21/3/19: Apply hook defences, pad drill variations, syllabus work.

Drilling intensity, applying skills and syllabus practice was focus of this session.

Applying Hook defense drills:

applying a particular Hook defence off of the following feeds:

Jab lead hook
Cross lead hook
Body cross lead hook
Rear round kick lead hook

1) defend the first hit (jab - waslik/catch, cross - long guard or parry, body cross - elbow parry, round kick - crush) and then stepping off line extend arm to a bicep stop - fully extend arm to create distance and keep free arm up to protect head - follow up with lead elbow, rear elbow, rear knee rear round kick.

2) defend initial hit then crash in with lead elbow and use rear hand to block hooking arm (try and get inside the arc of the hook) - follow up with rear hook knee rear round kick

3) defend initial hit then bob and weave, body shot as you bob, cross hook switch kick with lead leg moving off line.

The key to this was intensity. the attacker was trying to make the attacks land forcing the defender to really focus at all times - this was almost like sparring

Pads: (3 min rounds)

1) Back to wall drill - partner calls out defence (half guard, double pillar, crazy monkey or anything goes) they attack for a bit then flash pads for a 4-6 hit combo before attacking you again.

2) Round kick defences (crush, cut kick, shuffle step) all followed with rear round, hook, cross, lead round kick

Syllabus:

I chose to use my time to quickly go through the majority of my syllabus, lightly touching on many aspects (various weapon drills and flows, parry repost, upper body arm flow, U drill, take down entries) as  a mini test that I "know" the material - not perfectly (its never perfect) but that I know how its done so I can then isolate and drill with more intensity each aspect in the next few sessions. useful to identify the specific areas that need more flight time.

Steve suggested using a times 2/3mins pick a technique and then drill it for that time repeatedly to polish a particular technique once you know what needs work on. (which is always all of it!)

19/3/19: snake and vine

single and double stick sessions. lower grade worked getting the snake strips from 5 angles single stick, higher grades worked vine strips with double stick from 5 angles.

Double stick drills:

Focus on defanging (hitting the hand) and follow up strikes - trying to let it go a little and flow.

using 6 angles A1, A2, (diagonal down for and back hand) A3 A4 (gorizontal fore and back hand) and final 2 angles were diagonally upwards (forehand and back hand)

1) Sticks hitting (to represent hitting the hand)
2) Follow up with a watik (to represent hitting the hand and an immediate follow up strike)
3) Follow up with watik and then heaven 6 (left or right side depending on where you are) - representing hitting hand follow up strike and continuous flurry

We then split into groups. one group worked on "snake" strips (wrapping from the inside line?) from 5 angles of attack, the other worked on vine strips (wrapping from the outside line?)

Vine strips:

A1 - double stick  hit (on on hand other stopping stick) then using the stick tat hit hand to hit writ or stab to face and then strip while walking off line.

A2 - double stick outside deflection, immediate stab to chest/stomach, wrapping hand under wrist and trap thiumb if possible. keep the wrapping stick vertical. then pull towards and you push their stick with your forearm (towards their elbow)

A3 - as A1 but drop to lower level (bend knees)

A4 - Block with one stick down the other up (like an A4 knife block) then use A2 vine

A5 (stab) - either vine can be used (e.g. like A3 or A4 strips) depending on if you block on inside line or go to outside.

We drilled each of these individually and then put them together into a flow - this took a lot of time and repetition.

Shadow boxing to flow at end - double stick, single stick (left and right hand), stick and knife, double and single knife (left and right hand), boxing and thai boxing.

7/3/19: Knife sparring, double stick back to the wall pad work and syllabus stuff

Knife sparring:

various conditions.

points to remember - stay edge on, point of knife pointing at opponent, keep knife moving

Targets - hand, arm, shoulder/chest, lead leg (wear goggles!)

1) right hand normal grip
2) right vs left hand
3) normal grip vs ice pick grip
4) single knife vs double knife
5) 2 people with knives vs 1 person with knife!!

