29/01/2011: Fundamentals Revision – Footwork, Timing, Distance, Striking

For today's session, the emphasis was getting back to basics with footwork and timing for standup encounters, adding in a little hardwork realism with the shove to reset range towards the end.  Homework assignment is as follows:


1.) joint mobility

2.) Rolling and falling, square breathing, slow callisthenics (pushup and squat)

3.) bodyweight conditioning syllabus

Objectives

- Revise and develop upon the foundations of control of distance and timing in standup striking encounters


Warmup

IntuFlow intermediate routine


Solo Prep Drills

- Pyramid breath-walking – 1 to 10 counts back down to 1 again

- Freeform rolling and falling from walking pace

- Rolling over stick

- Slow pushup and squat – 20-counts, down and up


Partner Drills

- partner fist-walking with pushup on clap

- Partner 360-degree strike drill - uke walks around tori throwing strikes from all angles to the body and legs

- Zombie evasion drill – one on one; emphasise economy of motion – no more than two-step evasions; progress from simple evasion to adhering to and following uke

- Stick evasion drill – tori evades versus swings and thrusts from uke at comfortable pace; drill progresses from simple evasions to getting close enough to touch

- Zombie evasion drill – two on one; emphasise economy of motion – no more than two-step evasions; progress from simple evasion to adhering to and following uke

Combat Drills

- one and two-step evasion versus strikes – evasion only

- one and two-step evasion versus strikes – evade to counterstrikes

- one and two-step evasion versus strikes – evade to counterstrikes and shove to break engagement

Conditioning

TacFit Commando Mission 3 – Recruit-to-Grunt


1.) Warrior Lunge/Cossack Lunge – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Swing Plank Knee/Full Swinging Plank – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Airborne Squat Shin/Airborne Squat Knee – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Spiderman Pushup Knee/Full Spiderman Pushup – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Shinbox Twist/Shinbox Invert – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Table Lift/Base Switch – 20/10 x 8


Circle


Open Mat for Sparring - Standup and Ground Grappling

22/1/2010 – Fence Series Part 2: Attack and Defence from the Fence

Apologies for the late and rushed nature of this log post, as I have been very busy this week with multiple time-sensitive projects.  Homework remains the same as last week - see you all this saturday.


Objectives

- building mental and emotional resilience against pressure on the Fence

- finding position and remaining oriented for decisive action from the Fence

- defending sudden attacks on the Fence

- Initiating attacks from the Fence


Warmup

- IntuFlow intermediate routine


Ranging, Interception and Control Prep Drills

- Tenderisers – dependant wave striking drill, reciprocal face-slap drill

- 1 and 2-step evasion versus knife and empty hand: evade to superior position, evade to control, evade to takedown with control – allow speed to creep according to comfort

- 1-step slow sparring with blade to reciprocal disarm flow

- 1 and 2-step slow sparring with empty hand

Revision of Fence Concepts

[See previous week]


Pressure-testing the Fence

- Counters to being grabbed and manhandled in the Fence

- Counters to strikes from the Fence

- Counters to blade attacks from the Fence – open and concealed blades; cues for spotting the hidden weapon, manoeuvring for position versus a knife-threatener


Proactive Fence

- Attacking from the Fence with strikes

- Attacking from the Fence to achieve takedown and control

Conditioning


TacFit Commando Mission 2 – Recruit-to-Grunt


1.) Lunge Twist/Lunge Twist Knee Strike – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Revolving Table/Swinging Tripod – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Scorpion Crucifix/Hanging Scorpion – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Bear Squat/Pushup – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Rocca Forearm/Rocca Squat – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Bridge Clap – 20/10 x 8


RESET Drills to cool down


Circle

11/2/2010 – Mental and Emotional Engagement: Controlling, Defusing and Initiating Encounters from the Fence

Something new for everyone today.  Thus far, I have been teaching mostly fighting methods - things to employ when the confrontation has already kicked off.  Today's work focused on defusing an encounter before it kicks off and, if violence is inevitable, ensuring it kicks off in your favour.

As I mentioned in class, the Fence derives from classic psychological strategies such as the Empty City and Creating Something Out of Nothing (refe. The 36 Strategems), and one thing all such posturing has in common is that it has be backed up by something solid for two reasons  - 1.) lest the enemy call your bluff, and 2.) so you don't betray yourself through your own lack of confidence in your abilities (which will show in a high-stress situation).  As I've said before, self-defence is 90% awareness and psychology, 10% fighting skill.  To this I add a corollary - the confidence built through training fighting skill is the foundation for the awareness and psychological toughness needed to effectively defend oneself with or without violence.


