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Knife day recap

Hi Guys,

Sunday 10^th Aug we had a fun time at the knife workshop. Despite the persistent rain and a little confusion with starting time we got started with a few rounds of knife sparring using pens and to mark up our opponents’ clean white t-shirts. The idea was to see how everyone faired before and after the training and drilling. There was a (marked) difference straight away with Darren applying some brilliant Lin Sil Da!

After the initial sparring we looked at loads of things starting of course with the basics and fundamentals, we moved on to defensive positions on the 1^st quadrant then defended the stab aimed at the abdominal area. After a break we looked at disarms and ways to restrain the attacker.

Things to remember about knife situations, as discussed on the day were:

Run if you can!

from the aggressor:

The bluff

Escalation

Intent

Attack

Ambush

The draw

for you:
JKD principles of before, during and after

Triangle footwork

Making space and taking space

Abdomen and 1^st quadrant being the primary targets

Lin Sil Da and pain compliance

All the proceeds from the day went towards Team Luke Kicks Leukaemia and aid work for Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Thanks again to everyone that came along, stay safe! OSS!

Why train weaponry?

Weaponry.... "Why train it, I don't carry a weapon, I don't walk around with a stick, how likely am I to use the things I learn in the weaponry classes?"

I've heard similar questions a few times and the answer is simple, Martial Arts are to be used for defensive purposes, for your safety and the safety of those you love. You are not a trouble maker but that doesn't mean trouble will never find you. I'm sure we've all heard our parents say something like "It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't trust everyone else out there". We don't know what we will be faced with in a volatile situation and the simple truth is we want to come out of any unpleasant situation with as little damage as possible.

 

If you want to fight against a grappler, then you need to have some understanding or training of grappling, the same applies for weapons. An assailant may come at you with a weapon, wouldn't you want to know about sticks and knives then? If you're in a multi opponent situation and you happen to get a hand on a weapon that was dropped or a branch even, wouldn't you want to know how to handle that weapon to get away from your attackers as quick as possible?

You could be at a wedding an uncle Charlie has had a little too much to drink and is waving his bottle or glass around, like any situation you don't want to hurt him but he may need to be restrained at least so he is not a danger to anyone else around him in his state. Knowledge of weaponry and disarms will give you a base in all of these situations and won't stop there, they will help your empty hands techniques. Ask me and I'll show you an arm pass/arm drag take down I use that comes directly from knife defence I teach from Filipino Kali.


There are no guarantees in life, Martial Arts training do not guarantee victory, just watch a boxing match or MMA fight, unless it ends in a draw there is always one loser no matter how skilled.  



Be prepared to raise your chances, that's why we train. Join us in in the Kali class every Friday at 19:30.

See you at the gym, Oss!


These clippings were not collected from various papers, they are ALL from the Saturday May 24th edition of the local Telegraph & Argus.

Apply Upgrades (part two, mindset)

We train so many things, as we should, but often forget about mindset. Our day to day lives don't always necessitate the mindset which is of benefit to us in a fight scenario, sometimes it takes us too long to get in to the groove when training and sparring as a result.

When we look back on what was a disappointing sparring session we often fail to realise the reason for our lack of presence in the situation was mindset. Intention and conviction make a huge difference, I remember a turning point for me several years back was after watching multiple highlights and fights of the late Ramon Dekkers. His intensity was brilliant along with his control and awareness. I tried to flip a switch in my sparring session that night and it worked, something really clicked and it was the understanding between intensity and aggression, maintaining your resolve and being calm whilst moving with intention and conviction. Things I'm still always working on!


There are some fighters that repeatedly give dominant performances due to their intention to chop right through their opponent. People like Tyson, Fedor and Ramon Dekkers are examples of this resolve, intention and conviction. It takes a combination of many things to be a great fighter, enjoy the highlights of these greats!

See you in class, oss!

Apply Upgrades (part one, technique)

Hi guys,

These past few months have been great, training and reviewing everything to make necessary tweaks where they're needed. During this time I've noticed the same topics come up time and again at the gym and not just during class time. For this reason I will be putting up a post each week about some of these specific things that we've been talking about which are, rhythm, technique, mindset and body mechanics. Check back each week and you should end up with a little guide to upgrading the way you do things.

This weekend Weidman checked a kick with his knee to devastating effect against Silva now everyone seems to be talking about it. If more people were integrating from these arts it wouldn't have taken this long to be seen or talked about in mainstream MMA. 

People often get caught with things they don't know or do so why not think outside the box? I know I'm not alone in asking why don't we see more of the JKD approach in combat sports but especially Filipino Martial Arts/Silat? The answer may be because everyone is less likely to try out things that are new to them for fear of them being riskier than bread and butter techniques.

Working simple basics and principles and getting creative with them is something we should ALL be doing, but it's great to have some extras in your arsenal to plug in to them!

As an instructor, I love hearing guys tell me how they're having success in other classes against more experienced guys using things I've taught them.

Here's a clip of none other than Bas Rutten talking about kicking technique, it will all sound familiar to those of you I've been lecturing about turning those toes out to open up your hips!


Check out his Jun Fan Gung Fu hoodie, JKD has a longer presence in MMA than most may be aware of and is on the rise. Come along to the classes on Saturdays to train and try out things that are new to you!

Oss!