Double stick:

Various coordination flows

Heaven 6 (to get warmed up)
Heaven 6 as fast as possible
Standard 6 (HLH)
HHH half of heaven with right hand, HHH half of heaven with left hand
 8 count (all high)
HLH half of 8 count, right hand then left hand
then asme as above but 8 count standard (HLLH)

corenza (double stick shadow boxing)

Pads:

Back to wall drill... defend and the pads hitting you then hit the pads for 5/6 hits continue with this or 2 mins each section.

1) Half guard
2) double pillar (great tip from Darren  - after we had done the drill! - keep the arms parallel to the floor - makes defence tighter, forearms are then higher)
3) Crazy monkey with two people hitting you!

Syllabus work:

parry riposte hubud flow with switches
8 count strip flow with sticks
double stick 5 count sumbrada with guntings and 3x strips

My Why

Everyone has a story as to why they started Martial Arts. for some it's dramatic - based around some sort of event or trauma, for others it was a hobby turned into a passion. Then again some people just like fighting.

Here's mine.

As a kid I watched the odd Karate film and thought it was cool and at the grand old age of 4 and a half, (either after watching no retreat no surrender of shortly before I watched that "classic") I started up at a local kickboxing club.

I quickly fell in love and was naturally ok at it. Not the best but flexible and picked things up quick enough. By the time I was 8 I had got my black belt, had won a few kata competitions (I love the "art") but struggled with sparring (I was and am still slight of build and really didn't like fighting.. I hated the thought of hurting someone even more than the thought of getting hit.. which I also was not a fan of).... a couple of years later I was training with the adults doing circuit training and technique classes even though I was no more than 11 or 12

I had kept things to myself until Nigel Benn came to a class and took a boxing segment (I was too young to appreciate this!) and ended up on the news.. which was then plastered all around my primary school so "everyone new"

I kept training and enjoying it, even got a 2nd dan but teenage life struck and motivation started to wain.

And then real life hit me.. literally.

The local lads from the estate started making it known that they "knew" I did karate and therefore I must have thought I was "ard". One particular lad ( a good few years older) walked up to me while surrounded with a pack of his mates, made some comment about me thinking I'm tough and then punched me solid in the cheek. Just once. I did nothing other than stumble in shock (I was probably 13?). thankfully I was round the corner from my house so I stumbled home. No one followed. they just laughed. I was embarrassed and sore and felt completely powerless. But otherwise ok

A few week later a couple (2) of the younger members of the pack decided to approach me and a mate as we were walking home, they made my mate uncomfortable so I told him to get on his bike and go home, leaving me with the two lads. one of them squared up to me and so I gave him the hardest football volley to the testicles that I could. Which dropped him, fortunately (see all those years of martial arts were a good investment.. a football volley!!!!). His mate backed off and I walked home. that was it. no grand punch up just one kick and done. When I got home I was shaking and burst into tears as the adrenaline overtook me. Again I felt like I had done nothing and was powerless.

Shortly after that I was training at the club when I was introduced to a knife. A live blade. we practiced a very simple slow "evasion" of this. Now this was very, very nerve wracking despite it being really "safe" and controlled. however I still managed to cut my arm. nothing deep just a scratch but that was enough to make something click in my head. I didn't want to train any more. I was scared. and so instead of talking about it and facing it I avoided it and stopped going. A regret I have to this day. I didn't talk to my teacher about being hit in the street, the incident with the bike or how I felt about the knife. If I had who knows I might be a different person in some respects today.

So those three things were the sum total of my "violent encounters" and to this day they still are.

After a few years of no martial arts I gradually started getting the bug again. I missed it but didn't know what to do. I tried a few different arts but it wasn't quite right. also I wasn't sure WHY I wanted to do them Just that I missed the training.

Fast forward a few years and I had the opportunity to go travelling.... and this was the inspiration I needed. Having been bought up on too many martial art movies where the young hero goes to far off countries to learn at the hands of a wise and slightly crazy master I could not turn the opportunity down to learn "real" martial arts. And so Thai land and 2 months of thai boxing.  7 hours a day 5 days a week. (and the teacher was brilliant.. and slightly nuts in a good way)

It was during this time I learned a few things about myself and the martial arts.