This week's homework:

- Conditioning:  I understand the Commando bodyweight series is very intense.  For now, 2-3 times a week total should be plenty, but I want EVERYONE to do your joint mobility series EVERY DAY.  It takes 10-15 minutes and almost no energy at all, so unless you are bedridden, there is no excuse.  This is the foundation of all the movement training we do and will stand you in good stead to gain as much as you possibly can from each class.

- Basic skills: 1.)  rolling and falling.  I still see people falling with an arm outstretched to the ground in spite of how I keep harping on it session after session.  Much more of this and the mats will go. 2.) Begin working on the square and pyramid breathing I demonstrated and explained in class.  You can try the combinations with various exercises I mentioned, but for now, focus on the breathing alone.  Once you are proficient with it, you can begin incorporating the callisthenics, though the walking drill is worth a try.  Make sure you are not breaking the inhalation and exhalation into discrete blocks - it is one inhale/exhale stretched out over the length of the entire count, not multiple inhales/exhales.

- Psychological skills:  As far as possible, revise your Fence skills with a partner and go through as many possible scenarios as you can, with an increasing number of steps to each interaction.  If you do not have access to a partner, build your own 'script' to use in each of the four broad scenarios we covered in class and polish it in front of a mirror.

Train well and see you all this coming Saturday.

Objectives

- establishing physical, mental and emotional safety buffers in confrontations

- dictating the outcome of a given confrontation through mental and emotional tactics

- setting up for a decisive attack from the fence


Warmup

- IntuFlow basic routine


Ranging, Interception and Control Prep Drills

- 1 and 2-step evasion versus knife and empty hand: evade to superior position, evade to control, evade to takedown with control

- 1-step slow sparring with blade to reciprocal disarm flow

- 1 and 2-step slow sparring with empty hand


The Fence


Demonstration Series

- Definition – creating physical, mental and emotional barriers between assailant and oneself to attain dominance of the encounter and dictate its course

- Analysis from the Fence – Determining an assailant’s intent and mental state

- Stalling from the Fence – Soft Approach: talking down an angry assailant/incoherent babbling and pleading for life; Hard Approach: Shock and Awe Posturing/semi-Hard Quiet-but-Tough Approach

- Defusing an encounter from the Fence – the Tactical Retreat, a.k.a. Abandoning the Goods to Save your Skin/Losing Face to Save Your Life; the Mutually Face-Saving Conciliation

- Initiating an Encounter from the Fence – setups: the Zen Koan interview; the Fake Submission/Conciliation; the Sudden Straight Right

- Cycling from one approach to another

Freeform Practice Series

- Students break into pairs to roleplay random scenarios, each assigned a different aggressor role which they will keep throughout the session to encourage getting deeper into potential attacker psychology so as to develop sophisticated and realistic responses.


Conditioning

TacFit Commando Mission 2 – Recruit-to-Grunt


1.) Lunge Twist/Lunge Twist Knee Strike – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Revolving Table/Swinging Tripod – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Hanging Scorpion – 20/10 x 8

1min rest


4.) Bear Squat – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Rocca Forearm – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Diagonal Bridge – 20/10 x 8



RESET Drills to cool down


Circle

11/12/2010 – Power Generation and Impact Delivery

A good session by all today.  Although we didn't get to do conditioning due to time restraints, it was an enjoyable and educational experience nonetheless as we delved back into the mechanical basis of Systema and learned to apply it under pressure (not to mention how messy anything becomes when subject to pressure).  Constantly revise these basics as striking effectiveness depends less on strength and much more on efficiency, which is guided by...'feeling' is probably the best word I have for it - the kinaesthetic sensitivity that tells you when everything is perfectly aligned to deliver an almighty whack with your whole structure behind it, not to mention which keeps you from fighting your own power and pulling your punches subconsciously.  'Feeling' or sensitivity is also the first thing to go when you start to get out of practice.  With that in mind...

Homework

1.)  Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning - joint mobility, strength and conditioning work as we have been covering in class so far.  The better condition you are in, the greater your potential to learn and successfully apply what you pick up in class.  Karl Gotch said, "Conditioning is your best hold (as in wrestling hold)."   Need I explain further?

2.)  For today's work, the wave and other movement drills are very important for grinding out the resistance to your own movements and sensitising yourself to the fine adjustments needed to guide power to its intended destination.  Most of them belong in the joint mobility syllabus in the first place, so practice them along with your joint mobility.

3.)  'Heavy hands' is simply another way of expressing removing resistance to your own movements in the context of hitting someone, as we discussed at the end of class.  The solo drills help develop this, but there is no substitute for working with (and hitting a partner).  Continue to train amongst yourselves while I am away.



