...or, in a word - Bowie! It is probably safe to say that my interest in combative use of the bowie knife comes from the same dimension as that regarding tomahawk. This time however, I will split the review of the materials into three categories: introductory; comprehensive course; and additional resources. In presenting them, the order in which the materials are presented is based on the alphabetical order of the authors' last name. So, without further ado...
James Keating's double video package titled Legacy of Steel is essentially the edited recording of one of his legendary Riddle of Steel camps that he used to run annually for a number of years. It was professionally recorded and edited by the good folks of the Paladin Press, so we all can benefit from this work. And benefits abound! The first volume of the pack is titled Left Hand Path and deals with the close quarters use of smaller knives, the method being strongly influenced by FMA approach, and as good as it is (more like awesome), we shall focus today on the second volume - the Right Hand Path.
What we have here is roughly a 50-minute introduction to all the fundamental aspects regarding the usage of bowie-type, i.e. big knives. Keating starts with a spoken introduction to the specifics of this kind of knife, thus providing the context for the better understanding of the instruction that follows. He is than joined by another Comtech instructor, Rob Langford, who gives an excellent explanation of the timing that makes the bowie knife such a feared and respected implement. In practice, he analyzes and demonstrates teh mechanics of non-telegraphing striking, exemplified on this occasion by the straight thrust. Keating takes over the instruction to work on the topics of guard, with focus on the blind-spot targeting, and stance that serves as a mobile platform for the whole thing. Next, he shows the tactical maneuvers of in quartata and passata soto that allow you to place your thrusts as counters to the opponents initiative. In the last section, Langford steps in again to teach the functioning of the often mentioned but rarely understood specialty of of the bowie - back cut!
All in all, this is a great video, which should give an excellent overview of what the bowie knife is about, and if you practice the material diligently, it should give you a fairly sufficient command of the tool in practice, in case you do not want to investigate further.
The next piece is a book from Marc Lawrence, with a rather interesting take on the subject. Specifically, as indicated by the title American Bowie Knife Methods From the 1880s, the author takes a HEMA-type approach. Even the historical overview of the origins and popularity of the weapon itself is shown through a newspaper article from 1888, with all of the possible inaccuracies and bias, so the interpretation is left to the reader. When it comes to the fighting methods, he uses two newspaper articles from 1890 and 1888 (in that order for some reason), and then uses the information therein to formulate a couple dozen drills and exercises in order to put the material into practice. According to him, the goal here is to help the readers/practitioners to the level of skill demonstrated by the exponents, as described in the original articles.
Now, this approach is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, most instructors teaching the bowie knife today are explicit in saying that there is no a sure way to establish the period-authenticity of the techniques and methods used, i.e. that we can't know with certainty how Jim Bowie himself or other exponents in the first half of the 19th century, presumably the heyday of this type of knife, fought or taught their craft. Lawrence attempts to get us as close as possible, using the information that is as close as possible to the historical period and geographical region concerned. Second, while most practitioners would use this kind of resource to maybe pick up a couple of techniques or tactics at best, he strives to look beyond mere individual nuggets and see a bigger picture, thus developing an actual training plan that would get us to a higher level of understanding and, consequently, skill.
It has to be noted that the two articles used as mining source are quite similar, possibly a retelling of the same story.What are the implication of this fact to the historical authenticity and technical accuracy of the content...I leave that to the reader to ponder.
Among these three resources, James Loriega's book Behind the Bowie Blade is the only one that offers some comprehensiveness in its historical introduction, regarding the origin of the tool, particularly with regards to the influences of other cultures and earlier blade designs that were present in the southern part of today's USA in 1830's, where the roots of the phenomenon are.
Unlike the previous author, Loriega adheres to the subtitle - A Personal Method of Edged Defense - when treating the hands-on portion of the book. It means we get to see his own interpretation of how a big knife ought to be used for the combative purpose. While doing that, he covers all the bases required for a well rounded grasp of the situation: cuts, thrusts and related fundamentals; attack and defense; footwork and targeting; recommendations for safe training, including several suitable models of training knives for this kind of work.
