How do you train with weapons realistically?

We train with foam/padded weapons, and rattan sticks in place of actual bladed weapons. Most of the training is then shown how it is applicable using items that can be lawfully carried. This is known as improvised weapons training.

Is sparring required?

Sparring happens at the comfort level of the student. We use padded weapons and protective gear to drill situational encounters. The student can progress the sparring intensity at their comfort level.

Whats is a Dog Brother?

The Dog Brothers are both a group of stick fighters, and a way of training with a goal of attending full-contact, limited rules, minimal safety-gear fighting events in the USA, Canada, and Europe, known as the Gathering of the Pack.

What is a Dog Brothers Gathering?

A Gathering is a full contact stick fighting event. Competitors at Pack Gatherings square off against one another in physical combat using the variety of weapons, though the emphasis is on the experience of combat itself rather than a specific item or method. Fueled by adrenaline and self-preservation instincts, competitors strike a balance between pushing their own personal boundaries and maintaining their composure in the heat of battle. The techniques, as much as the person, is challenged as the practitioner escalates into the adrenal state. The notion is that when the practitioner is pushed to their limits, the tribe can see what techniques and behavior are truly embedded within the practitioners. The tribe can then provide greater insight to the practitioners development: "Steal sharpens steal”

The Dog Brothers’ credo, “The greater the dichotomy, the profounder the transformation. Higher Consciousness through Harder Contact”, enabling members to access some of the more primal aspects of human experience that relate to survival, group identity, and protection of the members of that group.

Are Gatherings required?

No. Students are not required to go to Gatherings. Those are purely voluntary events if people wish to test their skills at the highest level of the intensity. Students are free to attend the Boston Dog Brothers training sessions, when they occur, and train at their own comfort level. It is more important that the student can view that the techniques taught at NWA are proven to work at the highest level of the adrenal response in an actual live fight. The concept is known as “Seen it taught, seen in Fought”.