The weather is cooling down in the morning, making it the perfect time to come out and train with some very fine men. This morning there were five of us, since we were joined by Shikaka who for some reason is still not on the website.The punch to the face he received (from YHC)this morning had nothing to do with this ommission. As promised,,, this morning we focused on one of the most dangerous parts of an altercation. Moving from a position of safety to full engagement. This is when we are, at first, at a safe distance (well safe in relative terms) and then either we must move closer to initiate and attack or the aggressor is attacking us. Many times our focus will be primarily on the fist heading our way of the face that we are trying to hit. But our focus must be broadened. As the distance closes we need to focus on the aggressors weapons (anything he has that can be used to strike,stab or otherwise damage us), movement of the arms and shoulders, placement and position of the feet and legs, the aggressors apparent balance and the environment. It is not as easy as it sounds, especially when we are learning some of these things for the first time.
The first thing we talked about and practiced is something we call "timing moves". It is the concept of manipulating the perception of time and distance. Our mind and the aggressors mind operate on the same basis of time, distance and expectations. By altering what he expects to see and what actually happens we can alter his perception of what is occuring. This allows us to move within the gap in time as his mind resets the expectations. Ok, The application is a lot easier than the theory that dirves this section. I actually started typing all of the techniques we did, but that started becoming too boring to read. But these techniques and the concept behind them will drive many of the more advanced techniques for attacks and defenses and we will go discuss the importance of controlling the perception of time and distance in an altercation over and again. During all of this we must remember to recognize and control the available weapons that we are exposed to. Often just the placement of the foot or knee in the correct position or light pressure on the wrist or elbow will remove much of the threat that any personal weapon will create. But this is a dynamic situation and the control must remain fluid. Grabbing is not always best but can be useful in certain conditions.
As YHC often states (over and over again),, fighting requires the control of three main things in yourself and the aggressor. Balance, movement and rotation. Controlling the legs directly or by the correct positioning of the feet will drastically restrict the aggressors movement by controlling both movement and balance. We will use both passive and active traps to take away balance and eventually break legs. Yes, one of the main focusing in this system is the legs and the ease of disrupting the structure and integrity with very little applied force. Simply put, legs are a lot easier to break than most believe. And no,, we don't achieve this by hitting the leg…. legs don't break by being hit or kicked. But they do break fairly easily when force if applied in the correct direction.. it is eactly like stepping on a broom stick held up on one end by a stoop or curb. Sounds pretty much the same also when it breaks. Today we practiced the basic leg drills required to have the control and strength required for this task.
To finish up we reviewed some of the techniques from the past few weeks. We should be moving toward active combat in a few weeks. The stress created by actually facing someone can drain the body of all air and strength very very quickly. But first we will focus on blocking at speeds closer to real time and also train to have the body move off of the line when attacked.
Thank you for allowing me to share this system with you fine men. For centuries men have formed the strongest bonds when training together. I am thankful for this group and the men in it.
Stay safe
Tick Tock