6/12/18: sparring, thai pads and locks off of jabs and cross

Sparring warm up

out of range (no touching) jab only and then both hands (explore ranges timing looking for opening and evasions )

Thai pad rounds:

rear kick, hook cross rear kick
Thai pyramid 1-2-3-2-1 etc

Locks off jab and cross

1) outside parry, eye swipe, lop and hit to turn head into wrist lock no 1
2)  parry into salute (imagine cutting bicep) off set, arm break with elbow into figure 4
3) spit entry into dumog drag into lock 8 (nikkio - feed the fingers) - getting lock is fiddly gran back of their hand so your thumb goes between their thumb and fingers.


Trapping:

pak to hit, block with forward pressure intent (not close to face) - small hubud passing motion to then pak and hit on other side - repeat cycle (can also wedge and eye strike)

Lop to hit, then pak with hitting hand and hit they block with pressure, reach other and lop and hit on the other side before doing pak and hit and repeating cycle.

15/11/18: Cross loop drills, Pad rounds and 12 count knife flow

This session as all about high quality repetitions and putting the flight time in.

Cross loop drill:

Partners at close range (enough to land a cross with a slightly bend arm). Practicing defences of the crass and responding with a cross.

Lean back shoulder roll
Parry
elbow destruction (cover the face)
upper cut under the cross
hook over the cross (lean back motion/long hook)
inside parry and bicep hit
Thai cover (lead hand "falling " onto the cross other hand covering your face

Adding body shots:

bob and weave the cross coming in close (so you could move their arm out the way with your elbow:

Left hand: Body hook, head hook, they reply with the same. do this a couple of times and Bob and weave out on a head hook.

variation: as above but instead of bobbing and weaving out use your rear foot to reposition and bob over to the other side of the person - you will now do the body and head hooks with your right hand and you to a large lean back/shoulder roll to come out and back into crossing range.

we did all this swapping partners getting different energy. Key tips keep it slow to work on range and technique it will naturally get faster and more messy/real but you ant to try and get as perfect a technique as you can so that when you do it at pace or under pressure it will only be half as good but your half as good is still good enough

PADS: circle of death

4 thai pad holders, after hitting the pads you move round to the next station then the next etc and keep going for duration of the round.

1) jab cross jab cross jab
2) cross hook cross hook cross
3) 5 x uppercuts
4) 5 x elbows

Knife flow:

Breaking down the 12 count knife flow, trying to keep the slashes tight (e.g. don't extend the "swing" of the knife outside of the width of the body)

A1, A4, A3, A2 stab, back hand cut upwards on low line, forehand cut upwards on low line, back hand stab to neck, forehand stab to neck, slash straight down centre of head, A1 low line, A2 low line

after using partner as a target to get the flow we then used this flow to feed and look at some basic empty hand defence using the arm the same side as the attack to block (blade of arm if on high line hand pointing up, if on low line hand pointing down) your other hand hitting the attacker (eye or throat)

We then added scoops and hammer and anvil, controlling elbows and manipulating the attacker as well as  footwork to zone out and around and keep our bodies away form the knife.

The section ended with defending from any angle (not in order) and then two on one drills (keeping them lined up so it's one at a time and manipulating them into other person is very helpful.


A good high energy session.

8/11/18: Round kick dounters during Chaos and continuing to devlope the U drill

Warm up:

Double stick carenza (maintain right lead, then left lead)
Single stick carenza (right and left hand)
Stick and knife Carenza (stick in right then left hand)
Knife carenza
Legs/knees only shadow boxing
Elbows only
Punching only
combine all strikes

(Gentle full motion to warm up)

Technical Mirror drill:

Partner A feeds any two strikes - punches kicks knees elbows (careful with elbows) - focus on being on target correct technique and range - trying to hit your target/put leather on them!.

Partner B defends as best they can (not running away). Partner B then responds with the same attack Partner A did. (Partner A is choosing the attack)

Keep going with Partner A changing the 2 strikes every time to keep partner B guessing.

After designated time switch so that partner B chooses the attack and partner A responds.

During technical drill you need to focus on technique and making it "perfect" movement, range guard, body mechanics on strikes etc.

Round kick defences:

We looked at the following defences

1) Check ( traditional Thai block using shin)
2) Stop kick - either a teep to body, or  jeet tek type kick to standing leg (kick with either leg)
3) Stop hit - a cross while stepping fwd and slightly 45 to jam the kicking leg
4) evasion - shuffle step or slide and step of get out of the way and then bounce back in with immediate follow up (punch or kick)

To make this more challenging and to explore timing and range the defences need to be applied while being fed with a mixture of attacks:

jab rear round kick
Jab cross rear round kick
Jab cross hook rear round kick.

This is challenging because of the timing on the attacks based on the speed and rhythm of the strikes and the fact that the attacker is constantly moving off line to land the strikes and line up the round kick. You are also needing to use a solid defence to stop the punches form landing as they are trying to hit you and you have to work on your own balance and range while trying to carry out and a defence. needless to say it was scrappy looking but that is the point. drill perfection so that in chaos you are "good enough" to get something in the way/stop them and respond.

U drill:

continuation of drill for Tuesday added to this was the attacker controlling the defenders elbow forcing them to twist body out of the way.

Also note this is a drill for something that is a moment in time - as you are looking to jam them and disarm/control knife arm rather than an endless flow.

we also added some strikes during the flow (if we could) and discussed flowing from U drill to hamer and anvil drill by adding a straight stab to the heart.

6/11/18: Backs to the wall and U dril

isolating and drilling.

Back to the wall drill is purely defensive drill, building a solid defence and going at a pace that allows you to see things to get a feel of making your defence tight. Noting is totally punch proof but we combine a variety of guard positions not cover arrange of scenarios. in "reality" you would only hold the defensive position for a few seconds before countering, but by doing a more prolonged drill you force yourself to focus and work on one aspect of your game.

Drill:

1) Half guard - protecting body, one arm down the side and across belly, the other (rear hand)protecting rib and jaw. the rear hand constantly moves in a tight windscreen wiper motion. This is mainly to defend body shots, with the wiping hand to defend the odd head shot.

2) Double pillar - like a Thai guard, hands up high, shoulders up and loose neck - arms move left and right like columns/rotating door, and you defend punches with your forearms. (for high line shots)

3) Crazy monkey - covering your head with elbows, constantly moving like brushing hair (but like the KEYSI/DEFENCE LAB stuff) - keep I tight and fast moving, this is a total cover up for a fast flurry of attacks (3 to5 second bursts)

Blending defences:

1) half guard into crazy monkey (body shots into rapid high line attacks)

2) with focus mitts - half guard, then 5-7 hits in responds, double pillar, then 5-7 hits in response, crazy monkey, then 5-7 hits in response.

General notes: your back foot is against a wall heel up, try not to move off the wall (attacker pin them to the wall so if you move too far to the side they will be able to escape!). Defender try to keep energy forward (I kept getting pinned back on my rear foot and into the wall.. hmm). help your partner grow.... steady pace to build some confidence then gradual pressure as the drill went on the feeder was naturally feeding with more intent and faster as defender got more comfortable. Feeder still needs to have proper punching technique. Breathing is also important.. old bad habits were creeping back, holding breath tight shoulders etc etc... constant improvement needed! - must remember to breath out on hitting and getting hit)

U drill

A knife sensitivity drill that is aimed at helping you develop reflexes. Again start slow concentrate on feel and technique and then gradually speed up. better to start slow and get it so that eventually you can start at fast pace and just "react"

Feed -  stab to ear, cut across belly, into other ear (a U shape)

defence: cat stance pivot and using back of hand/forearm to check the hit (e.g. they stab your left side of your head your right arm reaches across). Push the knife down and in towards them to redirect/follow their energy. As they complete the U you switch you checking hand (so they are now stabbing your right hand side and you are checking with left hand.

The faster they go the more you have to react. you will not be able to remain contact with the whole of the U so you may have to get your hips back and switch checking hands more rapidly -almost "falling" into their knife hand with your arm to keep the pressure on.

Variations:

multiple stab and tapping:

Somtimes you will need to move your checking hand, hit/chop with your other hand, before replacing the checking hand again (e.g they stab and just as you are about to redirect them they pull their hand back and stab again so you need to respond with the other hand.

This can also be done but the attacker removing your checking hand with their free hand and forcing you to do a quick check/hit with your other hand before replacing the checking hand.

General tip: position before submission - this BJJ principle works with striking and weaponry as much as ground work. basically get your body out of the way or off line in order to keep safe and effectively respond ant a more advantageous angle.

There was a lot of fine detail to this session which is difficult to capture. needless to say a lot of work needed by all but great fun had by all.

25/10/18: Working Syllubus stuff - Hubud variations and upperbody flow

A slightly Random session based on low numbers due to various pox's and plagues suffered by the regulars.