Objectives

- Basics of power generation - Wave versus Ball

- Impact delivery - aligning structure for optimal impact transfer

- Basics of intercepting, translating and redirecting impact

Warmup

- IntuFlow intermediate routine


Skill-Specific Prep Drills

- Arm waves

- Lateral arm waves

- Dropping waves

- Spinal waves

- Heavy hands drill - taichi arm swing

- Heavy hands drill - falling knife catch

Skill Drills

- Wave power versus Ball power; Wave = sequential summation of momentum across adjacent bodily segments originating at prime mover and ending at end-effectors (eg. from foot to hand);  Ball = instantaneous transfer of power from prime mover to end-effector via all bodily segments acting as a single unit

- Ball power partner push structure check - partners respond to sustained pushes by maintaining structure and moving as a single unit

- Tenderiser - reciprocal wave striking

- Ball power strike training - hand-to-hand slapping; structural disruption test by slapping to body

- Partner push drill to force movement - passive, creeping to resisted; goal is to target structural weaknesses and point of weakest stance integrity; experiment with both wave and ball power

- Intercept impact on arms and recycle wave into dependant strike - start versus circular strikes, creep to linear strikes as comfort level increases

Limited Symmetrical Sparring

Each partner stands their ground and throws strikes at the other in competitive fashion, aiming to slip or batter through their partner's defence while simultaneously absorbing and redirecting incoming attacks back into their own attacks.  Speed is to remain moderate, while power is allowed to creep upwards along with comfort level.

04/12/2010 – Fundamentals of Ground Grappling, Part 2

The second and final part of this series on positional ground grappling.  Good effort put in by everyone as far as learning the important skills went.  A word of caution, however - learn to regulate the amount of intensity you put into your rolling, especially when unfamiliar with the zone of engagement.  Especially, keep in mind the rules of engagement put in place for training safety - more than once, I saw uke (person on top) attempt to submit tori (person on the bottom) when my instructions quite clearly said to maintain positional dominance only.

If you find yourself going into an adrenaline-fuelled fugue during sparring, slow down, exhale and remind yourself that it's only training.  Your goal is to refine your skills, not destroy your partner (or yourself).

Homework

Your homework assignment remains the same as far as joint mobility and conditioning go.  Revise also the three biomechanical drills taught in this class - they will stand you in good stead for ground engagement in general.  As a rule, don't do them to any appreciable level of fatigue.  Rather, treat them as a skill to be mastered and go through them with an eye to performing them as smoothly and effortlessly as possible, with an eye at all times to good form.



Objectives

- Developing fundamental skills for defence and attack during ground grappling



Warmup

- IntuFlow intermediate routine

Conditioning

TacFit Commando Mission 1 – Recruit-to-Grunt



1.) Front Lunge Jump – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Plank Push – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Sit-Through Reach – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Screwing Pushup – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Spinal Rock Pike – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Tripod Twist – 20/10 x 8


Biomechanical Prep Drills

- Quad base switch

- Hanging and Alternating Hemi-Circular Scorpions

- Stationary Shrimp


Bottom Drills

Side Control

- Sweeps versus side control

                 § Push head to leg scissor
                 § Body pendulum to roll into side control (used when opponent stays close)

Back

- Defences against an opponent in back mount or taking the back

               § Trap underhook, shoulder bridge onto opponent, trap attacking arm against head and turn to guard
               § Attack of opportunity – ankle trap versus improper back guard

Top Drills

Side Control

- Moving from side control to mount
                                   § Knee slide
                                   § Cockroach killer

- Submissions from side control
                                  § Figure-4 locks (kimura/Americana)

Knee on Belly

- Establishing knee on belly from takedowns

- Establishing knee on belly from side control


Situational Sparring

Tori starts in bottom position – mounted or guard in alternating fashion – and aims to sweep or submit uke. Uke aims to retain positional dominance.

26/11/2010 – Fundamentals of Ground Grappling

Covered some technical groundfighting on saturday's training, which was somewhat different from our usual offerings.  Very important to know, regardless, as combat doesn't happen in a vacuum, but as a response to what the other party is trying to do.  Things like brazilian jiujitsu are very popular nowadays, and present a very real threat in a street assault, so basic grappling skills are essential, both for their technical benefit as well as psychological - when the mind is free of the fear of close contact, a high tension/compression environment and being on the ground, the body is freer to act.

Note that just the fact of being trained in groundfighting does not under any circumstances oblige one to fight on the ground.  Groundfight with a specialist and you will come out holding the short stick.  The whole point of groundfighting training as we do it here is to learn to survive long enough to get to your feet if you do get taken down.  The attacks taught ('submissions') are to be used purely as ones of opportunity.


