On Flow

Flow - the new buzzword in martial arts and fitness alike.  "Find your flow," "flow with your attacker."  All very profound and New Age-y.

But what does it actually mean?  And how can you use it to benefit you in your endeavours?  Is it even beneficial?

To quote from Csíkszentmihályi, flow is "the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity." [1]

This state is characterised by some ten factors, not all of which have to be present for flow to be experienced [2, 3]:

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities). Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high.
2. Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
4. Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered.
5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
9. A lack of awareness of bodily needs (to the extent that one can reach a point of great hunger or fatigue without realizing it)
10. Absorption into the activity, narrowing of the focus of awareness down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

So, there we go.  According to the father of modern flow research, flow is a psychological state.  It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with this:





Or this:




...both of which illustrate the physical state of movement that most people seem to think must necessarily accompany flow.  Note that I'm not ripping on any of the performers in either video in any way - I am simply drawing attention to common preconceived notions regarding flow.

For the sake of clarity, I will refer to Csikzentmihaily's definition of flow as endogenous flow, that is, flow that occurs purely as an internal event, completely independant of interaction with others and any specific movement pattern.  Flow as the graceful biomechanical dance demonstrated above, which is what most people casually familiar with the term seem to expect, I will refer to as exogenous flow, flow which is dependant on interaction with an external system of forces to take place and define its movement patterns.

For the record, I will state that a prolonged state of exogenous flow will never take place in any arena of combat with hostile intent and absolutely no cooperation between parties.  Ever.  Those of you inclined to disagree need only watch this video and then have a good, long think about how you yourself would fare under these circumstances:




The whole point of flow training for combat application is ultimately psychological - to enable the trainee to bypass the adrenaline dump of the fight-or-flight response and fully access their skills and cycle situational observation and analysis uncluttered by the signal noise of chemically triggered primal instincts.  Exactly what shape those skills take is irrelevant, so long as they are the best possible response to the situation at hand.

Good examples of flow applied in unrestricted combat:









Note the common thread in each of the successful performances - in spite of the chaos of the situation, each of the performers had more or less full access to their skills and observational/analytical abilities and applied them in the manner most appropriate to controlling the situation with a view to ending it as swiftly and cleanly as possible.  Note especially the swift and incredibly precise placement of fight-ending shots by the turkish and russian boxers, and the very effective applications of multi-level combat and well-oiled teamwork of the russian mall guards.  These individuals, whether or not they knew it, had entered endogenous flow and, at transient key moments throughout each combat, applied instantaneous and transient exogenous flow where appropriate.

More than half the time, this came down to punching someone in the jaw just as they were moving closer - a simple but incredibly effective way of blending two biomechanical systems in order to maximise the impact of a given action.

Which brings me to my next point.  Flow drills as demonstrated in the earlier videos have their time and place - I'm not deriding them as useless.  It is important, however, to discern their true purpose.  Drills such as those are not weaponised drills - that is, they do not train skills that can be directly applied, ad exercitum, in combat.  Their purpose is to build familiarity with the state of exogenous flow and teach the practitioner to apply their endogenous flow to prolong that exogenous flow as much as possible, with the aid of a cooperative partner who feeds force and intent in a controlled fashion to facilitate the drill.

In an actual encounter, you can expect an attacker to do neither, and your weaponised drills must reflect this to a significant degree.  Transient moments of exogenous flow that you achieve under such circumstances are and should be incidental and purely the means to an end (decisively ending the encounter in your favour), not an end in themselves.

In conclusion, the state of true flow is ultimately internal, above and beyond external considerations.  Master this state and learn to hold on to it in the midst of chaos, and physical, externally observable flow will manifest spontaneously as and when it is appropriate.  Obssess over the latter, and you will gain neither.

Till next time, train well and stay safe.