These are very much notes to help remember the session as apposed to my usual detailed blog as it was a session designed to focus on the syllabus elements of those in attendance

Arms bars and locks our of Hubud:

1) Salute into arm break
2) Uppercut into sandwich grip and arm break on shoulder
3) cut punch through, turn the head, armpit on elbow into arm wrench/break
4) drive in with elbow, into over arm, arm wrench.
5) Scoop the wrist like a knife disarm (feeding it back), bringing it into your arm/elbow, then move into  lock number 2 from lock flow


Upper body control off Jab:

Parry Jab and eye swipe into rear uppercut:

1) use uppercutting hand to clinch neck head and with a motor bike throttle motion twist head to off set, control their arm that is hanging on your uppercut arm with your free hand
2) switch hands so now other hand is controlling head.
3) Waist control (head against their shoulder to stop being elbowed and using fingers to manipulate hips.)
4) jab fingers into clavicle to lift them up
5) full nelson (pushing forward with arms not down
6) flow through to other side and go into head clinch again (like a split punch motion so your clinching arm is inside their arm)
7) change arms so other hand is controlling head

Upper body off the cross:

Parry/salute the cross and then lead uppercut, then go into flow from above but starting on the other arm

Parry repost switches:

1) Stop, inside pass or inside gunting straight into back hand (to go form outside to inside)
2) Inside parry and then punch through with other hand to clinch (changes from inside to outside line)

Tips: keep the stopping hand (stopping the back fist/chop) tight to you as the more to extend the more unlikely you will be able to stop a reversal and you will open yourself up to other attacks)

Note; interesting blends between various types of Hubud (standard, punching, lop sau cycle and parry repost) very easy to start flowing between different variations but the key is to remember all you are doing is trying to hit, grab - stop the hit/grab - or remove a barrier in order to hit and grab, yes you can play a game and have hundreds of variations but you need a basic set that you can make work and can potentially apply to sparring/grappling.

Stick disarm flow:

roof block snake strip
outside stab and strip vine
stick down, squeezing the sticks together on hand to try and strip
punyo to forearm
wrap round (hitting head) into punyo hit forearm strip
pull punyo strip
"figure four" (sab belly and under arm) wrench strip

23/10/18: Double stick drills and cob cob

This session was focused on double stick. The key was to not focus on collecting lists of drills and flows, but rather ensuring that the basics are correct and then playing with those. that way your creativity creates combinations for you to explore rather than lists to robotically follow. yes its nice to see variation but it is more useful to make sure what you have works rather than have a dozen lists of 17 hit combo's etc etc

Double stick drills:

Looking at basic angle 1 and 2 strikes, high line and low line and varying these and also implementing sinwalai (weaving motion) - heaven and standard 6

RH A1 and 2, LH A1 and 2

RH A1 and 2, LH A1 and 2 and then heavan 6

RH A1 and 2, LH A1 and 2 and then standard 6

RH A1 and 2,  RH half of heavan  LH A1 and 2 LH half of heavan

RH A1, watik A2, follow through A2 then RH half of heavan, LH A1, watik A2, follow through A2 the LH half of heavan.

RH - HLH RH half of standard, LH - HLH LH half of standard

Cob Cob (open and closed stance)

Cob cob is a tight motion, not much arm extension, using your body rotation to  make the stick hit. It is much more like a tap tap tap like a hammer type of motion as opposed  to a baseball bat swing with follow through

RH A1, A2
LH A1,A2
open cob cob RH fisrt (HH, MM, LL)
hit through with RH A1 into closed position
closed cob cob LH first (HH MM LL)
hit through on last low strike then start flow again but with opposite hand

LH A1, A2
RH A1,A2
open cob cob LH fisrt (HH, MM, LL)
hit through with LH A1 into closed position
closed cob cob RH first (HH MM LL)
hit through on last low strike then start flow again but with opposite hand

We did more variations I am sure but the key here was to look at some types of strikes and in partner drills combine them. working with a partner also encourages you to focus on range, hitting with correct part of stick and exploring footwork.(as well as reacting to some slightly wild feeds on occasion!)

Now that we had drilled these concepts we were able to implement them into correnza (stick shadow boxing) - using the footwork we know and combining these striking families (and others we might know but mainly these ones today) - finding ways to implement cob cob into the flow as well, visualising who and what you are hitting and where you are htting them to give your flow purpose.

Syllabus:

We then split into groups to work on syllabus stuff.

I worked with the other higher grades on:

upperbody and arm bar/clinch flows
Take downs from jab and cross
Hubud variations (standard hubud, punching hubud, Lop sau cyle and parry repost) including switches.(1 lop on the hit, 2 inside parry of hit into punch which is bong sau'd - 1 stop, inside, parry, chop,  2 inside parry and punch through with other hand instead of chop)

knife work
5 count hammer and anvil from stab to heart (5 motions not five different feeds -hammer anvil, on me not in me, scoop, slap, elbow control)
Palasut cylcle

THOUGHTS: What was important to note here is that the higher grades "know" these drills - though admittedly a bit rusty - but there are stages to the learning.

Step 1 is mechanical- getting used to the technique and drilling the motion and feel for it - even if it is a natural motion (which most are -if it's not natural then its not going to work in "real life) - you still need to practice it in this compliant form

Step 2 - add forward intent - we are at a stage when we should be aiming for everything we do to have forward pressure, this means motions are tight, "solid" almost "aggressive" in mentality/intent but not at the cost of technique at this stage (and obviously not smashing your training partner but hitting them to let them know they need to keep their hands up etc)

Step 3 - variation and chaos - once you have the forward pressure and have drilled the flow and variations you then apply chaos.. controlled at first - so the focus is on applying the skills, making them work but having to be alert enough to adapt to whatever is given to you (again it is conditioned chaos to start otherwise your not learning) - this means that you have to be focused on what you are trying to do e.g in hubud/trapping: I want to grab them for a clinch or hit them.... that's all... and depending on what gets in the way will decide what I do to remove that thing so I can still grab them or hit them!

Step 4 - sparring.. no compliance and seeing what you can make work BUT to get the most out of it although the sparring might be anything goes YOU have to have a plan of what things you want to try... otherwise you are just sticking to your main/favoured tools

So a very technical brain frying session but a lot of little tips throughout the session, specifically in how to approach the drills, to try and take your training to the next stage.

At the end of the day just keep turning up, work hard, be consistent - but most of all have fun and enjoy! the rest will take care of itself

18/10/18: Clinch workshop

Warm up

shadow boxing

Clinch

Off jab:

Entry - Waslik/scoop the jab and drive in with lead elbow (covering your face)

From the entry - the hand that did the scoop shoots up into single arm clinch (like you are chopping neck with forearm) and gripping the head (top/back of head not neck), while the hand that did the elbow slides down their arm, gripping the tricep (no thumbs) with elbow inside their forearm. your head should ne next to their head on the side of the tricep gripping arm.

Weight should be as if you are leaning on them (dropping weight from hips not bending over)

From this position we worked on several concepts:

1) Being punch proof  - (keep weight on head and arm moving arms in a steering wheel motion as partner tries to punch you and moving partner around with the clinch.

2) Trip/Throw - step off 45 to left, steering wheel motion of clinch, and pivot on stepping foot to move/offset partner, follow up with double knee.

3) Add double clinch - after offset and knee's go into double clinch and work on control. Partner tries a variety of escapes. Keep clinch tight their head on your shoulder your head very close to theirs. Manipulate and move them around and lay with distance. They are trying to drop low get knee on your thigh and bear hug you close

Off cross:

Entry as above and clinch is the same but on the opposite side.

same drills as above but the throw/trip s slightly different:

from clinch, step forward with your rear leg and BUMP their lead leg (et it off the floor) as you do this steering wheel the clinch and pivot off to the right in one motion (this will most likely send person to the floor). if they don't fall over follow up with knee's

PURPOSE OF THE CLINCH: clinching is NOT wrestling, when you clinch you are either going to throw them or hit them. and although we drill escapes when the clinch is on and you try and escape you are often opening yourself up to get hit so escapes need to be drilled carefully with a view to stopping the hits as much as possible.

Pad drills:

From single clinch, throw 3 elbow (on the left) going up, horizontal and downwards, then switch side of the clinch and throw 3 elbows for the other side. repeat for 3 mins - elbow is to hit with tip of elbow not forearm (hand on chest when throwing elbow)

Knees: hold partner in double clinch, control them and throw 2 knees (skipping steps) pad holder will try to hit you and move around as well to keep your clinch honest.

Knife hubud:

in once pick grip - Hubud just like standard hubud (remember to block the knife hand to keep structure strong you don't need the "octopus" covering the hand like in stick hubud)

3 different controls: Pak, push elbow (moving off to side slightly) and control thumb (moving back slightly)

Strip:

Blocking hand grabs and twists wrist, depending on energy given you either push the arm back into ethm, or pull the knife onto your hip. To srip your free hand goes up under the forearm then in a cutting motion towards the neck push with the cutting hand and pull with the twisting hand to striup the knife.

2/10/18: Single Stick and Hubud: Playing with variations and flows

Another week of covering classes. This week I looked at some basics that we had not done for a while and tried to take specific elements to work. The stick section was making sure we got good mechanics of each strike, hitting with correct part of stick and using full body rotation.

The footwork portion was to get familiar with the angels and the reasons for them, the need to "bounce" and be explosive in order to move direction and the importance of moving in triangles (or cutting the corner and being aware of the triangle shape of the movement.

This was applied to range work in numerada and applying the striking families while moving and maintaining optimum range (hitting them without getting hit back)

2/10/18

warm up:

Kali footwork patterns

Male and female triangle
lateral movement
closed triangles
changing direction with triangles
box pattern ("cutting the corners of the triangles")

Single stick

Striking families and body mechanics

cinco terras
Fig 8
Redondo
Abenico
Sunkiti

Numerada with striking families after the hit the hand (targeting and letting it flow and footwork/range)

Really focused on moving out of range and using triangular footwork to get out of range and back in to hit a target and then "cutting the corner" to move round the person

Experienced did Meet the force and follow the force Numerada followed by mixed striking families

Hubud:

Hubud is an energy drill that helps you build sensitivity, reactions, maintain connection/control to a partner, and manage distance. It allows you to play and explore out of movement and can be compliant or competitive depending on your specific needs

Basic flow:

Block the grab/hit with blade of arm, fingers pointing at eye same side as hand energy going forward, other hand goes under the striking arm and lifts up and across slightly (brushing hair motion), pak the arm down with free hand (near elbow and keep light pressure/contact on arm) then hit/grab at partner (wide line) for them to do the drill and repeat.