1) I'm a bit more robust than I thought I was
2) I do actually pick things up reasonably quickly
3) my muscle memory from childhood was still there.
4) I am scared

Training in Thailand gave me many opportunities to explore the fact number 4.

Running through rice fields being chased by wild dogs
Pad rounds and sparring properly for the first time in my life
Being hit so hard I was almost knocked out (for the first time and embarrassingly made me quite emotional and upset)

I loved learning the art, the technique, applying it and getting a tiny bit better at sparring - even starting to enjoy sparring which I never had before. But the one thing I could not get over was my fear. I was worried about being hurt, flinching all the time always moving backwards. Not quite flashing back to being a child, but having that same feeling of nerves. On top of that I did not want and do not want to hurt the person I am training with and so always pull my punches even if I know I wouldn't hurt them anyway. Which means I have difficulty "letting it go" when sparring and the intensity increases. The instructor noticed this and gave me advice which I live by to this day. learn to block first then to move then to attack. and THAT is what helped me start to get comfortable in controlled sparring. well as comfortable as you can get.

I also learned that as much as I wanted a fight to resemble a movie. It wasn't.

The scared feeling for me is the same as when I get near a rollercoaster. My body temperature goes way up, my jaws clench, I physically start to shake. I sweat, massively... and I freeze.. which is NOT the response I want. My muscles lock and I forget to breath.

Now don't get me wrong. I spar a lot. I work in a job were I am with unhappy and slightly aggressive people at times, but this is the feeling I get when things start to ramp up in intensity and I feel threatened. As I have gotten older I have discovered that THIS is why I train. Its not for a belt (though that's nice) its not to be better than anyone (though they are benchmarks to assess yourself with) it is literally a battle against myself. to keep going despite this. Week in week out. Push my self more, make myself more efficient. and more than that it is the only time in my life where I can switch off and totally be in the moment. (like getting lost in a good book).

Yes it's great to have cool techniques and lovely movement. I LOVE the art. Its better to be able to apply it. But for me... now..  its not about trying to be the hero in my own movie any more. It's about trying to fight my own fear and stop it form holding me back. I don't win that fight all the time. far from it. But it's one fight I won't give up on.

I am not "ard" quite the opposite in fact. I'm a comic book geek with a passion and want to be the best I can. I want to be able to know that, if it came to it, I would act and not freeze in an aggressive situation. I want to learn and enjoy and share knowledge with a group of people that will help push and improve each other. A sort of brotherhood that bond by punching each other in the face.

Ultimately, that's why I do it. I have no idea if this rambling makes sense. It's just something I felt I needed to get out. Everyone has their why and their story and I think it's important to acknowledge that and hold onto it. To  help motivate and inspire yourself and others.

And if that doesn't work remember this: Martial arts is cool and makes you look like you're ninja in a movie or a video game.. Jason Bourne eat your heart out! ;0)

26/2/19: sparring, sparring, sparring, and some pads!!!!

Steve was determined to kill us tonight! or help us push ourselves to new levels which ever you prefer!

shadow boxing warm up

Conditioned sparring rounds:

no idea how long the rounds were, los of changing partners so probably 2 mins ish per round. Each round had a specific condition to work and implement.

1) jab only
2) lead hand (anything) vs two hands
3) both hands vs both hands
4) round kicks only
5) any kick
6) jab vs kicks
7) jab rear round kick vs cross lead round kick
8) hands and feet

2 on one sparring!

Hands and feet and stand up grappling.. what every you can think of.... focus on this was staying alive! moving off line, trying to not show your back and trying to line opponents up one at a time

There was so much in all of this, exploring timing rhythm and distance, spotting patterns and fakes, trying to manage energy levels and adapt what you are doing to you rapidly exhausted bodies capabilities, and to just keep going. It also paid to have a playful attitude to sparring at times as this allowed you to try things without getting too smashed up... but you know.. people get carried away at times...