References


[1]  Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990), Flow: The psychology of optimal experience


[2] Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Rathunde, K. (1993). "The measurement of flow in everyday life: Towards a theory of emergent motivation"


[3] Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1975), Beyond Boredom and Anxiety 

The Breath of Life (and Death)

A melodramatic title for a short article touching on something we do every minute of every day we're alive.  This one goes out primarily to my students, who have to practice this for homework, but will also serve as a useful primer to breathing as used in the Ryabko System, but with my own take on it (as with all things).

Burst Breathing

What

Rapid, active, shallow exhales and shallow passive inhales deriving from the very top of the lungs. 

When

Generally used to overcome distress and pain, such as when winded with fatigue or experiencing severe pain or other discomfort, such as after taking a particularly penetrating strike or performing a difficult exercise.

Why

Rapid active exhalations and passive inhalations appear to reset the diaphragmatic nerve, enabling relaxation of the muscles of breathing, which in turn reduces the overall state of alarm of the nervous system, restoring psychological and in turn biochemical equilibrium.

How

Activate the compression of the lungs with the muscles of breath in order to exhale, then immediately relax them while keeping the airways open, allowing the elastic recoil of the lungs to draw air in without conscious effort.  It helps to practice this in a closed, silent room so you can listen to the very quiet passive inhalation.  Enter into burst breathing with an exhale:inhale ratio of 1:1, then gradually increase the ratio to 2:1, 3:1 and so forth as you get more practiced.  It is better to emphasise the exhalation over the inhalation as overinhaling leads to hyperventilation, which will lead to increased stress levels and even dizziness or loss of consciousness.  As always, exhale through the mouth, inhale through the nose.  Practice this in conjunction with intense physical exercise and note its effect on your heart rate and breathing drive - both should come down appreciably if you do this right.


Square Breathing

What
  
A single breath divided into four discrete phases of inhalation, breath hold with full lungs, exhalation and breath hold with empty lungs, each stretched out over the same length of time, hence the name.
 

When

Used as a meditative focus to calm down the nervous system (works great to slow the heart and shut off the brain for sleep), and also a training tool to stretch the body's capacity to work under (perceived) hypoxic conditions, as well as to detrain panic responses to perceived hypoxia.



Why

This pattern of breathing appears to reduce sympathetic nervous tone (fight or flight) and increase parasympathetic tone (rest and relax/feed and breed).  From a conditioning point of view, with less panicked signal noise jangling in your nervous system and your heart beating slower and more efficiently, you learn to perform a given amount of mechanical work at a lower metabolic cost to yourself. 



How

Enter into the pattern by sitting or lying down comfortably and counting off the seconds  in your head, beginning by exhaling and holding empty lungs.  Start with 1 second each phase - empty hold (1) -> inhale (1) -> full hold (1) -> exhale (1).  Gradually increase the count to as high as you can manage with at most mild discomfort.  Variations include pyramid breathing (increasing the count by 1 every so many breaths till you reach your limit, then decreasing by 1 every so many breaths till you come back down to 1) and combining the breathing with various forms of exercise, using repetitions of the exercise to count down the intervals (eg. pushups, steps when walking/jogging).

26/02/2011: Asymmetrical Engagement – Striking vs Grappling

An interesting and educational session today, in which we explored the effect of giving and removing consent to engage symmetrically, ie. with the same methodology as an opponent.  The overall conclusion arrived at is that attempting to engage someone who does not consent to fight in the same way as oneself is a lot more difficult that it may at first appear, while giving (or appearing to give) consent to do so tends to lull an opponent into a frame of mind suited to a controlled, limited conflict - a fight with 'rules', as it were. 

From a technical perspective, the uses of fundamental standup grappling controls to facilitate close-up striking were explored, as well as to smother strikes while on the way in to execute takedowns.  For a change of pace, instead of a set of conditioning exercises after class today, we played a game of 3-on-3 Kabbadi with house rules, as detailed in the log.  I am glad to report that much fun was had by all.

Homework assignment is as follows:

1.) IntuFlow joint mobility series: I can't emphasise this enough.  Without a limber, supple body that moves exactly the way you want it to, much of the potential of Systema is lost to you.  It only takes 10-15 minutes and zero energy, so EVERY DAY, folks.  Without fail.