Now, the author offers a rather succinct sort of instruction, primarily relying on written descriptions and very few illustrations. In itself that wouldn't bother me much, if there wasn't for the fact that out of 100 pages of this book as many as 15 (fifteen!) are used for a selection of posters and pictures from the a number of movies and TV shows that dealt with the lore of Jim Bowie. Aside from a possible bit of nostalgia trip for some of the readers, it seems to me that this space would have been much better used for a somewhat more detailed coverage of the instructional portion of the book. That said, it is an expensive book, and probably goes in tandem with Keating's video better that the previous one, due to a more conceptual method of approaching the material.
If these resources succeed in awakening more interest for the subject matter, keep en eye on the following posts about it.
Well, this was supposed to be my last article for 2022, but it wasn't meant to be. So, instead of ending the last year with a bang - here's to a happy and prosperous 2023!
Back in the 1990's, prior to Internet and Youtube, the only way to find out about new and interesting martial stuff out there was reading about it in magazines such as Black Belt. Otherwise, you would have to order a tape (yeah, VHS) from an author you had seen in an ad in those magazines. And those weren't cheap! At one point, the Black Belt actually came up with the idea of putting out a video magazine, and it looked exciting in their ads, but...at the time I just couldn't find the way of ordering to where I lived, and never got too see them to this day.
Fast forward a decade or so, and a gentleman named Pete Kautz, the founder of the Alliance Martial Arts decided to do a similar thing, but in a DVD format, featuring himself and James Keating as regular contributors in each issue, along with a guest or two being featured as well. Each issue focused on a single topic, and although titled Modern Knives, it wasn't dedicated solely to the edged weapons. Since I had already been a fan of their work, and been interested in what they had to show, as well as discovering new exponents, I ordered the first eight issues (i.e. all they had at that point) some 15 years ago. And guess what? I keep re-wathcing those somewhat frequently to this day. So, let's lee what they're all about!
First, a few words about the format and production. Typically, the DVD's are organized into chapters, where Keating usually takes the lead, followed by the featured guest, and then Kautz closing the instructional part. A first few issues also had a review of some instructional video's available, too - and, as you may imagine, I loved those. As the matter of fact, I ended up buying Blaise Loong's Sabungin Silat series after seeing the review in Modern Knives! Naturally, the reviews strived to cover the material that fits the topic of that issue. The video production is quite good, even if not always done with fully professional equipment, but both image and sound are clear, so the content is clear and easy to follow. Again, the videos have navigable menus with chapters, thus causing no inconvenience for the viewer.
Oh, the only aspect that gives out the "homemade" nature of the entire publishing operation is how the DVD jackets are done. Still, it didn't bother me the least - the cover image is indicative of the theme, and the back cover gives the content outline, which even many professionally produced and published videos before and since then failed to do.
front...
...and back
The issue #1 is about the the Spanish Fighting Arts. Keating opens up with with some instruction about the often misunderstood and/or neglected topic of how to use the so-called Spanish notch on some of the bigger fighting knives out there (including his own design - Crossada). He also touches upon the utilization of the knife's guard for the trapping purposes in the clinch phase of a knife fight/duel. Obviously, this material is mostly applicable with big blades, but those are rather interesting insights.
The guest author in the 1st issue is James Loriega, best known for his promotion of the knife fighting methods using traditional navaja folding knives of Spain. To me, this was the most interesting feature, because it is (still) one of the very few possibilities of actually seeing Loriega's material in action. Namely, despite having a few books on the subject published, they are not very clear with regards of how the techniques are executed (maybe even deliberately?), so if you have any interest in this domain - this DVD should be on your list of priorities.
Kautz goes into what is possibly the most evidently Spanish influence in FMA, i.e. the espada y daga approach to using a long and short blade simultaneously in combat. He presents the material along the lines of the so-called cinco teros (5 strikes) method of instruction, and offers what is probably one of the best available introductory lessons on this manner of armed fighting.
The video review in this issue is about the La Verdadera Destreza school of fencing, as presented by maestro Ramon Martinez.
The issue #2 deals with another geographical region - South East Asian Fighting Arts. Keating shows a very interesting method of using the kerambit knife, based on his Hellbows material. What I really liked about this is the conceptual nature of instruction, that integrates the defensive and offensive applications of the moves, doable without the weapon, too.
