street.

However; those are professional fighters. If you dedicate your entire life to any fighting style(s) and do lots of sparring, you will eventually get good.

This article considers casual practitioners visiting the dojo maybe 2-3 times a week. In that case; instead of focusing on the cream on the top, I recommend focusing on the bread-and-butter of fighting and picking a style that enables you focus on multiple aspects and do lots of sparring.

Conclusion

You need to be honest to yourself about your physical capability, the time you can invest, the teachers you can find in your area, the vague nature of street fights; and make a decision for yourself.

Remember that avoiding the street fight in the first place is probably a better strategy than fighting. A little respect, diplomacy and deterrence goes a long way.

Nevertheless; Sun Tzu said it well: “Better be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war”.

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