Experienced guys added different pak motions (hand on top, push elbow, control thumb)

Tried to focus on details: Being relaxed, forward energy, maintaining contact and controlling correct part of the arm or the energy can be used to turn them into locks and arm bars or escapes

Experienced added Switches:

Wave and hack
dagger pass (on the hit)
chi sau
ton sau (which helps to go into punching hubud)

They then did the flow into hubud with switches and into punching hubud and then switches from that

Punching hubud switches included:

Punching hubud (outside parry of straight punch, other hand lifts and brushes, then pak and punch back)

elbow destruction (into hammer, wedge, pak parry)
Gunting
indside parry
low line hit
face slap/lop (not sure of technical name

Doing this made us very aware of foot work and shifting weight and position (essentially a lateral step to the side and the other foot moving forward to the point of a triangle)


4/10/18

Focus of these sessions was getting the basics right: making the "blocks" in sambrada functional (work first time - stopping the stick and not letting them slide through), again make sure footwork is functional (range spring back etc) and then making sure we don't get stuck in a pattern.. add a little chaos in order to react to and not just act robotically.

warm up:

Carenza (stick shadow boxing using movement and striking families from Tuesday)

Single stick

(this was a lot to focus on for the beginners and they did really well)

3 count sambrada (individual blocks and putting together)

Roof block (above head punching up and dropping your head down below the stick)
Inside sweep (stop the stick and check the hand first while moving off line - hide behind the stick)
Outside deflection (step back to give yourself range, checking hand and hitting stick at same time)

Note: when we hit sticks we are really hitting the hand, also range was important; you must be close enough to hit the persons head otherwise you are just defanging)

Experienced: play time!!!!

5 count sambrada, making it tight, correct movement (e.g. off line and range) then introducing random feed (turn an A1 into an A2 at any time) to break the flow (the random A2 meant the response frome that could be anything and therefore makes both partners have to react.

We then added puno sumbrada to the mix (with one person still feeding random A2 strikes into the standard sumbrada) - again it was important to close the range and use correct footwork to make sure (lots of replacement steps!)

Challenge: while doing standard sumbrada with a random A2 and mixing in Puno sumbrada one person at a time add a disarm

This was all about playing with what you know, revisiting the material and trying to apply some things... play time is the best learning time!

Hubud:

Basic flow (as Tuesday) - the beginners did this

switches (as Tuesday) _experienced guys played with these

experienced:

Flow into hubud with switches, into punching hubud and then switches from that.

Once they had this they then had to add locks to the mix (wrist locks arm bars chokes etc anything they knew)

Again there was a lot of playing here, varying speeds trail an error and seeing what you can find from the shapes being presented all the while remaining switched on and trying to make each element effective

A really fun week and the time flew on thursdays session!

25/9/18 and 27/9/18: Boxing basic and mixng thai combo's and fakes

I ran the class this week while Steve is on holiday. I found running the sessions quite challenging as there is a gap between the beginner grades and the more experienced and trying to organise a session which combines the two groups and allows me time to support each group was tricky.

That being said my thought process was to work on fundamental skills with the beginners to give them flight time (which are the building blocks of the rest of the skills they develop), while the more experienced reviewed what they already know and see how they can combine them. The Thai pad drill had mixed success but I think it is something that can be tweeked to have a better effect, However the more conditioned rounds, based off some simple patterns and adding variety, seemed more effective and with a more obvious "take away" for everyone.

Just reinforces how good Steve is at teaching, how much further I still have to go, but also that I am able to blend what I know and I am definitley getting better at observing others small errors and correcting them (and catching them in myself!)

25/9/18

Warm up:

footwork lonero style - bouncing on the spot, using that feel of motion to move forward back left and right, box pattern and pivots

Beginners:

Jab defences :

1) catch and immediate jab reply
2) slip followed by uppercut and hook
3) split entry (using slip motion, jab to head or solar plexus)

essentially building on the motion of a slip and importance of getting out the way and using the parry to support the evasions not relying on the hand to block

In pairs: one person jabbing at forehead (keep chin down and hands up) every so often slip the jab. then we added slips to cross, bob and weave hooks

Pad work:

 Jab, slip, cross, slip, jab cross, bob and weave lead and rear hook

Experienced:

The idea of this session was to blend defences and attacking first by drilling all the defences they could remember off of a jab catch drill focusing on a variety of:

jab defences, cross defences, teep and round kick defences

We then attempted to apply these in a long thai pad round. not smashing the pads but using the pads to enhance technique while finishing ready to counter/defend an attack - pad holder called combos and then responded with a  steady pace

experimental thai pad round lasted for aout 5/6 mins:

essentially the pad holder calls out combo's to hit, but also feeds attacks which the striker defends and follows up with ABC. focus on not over committing and balance and being able to use what we know.

using pads as a target not hitting hard

All:

lock flow first four - all grades supporting eachother.


27/8/18

warm up:

movement patterns (box pattern, pivot, lstep moving forward and sideways and moving 45 female triangle)

into a routine of fwd, back left right, back to middle then 45 right, 45 left back to middle pivot x 4 left (make a circle) L step x 4 right (make a circle)

Beginners:

Cross defences (off jab cross feed)

1) parry (keep hand high, rotate body don't push hand too far across or pull down almost keep your arm vertical like a pillar.
2) split entry (focus on slip motion to evade and get off line while,after catching the jab, almost following their jabbing hand back in order to hit them)
3) salute (again slip motion and then using salute to off balance and drive forward)

we then mixed these up using a cross loop drill to practice the defences (default was the parry) to get flight time and to get the defences "out of motion"

Pads: 3 min round

jab
jab cross
jab jab cross
jab cross cross

also some discussion about throwing the jab and cross from the shoulder without dropping fist first or "telling" the blow and not over reaching and off balancing. Also keeping your hands up at all times (the Bruce Lee eyebrow brush to tell you your hands are high enough!)

lock flow 1-4 - gradually putting pressure on the locks not snapping them on (and snapping partners wrists.. especially on us old folk!)

Experienced

based on the Thai 4 count

1) rear round kick hook croos lead round kick
2) lead round kick cross hook rear round kick

Then add different punches e.g. instead of lead, cross, hook, rear, could change the punches to: body cross, upper cut (defend punches let kicks land occasionally,)

Fakes

isolating the fakes to drill before adding to the 4 counts above

1) Lead kick to rear kick - fake the lead kick (knee up) then switch to a rear kick (move off line!)
2) Switch kick to lead hook (In change of stance) - sell the switch to prompt a block, use you swinging arm to move a punch or to move the arm out the way to then land the hook) - may need a slightly deeper switch to close the range (or hook to body)

3) Rear kick targeting lead leg - as they lift to check you skip through to kick back leg
4) Rear kick to teep (question mark kick?) - fake the round (keep leg bent) and swing the leg round into teep (need strong balancing leg to help drive)

We then added fakes to the combo.. eg did the 4 count with a variety of punches or did the 4 count with a variety of fakes to keep defender guessing and trying to defend all

Lock drills:

1-16

disturb and lock flow (take time if you keep doing same 2 or 3 locks that's ok but stop and think about what else you can try to add to the flow)

Basic hubud with 4 switched (wave and hack, dagger pass (on the hit) ton sau and chi sau)

20/9/18: 12 count and stick flows, ground and pound and takedowns

Tonight's session was about getting back to basics, working through various techniques and applying correct mechanics.

Single stick:

Illustrimo 12 count

A1
A4 backhand
A3 forehand
A2
Stab
back hand uppercut
forehand uppercut
stab to side of head (your left)
stab to side of head (your right)
Redondo straight down middle
low level A1
Low level A2

We also added footwork to this flow stepping forward and back and also did this with left hand

Defang on Illustrimo 6 count:

feed the following -

A1
A4 backhand
A3 forehand
A2
Stab
back hand uppercut

on each feed hit the hand and then watik the stick

Stick flow:

A1, A2, A1 umbrella to A1

A2, A1, A2, umbrella to A2

add this flow to the defang drill above after hitting hand (we put gloves on and feeder holds stick out for you to hit  - focus on speed and smooth not smashing the stick)

Ground and Pound:

feeder with focus mitts

1) feed jab, duck under jab and drive in, bear hug (there is a better name but I cant remember it) and knee pinch into take down. land in the mount on top of pad holder. 6 hits on pads (not too much energy as you don't want to over balance) then lop one arm and elbow, lop the other arm and elbow. repeat for 3 min round (and thinking about how to move off them in control with knee on belly)

2) this time pad holder takes you down with same takedown as above. they are in mount position and start to hit at you with pads. cover up and keep head off floor. after 6 or seven hits you return fire and hit the pads for 6 hits. once down you stay down for 3 mins doing this drill (this is an ab killer who needs sit ups)

Take downs:

1) Off jab, parry and eye strike with lead hand. wrap arm drive in (stepping forward) with head next to their head. free hand grabs shoulder, step back and drag down. once down hammer fist to head, step over and then branch down arm/shoulder wrench)

2) Off jab, parry and eye strike with lead hand into lop and then cross. move into figure 4 lock and throw/takedown. knee on head and ribs and the keeping elbow tight against you lift up into wrist lock

3) Off Cross, Over hand, uppercut, arm break on shoulder. keep tight grip and bob and weave under arm and pivot as you twist writ to take down. when down put one leg behind head so they can't twist away, place the palm of their hand on your hip furthers away from them (and a slight step away form their body) keeping tight grip twist body and apply wrist/arm/ shoulder lock.

