Student - Dale Lusby, with no previous martial arts experience, and who only spent 3 months of training at our school, wins 2005 Texas Karate Organization State Sparring Title for "Beginning Men"!
Company: Flowing Combat
Tape Name: Key Principles and Training Methods (2 dvds)
Tape Cost: $35
Length of Tape/Time: 1 hr 15 min
Number of Moves/Techniques: Numerous
Return Policy: ?
Instructor: Gary Romel
Company Address: Flowing Combat LLC, 7009 Old Glory, OKC, OK, 73135
Company Phone Number: 405-209-6381
Web Page: http://www.flowingcombat.com
Email: gary@flowingcombat.com

Primary Grading Criteria:

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

Grand Total: 10% (Poor = )

Secondary Grading Criteria:

1. Beginners benefit: Poor
2. Intermediate benefit: Poor
3. Advanced benefit: Poor
4. Time to benefit: No benefit I can see
5. The need to buy additional tapes to understand this one:

Written Summary:

I watched about 45 painful minutes of the first dvd in this two dvd set, couldn't take anymore, so I'm throwing in the towel. Personally, I hated the first 45 minutes of it. For me, it was some of the most boring stuff I've reviewed over the past 9 months. It was alot of fixed stances, robotic fixed movements, tons of theory, and too many structured movements. Supposedly this set is suppose to help ones self-defense skills. Sorry, I just couldn't picture that. All I could keep thinking about was all the various horrible things that might happen to me trying to strictly use this stuff in the street. I pictured getting knocked on my butt, kicked endlessly while on the ground, and beaten to a bloody pulp. Best way I can desribe this video, imagine renting a slow movement Tai-Chi video and the video instructor trying to convince you those slow movements would take-out a Lidell or Couture in the Octagon. Would I recommend what I saw to any of my students? No!!! Note to self - never review another video about Taijiquan, Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, nor Qi-Gong. Next...

EM - Reviewer

3-12-06 Update - As of today Gary Rommel has joined a somewhat lengthy list we've accumulated over the past 9 yrs, of companies/individuals threatening to sue us, because we gave them a bad review. I guess Gary thought by sending us his materials that's suppose to guarantee him a good review. News flash for Gary - we appreciate you sending us your materials, but it doesn't guarantee you, nor anyone else that sends stuff in, a good review! Our review is what it is, one persons opinion of how the material shown would work for them in the street. If Gary had taken the time to read other pages on our website, he'd understand that. It kind of makes me feel good though that he thinks we're important enough to threaten us with lawsuits. Well, here's Gary's email:

Mr. Mann,

When I submitted my DVDs to you for review, I expected a somewhat objective approach (and that's what I gave you). You clearly didn’t understand what you were watching.(and whose fault is that?) There were not “a lot of fixed stances” shown in the video, I was teaching basic structure, not advocating any fixed immobile stance. (hmm...for some reason I guess I didn't catch that part, I must've been watching a different dvd than the one you sent with your name on it) Those fixed “robotic” movements you are referring to are not meant to be applied directly in a fight; (uh-huh...again, I didn't hear where that was clearly stated) it was a linking drill to teach you how to use your body as a whole. I have had great reviews from customers who have more time and diversity in their training than you do (from who, people who do Tai-Chi or Push-Hands, or pacifists who haven't tested your stuff in a ring or on the streets?...we're fans of hardcore street combat, and I didn't see anything that felt like that). A 1 in every category Cleary shows you have an extreme bias for some reason, and/or are just ignorant to what was being shown.(i'm actually kind of glad i'm "ignorant" to what was shown, I think my ignorance will keep me alive alot longer)

Perhaps a TKD guy doesn’t like it when somebody teaches kicks above the waist in the street are B.S.?(actually, some of us TKD guys prefer kicks below the waist, especially those of us who've had Kenpo too, and then again some of us can place them just as easy and fast above the waist)

Anyhow, I won’t waste anymore of your time, the bottom line is that your review is libelous, highly inaccurate, non-objective and I want it removed from your site. If it is not removed in a timely fashion I will be in contact with my attorney.(go cry somewhere else, better yet, why not make videos that I like?, if my opinion is so worthy of your threats)

FYI: I have always had a free video lesson online, and now I have a long clip on my product page that shows segments of each chapter of these DVDs so consumers know what to expect. So your “review” is not necessary for customer awareness.(we've all seen how movie studios can give a great preview for a bad movie)

This is a private email, publicizing any portion will further my libel case against you.(opps, I guess I'm really in trouble now)

Gary
gary@flowingcombat.com

Additional Thoughts: Can we get a few of our Oklahoma City readers (or anyone nearby) to go look-up Gary, to see if in-person he's anywhere close to being the "Combat" expert he wants us to think he is? If any of you know anything about this guy we can use for our supposed upcoming court case, please let us know! ;-)

I'm curious as to what our readers think about nuisance threats like Gary's. If the Gary Romel's of-the-world were successfully allowed to litigate against people like me, what's next? Here's what I see would be next. Every major newspaper, television network, and magazine, would immediately cease doing real reviews of everything. Have you ever heard of a major motion picture studio suing Ebert-and-Roper over giving a movie "two thumbs down", and the harsh comments they sometimes add when they do so? Could you imagine no more "Consumer Reports" magazine, no more "60 Minutes" on TV covering shady companies, nor local tv station investigative reporting that does the same, no more product reviews in "PC Magazine", no more looking in your paper for a review about whether or not a movie is worth spending $10 to go see, no more eBay "feedback" about each of us, no more Amazon.com reviews each of us can post, no more 0-5 star voting and ratings by consumers on Netflix or Blockbuster.com about rentals, no more "star ratings" of restaurants or hotels, etc. Could you imagine all sorts of companies and individuals who provide us ratings and reviews, going away, because of lawsuits for not giving a great rating/review to someone who wanted it? Would it even stop there or could it get more personal? What if you gave someone a bad "feedback" rating/comment on eBay after a purchase (who you felt deserved it) and that company/individual sued you over that?

Can you picture a society in which reviews of: major motion picture studio movies, tv shows, books, video games, software, automobiles, music, hotels, restaurants, online sites/services, would all come to a screeching halt. One in which anyone that reviews a product or service need fear legal prosecution, financial penalty, or being shutdown, because a bad review irritates the Gary Romel's of the world? All we would have left for us to decide whether or not we wanted to purchase anything, would be the biased self-serving advertising shoved down our throats daily by Corporate America. Is the kind of America you want to live in one in which "corporate interests" are allowed to chip away at our constitutional right of "free speech"? Should we allow freedom-of-speech bullies to even think for one second they can do that to us? I don't know about everyone else, but I love our freedoms and rights, and I hate all bullies that think they're going to take any of them away from us!

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Student - Dale Lusby, with no previous martial arts experience, and who only spent 3 months of training at our school, wins 2005 Texas Karate Organization State Sparring Title for "Beginning Men"!

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