2.) Basic rolls, falls and other ground engagement:  As all of you have already attended at least two or more classes, you will know by now that you can expect to fall down a lot during class, whether by accident or design.  5-10 minutes each day doing slow, smooth rolls and falls, preferably on hard ground.  The more comfortable you are with the ground, the more friendly it becomes when things kick off. 

3.) Breathwork: Square breathing and burst breathing.  I will detail these in a short article immediately following this log.  Practice both these breathing methods in addition to what has already been taught in class.

4.) Specific conditioning callisthenics: Pushup/plank for upper body striking alignment (involving the whole body), squat for spinal and lower-body structure for level changing and developing a strong, supple base.  Those of you who haven't learned this yet, get the methods from your mates who have during the week, or else approach me before class next week.  These take literally 3 minutes to do each day, so they can be done completely extemporaneously.

5.)  General conditioning syllabus (TacFit Commando routines): What you get out of training depends on what you put into it.  The better your work capacity and rate, the more you can put into training, plus the greater your functional reserve of strength and endurance during actual combat.  Assuming you attend training without fail every week, do this at least once more each week on your own, preferably two (for a total of three, including weekly class).  You can either use the free Gymboss app for smart phones to time your session, or Daniel's audio timer, which can be found HERE.

Objectives
 
- Learning the importance of controlling consent to engage in symmetrical struggle (ie. the same ‘type’ of fighting) with opponent; learning to give and remove consent

- Blunting grappling attacks with striking and defensive grappling

- Smothering and defeating strikers with offensive grappling


Warmup

Intuflow Beginner/Intermediate routine


Prep Drills

- Pinned Limb rolling

- Neck and body pummelling

- Strike absorption – free-standing reciprocal and restricted motion (use a wall or other obstruction if third parties are insufficient)

- Marionette/Sweater-snag drill

- Hair-brush defence

Weaponised Drills

- Slipping punches to clinch – tori aims to slip past uke’s punches to secure a head clinch; drill begins at half speed and creeps up in speed according to comfort; uke may aim to actively fend off clinch attempts from time to time.

- takedowns from clinch – tori and uke begin in collar-and-elbow tie; tori aims to execute any takedown of choice from the clinch; drill begins with passive resistance on uke’s part and creeps up to more active resistance according to comfort level and mutual consent between partners

- strike absorption from clinch – tori aims to maintain clinch on uke while absorbing strikes from uke; drill begins with simple absorption and may creep up to uke attempting to break or seize control of the clinch and tori aiming to manhandle uke in the clinch to diffuse the strikes.


Asymmetrical Sparring

Partners begin the fight in head-and-elbow tie. Designated grappler will attempt to secure a full clinch and takedown, while the designated striker will aim to either break the clinch with strikes or else seize control of the clinch and continue to strike from superior position. If clinch is broken, drill continues with grappler attempting to close and regain the clinch and striker aiming to fend off grappler with strikes.

Circle


House Rules Kabbadi

Two teams of three lined up roughly five metres from a central boundary line. Each team takes turns sending a single raider across into the opposing team’s territory, whose goal is to carry, drag, push or otherwise manipulate an opposing team member across the boundary line into their own territory. Raider must perform all actions in a single breath, chanting, “Kabbadi,” repeatedly at all times while on the opposing team’s side. If the raider inhales while on the opposing team’s side, the round is lost and no point is scored. All members of the defending team may act in any way to prevent their members from being moved across the boundary.

18/02/2011: Plural Engagement, Part 2

This week, our focus was on building upon the lessons of the previous class.  The last session involved plural attacks in a relatively open and unimpeded environment.  This week, I turned up the pressure by introducing attackers who actively attempted to restrict the defender's movement as well as attack with strikes, which showed some interesting changes to the dynamics of the fight.  Directly introducing mechanical tension to someone's structure leads to increased psychological tension, which brings the person closer to their own panic threshold if said tension - physical and psychological - is not addressed.