4) Off cross, cut punch over cross to turn their head, lean straight over onto arm bar (try to get this on straight away) take down by falling on arm (but with parent go down slowly with bent lead leg then support with one arm. take them to where you want them.. stretch them out/pull them into position. apply arm lock on ground if arm bends can turn into wrist lock.

There were lots of little tips tonight, how to punch on the ground so you don't over balance, cutting elbows so you aren't falling over onto the floor to just hit the person, maintaining torque and pressure through the locks and takedowns.

I was also becoming more aware of my partners energy. for example with doing one of the arm bars I could feel how solid they were and that I would not have been able to lock out their arm. I used the pause while I was thinking (which you can do when you drill) to visualise going with that energy and turing it onto a figure 4 (or another lock which works on a bent arm).

I know for my personal journey I am trying to tighten up the things I know and make sure I am nailing the techniques I am learning steo by step. But I also feel that my awareness of some things is expanding and I am looking at exploring variations of technique in that, if I am trying something and the resistance is significant. I am able to switch to something else that will be more effective. again something to focus on for me in drills when I am able to (which means when I am confident I can apply something effectively and smoothly in the first place)

13/9/18: Muay Thai variations and a little stick

Tonight's session continued our focus on Thai defences. Over the last few weeks we have been building a repertoire of techniques/skills which we have gradually been challenging through uncertainty (in a build up to chaos and sparring).

In pervious sessions (see older blog entries) we have worker thai defences off the lead round kick combos and started to build some options against this, and we continue here with the rear round kick option.

I must stress that action is better than reaction, so it's always better to get the hits in first...but... your opponent is a moving target and they are not just going to let you hit them. So having some frame of reference for what you are going to do no matter what your opponent throws at you (tested under pressure of course) is going to be more effective than having no options (or too many).

Warm up:

Shadow boxing

Isolating drills

Round Kick
Jab, round kick
Jab, cross, round kick
Jab, cross, hook, round kick

Tips: twist standing leg on ball of foot with a "hard ankle" to open you hips, get the hip over when throwing the kick, use the arms to help swing the leg, step off the line with the hook.

Thai defences:

All off the jab cross hook rear round kick combo

The point of these variations is that your opponent that you don't really know how what they are going to throw or how many hits/combo. We started with variation 1 (detailed below) as default but if (when) you don't managed to pull this off (too close, too fast you miss etc) you have other options you can flow into. usual rules apply... hands up, movement, focus etc etc

1) Teep: whatever they throw (in this case the jab... throw a rear teep (and follow with rear round kick)... keep your hands up in case they move too fast and get in before your teep lands, or have a really long reach.

They jab to fast and you don't manage to pull the teep off

2) long Parry the jab and using the same hand throw a cross (step forward and off line) follow with uppercut and cross (or any ABC)

The cross comes too fast or you miss.

3) long parry jab and cross and lean back on the hook to make it miss then "bounce/shuffle" forward and follow up with cross hook and round kick

you don't manage to lean back on the hook

4) long parry jab and cross, thai cover the hook, check the round kick (block with shin), follow up with rear knee, into back sweep.

we drilled these in isolation and then applied them in any order with partner throwing the full combo without stopping and you trying to apply these and make alterations depending on if you pull them off or not

Pad rounds: circle of death!

6 stations. 5 of which had thai pads 1 had focus mitts.

Round 1: on thai pads you do jab cross hook rear round kick, on focus mitts you do jab cross hook cross. Hit pads until you are told to change to next station. we went round every station, no idea how long we did this for.

Round 2: on thai pads we did rear round kick pyramids (1,2,3,2,1), on focus mitts we did, jab/ jab cross/ jab ross hook/ jab cross/ jab... again went round every station only moving on when we were told to.

Stick work:

5 count feed (A1, A2, A3,A4, A5)

1) hit sick and then zone off throwing A1 and A2 strikes
2) hit sick and then zone off throwing upward A1 and A2 strikes
3) hit sick and then zone off throwing abenico

Stick choke/strangle

insode sweep off angle 1, check hand, throw the hand away and abenico to head, stab stick past head and slide to opposite side. reach free hand just behind head close to neck, grip stick and squeeze (like a scissor motion. when it hurst .. and it will... tap on your partner to tell them to stop... or they won't!

11/9/18:Muay Thai and Arm lock flows

This session was looking at functionality. A couple of interesting points were raised.

1) The Muay Thai square stance - is actually really practical for "the street" you have all your weapons available and  you are practically in a fence position. (plus most likely you will be in a pair of jeans so longer "stances"/bouncing around may not be as effective or practical)

2) Pads - you don't have to kill them and go a hundred miles and hour, the pad holder does not have to feed endlessly in rapid succession. The pad holder is NOT helping anyone doing that. It is FAR better to do high quality, technically sound combos at 70% max to make sure you get it right 90% of the time... 20 quality reps as opposed to 50 shit ones! then as you get more comfortable the striker can up the speed and power, but slow down a tad when the technique is going pear shaped!

Warm up:

Shadow boxing

Muay Thai:

continuing with the jab, cross hook, rear round kick combo form last week, adding extra variations to defences.

1) out of range, full extension punches and whip (spin round) with kick, stepping off line with the hook.

2) in range as above, defender using long guard to cover and let round kick hit thigh

4) as they jab throw a rear teep (knee up first and drive out through hips) and rear round kick (mentality of no matter what they do you are driving that teep through them!... just remember to keep hands up to cover just in case!)

4) Parry jab, then as cross comes use the hand that just did long parry to throw a cross with a slight move off line and stepping forward (deep), follow up with upper cut and cross

We were discussing range and making sure when you hit there is a slight bend in the arm so that you are hitting through the target in stead of being fully locked out on impact.

Pad rounds:

2x 3 mins

1) jab cross hook rear round kick
2) rear teep to push them back, step forward slightly off line and rear round kick

Note: Balance - especially important when kicking. Make sure that after you kick you land in a balanced position. Just do single kicks on pads if you need to practice. I find that if I can throw a decent cross after I have thrown a kick I have landed in a good, strong, balanced position, if I have to adjust, I have landed too narrow or wide. This is why you have to work thet pads intelligently - yes they help power and stamina, but they are for APPLYING your technique, and if the pad holder is "sparring with you" you will not be in a position to defend their reply effectively. Practice and drill for the best "effective" technique you can, so that when things speed up and become more chaotic your responses and attacks, although not technically perfect, will still be effective and allow you to move.

Arm bar flow:

1) Partner throws lead hook, drive in with elbow cover then wrap over arm into arm bar.
2) This does work, so let slip through to 2 on one (driving shoulder just above elbow)
3) They bend arm. so move into "cut the chicken" ... keep arm vertical as you put lock on to drive them down.

Then I added..

4) single arm clinch - reach round with free arm (wrapping round ead to opposite ear), fingers into neck/jaw, head on head and use head to twist and throw into the ground.

flow is then repeated on the other side

6/9/18: Making trapping work - hiding it in plain sight

Tonight's session involved taking a classical element of the martial art and making it work. AS has been well documented by now, trapping works and it is used all the time. Just look at a boxing or MMA match and you will see it. It may not look traditional but it is there. Trapping, as I have stated before, is a moment. One beat in which you remove a barrier in order to hit your opponent. That's it.

The ART of trapping is immense, with huge variations and moving from trap to trap to counter to trap again. That is a game, and a really fun game. But if you want it to really WORK then you need to get out of the game mentality and into the... get this out of my way so I can thump you mentality!

As usual, we took a concept, drilled it in isolation in order to understand the mechanics, then added some randomness to it before sparring with it.

The traps:

We looked at 4 trap variations:

1) Pak and hit - slap their lead blocking hand with your rear hand (at the elbow pushing slightly down and towards them!) - follow up with a vertical fist punch (forward pressure and you only need to move their guard slightly out of the way to get the hit in)

2) Lop and hit -  reach lead hand out and pull their lead guard forward and down. with a slight step off line throw a cross (vertical or horizontal fist)

3) Inside pak and hit - slap the inside of their lead arm out of the way with your lead hand and follow with a cross.

4) Outside pak and hit - slap outside of their lead arm with rear hand and with the same hand on the half beat throw a cross (a  bit like skimming a stone over water... bounce off their arm to punch)

We also did this against a south paw stance (we stayed in right lead) the techniques are the same you just have to switch which hand is doing the pak and which is doing the punching (this also helps you to learn to do trapping against the cross.)

Tips: forward pressure, make a gap just big enough to get a hit through, very slightly moving off line if needed

We did these individually then we mixed them all up on a static partner.

We then drilled these with the partner feeding a jab (in right and left leads)... just learning to apply.

Trapping Sparring:

Sparring let us play with timing and application of trapping in motion. Timing of the trap is REALLY important. there are 3 ways you can use the trap using timing (and some of the traps are more effective in different timings)

BEFORE partner attacks - basically crashing in with your trap (I find Pak hit and Lop hit good here)
DURING partner attack - as they attack you trap their hit and respond (I find inside and outside pak good here)
AFTER partner attack - as they withdraw their attack you follow and then trap and hit (I find Pak hit and Lop hit good here)

The traps are tools to ADD to your sparring NOT something you would always do. if both of you are "trapping" at the same time there is very little sparring and it basically ends up in a clinch/grapple.

To functionalise the trap we did BOXING SPARRING - jab only. We both boxed... With all the footwork, head movement etc. that includes, but one partner was allowed to include trapping and  focus on the timing of application (amongst the single, double, triple, fast, slow, fake and really put in jabs!) while the other person did all they could to hit you! (which also forced you to box as well, make sure your hands were up etc... after all you don't need to trap at all if their hands are down!)

Essentially, we were hiding the trapping in the boxing, keeping each other honest by both throwing jabs, not "waiting" for one.