Pad rounds:

working 4 variations off of split entry off jab

1) split entry, scoop jabbing hand and follow with cross hook cross lead kick
2) split entry into hammer fist cross hook cross lead kick
3) split entry into hammer fist, then ton sau and straight hit down middle into hook cross hook rear round kick
4) split entry into hammer fist they block hammer fist over centre line, roll over into back fist then cross hook cross lead round kick.

Kinfe flow:

by this point brains and bodies were not working!!!!!

To cool down.... defences off is ice pick stab (salute) and stab to belly (drop on arm and disarm) and also back hand ice pick stab (cup and strip) and steab to heart (cut punch off line into crocodile/hammer and anvil into cup and strip or two on one.... can be done using either hand)

21//2/19: Knife flows - U drill, knife tapping, pad rounds and syllabus work

Knife flow:

U drill - ear bladder ear feed

using cat stance to gain space, using back of forearm to push knife arm into their body.

Then adding tapping if partner removes "blocking arm" or "double pumps"

Then adding different ranges by mixing 5 count flow knife defence, hammer and anvil form the stab and U drill

Pad rounds:

as pervious session, from kick defence feed but adding stop hit instead of stop kick.

Syllabus:

helping Ian with 5 arm bar (up across down, salute arm wrench and number 2 wrist lock)

8 count stick strip flow and looking at how to incorporate into 5 count sambrada.

19/2/19: Arm bar flow, 3 on one drill, pads, and syllabus

Straight into it tonight... with grading looming and a lot of work to be done (there always is!) focus, intensity and getting each element "right" is that aim of the game... no use rushing through things if you aren't even getting the first step right.. the arm bar flow below is a great example of that, if you get the first one right it's "all over" the point of the flow is in case it doesn't go right.. not to rush through all the steps.

Arm bar flow:

feed hook -  drive elbow in and then over hook arm wrench (lock arm out first, hold tight and free hand on shoulder/throat - then bend at hip, shoulder over arm and wrench - stepping fwd or back but breaking their posture), they free their arm so go into 2 on 1, then flow into cut the chicken (push wrist down then rotate slightly), then go into single arm clinch (using the arm that was on their wrist, and head on their head on the other side), steering wheel motion to turn and off balance them... then do same on the other side.

Disturb and lock:

Working a variety of locks from various lock flows - allow partner to get the lock and then disturb it.. otherwise is just a mess of slapping hands and someone will get hurt!

3 on 1:

One person in the middle, one at a time a random person attacks with a singe hit (jab cross hook etc), person in the middle does what they know to defend.

A great way to test repertoire, and develop skills under pressure. As this is the first time we did this drill we went reasonably slow. We also put conditions on this one as we were focussing on ending our "defence" with a wrist lock/arm bar/choke

This is a great drill and can be really good for testing specific skill sets under pressure to get them to work. it is also great for chaos you don't know who is going to do what so you have to be switched on and you can really see if what you have works. this is great to get some "chaos experience. it's different to sparring and closer to a controlled street fight. The beauty of this is that you can tailor it to drill specific skill sets from chaos. as always start slow so people start t get experience of this, then you can increase pressure once someone gets the feel for it. this will always be uncomfortable messy but so is a real fight! now imagine this with a weapon (knife anyone!) and your fast twitch reflexes are going to get a workout!

Shadow boxing to loosen up for pad rounds

movement and mechanics focus

Pad rounds - round kick defences:

all off rear round kick feed. 2 min rounds

1) check the kick and respond with rear round, hook cross lead round
2) evade (pendulum step) jab cross hook rear round or cross hook cross rear round
3) Jeet tek with rear leg (stamp on kickers standing leg) follow (forward pressure) with rear round hook cross rear round
4) cut kick (like a switch kick to the standing leg getting off line), cross hook lead round kick

Syllabus:

Stick strip flow - roof block, inside sweep, crush hand,  hit forearm, scoop round, pull back on punyo, grab stick and hit forearm, stab under and figure 4 wrench - keeping off line

also worked some trapping (pak and lop variety) with punches and hammer fists and first 8 of lock flow.