The legendary Kelly Worden is a featured guest instructor in what is actually a segment of his seminar on the FMA knife. A portion of his material is shown with Worden's patented Travel Wrench tool, and I liked it for the crossover applicability with other small palmstick-type tools and improvised weapons of similar characteristics.
Kautz teaches the triangle thrusting drill of the FMA and its variations, adaptations and applications. Again, in accord with his conceptual overall approach, he goes beyond the most obvious purpose of the drill and shows us how to see deeper into the work. These insights are meant to teach you how to get more mileage from any other type of drill and training method you may be using.
The review is focused on the above mentioned Sabungin Silat DVD series.
The issue #3 is closes to the title of whole series - Modern Knife Concepts. In it, Keating goes into the specifics of use with his signature Chinook folding knife made by Spyderco. It is always interesting to see and hear what a knife designer had in mind when coming up with his or her personal model, and this is no exception. Probably my favorite part was the use of a small, folding knife for back cut technique typically associated with much bigger weapons.
As the guest instructor, ninjutsu instructor Dale Seago does a rather interesting feature about the defense from an unexpected knife attack. I particularly appreciated how he connected cultural and philosophical layers of his art with the tactical and technical applications. That said, the very idea of training/drilling something unexpected is somewhat paradoxical, but there is still quite a bit of value to be gained from this chapter.
Finally, Kautz offers an excellent segment on the extensions and variations of the Comtech Drawpoint method of the knife used in the reverse grip manner. Now, this portion of the material is very useful when taken on its own, but even more so if you have also seen and worked on Keating's original material. It is also a brilliant example of how practitioners can take what they had learned and then put their own flavor to it, and how do do it right!
This is NOT a clip from the described DVD, but gives a fairly good taste of how Kautz does his material there.
The issue #4 is about the Western Martial Arts. This time, instead of being geographically specific, the focus is more on the historical research of the combat methods of Europe and America. Interestingly enough, Keating features a niche kind of material here - single action revolver twirling. Now, if you are not into firearms this may not be of interest at all, and if you are, you may wonder about the practical value of the stuff shown. The way I see it, attempting this material is aimed to achieve developmental effects, i.e. working on your attributes, and particularly the frequently missed benefits to honing one's neural connections and coordination.
Featured guest Bob Charon gives a presentation of the dagger fighting methods from the late medieval manual of Fiore Dei Liberi, i.e. Flos Duellatorum from 1410. It gives us insight into some of the time tested and confirmed principles of combat, regardless of the place they were used in. Also, should you be among the folks who believe the whole HEMA things is just a bunch of guys and gals involved into some sort of glorified costume-wearing reenactment play, it may open your eyes to practical benefits of studying this kind of material.
In the footsteps of the previous chapter, Kautz shows more dagger from another medieval master - this time a German one, Andre Lignitzer. Again, this is not so much about historical accuracy, but more looking toward how it can still be researched to find the worthwhile aspects for our day and age.
The issue #5 stays with the previous theme to a degree, and gives the viewer an incredible amount of information, since it deals with the American Bowie Knife. Now, Keating has long been recognized as one of the leading authorities in this domain, and once more he goes one step further than most other instructors. Namely, the bowie is most often perceived as a dueling implement nowadays, but back in the day it was probably seen more as a great backup weapon/tool, which is where Keating's treatment of the knife in tandem with a revolver is a unique value. Weapon deployment, retention and transition are the name of the game here, and the implications to footwork, distance and angling are as important as any other element. So, don't skip this part!
The late distinguished author Dwight McLemore focuses on one of the bowie knife signature moves - the snap cut - but specifically how do defend against this deceptive and destructive tactic. Like the previous chapter, this is they kind of instruction that is hard to find elsewhere, thus making the DVD that more valuable.
As if the above was not enough, Kautz demonstrates the application of historical sabre fencing techniques with the bowie knife, hence elucidating on some of the highly probably sources of this knife material in the first place. On top of it, we see done the techniques used against the bayonet attacks, which is, again, how the bowie was probably often used in its original environment.