Thai pad rounds:

Just to kill us off - thank you Ian... we owe you

3x 3 min rounds

1) jab cross hook rear round kick
2) jab cross rear elbow rear knee
3) rear round kick pyramid (1, 2, 3, 2,1 repeated)

Basic knife defences:

based off of the statistically most common types of knife attack (which for your info are: the straight stab -with or without a grab by the free hand, an angle 1 slash or and angle 1 stab in ice pick grip, and a VERY occasional back hand A2, but you need to practice all angles as you don't know what hand the knife is in!)

1) off A1 - block with blade of arm and same time hit to throat. twist knife arm across you (keeping your elbow in tight) slight pull to off balance, then use pad of hand between thumb and fore finger to strip knife and feedback.

2) If no time to put hit int....Off A1 - block with blade of arm and hubud with other arm pushing knife arm up and over.. pull back to off balance, feed back knife under arm pit. to strip the knife use the "cup the boob" (thank you Bob Breen) hand grip, twist the wrist and strip.

3) If too fast to "block" - Off A1 -  use back of lead arm (in right lead) to scoop (inside their knife arm).. scooping down and into them.. scoop round into wrist lock number one (try and pick up the knife hand before it gets too high or they will cut you).. peel out knife in ice pick grip and feed back.

Tips: MOVE, get off line, off set with slip pulls and move away from their free hand which will probably be trying to hit you.

As always LOADS to work and incorporate. thoughts and comments welcome as usual.

4/9/18: Thai boxing: Creating Order from Chaos

This session was dedicated to Thai boxing, specifically looking at certain skills sets/techniques and "making them work"

Warm up:

Shadow boxing  - we used the shadow boxing to focus on specific skills, isolating elements and then combining them all.

1) evasion (footwork and head movement)
2) jab only
3) 3 hit combos
4) constantly moving forwards (slide step, step slide, shuffle, step 45 etc)
5) defences off jab and cross
6) defences off hooks
7) 2 steps back then either pivot, L step or shuffle step
8) mix it all up against imaginary opponent

Discussed slight variation in stances if boxing (longer) and thai boxing (shorter, hips up and smaller movements)

visualise a lot in showdown boxing and use it to "spar"

Thai boxing:

Feeder always doing jab, cross, step off hook and rear round kick.

Defences:

1) long parry jab and cross, thai cover the hook, crunch the round kick and reply with a round kick

2) long parry jab and cross, Simultaneous cover hook and lead elbow hit (Driving forward), follow up with elbows.

3) Long parry jab, hard parry and salute the cross to off balance, elbow the arm and then head

4) Hard parry the jab into salute, elbow the arm and then head

We drilled these in isolation and then started to mix them up gradually adding one at a time until partner would feed the jab cross hook and rear round kick 4 times and you would use any of the defences in any order.

The key here is that the "attacker" is going to throw their combo no matter what and it puts the defender under pressure. It also shows you how "quick and direct" you need to be. e.g. we all struggled with the cross defence. however the purpose of this was to see if you can make it work, work out what is not working and the adjustments you need to make to make it work. Also to acknowledge that it might not be the most effecting technique in that situation but it may work in others in a more efficient way.

eventually we did this in a semi sparring situation 1 for 1 feed instant reply after partners defence.

It goes without saying that distance is key here.

Conditioned sparring:

why conditioned sparring?

3 reasons:

1) It isolates a technique/s so that you drill it in action
2) It helps to functionalise it - have you got distance correct, are you landing with it, are you defending accurately - you quickly notice what isn't right and so you have to adjust.
3) If forces you to think - everyone has their go to combo's, by doing this you are forced to work without your back up and to make each technique work or to think of new ways to use those techniques.

various rounds and conditions:

1) jab only
2) jab vs cross
3) jab and rear round kick only
4) jab, cross rear round kick only

(though we all ended up doing extra random stuff by accident... although if you are a certain mr Darren Black it was no accident!)

General thoughts:

I felt throughout this session I was "thinking too much"... My head is so full of footwork, combos, moving off line, driving forward, hunter not hunted, make sure hits land etc etc that I was fighting myself as much as my opponent.

It certainly highlighted to me that I have certain "favoured" responses and putting conditions on them made me have to think far harder than I should have had to. It did also highlight that each hit individually needs to be "better". For example in the Thai drill when I was feeding I was really focusing on making my hook short and land (and fight the urge to change my hook into an uppercut when I saw an early and wide hook defence!). In the sparring I felt my round kicks loose their technique and not be effective. Distancing was too far away and the bloody flinch away from everything response was coming back putting me in all sorts of rubbish balanced positions.

So the question is, how do I correct these?

Obviously, more sparring and chaos condition drills, but also the shadow boxing sparring I feel will really help to sharpen my "responses and counters"

There is also a place for pad work sparring to help build the "letting go" aspect of the striking and well as defending after throwing committed strikes.  It will also help to build conditioning too. I am not sure that you need to go "all out" when hitting the pads doing this sort of pad sparring?... but it certainly allows you to work harder... maybe incorporating 10 second bursts of full all out hits then back into pad sparring?

one final thought.. the mental aspect... sparring is an opportunity to not be compliant and test yourself... again something I am working on is the "stay the fuck away from me" mentality and making sure I am playing my game and not responding to what my opponent is doing. But it is still all done with a smile on your face! ;0)

21/8/18: Boxing evasions and stick fundamentals

Simple but not easy. Getting to work on some basic Boxing evasions, fine tuning and testing them and then exploring some basic stick work which is deeper than you would think at first glance. And remember evasion is a way or making space for you to attack, not to run away. Once you have the motion of evasion down a bit and have practiced some chaos (e.g. random order upping pace) then start to build some immediate/half beat replies so you are not just evading all the time. As with everything stick and evasion wise - range is key!

Warm up:

Shadow boxing

Boxing evasions:

Slips

Partner feeds a jab and cross - defender slips to the outside of each punch with minimal foot movement at this stage.

Important tips: Feeder aim for the face in a straight line. Please try and hit your partner (doesn't have to be hard or fast!) - otherwise there is no need to slip!. The motion of the slip is basically putting your shoulder where you head was. Imagine there is a ball in front of your chest. As you slip you are slamming that ball with your shoulder and getting your head off line. Also make sure the slip is tight. I often slip the punch but am wide on the slip, evading the punch and not enough forward momentum (hunter not hunted!) however although you practice for perfection at the end of the day as long as they miss who cares!

Slip and reply

As you slip the jab or cross, throw an uppercut with rear hand - this needs to be on the half beat. You are also trying to close the distance as you slip as well to close the range for uppercut.

Bob and weave

Partner feeds lead and rear hooks - the basic motion is to go in the direction the hook is coming (not towards it.. start with a slipping motion by getting shoulder forward, then roll underneath... don't bend over instead bend the knees.

Bob weave and reply

As you bob and weave throw a body hook (keep yourself covered!).

Tips: feeder practice your hooks. it is too tempting to throw long and wide but you are practicing a  rubbish punch. Keep it tight and aim for the jaw.Then they have to really move and you practice good technique. defender play with range as you bob and weave - for ward pressure getting close to them for one slip (usually their right), as they adjust to hook again you bob away. You are aiming to slip right under their armpit. Darren has a great analogy of imagining you have spikes on your shoulders and you are trying to drive that into them as come up from the bob and weave.

Mixing feeds

Jab lead hook (slip and bob with replies)
Cross rear hook (slip and bob with replies)

We also practiced the "wrong slip" eg you end up inside and then having to adjust by doing a bob and weave to get back on outside line

Pad work:

start out of range so you have to come in and so you aren't getting hit form the start!

jab, slip return jab, cross, slip return cross, jab cross then get out of range (bob snap back whatever)

Jab, slip jab and uppercut, bob and weave right hook, hook cross hook get out
cross, slip cross uppercut, bob and weave left hook, cross hook cross get out

during these drills you can play with your slipping and bobbing e.g. move fwd and backwards left right in and out as you are evading to create angles

Stick work:

facing each other in square stance

1) step fwd right A1, A2, A1, A2, A1, A2 step fwd left and repeat
2) step fwd right A1, A2, A1,  step fwd left A2, A1, A2
3) step fwd right A1 high, A2 low, A1 high step fwd left A2 high, A1 low, A2 high
4) step fwd right A1 high, A2 high, A1 low step fwd left A2 high, A1 high, A2 low
5) combine combo 2, 3 and 4

higher grades also did this with left hand

Tips: RANGE... you are hitting with tip of stick so stay long. Angles of hit - they are tight X shape hitting at temples not horizontal (a bit like you are doing a tennis serve forehand and back hand). When "hitting sticks" don't look at the sticks look at the target e,g, aim for the head/knee your movements become smoother and with more intent. use your hips, the stick motion is basically like throwing a jab cross hook etc so use same mechanics

17/8/18: High volume Thai combos and takedowns into submissions.

Straight into it tonight, looking to up the intensity and repetitions.

Thai drill warm up: (lots of reps)

1) jab, rear round kick
2) lead hook rear round kick
3) lead uppercut rear round kick
4) jab cross round kick

In pairs, out of range so you can do a full 360 spin during round kick (starting low to help warm up!).

We do a lot of slow and smooth full body mechanics shadow boxing. Today we used this out of range partner drill to had some intensity to out mechanics, really whipping the kicks round (and coming round into a leg check stance at the end). Also when punching Steve suggested imaging you have a bag of marbles in each hand and that when you snap your punches out (with full rotation) you are trying to "shake/rattle the marbles" I found this analogy very helpful. Even through you were out of range and taking turns the target person can still visualise and practice defences and movement (just don't touch them!)

