Mike Tyson had a saying,, "everyone has a plan until they get hit",,, and one of the guarantees in a fight is that we are going to get hit. So how do we reduce the chances of getting hit and/or reduce the damage that getting hit can create. Not fighting is always an option. And probably the best way to not get hit is to not fight. But very often that is either not an option or is not an acceptable choice. There are consequences to both engaging or not engaging in battle caused by a confrontation. And very often the process of making that decision is what causes us to not be able to respond properly,,, and yes to get hit. So, we come to stopping or avoiding an attack. One of the most important parts of a fight is the ability to not only block but to do it with little to no thought. The action must be trained so it becomes part of our natural movement. We already have these actions programmed into our minds and bodys. When someone throws a ball to us,, we move into position as our hands prepare to catch it. Not much thought is put into any specific move or action. The mind quickly analyses the situation and the body moves to ensure the desired outcome. The only real difference between blocking and catching a ball is the stress and fear that is created by the possiblitiy of getting hit. So to eliminate the disfunction caused between the mind and body when confronted with the possibility of getting hurt we must train the body to respond to any threat with an appropriate response.
We have been training the body to block and strike at the same time, but this morning we seperated the two parts to allow us to develop these techniques. Blocking will become much more than just stopping or deflecting an attack. It will become a way to damage what ever is attacking us and will give us the chance to deliver a measured response. But our initial response must be automatic to give us the chance to understand what is truly going on.
We started with the standard outside and inside blocks. Making sure we dont reach for an attack, but rather allowing it to come at us. The blocks will become smaller in movement the better we get at blocking. The strikes will eventually be deflected or stopped just beyond the boders of our body. As we learn to move at the same time as we block this will make more sense. The effort required to effectively deflect or stop an attack is less than what one would expect, especially once we apply the Dimmak part of the technique. This little addition increases the damage and pain that is delievered to a very high degree. So, the harder the other person attacks,,, the more damage will be done to the attacking appendage,,, and very little effort will be required.
We moved on to inside blacks and high and low blocks. Then we trained in stopping the attacks by limiting the advancement and movement of the opponent. Combining these two parts and then adding the attack back in will provide a remarkable response to an unsolicited attack.
Thank you for allwoing me to continue this training with you fine men.
No one should ever wish for battle,, but a man should always be prepared for it.