But, there is even more! To give you even more insights into the phenomenon of this legendary blade, we are given a glimpse into the forging of a true fighting bowie under the hands of the legendary master blade maker Bill Bagwell, as well as the suggestions for the every day carry options from the sheath maker Mike Sastre. All in all, one heck of a great and informative DVD!
The issue #6 takes a step away from the blades and is concerned instead with Filipino Stick Fighting methods, and here we have a 2 DVD set. Keating leads the way with a series of options of using the stick as a tool for LEOs, i.e. teaching the locks and releases to control the opponent, where simply using the baton as an impact weapon may not be appropriate.
Dr. Remy Presas, the son of the legendary master Remy A. Presas of the Modern Arnis fame, is shown in a fragment of a seminar, teaching the counter for counter methods and tactics of his art. I liked that the editor (Pete Kautz) chose the material that really fits well with Keating's, and the viewer should probably try investigating how they could be combined. If this is your field of interest, you should be able to spend a long time in discovering modes and options of use with these.
Another guest instructor is Ken Smith, and his chapter is maybe my favorite here. Namely, he goes into Sibat, the long staff material, and for some reason I have always felt some primordial pleasure when handling this tool. Smith demonstrates a two-ended staff approach in his segment, showing how some well known FMA drills and exercises, normally done with a regular stick, can be adapted to and used with sibat.
Finally, Kautz delivers another phenomenal instructional package with his explanation of how to functionalize siniwali (double stick) material. Like before, he teaches us how to see "behind the curtain" of simple movements and movement patters, and into the driving engine behind them. And this not another set of interpretations of the meaning/applications of the already familiar mover, like with so many other FMA instructors. No, Kautz deconstructs the mechanics of strokes, their lines, trajectories and sectors, and then shows you how to come up with your own patterns and applications. In other words, he does not give you a vocabulary of words, but the actual grammar that makes one fluent in "speaking" siniwali. Highly recommended!
The issue #7 is another "deviation" from the topic of knives, but this time it is about the Grappling Arts. OK, with Keating's segment it does not entirely stray from knives, because this segment, taken from his legendary training camp Riddle of Steel held in 1992, shows how to integrate grappling with the blade work. As in some of the previous issues, he shows that there is a wide scope of possible strategies and possibilities to be researches, if you are a "lifer" with a serious and deep commitment to martial training.
Dr. Les Moore was one of those unexpected gems that I hoped to find in this type of publication, as mentioned at the beginning of the article. He shows a number of exercises and drills, some of which I have never seen elsewhere, primarily coming from the catch-as-cath-can wrestling of yesteryear. There are some preparatory/conditioning exercises and then several grappling techniques and tactics taught that make this issue well worthy of your time and money.
Guess what? We have another "double trouble" issue with two guest instructors here, with Mark Hatmaker as the second one. His topic is one very dear to my heart - dealing with grounded aspect of a fight, which means when you are down and your opponent still standing. I am always curious about various asymmetrical scenarios of combat, and Hatmaker's feature is excellent in this regard. He shows several solid approaches and responses to the challenges faced in this situation, and if your interest in grappling goes beyond the sport arena and with an eye toward the street-savvy solutions, this is a great place to learn something valuable.
In his manner, Kautz shows us grappling options and applications of hubud-lubad, one of the bread and butter drills of FMA. He focuses on what is called lock-flow sequences, which is an interesting way to see how on the higher levels of combat the finality of some techniques may be a relative thing, depending on your training and preparation. From the standpoint of MMA and BJJ this will probably look unrealistic, but like before - it should be looked at from the developmental angle... Plus, adding a weapon to the equation may change your view about the practicality of the exercises.
The issue #8 is one of my favorites, even though I really love the entire series. Probably because its subject is the one of Combative Drills & Skills. In my personal opinion, adequate drills are too often a missing phase between simple technique acquisition and sparring. In this DVD we are shown a few approaches to drills and exercises that should help in bridging this gap. Keating works on one of my pet topics - solo drills. In this chapter the developmental benefits mentioned earlier are really in the forefront. He demonstrates several drills done with a rope, unlike anything else I have seen. Now, for the best results, Keating's stuff requires you to put your thinking hat on and dig deep, in order to reap the fruits. Maybe, this clip will help you understand his approach a bit.
