Shanliang Li, Shorthand Empty Hand, & Martialism

Self-defense is the inalienable right of all human beings.  You are born with the natural right to your person.  Your self is the one thing you can always and truly be said to own, for if you don't own you, who does?  You are not a slave.  You are, therefore, entitled to defend yourself from violations of the property that is you.  You have the right to defend yourself from initiated violence, from violent crime.  You have the right to fight back in order to stop others from harming you.  More importantly, you therefore incur the responsibility to prepare yourself for this undertaking.

Attack, attack, attack -- come at your target from every possible direction and press until his defenses overload. Never give him time to recover his balance: never give him time to counter.

- Heroes Die, Matthew Woodring Stover

The Martialist was founded in 2003. It is run by me, Phil Elmore. I am a freelance author and technical writer with no particularly impressive credentials -- except for over a decade spent training diligently in the martial arts and as an armed American citizen. This 'zine also accepts contributions from like-minded individuals in all fields of endeavor, including self-defense experts, pundits, and instructors in both the private and public sectors.

In these pages you will find honest, earnest discussion of self-defense from the perspective of mere mortals -- citizens interested in protecting themselves on a day-to-day basis through whatever pragmatic means is feasible and favorable. We favor no ideology here and we subscribe to no specific school of thought. We are not interested in the political bickering that takes place among varying martial arts camps, save to keep you informed of the options available.  We have succeeded specifically because we are objective, reasonable, rational, and direct.

Through these pages we promulgate the philosophy of martialism, if dynamic, assertive living.  If you would like to learn more, you may download the free Be A Martialist booklet in PDF format.  We also offer self-defense tools and items through our ONLINE STORE.  Please visit the store and support our organization.

The page you are viewing right now is a redirect from Shanliang Li Dot Com.  Shanliang Li, which translates to Virtuous Strength, is the martial system founded by David W. Pearson and me, Phil Elmore.  After several years of work on the system, a change in careers prompted David to enter semi-retirement.  I continued what we started with the Shorthand Empty Hand curriculum, something I intend to revisit in the future.  I've since spent most of my time studying Liu Seong Gung Fu.

Please email me if you have a question, concern, or contribution.  I read all of my mail and try to respond to each and every message.

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