The homework assignment for the week is as follows:

- conditioning syllabus, including both joint mobility and TFC syllabus: your freedom of movement, usable (functional) strength and work rate determine how much you get out of your training.  Joint mobility should be done every day without fail, and if you come to class each week, you should get in at least one more day of conditioning on top of what we do in class.

- rolling and falling: Being able to engage the ground smoothly and without coming to harm is very important in what we do as you can expect to fall a lot in training.  It is also a good way to overcome fear and train shock absorption on your own.  Spend at least 10 minutes each day practicing what you have learned of this in class.


Objectives

- Surviving plural attempts to force cessation of movement

- Maximising effective range of movement under hostile resistance

- Inoculation to fear and discomfort of physical compression and contortion


Warmup

IntuFlow intermediate routine


Drills

- Pinned limb rolling : trainee attempts to roll on the ground with one limb pinned by partner; emphasis on breathing through tension and discomfort and finding effective range when one limb is pinned

- Restricted Motion Absorption Drill, standing version : trainees work in threes; tori is bearhugged from behind by one uke and receives strikes from another, attempting to absorb impact without breaking free

- Restricted Motion Absorption Drill, prone version : tori is held down and contorted by multiple uke (3 or more) who proceed to strike to points of tension; emphasis on absorption and using torsion from one source to cancel out another

- Dogpile : tori is dogpiled by multiple uke and must attempt to get out from underneath by any means necessary short of actual attacks

- Limb torsion escape drill: tori is subjected to jointlocks, restraining holds and sundry other contortions by uke and must escape with minimal use of strength; drill escalates from one to two attackers (optional use of counterthrows and holds for advanced students)


Sparring

Tori is attacked by two uke, one of whose objectives is to immobilise tori, the other’s being to attack tori with strikes. Tori’s objective is to survive the encounter for a set duration by evading or countering attempts at immobilisation and fending off both attackers by any means necessary.

Variation for new students – uke attack with grabs and holds only; primary goal is to escape and survive.

Conditioning


TacFit Commando Mission 1 – Recruit-to-Grunt



1.) Front Lunge/Lunge Jump – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

2.) Plank Push Knee/Ball of Foot – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

3.) Sit-Through Knee/Reach – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

4.) Basic/Screwing Pushup – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

5.) Spinal Rock Basic/Pike – 20/10 x 8

1min rest

6.) Tripod Basic/Twist – 20/10 x 8



Circle

12/02/2011: Plural Engagement, Part 1

A heartfelt welcome to our new students, and congratulations on your initiation into this crazy thing we do ;-)  Good session had by all on Saturday with a balanced mix of hard and softwork, and I could tell that everyone left with a much better understanding of the dynamics of plural engagements.  I left out the conditioning element this time around so we would have more time to drill skills as the class was larger than usual, which demanded more coaching time to make sure everyone was on the same page.

Homework assignment is as follows:

- Freeform ground engagement:  as done in class, minus of course the people walking around you; new students simply practice your basic rolling and falling for now

- Conditioning: We will be cycling back to TFC Mission 1 soon, so I suggest you revise that one.

Objectives

- Mental/emotional inoculation to plural engagement

- Introduction to the mechanics of plural engagement in multiple modalities


Warmup

IntuFlow intermediate routine


Prep Drills

- Freeform ground engagement from Brownian walking

- Partner assisted altitude-rolling – forwards and back


Plural Engagement Drills

- plural push drill – partners work in threes, with two uke applying pushes to tori from all angles; drill progresses naturally to strikes according to comfort level

- Zombie evasion drill – three on one and zombie infection; 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

- belly walk shock absorption drill – progress from walk to low jump to box jump according to comfort

- grounded evasion drill – slow-speed evasion versus stepping and slow-motion kicking; two on one


Combat Drills

- two-on-one slow sparring: tori aims to survive against two simultaneously attacking uke and effect takedowns and evasions for the duration of each 1-min round


Circle

Open Mat

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.