The guest instructor Ed Lawson teaches a couple of of muti-purpose and multi-layers drills from his Combat Escrima curriculum, inspired by the Pekiti Tirsia Kali, from what I was able to see. His presentation is really good, and if you are into FMA, you will probably like this portion of the DVD.
Kautz shows a simplified path of learning the use of stick in fighting, via his Figure-8 Method. True to his conceptual approach, Kautz applies a progression of drills to demonstrate his material, and to me an even greater value lies in trying to utilize his method of teaching to other stuff you may be working on in our training. Still, even if you just stay on what he shows, you will be satisfied for having acquired a functional fighting skillset that is fairly easy to maintain.
Now, since my buying this series of DVDs (and Mr. Kautz was so great that he threw in a set of Sharkee training knives that I still use regularly) there have been another three issues published (9 to 11), but for some reason I have never got them (that happens when family and children get into picture, lol). Although, obviously, I haven't seen those and cannot comment on the actual content, from the experience with the first eight issues, I feel comfortable recommending those as well.
In the end, there is one more element of Kautz's work on this video magazine that shows what a class act he is. Namely, instead of using some random/generic royalty-free music for the opening and closing credits, he actually goes with music from the demo bands that he likes, and then gives them full credit and some exposure by including footage of their performances.
Thank you sir Jim Keating and sir Pete Kautz for doing this awesome body of work!
As some of you may know I have been running a sort of intermittent series on the methods of knife use in self defense, according to the approach of reverse grip with edge-in configuration, aka RGEI. Since that first article that dealt with the WHYs of the whole thing, there have been a couple more about the HOWs. Obviously, I liked those quite a bit, but this time the focus is on the gentleman and his video that first got me aware of this characteristic mode of utilizing the tool at hand for the purposes of managing physical conflict.
The gentleman is the one and only James A. Keating, the founder and director of Comtech. To say that Mr. Keating is a progressive-minded practitioner of martial disciplines and combative methods would be a huge understatement, at the very least. I have been following his work for almost 25 years now (whoa, it even took me by surprise!), and his body of knowledge put to public never fails to be incredibly inspiring. I can't even begin to grasp his influence on the people who have had the opportunity to work with him in person. The sort of forward thinking in the relentless pursuit of ever broadening and deepening understanding of one's chosen field of study is always admirable, particularly when done in a such a comprehensive and non judgmental manner, as is the case here.
It is no wonder then that he was the first (to my knowledge, anyway) to propagate the RGEI style of knife combat and present it in an excellent video instructional. The testimony to his being ahead of times is that it first came out on VHS! Now, this volume was/is available in two versions actually. My first exposure was via the tape distributed by the now defunct Paladin Press (ugh, I will never get over it), titled transparently as Reverse Grip Knife Fighting.
At issue is the same material as originally published by Keating himself, just with an additional intro that talks about the type of knives best suited for the method of work as taught in the video, and their availability. The instructional portion, however, is the same as in the case of Comtech production, titled Drawpoint, which is the moniker I normally use when referring to this system.
The first thing that struck me here was the author's emphasis on the method of carry and deployment of the knife. It is safe to say that prior to that I had seen knife fighting as most other people do - a situation that somehow magically got to the point of facing an opponent with the blade already in and in a fighting stance, with no sense whatsoever about what had preceded it. And Keating does a great job explaining all the pertinent factors about this topic, while pointing out that in the close quarters combat, which is where the RGEI is primarily meant to be applied, the speed of reacting and drawing the weapon plays the main role.
In line with the subtitle of the Drawpoint video, i.e. Knife Fighting Fundamentals, from the deployment we go to learning two basic strikes/offensive techniques (yes, just TWO), but they are worked in such a way that you will thorough understand the mechanics of delivery, footwork to make them doable, applications to make the functional across various situations...in other words, the honest work on integrating the tool and usage method, and fostering actual skill.
But, it doesn't stop there! Remember how I mentioned the emphasis on deployment? Well, Keating goes into some innovative drills that should really hone both the speed, timing, perception and accuracy in drawing the blade and putting it to proper use in a self-protection scenario. And this is probably where the material truly shines, because although several other instructors have formulated their own take on the methods of RGEI use, none have gone anywhere near Keating's approach in terms of developing those attributes.