Rear round kick defence variations:

All off jab, rear round kick feed

1) Catch jab, Crush the kick into either teep or knee (with rear leg) into ABC

2) Catch jab, Cut kick, as they kick you step off in the direction the kick is going (e.g. right) and use lead leg to "cut" their standing leg, follow up with rear round kick.

3) Catch jab, Stop hit - step in and slightly off 45 (to jam their kick) and throw a cross before their kick lands

4) Catch jab, evade kick - shuffle step back then fwd following up with ABC. (as per boxing drills the other week.

We drilled these individually and then randomly in sets of 4 any order same feed (with intent)

Take downs:

1) Off Jab - parry and lead hand eye swipe, into lop and cross, dumog drag into figure 4 wrist lock take down. partner on side on floor with arm bend wedge arm against body cup wrist with both hands and pull straight up

2) Off Jab - split entry then immediate off set (push rear shoulder), skip step to side and simultaneous ear slap, hooking kick to back of knee with your rear leg. keep hold of an arm as they go down. to finish stamp on head, wedge arm between legs, sit down and fall back into arm bar

3) Off Cross -  Split entry into dumog drag takedown into arm bar as above

4) Off Cross - Cut punch into arm bar (lat on elbow), to take down gently for the drill switch hands holding the arm, come down to floor with lead knee and use your lead hand to brace on the floor, then slowly slide down. This one you can easily wrench your partner so go really slow to start and practice getting the lock on straight after the cut punch.

Lots to fine tune, mixing flowing and snappy shadow boxing, movement, applying combos and flowing form technique to techniques (e..g entries and locks/armbars) while making sure that they are tight and "on" as soon as you get hold of them

16/8/18: Clinch workshop and knife work

High repetitions working the basics, breaking it down step by step then getting more flow. Been a while since we worked clinch so some good reminders and an introduction for many others.

Clinch Drills:

Worked off of a jab entry.

1) Waslik (scoop) the jab, crash in with elbow towards head (cover your head as you do this and drive forward, their head is at the end of their arm you don't even have to look!)... don't get too caught up with "scooping" the jab most important part is to get it off line (like the long guard) so you can crash in , you can scoop the arm as you crash in closer... after the elbow crash use that arm to check your opponents rear hand while you other hand hits the neck while going for a single clinch (using blade of forearm..top half of arm closer to hand).. then go into double arm clinch.

2) Waslik (scoop) the jab, then crash in with hammerfist and pulse... then continue into the clinch as above.

Defender tips: Once you are in the clinch bend knees to drop low and get your lead leg touching their thigh so you are bringing your hips in and next to theirs. This starts to make it hard for you to be manipulated and jams up their arms to stall an elbow form hitting you (you can also get one of your arms over their clinching arms to help defend)... drill this so that you are trying to do this as soon as the clinch is on you.

Adding knees (break defence):

Either entry above, defender gets hips in close as described above. Clincher pushes one elbow forward, hard, and pulls hips away at same time creating space. Then do 3x skipping knees (straight forward.)

Round knees:

After a couple of straight knees add some round knees (aimed at ribs) to get this motion imagine standing with feet shoulder width apart. skip to the left (bring your right foot to you left foot, then swing you knee out to side and then forcibly back to the centre (lifting knee up over 90degrees and trying to bring it down as you bring your knee across, hitting with the inside of your knee) to skip right you bring your left foot to where your right foot is first.

Manipulating balance:

Entry into clinch as above, break defence and go straight into a round knee, make sure your kneeing leg lands forward, pivot on that leg and using your momentum and your arms like a steering wheel, slightly twist neck, and bring them around into follow up knees.

Clinch tips: never go for clinch with both hands, one at a time. Hand high up on back of head one hand on top of other, pinch your elbows in tight squeezing their head and driving elbows into clavical, use hand to roll head down. This will make neck sore quickly if not used to it or haven't done for a while, so put it on a couple of time but also lighten it up, once you have started to get the feel for it you can then add resistance etc. use the drills to develop sensitivity, to be able to get the clinch on, to stop the clinch and to quickly react if the clinch is on. Like all drills, these are only "moments" in a fight, extended for learning but will be over in seconds so worth taking the time enhance sensitivity and responses.

Pad round

felt like forever but maybe only 4 mins?

jab, cross, evade charging pad older by pivot left or right, then over hand uppercut.

Knife flow (a bit like numerada counter for counter:

In ice pick grip.

Isolating "defences"/movment then blending them adding another "defence" each time.

1) straight down middle feed - dagger pass (make sure you move whole body)
2) slight angles (e.g. A1) - shield cover (literally liting your other hand to block like a shield
3) off straight or angle feed - parry the hit and feed back a backhand horizontally (defender then paks the hit down and feeds back the same hit.
4) off straight down you do a shield block then roll over (wave and hack) pushing into body
5) add hubud (again better when its a tight narrow hit rather than a wide feed.)

mixing it all up adding each one to the mix as we practiced it till it became a little more "live" we all got stabbed we all smiled but we gradually got stabbed less!

9/8/18: 12 count stick flow, Backs to the Wall Defense drill, and knife sambrada

Tonight's session was focused on working body mechanics and flow patterns (which are useful was of helping you shadow box combinations and help to take the "thinking" out of what you are doing). We then moved onto some empty hand "boxing" style defences and finished with polishing 5 count Sambrada with a knife.


12 count stick flow: (in right lead)

This is pretty much identical to the knife flow we did a few weeks back:

Al
A4 (horizontal backhand)
A3 (horizontal forehand) (step back or fwd)
A2
Stab (step forward or back)
Upward diagonal backhand (low line)
Upward diagonal forehand (step back  or fwd)
Back hand stab to side of head
Fore hand stab to side of head (step forward or back)
Redondo motion slicing straight down the middle of head (hand ending outside your leg)
A1 low line (Step back or fwd)
A2 low line

We then added footwork (which I have added above) first stepping back... then  doing the flow again and stepping fwd

We then did this with left hand!!!!!

We then tried to do this with right and left hand and add any footwork to it (moving around)

The strikes here are all "basic" but ensuring correct body mechanics, starting to flow, adding movement and then building speed and power with the strikes is something that takes a lot of repetition.

The idea of these "flows" are so that you have a reference point to build from. They are not the end point, but the start. The idea is to express yourself with all the striking families moving in any direction and to keep it going and to use it as a type of active mediation or shadow boxing. but this gives you a frame work to start with and from here you can go where ever you want. If you feel yourself getting carried away or starting to lose structure and technique you can come back to the base flow.

Back to the Wall drill (working pure defence)

The idea of this drill is to isolate specific defence types and work them only for a short period. Starting slow so that the basic mechanics can be practiced and then gradually increasing speed and intent (but not necessarily power) to challenge that specific defence. You stand with you rear foot against a wall so there is nowhere to go- no escaping just defending.

No defence is 100% proof and you will get hit, this is looking at ways of minimising that (and don't forget, you should be fighting back not just taking it)

1) Half guard (Floyd mayweather style).- rear hand protecting head and ribs on one side of body, other arm guarding ribs and body - keep body thin at an angle so there is a small target for opponent. this is useful to defend body shots.

2) Double pillar (thai long guard/4D box - all have similar principles) - used to defend head shots mainly - keep arms slightly extended and both arms moving at same level (not like a steering wheel more like moving a box left and right - "fall onto" the straight punches and use blade of arm to "block" hooks, elbow in for uppercuts. Keep arms moving and move your head/upper torso off line/hide behind hand too.

3) Crazy monkey (over head with elbows aka limb destruction and movement made popular by KFM/Defense lab but has been around forever.. nothing is new!) - This is for flurries of fast heavy hits, the oh shit moment. cover head with arms and with a brushing hair motion keep moving your arms over your head. moving your body and defending the hits, hopefully many will land on the elbows! - you should not do this for long as it is the most defensive of the 3. All of these are only really supposed to be for a few moments before you launch your own counter attack.

At any point you can add a "cover/smother" which jams your opponent up and leads to a clinch.

We isolated and practiced each of these individually. We then added an element of the unknown with mixing high and low line and the speed of the attack, forcing the defender to choose which defence was most appropriate at the time (we all got hit)

Pad drill:

We then added pads to the above drill. The attacker hit high or low line (the unknown) forcing defender to choose most effective defence. At any time the attacker would pause and the defender would then need to capitalise on the moment to through a 5/6 hit combo on the pads (and look for escape) before defending again. A great drill for remaining focused under pressure and looking for a moment to "fight back"

Knife:

5 count sambrad with knife. Focus on keeping knife movements tight, keeping body at an angle, movement and ensuring the "parrying/passing/checking hand" is forcibly manipulating the attacker/feeder. (go slow and smooth before speeding up and if it goes to fast slow down again then speed up. Speed will come)

A note on drills: as we had been doing a lot of the palasut cycle recently I noticed hat during the sambrada drill I would often give the "wrong feed" which then brought the drill to a stop and having to start again. What I have realised from this is that, while drills are good for muscle memory and making techniques more live, you cannot stay there forever or for too long otherwise you get stuck and are not able to adapt. As with my comments about flow above, it is important to learn the flows and movements but to encourage "odd feeds" and to implement reactions/defences to those (much like we did with the random feeds of the palasut cycle). Essentially there is no wrong feed, only the ability of the partner to deal with that feed. So yes you practice a drill for a specific skills set, but you must be aware enough that at times someone is going to go "out of the drill" and it is up to you to keep it flowing until you can find your way back into it... or go a different way and combine drills techniques disarms etc. This can only be done though if you have build a base of solid core "techniques/skill" and more importantly the awareness and focus to adapt on the fly. So basically stay in the moment, breathe, and don't do the motions robotically!

