American Martial Science ™ – abbreviated (AMS) is the product of Senior Teacher Steve Zalazowski, Sr.‘s more than twenty-five years of intensely studying various martial arts and self defense curriculum.
Mr. Zalazowski drew upon his knowledge of striking and grappling systems, edged and blunt force weapons, and firearms training to synthesize a pure self defense focused martial science. The lineage is robust, and the material has proven itself over the last decade of training dedicated individuals.
By design, the standards are rigorous and the material is both physically and informationally intensive. It is not for everyone, but those who dedicate themselves will learn the true application of the material in the skill sets they develop through disciplined training.
Simply put – American Martial Science ™ is the study of human biomechanics applied in a self defense framework. A significant component entails basics and combat modeling approaches pioneered by Dr. Ron Chapél of the Martial Science University; as Mr. Zalazowski is the first person promoted to black belt level in Dr. Chapél’s American Chuán Fa system.
We must learn through three phases of information comprehension. WHAT – WHY – HOW. Students first learn the WHAT to do. After the WHAT comes the WHY stage. This is where students begin to explore the differences in manipulating another person’s anatomy THIS way to get THIS result vs. THAT way which creates a different result. Later, reserved for the instructor levels is the in depth understanding of HOW.
Why is it a science vs. an “art”? Arts are nebulous when it comes to standardization in information transfer. Our entire focus is on transferring information between individuals. That means we pay close attention to understanding how each student learns most effectively – and maximizing our delivery to match. Everyone learns the same principles, and during your WHY phase of training you explore what your personal preferences are.
Essentially – martial arts lineages are for the most part a collection of the system founder’s personal preferences. Every black belt has their own “style” – whatever material they’ve studied they’ve no doubt found particular movements they prefer and some things they cannot stand and would never use. Martial “Arts” are always influenced by the founder and head instructor’s preferences. A science is grounded in the method of information transfer and principle driven. A principle is a fundamental law of movement – the human biomechanics that govern all human movement for example.
Our American Martial Science ™ system is designed to take advantage of natural mechanisms like: the human startle reflex, bipedal locomotion and how that anatomically relates to combatives, and many other major and minor principles that govern our material selection. It is important to understand what you choose to study from the minor perspective of answering questions and concerns for your own personal protection as well as the macro perspective of “where will I be when I complete this material set”.
The video below helps clarify the differences between a style and a system, breaks down specific things that we take into consideration with our materials, and lots of valuable nuggets of info for consideration when you seek out a school to study with. UMASDA is the only school in the area that teaches material in this fashion, and one of few worldwide. American Martial Science ™ is a true self defense science – if you want to learn street self defense in a positive environment – we’re here to help.
How do you measure progress?
Great question. The levels are broken down into course blocks marked by graduation levels borrowed from traditional martial arts with belt color ranks. American Martial Science ™ is broken in to an approximately four year program to black belt level.
The 100 series begins with white belt, and proceeds through Yellow, Gold, and Orange levels.
The 200 series comprises Green, Blue, and Purple.
The 300 series contains Sand, Brown, and Gray levels.
The 400 series is 1st Degree Black belt through 5th Degree Black Belt.
Each course is designed around a theme that builds directly upon the prior levels.
Mirroring the educational system gives us a process of breaking down variables in material and imparting information transfer effectively. As such, those who go on to teach others will be eligible to earn the highest levels of the Instructorship levels from American Martial Science ™ 6th-10th Degree Black Belt.