As you have probably noted from the above picture, the Drawpoint system is presented in a set of three videos, but the second and third are concerned with the reverse grip EDGE-OUT configuration. For that reason, I decided not to review them here. That said, the first volume is really a standalone instructional package, and as such is sufficient in providing the necessary information that will take you a long way in search for the solutions to the problems commonly faced in the real world (think high percentage here), whether it is opposing humans or aggressive animals in similar predicaments.
In conclusion, if you have somehow managed to let James Keating fly under your radar, this is a great way to get introduced to his (astonishing) body of work; if you know the man for his other stuff, this is an excellent to see him at his most straightforward combative mode.
You ever find that some things in your life and doings
are inexplicable, almost mysterious? I sure do. One of such conundrums is the
fact that I have been a real fan of work and instructional material of one Mark
Hatmaker for almost 25 years now, and despite his prolific output to my liking,
I don’t have any of it reviewed here. How did it happen is beyond me… Although,
I once did a thorough review of his Outer Limits Drills video for the Raven
Calling magazine, it is about time to rectify the situation on this blog.
To that end, instead of tackling a single product, I
would like to point your attention to his Black Box Project. If you’d prefer
reading what the author himself has to say about it, check out the overview at his website. But, here is my
summary:
Back Box is a series of DVDs from his RAW library, issued monthly, that
addresses the grey area of combat methods – the approach that relies as much on
the athletic physical attributes required in modern sports as it does on the “old
school” technical work that is both ring/mat proven and street savvy. In broad
strokes, the material presented belongs to the categories of standup striking,
upright and ground grappling, weaponry work (what Hatmaker call frontier tools,
i.e. tomahawk and trade knives), and physical preparation.
The interesting part is, however, that he did a huge
amount of research to find, test, filter and apply predominantly the training
methods used by the yesteryear generations of folks who had to use it in real
life, and did not have access to the facilities and gear that modern professional
fighters do. In other words, what you will find is the stuff that will work for
common people like you and I, who have daily jobs and limited financial
resources to invest in enhancing your fight game. On top of that, he focuses on
the type of training that minimizes the risk of injury typically caused by
following professional regimes without the professional support of coaches,
massage therapists, nutritional supplementation etc. Plus, there is a cool addition
of written outline of contents in each DVD, along with suggestions on how to
conduct the training, delivered either in hardcopy or electronic format with
each volume.
Now, as you could see, the production style is of the
homemade tradition, which might seem lo-fi to some viewers, but I actually like
it for its authentic feel. The sheer quality of the material is further
enhanced by Hatmaker’s excellent presentation. In line with the values of the
old-timers, Hatmaker is a rather eloquent gentleman, well read and able to
articulate his thoughts and advice very nicely. To get a taste of his worth in
this domain, I wholeheartedly recommend that you pay a visit (or several) to
either his audio podcast or written blog (or both)
according to your preferences.
After several months into his material, I can honestly
attest that Hatmaker’s Black Box stuff is excellent! The combative techniques
and tactics presented make a lot of sense, and with a little work can be
integrated in any existing program that you may be partaking in. And while that
portion is top notch, to me the physical training (culture) material contained
in the Unleaded sub-system of the Black Box has been a real blessing! It has
enabled me to get rid of some nagging injuries and discomforts that had been
hindering my daily training for a while, while also boosting my performance
ability in other areas.
As if all of the above was not enough, Mark happens to
be a true gentleman and enjoyable fellow to converse with, and inspires people
to do good work and live good life in the best way possible – leading by
example. All in all, digging into his offerings might turn out to be one of the
best investments (time, money and effort) you could possibly make.
This one goes hand in hand with the previous post. That said, you do not need to read the last month's installment, but if you do, it will give you a bigger picture of the subject.
