Tim Larkin and SCARS: What happened?

**Jon Powers** · Posted On: 9/07/2003 9:40am

"I'm Going to tell you the facts, right from experience, but then the experience remains unspecified."DRD

Jerry said he was going to tell you the FACTS,he never said he was going to repeat his experiences.Please read it again. Jerry goes into the facts of knife disarms later in the 3 volume tape series,all through them as a matter of fact.

"If Jerry ever had someone hit him with a machette then he should have the scars to prove it, most likely on areas that a visible, such as the hands, arms, and head"Sam Browning

He does have scars on his body. I know,I saw them in person.

"This is the same kind on commenst made about how his techniques once seen over a four day period will make you undefeatable against anyone. My problem is that I would like to test one of these students on what they learned in the crash course, say 15 days after they complete it to see what was retained in a workable form."DRD

SCARS will not make you undefeatable. They dont call him "Crazy Jerry" for nothing you know. The point Jerry is trying to get across is that techniques will not help you win fights,principles will.Its that simple. If Jerry thinks he is undefeatable,I really could not care less. Bringing people in for training and having them believe that 3 days later you are King All **** is insanity,however. I've been there,and I can tell you that I have personally witnessed at least 4 people in the classes that would get their asses kicked in a street fight.I hope they didnt go home and try out anything on the wrong person.

One of the main points,the linch pins,the keystones of SCARS/TFT training is this:THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE. Let the attacker get as close as possible to you without letting them know you are able to fight. No ready stance,no fists clenching,no stepping towards them,no"you have no idea who you are messing with here buddy" bullshit.Let them get as close as possible and strike not first,not second but NOW. If you are in a multi-fight and have already taken 1 out of 3 guys down,you had better have done it brutally and with as much violence as possible. I'm talking breaking their back,knee dropping on their throat,putting your thumbs all the way up into their eye sockets and feeling the jelly drip down your palms. Your element of surprise is gone,so you only have this one time to make an example of your first attacker. People are fascinated by violence,and making the first attacker an example will go a long ways towards discouraging the rest.

I have personally been involved in a multi-fight situation where I was confronted by 3 men. I took out the first guy and the other 2 backed off immmediately. Then I got the hell out of there. I didnt want to be there,I didnt enjoy what happened,I wasnt excited or overjoyed that I "got to beat someone up". It was gross,ugly,sickening and frightening. It was 3am outside of a hospital,and I was helping an injured friend back to my vehicle after they recieved treatment for an earlier accident.. Had I not been in this situation,I would have gotten the hell out of there. But we were being viewed as helpless targets by these guys,and running was not an option. I dont know how many of you have ever really injured a person in real life,with your own hands,but its a very surrreal feeling. I will NEVER forget the look of fear in the eyes of the first guy as he felt his bones being broken. Its not the sort of thing I thought I would remember,or take away from the whole incident. I always thought that I would remember the exact movements I used,maybe hear a groan or yell,maybe hear something being broken,maybe the feeling of crashing into the ground with a guy pounding,scratching or biting me. Anyways,this was over a year after I had taken a SCARS seminar in Arizona. What I used was what I had learned at that training. I'm no fan of the advertising claims that SCARS uses,and I think that Jerry is an egomaniac,but I cannot argue with results.

As for the differences between TFT and SCARS,it seems as though Jerry puts more emphasis on your form while you train.If he is there watching you,then you had better be in good form. Tim is a little more relaxed in this regard.Tims main concern is that you understand the principles and hit your targets correctly,and not your form so much. Also,TFT seems more dedicated towards teaching people than SCARS. You can learn a tremendous amount from SCARS,dont get me wrong,and you will only learn more as you progress,even if you never train with the "big guys",as long as you stick to the principles. TFT is more concerned with making you the best fighter you can be in the shortest amout of time possible. They have taken years and years of training time and methods,and distilled them down with the goal of creating capable fighters faster. I know that the methods that TFT employs are far ahead of what I used when I trained with Tim years ago,and if you took two people of equal co-ordination and intellect and sent one to SCARS and the other to TFT,the TFT trained fighter would be superior. The TFT guys seem to enjoy themselves more,but with Jerry and Blake,you get the feeling that they are just punching a clock. That obviously makes a difference. At the training I went to,a guy had his shoulder dislocated during a gun disarm. He yelled,and Blake just looked over across the room at the guy and said "Big baby" and continued to instruct us.Ouch. At this same training,only 5 out of 30 people were still wanting to train towards the end of the 3rd day because of all the injuries. Sprained wrist,dislocated shoulder,knee joint popped out,eye swollen shut,skin missing,cuts and bleeding were from just 3 days of training. There were 2 guys there who ran schools,one Tae Kwon Do,the other Shotokan and by the end of day 3 they just said"enough" and opted out.

One a side note,I see that Jerry has begun his Knights of SCARS campaign probably to offset Tims Mastery Program,and to save face for Tim outstripping him in the training arena. An admirable idea,but god what a stupid name!

**Sam Browning** · Posted On: 9/07/2003 10:34am

Thank you Jon for a very good post, and one of the two best I've ever seen on Scars/TFT (the other was a review of the Scars tapes by DRD)

**FingerorMoon?** · Posted On: 9/07/2003 6:31pm

Great post Jon.

Hopefully you stick around here.

**fmkeylock** · Posted On: 6/23/2010 1:53pm

is tim's courses for real ............or total bullshido

**GMM** · Posted On: 1/30/2012 9:23pm

Just want to add my two cents. My father in law was a professional body guard who was in the first civilian SCARS course and several follow up courses over several years. He trained one on one with Jerry, Blake and Tim at SCARS. We have a shelf of training books and videos from that group and the 3rd PAT made is numbered and signed by Jerry, it hangs in my garage. My fav book from SCARS is the autokenematic striking manual from the 90's, written by Chris who is now a master instructor with TFT. I never trained with SCARS or met Jerry in person but I have trained and studied their materials heavily and I have attended three TFT seminars, I own several TFT videos. I also have the family experience to draw from. Having said all that I believe TFT is a superior product. The TFT methodology is easier to internalize, the risk to the student in training is lower and the quality of the videos is better. The systems have similarities, but the way in which the course is taught and the personalities of the instructors are very different. In addition, the customer service after you train with TFT is far superior even if you have not spent money in awhile. With our family exposure to both systems there is no way we would spend money with anyone but Tim, period.

I will add that both systems are real, both work, TFT is easier to absorb and is just a better bang for your buck. I also love the way TFT is always presented as a absolute last chance no alternative option.