This is the art and skill/attribute building section of the martial arts and is what keeps you coming back for more. The "reality stuff" will be enhanced by appropriate and challenging/intense skills/drill training, but will also need more individualised adrenaline/shit yourself random chaotic training to get your body at least somewhat used to the potential level of violence and you certainly won't get second chances, so avoid at ALL COSTS... and if you can't, hit as hard as you can as fast as you can on do not let go until they have stopped moving! (just a thought.. I'm rambling again I know!)

31/7/18: Foot work, Foot work, Foot work and a little stabby, stabby!

This session was fundamentally about footwork and as such incorporated elements of range and angles (from a boxing base)

Warm up:

Shadow boxing

Boxing drills:

The class was spilt into different groups, the lower grades working basic mechanics and movement. The higher grades focused on the following:

 Jab, Catch x 2 - jabber moving forward on each jab, catcher moving back on each jab to maintain distance (on each catch practice an immediate half beat jab reply)

Jab, Catch x3 split right -(as above) but on the 3rd jab split entry and step of 45 right. Keep on circling to the right (moving behind them) and hitting (ABC) after the split/45 step

Jab Cross, Catch x3 split left - (catch with the rear hand for jab and cross moving back as above)... on 3rd jab cross split entry and step 45 left. Keep on circling to the left (moving behind them) and hitting (ABC) after the split/45 step

Jab catch x3 shuffle step drill. - on the frst 2 jabs step back as normal (rear foot first) on the 3rd Jab shuffle step (bit like a pendulum, shuffle back -lead foot goes to back foot then back foot moves back... this gets you out of range.. you then shuffle fwd - rear foot goes to front foot and front foot goes forward) - the shuffle is explosive and does not give partner a chance to move as you are "on top of them" very quickly. after shuffle follow up with ABC (experiment with different lead hand hits as first hit after the shuffle.. a hook is quite effective from this, but any shot will work and you really are in their face and steam rollering them.

Basically by the end of this, whether partner jabbed or threw a cross we could move back, of to the side or shuffle step at any time which kept the attacker guessing and they never knew what we wree going to do next

Pads:

Jab catch x 2 then shuffle step and Any combo x3mins

Jab catch x2 then instead of a 3rd hit your partner charges you down... split entry and step off right or left and follow up with ABC


Knife flow:

Off of 5 count

A1 - block with blade of rear arm and simultaneous hit to throat, then hubud the knife arm over into wrist lock/strip
A2 - Block with blade of lead arm and  simultaneous hit to head, then hubud the knife arm over into wrist lock/strip (tricky on this side)
A3- block with blade of rear arm and simultaneous hit to throat, then scoop/parry with back of arm (pushing towards them) into wrist lock/strip
A4- block with blade of lead arm and simultaneous hit to throat, then scoop/parry with back of arm (pushing towards them) into wrist lock/strip
Stab - block with blade of rear arm and simultaneous hit to throat, then scoop/parry with back of arm (pushing towards them) into wrist lock/strip

Key points - FORWARD MOMENTUM, its important to be the hunter (yes I know I would be shitting it with a real knife but decisive action is key... if tentative or retreating you will most likely get caught off balance and cut to shreds.) The hit is put in to keep your focus on going forward and attacking the attacker. When we started to speed up the feed the hit never landed as we had to move too fast BUT the forward moment put the attacker off and the "block element" of the move slows the attack down a fraction for you to pass/get hold of the knife. If you think of the passing/hubud action like a roof block with a stick you also get that feeling of moving "forward"

A general note on training partners: I am really lucky to have such skilled and honest training partners at the club. A massively important element to your development is your training partner. It is important to look after them and to respect each others pace. You will only get better with a training partner who respects the drill and can challenge you appropriately. For a beginner it is all about body mechanics, how to hold pads how to move and being/hitting on target, not trying to take each others head off (to start off with). As you get more experienced it is about helping your partner get better, keeping technique tight, feeding back observations (e.g. your dropping your guard) and if need be reinforcing it with a tap... a LIGHT hit to emphasise a point. As you get more experienced you can then speed up, hit a little harder, add extra combinations and maintain accuracy, but never EVER forget the purpose of the drill, which is to acquire skills that you can gradually challenge so you have a frame of reference for options you can use when you go "live" in sparring or a conditioned all out scenario. Otherwise you might as well just hit a punch bag really hard. If you find yourself going to hard or doing something random just stop and think... what is the purpose of this drill (for now).... you can add it to chaos later.

A really good session with loads of practical applicable skills and principles that work with a variety of techniques. As always its about building skills not replying on techniques.

28/7/18 - visit to Richmond fitness martial arts training centre

Went with a mate to a specially designated martial arts training gym. classes range from gi and no gi BJJ, MMA, Boxing and Kickboxing.

www.richmondfitnessclub.co.uk

The club is run by pro and semi pro fighters and has a mixture of Pro/semi pro and amateur/hobbiests training at the centre.

I took part in the Boxing session.

Warm up:

3x rounds of: 2 min skimming follow by 10x press up, sit up, squats, burpees

movement drill - follow partner back forward left right trying to maintain the distance (like we do at the club)

Slipping drill:

Slip jab/cross then bob and weave lead and rear hook

Then do this drill while constantly moving forward and while constantly moving backwards (I liked this, was quite tricky but with a bit more drilling could be really useful!)

Focus mitts:

Body mechanics for jab, cross hook and uppercut - singles, doubles and following commands of the pad holder

Pad combos:

Jab
Cross, pad holder replies with a jab, slip, right reply with cross hook cross
Hook. pad holder replies with a cross. slip left and reply with hook cross hook
Uppercut, pad holder replies with jab, either lean back/rock back or slip right and reply with cross hook cross.

Pad holder would then call out any combo and they will feed a return off your last hit.. e.g jab cross hook so you would then do the evasion off of their reply to the hook (see above).

As always keep guard up, good technique and movement.

Body only light sparring:

focus on light conditioning and movement to create angles for body shots

Sparring: (light as I didn't have a gum shield)

using big gloves

did about 6x 3 min rounds with various partners. Some very experienced people there, lots of excellent movement and manipulation of range, and some really large guys (thank god they were going light!). I actually did ok, hit them as often as they hit me (at least) and surprised a few of them I think.

My general observations were that my range and distance was off, probably a little too far out (over cautious?) also I was finding it difficult to cut angles. This could be because of the range, starting the movement too far out, that I hadn't "sold them" on hits before the attempt to move off line, or that they were just very quick to react.

Timing was really important the "trickier" the partner was, and also spotting or making patterns... seeing how they block and move, forcing them to guard in a way which leave openings and being mindful of possible returns.

Sparring against people I don't know and have no idea what they will do or are capable of was really interesting, and certainly has allowed me to see how far I've come in being able to post patterns and implement strategy, as well as how far I still have to go (range/distancing is a must, plus angles so that when I land, even if light, I feel like a could land with power instead of just a tap)

All in all a fun time, good quality coaching and something I may sporadically attend (life schedule permitting) to "test out" things from the club.

25/7/18: Bascis are the key! body mechanics and lock flows

Tonight session was focused on the importance of basics. Every one wants the cool stuff, the advanced stuff... to collect techniques. When in reality all advanced stuff is just "perfect" implementation of basic techniques combined in a variety of ways.... which is why skills and attributes are more important that techniques.

Basics: isolating punches.

looking at full extension and rotation, elbows in, direct movements (no pulling back or up/down "tells")

10x each technique/combo

Jab (full rotation - keep thin, use the hip chin down behind shoulder)

Cross (full rotation -keep thin, use hip, screw in rear foot chin down behind shoulder)

Hook ( no wide swing ,move body weight back, turn body to side/pivot - slam door, lock elbow at right angle, back foot heel on floor front foot heel up)

Forward hook (weight forward on front leg, very little pivot -almost pushing up instead of turning, no wide swing - think cutting through a small gap in guard to hit chin)

Rear Upper cut (drive from hips/feet, elbow in drop body slightly try not to drop hand too low)

Lead Upper cut (as above)

combos:

jab cross
jab cross hook
jab lead hook cross
jab lead hook rear uppercut
jab cross lead uppercut
jab cross bob and weave cross hook
jab cross lead uppercut cross hook

we also did rear round kick but spent time practicing the pivot motion of the feel - body facing forward but both feet (especially lead foot) pivoting all the way to the left - really twisting your hips into hit. once we got the feel for this we then started to let go of the rear leg and use the momentum to swing a round kick - completing a full circle

Pads:

3/4mins any combo the pad holder calls out. punches only. Making sure you keep guard up to defend etc.

Disturb and lock flow cycle:

Start with wrist lock 1 (control thumb push on back of hand), partner disturbs lock by pushing the elbow. Reach UNDER your arm to grab the wrist, hammer fist/chop with free hand then move into figure 4 wrist lock inc dumog drag, partner disturbs by pushing shoulder, reach over and grab wrist, pulling them round and adjusting where you are in need be so that you are using your upper arm (or your ribs if you get jammed up) as a fulcum (putting them into an arm bar of sorts) they will start to spin around you, as they do snap on wrist lock 1 and start cycle again (when put into motion is very flowing and Aikido like - Tom would approve!)

I then worked on a slight variation of this:

Off lead hook - Drive in with elbow and cover rear hand, move into an over hook arm bar, which then moves into 2 on 1 arm bar, into cut the chicken (it has a proper name but don't know what it is!) then gab head in single arm clinch reaching round the head to try and grab ear and then twist head while lifting other arm (steering wheel motion)

We then split into pairs and worked individual syllabus work.