A typical student of a typical martial art is typically driven (early on at least) by achieving the next belt/degree, which is why after the 3-6 month mark, probably the biggest drop off point in the number of students is a year or so after they get their black belt. That is characteristic of extrinsically motivated people, i.e. a lot of them in today's consumer societies. Also a common feature of such practitioners is incessant hunt for new techniques and tricks. It is baffling, really, that to this day there are so many people believing the "secret" to greatness of success lies in the material itself, rather than in the person using it. After all, how do we explain the fact that some exponents can successfully pull off techniques others can't make work? As master Rey Galang says during his classes (albeit in the way I paraphrased it, to make it more memorable):
So, yeah, it boils down to elbow grease and dedicated work on the stuff one's instructors are teaching. And then, ask yourself, how much time during the day (if aiming at real competence, you can't allow yourself to think in terms of 2-3 times per week) you can invest in training? Well, how much material do you think one can cover efficiently and meaningfully? Hmmm...does it make sense to collect dozens upon dozens of techniques in that case?
That brings us to the need and desire for cross training. I belong to the camp that argues for the necessity of such approach, if one is motivated by combative effectiveness in their martial training. The above considerations could be used here as a filter to help you decide which systems/instructors to work with in order to make your skill set compact and functional. Namely, their methods should be complementary, both in terms of fighting ability and training economy. When you can work on things that fit well together, it is easier to approach them in a single act, thus making every minute of practice count. Otherwise, you might be struggling in vain.
Be honest with yourself and it will be easier to be true to your quest.
Whoa, it just appeared to me that a month ago it was the 10th anniversary of this blog! Man...who would have thought. Back then, even with the first actual post, my sole intention was to share some personal views and insights into this beautiful, funny, frustrating and consuming world of martial art training. Maybe I was hoping to somehow contribute to improving that very training process a tiny bit. Well, while there is no way to say if the later hopes have been achieved, I sure did keep on sharing those views, thoughts and rants. And got more in return than ever having dreamt of!
Just like it is the case with training itself, the main benefit of writing this blog turned out to be getting to know some really great people and learning infinitely more along the way than possible being able to teach in any way, shape or form. As the matter of fact some true greats found it worthwhile to get in touch and grace me with their time in conversation. Others provided me with the opportunity of actually learning under their guidance on a regular basis. What more could a guy, who happens to be a lifer in the martial arts, ask for?
However, as a complete coincidence, probably the biggest honor that aligned with this anniversary was the invitation to teach along with guro Roger Agbulos during one of his incredibly popular Zoom sessions. As a token of appreciation for all those readers who made running the blog worthy, here is my segment of that session, in all its (in)glorious detail:
The things that I would particularly like you to notice are the interpretation of what good technique actually means in combative arts (at the very beginning of the video), as well as a helpful way to improve one's solo practice and make it more effective. If you get more out of it - take it as bonus!
In conclusion, it has been an awesome ride... Let's see if we can go for another round!
A couple of months ago I posted a short video clip on the Astig Lameco group on Facebook, showing one of the possible solutions for a common problem of many novice practitioners, i.e. losing the integrity of the combat stance after a few seconds of dynamic footwork. It showed me doing liner shuffling footwork in a skateboarding park, with one of those low, straight rails between my feet, on a mid-calf level. It caused some great reactions and comments, saying what a great way it is to address the issue.
However, it is nothing new or spectacular. In the coaching practice this approach to training is known as the method of constraints and affordances, and in a nutshell it entails the creation of such training environment that would either prevent the practitioner from making a mistake, or facilitate his achieving the desired outcome, respectively. In this post I will illustrate the former approach.
We have all been in a situation, either as an instructor or the student, to keep pointing to the same mistake, but to no avail, since it keeps rearing its ugly head time and again. Instead of giving up on the issue or continuing with more of the same in terms of trying to fix it, there is a different, wordless way of dealing with it. How about putting the trainee in a situation where he has no choice but do what you ask of him?
Let's take a very widespread boxing mistake - flaring elbow when executing a jab. In other words, instead of firing the punch down the straight line, there is power leaking because of the crooked trajectory of the elbow during the execution. Here is the visual depiction:
the guard position
mid-phase with elbow sticking out
final phase
The problem with this technique is that if the distance is suddenly shortened in the middle phase of the punch, it will lose so much power that the effect will be negligible. So, the coach has been harping about it constantly, even tried showing the trainee some video footage of his faulty mechanics, but it has all been futile. Well, if we constrain the spatial options that allow for the mistake to be made, it should elicit proper execution from the practitioner.