Homework

- Conditioning - joint mobility and Tacfit Commando syllabus

- Rolling and falling


Objectives

- Developing fundamental skills for defence and attack during ground grappling



Warmup

- IntuFlow intermediate routine

Conditioning


TacFit Commando Mission 1 – Recruit-to-Grunt



1.) Front Lunge Jump – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Plank Push – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Sit-Through Reach – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Screwing Pushup – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Spinal Rock Pike – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Tripod Twist – 20/10 x 8


Skill Drills

Bottom Drills: Sweeps, Replacing the Guard, Basic Submissions

- Scissors sweep from guard

- Knee-push scissors sweep variant

- Basic mounted sweep

- Mounted return to guard

- Basic armbar from guard

- Basic naked front choke


Top Drills: Taking the Top Positions – Mount, Basic Submissions

- Basic standing guard pass


- Basic armbar from mount

- Basic front naked choke from mount

20/11/2010 – Softwork: Fundamentals of Standup Grappling – Clinchwork and Takedowns

Good session, guys, even if the class was a bit small today.  At least those who showed up will have a major leg up on the others next time around!  For those of you who had questions about takedowns the previous session, hopefully this session will have answered at least the most important ones.  It's a large, large body of work, so it's only natural that it will take you a while before you start to 'get' it.

Homework assignment:

1.) Ground engagements - forward/backward rolls, pistol breakfalls;  attempt these from standing now that you are more comfortable with them

2.) Conditioning syllabus - joint mobility, callisthenics, plank, slow squat





Objectives

- Developing fundamental motor patterns for clinch fighting and executing takedowns

- Attacking and defending stance integrity, loading structure to disrupt equilibrium, joint hyperfunction (neck, shoulders, hips)


Warmup

- IntuFlow intermediate routine

Conditioning

TacFit Commando Mission 1 – Recruit-to-Grunt






1.) Front Lunge Jump – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Plank Push – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Sit-Through Reach – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Screwing Pushup – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Spinal Rock Pike – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Tripod Twist – 20/10 x 8



Basic Skills for Standup Grappling

- Ground engagement warmup

- Establishing the clinch – neck plumb, bodylock

- Pummelling – neck, body

Biomechanics of Standup Grappling

- Stance integrity – spotting the triangle point

- Grips for takedowns – locking arm, driving arm

- Hyperfunction vs Dysfunction – facilitating natural movement to fool opponent into following along into takedown versus attempting to force takedown via threat of pain and injury

- Neck – S-shaped movement pattern

- Shoulder – sagittal plane circle, oblique transverse shoulder-spinal circle (fulcrum BETWEEN points of contact – usually wrist and neck)

- Hip – figure-8 movement pattern (demonstrate via single-leg, double-leg, trip takedowns)



Sample Techniques

- Renovated large outside reap (O-sotogari)

- Renovated hip toss (harai-goshi/koshi-guruma/o-goshi)


Free Drilling

Tori attempts to take uke down with any technique or variation thereof versus passive resistance, ie. uke attempts to maintain structure and firmness against tori's attempts but does not actively fight off grips or attempt to break engagement.

12/11/2010 – Softwork: Fundamentals of Movement and Impact, Simple Structural Manipulations

 After the meatgrinder of hardwork to put things in perspective, I finally felt ready to move everyone on into softwork today.  As I explained in class today, hardwork is testing and toughening, while softwork is learning and economising.  Without the perspective built in hardwork to keep one grounded, softwork becomes an exercise in building airborne castles, while hardwork alone falls to the level of fear, conditioning and gross motor responses without the building of new, sophisticated and mindful responses to combative stimuli that happens during softwork.


Homework assignment is as follows:

1.)  Conditioning - Mission 1

2.) Basic forward and backward rolls, as well as all the new exercises covered in this session (never mind the sophistications for now, but do them if you are able);  be mindful of your breathing and tension states in these exercises - your goal is to achieve the minimum necessary tension to perform each exercise in good form, and the way to do this is by regulating your breath to prevent the global spread of tension.  Visualise yourself breathing through each spot of tension to encourage it to release.




