We have been training to follow this system, destroy what is presented and move in to center line attacks. So, this morning we finally learned what is meant by "destroy what is presented". During an altercation, the opponenet will very often give us gifts in an attempt to attack us. These gifts are the opponent exposing targets. So what is considered a target,,, anything that can be damaged to discourage the attack from continuing. We started with the exposed arm. We love when someone tries to grab, push or strike us. We must change our perception of what is occurring,,, a punch is a threat but it is also a gift of a limb to destroy. There are a large number of devestating targets on a persons arm that will disable its ability to be a threat. But we dont just trust just one, we continue hitting multiple targets while at the same time discouraging additional attacks from other body parts by hitting targets elsewhere. It becomes a natural flow and when we add the basic automatics,,, it becomes very effective. We next moved on to the legs. Not many fighters consider the legs as targets but, again, there are quite a few targets that will disable the ability for a person to attack us. But attacking the legs also has the benefit of limiting the ability to move and/or taking balance away from the attacker. We have practiced "push breaks" against the legs and this is where we get to apply these techniques in a practical manner. We then moved on to one of YHC's favorites. It is confounding that a person would voluntarilly bring their head, neck and face within the reach of someones elses weapons. There are so many peices of flesh and sensory organs that can easily become a liability to the attacker. Grabbing, tearing,crushing, gouging and ripping these soft targets can be a very effective way to discourage an attacker from continuing in the unwise course of action that brought him to making this devisating mistake. And then there is then neck and throat. Many of the bodies most vulnerable targets are contained in the exposed neck and throat. To expose some of these areas one can use the soft fleshy parts of the face as a handle to give a better angel of attack. Nerves, skin, bones, blood vessels, and air passages are very close to the surface and can be accessed quite easily when an attakcer decides to give us the gift of this mistake. YHC described these "gifts" in this strange manner to show that surviving an altercation requires looking at a situation (and yes even a person body) in a different manner. The way we think about and see a situation either limits or frees our actions. We try to see the possible targets that are exposed in any situation in order to free our mind to see techniques that may safe our lives.
Thank you for training with YHC, it is both an honor and a privilege to train with you fine men.