I do concede, however, after having read the book that the way the experiments were conducted is not considered a tightly controlled experiment by today’s scientific standards. Reading copies of the actual transcripts I did find what I would consider to be leading questions and cues. And in one part of the book Targ (one of the researchers) talks about how they were so impressed by Swann’s abilities (he was the first subject) that they took him out for a steak dinner to celebrate. Clearly this could lead one to believe that the experimenters liked Swann and wanted him to succeed, even if subconsciously and thus may have inadvertently presented clues to him. In today’s views on science, it would be considered highly inappropriate to take your subject out to dinner! Even more surprising perhaps was the selection of another subject Hella Hammid whom Targ had known for more than a dozen years, and this was a subject they had selected in order to see if they could take an “ordinary” person and train them for lack of better terminology to have psi abilities. Obviously it’s not wise to choose your pal of 10+ years for your research subject.

However, regarding psi abilities, I still believe that there is likely some aspect of our cognitive abilities that we are simply not fully tapping into. I don’t think of it as paranormal but rather a cognitive ability that is something that is not readily controlled by the subject. In other words they have good days and bad days. Some images come through clearly while others do not. It’s usually described as a channel of information – often garbled with other unrelated images or noise. The trick apparently is to know what to filter out and what is relevant. If this is true, it would account for why it is not always statistically significant or reproducible.

So then, how can reports like those in Mind-Reach be explained? I have my doubts as to the accuracy of the account in Mind-Reach, but even taking it at face value, weaknesses in the experiments are obvious. In one remote viewing experiment, the viewer describes an A-frame building with a 4-sided ornament on the wall. This is matched to a windmill. In another experiment, the viewer describes an A-frame building with a 4-sided ornament on the wall. This time it is matched to a church. In another experiment, a viewer observing a nature sanctuary draws a tunnel of regular geometric shapes. This is matched to a utility tower near the site. Compare this drawing to the pedestrian overpass depicted in another experiment. One has to wonder.

For a skeptical report of the research of Targ and Puthoff, read Flim-Flam by James Randi, chapter 7 (ISBN-13: 978-0879751982). If you want a more academic treatment, try some of these:
MARKS D, INFORMATION-TRANSMISSION IN REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENTS, NATURE 292 : 177 1981
MARKS D, SENSORY CUES INVALIDATE REMOTE VIEWING EXPERIMENTS, NATURE 292 : 177 1981
MARKS D, SCOTT C, REMOTE VIEWING EXPOSED, NATURE 319 (6053): 444-444 FEB 6 1986

The Government research was carried out in secret for over 20 years at military installations like Fort Bragg and Wright Patterson AFB, though many believe that the research is still being carried out by the US Government, once again in secrecy.

I replied: The best fighting style is the one that matches up best with your physique, abilities, and temperament. That said, I think it is better to have a well-rounded fighting style, something where you feel comfortable using a mixture of kicks and punches (blocks too of course). Examples of mostly one-dimension fighting styles are Tae Kwan Do (mostly kicks) and boxing (only punches). Kung Fu, Karate, and Muy Thai are all similar fighting styles and “American kickboxing” blends these disciplines together, borrowing from each.

In MMA most of the guys are cross-trained in wrestling or JJ, but keep in mind that these styles of fighting are pretty impractical in the real world – it’s kind of hard to “shoot in” on someone when you are standing in a paved parking lot in the summer, with the asphalt reaching 150 degrees! Not to mention that training in many traditional martial arts teaches you to end a fight as quickly as possible (if fighting is inevitable), meaning that I would do something to you considered “illegal” in MMA or wrestling. MMA is fun to watch (sometimes), but most of these guys are just brawlers or wrestlers and would not be able to handle a Master of one of the traditional martial arts that has been trained to injure or kill to stop a fight.

Let us hope that the future of education and humanity takes a more balanced path….