Objectives

- Developing fundamental motor patterns for level change, ground engagement and impact delivery/absorption

- Basics of structural manipulation


Warmup

- IntuFlow intermediate routine

Conditioning

TacFit Commando Mission 1 – Recruit-to-Grunt



1.) Front Lunge Jump – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Plank Push – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Sit-Through Reach – 20/10 x 8

1min rest


4.) Screwing Pushup – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Spinal Rock Pike – 20/10 x 8

1min rest


6.) Tripod Twist – 20/10 x 8




Solo Drills

- Slow pushup on knuckles, 20secs down, 20secs up; sample sophistications to:
§ Screwing pushup
§ Panther walk
§ Centipede hop
§ Spinal wave or spinal roll from Crow


- Slow squat, 20secsdown/up; sample sophistications to:
§ Cossack knee switch
§ Cossack knee switch to shinbox
§ Cossack knee switch-basic descending shin roll


- Pistol breakfall


Partner Drills

- Partner push drill – 360 degrees, upper and lower body, switch tori and uke at each interval

- Partner fist-walking from plank drill

- Partner strike drill – 360 degrees, upper and lower body, switch tori and uke at each interval

- Sweater snag drill – via one-knuckle push, to disruption of equilibrium, reciprocating (mention locking + driving arm, stance integrity, joint COM for takedowns)

- Stop-motion strike drill – strike to takedown in five moves, reciprocating


Slow Sparring – ¼ speed

Uke attacks tori freestyle. Victory objective for tori is takedown to control. Focus on smoothness of transition from one movement to another.

06/11/2010 – Bladework: Part 2 – Ambush, Weapon Retention and Re-Possession

Solid, focused session today, as well as everyone's first true exposure to plural assailant work.

Homework - as we discussed, continue to focus on your rolling and falling, as well as your conditioning (both joint mobility and the bodyweight callisthenics).  Next week, we'll be working on a different skillset, so reinforcement of your knifework isn't that crucial, but those of you who haven't attended the knife series until this week should go through the solo drills to improve your handling for when we bring knives back into the picture.

Train well, stay safe and see you all next week.


Objectives

- Execution of and defence against sudden attacks with a concealed blade

- Retaining a blade in the face of disarm attempts

- Fighting for possession of a loose blade

- Grappling with a knife

Warmup

- IntuFlow basic routine

Conditioning


TacFit Commando Mission 3 – Recruit




1.) Warrior Lunge – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Swing Plank Knee – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Airborne Squat Shin – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Spiderman Pushup Knee – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Shinbox Twist – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Table Lift – 20/10 x 8



Skill-Specific Biomechanical Drills


- Retrieving loose blade from forward roll – solo, free-for-all with multiple partners



Preparatory Partner Drills (with steel blade)

- Slow standup sparring to reciprocal disarm

- Plank position possession drill – slow sparring over loose knife to reciprocal disarm


Primary Skill Drills

- Concealed quickdraw ambush – 1 uke, 2 tori; uke aims to draw concealed blade and cut/stab either tori at will, tori aims to evade attack and disarm uke




Objective-based Sparring

3 participants begin circling around a loose knife on the floor. When signal is given, each will fight for control of the knife by any means necessary. Victory is achieved when one partner achieves a clear position of control as well as possession of the weapon.

30/10/2010 – Bladework: Defence, Disarm and Counter at Speed, Part 1

Lots of intensity today, and also a little bloodshed (props especially to Nick for being a warrior ;-) ).  Two training blades also got broken today - how's that for intensity?!

Homework assignment for the week:

1.) As always, rolling and falling and revision of the conditioning syllabus.

2.) Solo knife handling drills - you can do this with any old eating knife from the kitchen.  A slightly larger blade will make them easier to do.  Don't try them with a cleaver, though.


Do your homework and I'll see you all next week for bladework Part Deux.

Train well and stay safe.



Objectives

- Revision of bladework basics

- Inoculation to blade combat at near-full speed

Warmup

- IntuFlow basic routine

Conditioning


TacFit Commando Mission 3 – Recruit


1.) Warrior Lunge – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Swing Plank Knee – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Airborne Squat Shin – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Spiderman Pushup Knee – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Shinbox Twist – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Table Lift – 20/10 x 8



Skill-Specific Biomechanical Drills

- Leverage disarm drill

- Body figure-8 to stab

- Biker flip grip change

- Figure-8 draw cut

- Rolling snap cut


Preparatory Partner Drills

- Partner push drill with blade

- Sweater-snag drill with blade

- Partner zombie walk drill with blade – to evasion, gait-shadow and soft takedown

Primary Skill Drills

- Empty hand versus blade – attacks at combat speed; evasion, counter and takedown

- Blade versus blade – combat speed; counterslashes, control to takedown or finisher




Objective-based Sparring

Uke attacks tori with blade. Tori, working from empty hands, attempts to disarm uke and either effect a position of control, apply a finisher having gained weapon possession, or both. Drill continues until tori achieves victory objectives. Round-robin format.