Darren and I went over out syllabus' to check what we weren't sure of. lightly drilling techniques to get them into our bodies... by no means perfecting them at this stage.

we looked at:

Grappling drill (wrist control, elbow control, bicep control, pummelling, clinch, hubud combination flow inc various locks arm bars chokes etc and low line "locks")
hubud (punching and standard, loap sau cycle and parry repost
double stick guntings, double stick sumbrada and disarms (must remembers the same side "shield to abiniqo" strip!)
Single stick disarm flow
Knife vs empty hand inc disarms and hammer and anvil drill (various feeds)
Rear round kick defences
And take downs off Jab and cross

Sounds like a lot (it was) but it was all light touch and very compliant... just to get us remembering variations and co-ordination... Thankfully it was mostly there (memory wise) now need to factionalise it!

19/7/18: Sweep the leg!

Tonight sessions was focused around Panatukan (Filipino boxing) and the blending of arts - specifically sweeps from Silat.

Essentially we looked at 4 sweeps and the application of this. During discussion we noted how sweeps (much like wrist locks etc) are accidental and incidental... following hits, when range has closed and "shapes" become available. Of course in order to take advantage of these you need to drill the techniques correctly with quality repetitions so that you brain does the unconscious noticing for you... if you try to find it/look for it, it won't work and your get hit in reply.

This session was very taxing on the brain - especially due to the co ordination required, the off balancing element and then getting the range correct in order to sweep.

It is also important to note that these are not true "sweeps"... you are basically smashing across the ankle after off balancing your partner to take them down without them being able to break fall.... and if the don't fall they are so off balance you can do pretty much what you want with them!

It I was to break the technique down to it's simplest form:

1) Off Jab - Parry the jab with rear hand, lead hand then pushes their punching arm at the elbow (palm up!) to twist their body as far away as possible. As you push slide forward so your lead leg is against /in the middle of their lead leg (jam the knee). Then take a slight step to the side and hack across with your lead leg at the ankle to off set.

2) Off the cross - Parry with lead hand and then push their punching arm at the elbow with your rear hand (twisting them as far away as possible) - as you do this step fwd with rear leg (switching leads) so that it is now outside their lead leg.. Then tak a slight step to the side and hack across with your leg at the ankle to off set.

3) Off jab (same entry as 1) except this time instead of sliding your leg between their legs do a slight shuffle slide so you go deep OUTside their lead leg (hip to hip), your pushing hand can then push through to their shoulder and you can sweep behind their leg.

4) Off cross (same entry as 2) except as you step fwd with rear leg your foot is now in the middle of the legs (you missed getting outside their leg)... from here go into a backsweep (pivot body to face same way as partner, uderhook to back of head and sweep)

We worked on many variations of these techniques form entries (e.g. split entry into hammerfist which leads to sweeps) but the technique was the same and I for one know I need lots of flight time on this in order to see it everywhere. But it's worth the effort as once it is there you can "get in" from anything...boxing thai etc

You can also do these techniques in EXACTLY the same way against a south paw (the inside sweeps become outside sweeps) and you can adapt on the fly if they step back and change leads etc

A key element to these sweeps (as with most throws) is to twist the opponents body.. to get the top half of the body moving one way and the lower half the other, that way posture balance and strength are all compromised making the sweep/throw "easier"

Pad round:

to get rid of the thousand yard stares

1x 3 min round (though it felt like 5!) any combo your partner called

followed by 10 second burst of:

jab cross
cross hook
hooks
uppercuts
over hand and uppercut
any hits you want

Knife:

Continued to refine Palasut Cycle from various feeds, adding 4 x disarms and tweaking body mechanics

17/7/18: Traditional JKD - trapping and fuctionalising the palasut cycle

Tonight's session was about focusing a little more on the traditional roots of JKD - working trapping from static and countering positions and then onto knife flows. The focus of these drills are co-ordination, body mechanics, footwork and changing range - a sensitivity that can be developed and then challenged and put under pressure all the way up to sparring.

Warm up: in Pairs

Move fwd (step and slide) x 3 inc a jab (A going forward while B goes back just out of range)

Move left x 3 inc jab, move right x 3 inc jab

Move fwd x 2 with jab on 3rd jab use slide and step footwork to close the distance and "run over" your partner following up with ABC

on defence:

Partner does 2x fwd and jab on 3rd jab step off diagonal right, simultaneous parry the jab with rear and pivot followed by a jab then ABC

Partner does 2x jab and cross on 3rd jab cross step of and pivot left with simultaneous hit (hook uppercut etc) follow with ABC

Trapping:

We split into different groups. More experienced students did the following:

Off Jab: (Pac- slaping/pushing down to remove barrier)

1) Split entry, pac (pak sau) into into hammerfist followed by ABC

2) Split entry, pac into hammer fist which they block then loi pak (slap their blocking arm down and punch them)

3) Split entry, pac into hammerfist which they block then into ton sau (move the passing hand wide then hit them then loi pak)

4) Split entry, pac into hammerfist which they block the second you feel them touch your hand you hit then with your free hand ignoring the block and hitting their solor plexis then move into the loi pak. (this is almost identical to the ton sau but a variation of timing and not moving the blocking hand wide prior to the following hit)

Off the Cross (same as above keep in left lead!) ending all of them with a hit, neck chop, hit ABC combo

Off Jab (lop - pulling the barrier out the way)

1) pac sau the led arm and jab, defender blocks moving your hitting arm sideways, roll hitting arm over the top hitting with a backhant and follow up withw a rear hand hit, moving forward to trap their arm

2) pac sau the led arm and hammerfist, defender blocks moving your hitting arm sideways, move slightly off line reach under your hitting arm with free hand and lop/pull their blocking arm follow up with hammerist into trap and hit then ABC

3) Pac sau the arm and jab/hammerfist they react late and end up pushing your arm back towards you, use your hitting arm to lop their blocking arm, pulling towards you and punching over the top follow up with ABC (note it they punch your arm up use your free hand to move them out the way dive forward and head butt them - making sure to control their rear arm too!)

Pad rounds

1 x 3 mins

2 x variation.

1) Pac lead arm and jab, then cross hook cross lead kick (jun fan style)
2) Pac and hammer, block pushing over, roll into back fist then cross hook cross lead kick

Palasut cyle:

looking at variations of feeds from initial stab to enter cycle-

3 stabs to the body 2x low one higher.

1) Segun (rake/Meet) -  using flat of blade push straight down like a block sliding the blade up the arm (nasty)
2) Panastas (slash/Defang) -  using free hand to "post on the arm (near elbow) and cutting bicep before going into the flow.
3) Palisut (scoop) - (if slightly higher/heart stab - but can be used on low stab it doesn't matter) stab straight down as if stabbing the forearm with a tight scoop/waslick - then into flow

(Steve please let me know the terminology for these moves my brain can't keep up!)

bonus material (for my future grading)

4) wide A1 stab - block with blade of free arm and Stab to throat - if someone says yes but the wide stab can be turned into a U cut and gut you... yes it can.... but I had also just stabbed you in the throat!!!! so your U cut might be stopped momentarily enough for me to do the follow up scoop of the knife arm and into the cycle....

5) a fast slash I can't stop so I move out the way and stop the back hand hit (middle of the flow) and carry on form their

I then worked these different feeds in any order in an endless flow...get the heart racing!

Hints: Keep the knife high and pointing at your opponent (DARREN!!!) then  no matter what you do you are just dropping down letting gravity help. move your body out the way... footwork helps. Keep the hits tight... too wide and you can be stopped much easier. forward pressure... you are the hunter.

10/7/18: Knife flow focus - 12 count knife flow and knife defence principles

Tonight's session was based on Knife flows and the principles of knife defence. However, to make this clear the session was NOT about knife fighting. It was NOT about managing the fear of being attacked with a knife, or fighting for your life.

The session was based very much on technique, application of body mechanics and movement. If is these attributes (speed power timing distance and rhythm) which, when trained properly, allow you to enhance your "survival instinct" when the intent of the attacker is raised (which again also needs to be practiced and experienced).

That being said the training has to be effective. The feeder must be in range - they should be trying to touch you with the knife and the defender must be switched onto the whole person, not just the knife, in order to react/act fast enough. The defender must have the attitude of a hunter... not waiting to be attacked. Also it's a knife not a sword... once you have the movement down a bit make the cuts smaller!

When using any weapon it is also really important to hide behind the weapon... using it as a barrier your opponent has to get through... and the weapon is always pointing at them.

12 count flow: (in right lead)

Al
A4 (horizontal backhand)
A3 (horizontal forehand) (step back)
A2
Stab (step forward)
Upward diagonal backhand (low line)
Upward diagonal forehand (step back)
Back hand stab to side of head
Fore hand stab to side of head (step forward)
Redondo motion slicing straight down the middle of head (hand ending outside your leg)
A1 low line (Step back)
A2 low line

We then added footwork (which I have added above)

We then did this with left hand!!!!!

We then tried to do this with right hand and add any footwork to it (moving around)

Next, We did the 12 count with a partner as a target for high and low line hits We also played with grips using standard/hammer grip for cutting and ice pick grip for stabbing motions with the 12 count. We also used the ice pick grip to sash with.

12 Count numerada flow:

Partner A feeds 12 count. Partner B defangs (meeting the force) and inserts a stab. foot work to get off line, Triangular footwork to move your body back etc was also needed to stay out of range and close the range for return stab. (when defending the straight down the head hit use a dagger pass!)

We practiced this with standard/hammer grip and Ice pick grips for defanging

Then we added an X cut after the defang and stab

Palasut cycle (broken down)

Previous blogs explain this in detail (please feel free to go back through blogs to look at this) - key parts we focus on were correct application of foot work to help you get out of range/avoid stands and slashes, jamming attacking arm with your knife arm, keeping knife pointing at opponent and keeping movement tight.