In this case, it is done as simply as putting the trainee next to a wall, his lead shoulder almost touching it. And then have him or her doing the technique, first slowly and then faster.
the guard position
mid-phase, this time without wandering elbow
final phase
That is it! It will take a bit of perseverance, but lot less frustration to get where you want to go.
The nice thing is that constraints are not limited to technical training. You can develop tactical solutions this way (eg. by limiting the available technical options during sparring; always starting the drill or sparring round from a position that you want to emphasize; taking a limb out of the equation by tying it etc.), as well as many other aspects of combative training. Basically, you start with the problem and reverse-engineer the solution by seeking to see how to disable the undesirable occurrence.
Asked what are the characteristics of a high-level martial art exponent, several typical responses come to mind - ease of movement, grace of execution, thinking ahead of the opponent etc. - but when they are all integrated it would be fair to say that when they are at their top game, such expert practitioners all seem to possess and exhibit flow in performance. However, this very notion may prove to be rather tricky in its meaning. Also, there is no consensus regarding if it is possible to be trained.
Interestingly enough, some martial systems emphasize flow as their prime goal and desired result of training but may have very different ways in seeking to achieve it. Let's take the example of grappling arts such as aikido and BJJ: the former strives to develop flow as a component of its technical base and seeks to train it through relaxed and soft execution of specific techniques through high repetitions; the latter perceives flow as the result of having all other technical components in order, and tends to come at it through sparring, i.e. free rolling.
If you have had the opportunity to try or at least see both approaches in action, you may have noticed that their understanding of what, or better yet - how, flow is is not exactly the same. In aikido it is seen as good if the whole sequence of moves and techniques runs seamlessly as one long, uninterrupted statement, even speech. But, when reading a well written article/book, or listening to an engaging speaker, you have certainly noticed full stops at the end of sentences and heard pauses at varying times in the speech. In a conversation, this is even more obvious. This is why BJJ sparring seems more natural, with its transitions, isolations, positional escapes and finally submissions - this is how a natural conversation may be represented visually.
But, what with the striking arts? Obviously, there is high value placed on the flow in those as well, but again, the approaches frequently differ. Filipino martial arts are known for professing their preference for the flow as a supremely important aspect, but quite often it is attempted in practice in a manner similar to aikido...artificially, devoid of context, via so-called flow drills. Here is an example...
What technical attributes do you see being drilled properly here? Stance, biomechanical structure, distance, footwork..? Not exactly the most brilliant display. That said, the drill itself isn't necessarily faulty, be it sumbrada, hubad or whatever. With proper energy and intent, all those other things would fall into place. As an example, seek instruction from Roger Agbulos, either seminar or classes, to see how hubad, when well done, tend to resemble wrestling's pummeling drills.
Over the years of my training with Alex Kostic, we came at a notion of "punctuated flow", as a term that may better represent a genuine state of performance in actual fights. To most of us, seeing a good boxer doing his craft would be a great visual representation. The following clip shows some of those, but I especially like the portion starting at 1:38, because it is a great parallel to giving a good speech, as mentioned earlier, with its pauses between well connected phrases and sentences.
See what I mean? Now, some people may argue that flow is a mental state that cannot really be trained. I will readily agree that with some practitioners it is more innate and easier to attain, but it can be trained for sure. There are many factors involved in an adequate training methodology, but let me point to an important one to begin with. First, the trainees should be working on longer series of technical maneuvers and looking for fluid performance, but the thing is they should be aware of the purpose of each individual component, while facing progressive resistance and increasing demands in doing, so. Why? Well, once you know what are you doing and why, it is much easier to have proper intent behind your actions. Whoever has seen a Thai boxing fight knows that most exchanges are short and crisp, done explosively, and yet, in most schools you will find many strings of long combos, such as this one:
The point there is that the person practicing the drill knows the purpose and function of their individual techniques and their possible combinations, which enables practitioners to take them apart and reassemble them in different ways, according to the context and circumstances of the fight. Like learning foreign languages - you may and should learn entire phrases and expressions, but also need to know meaning of individual words and rules of linking them when expressing new meaning. Here, meaning is intent...without you can throw together any words you like in any order you want, but they might end up sounding like gibberish.
I gotta say, although the spread of the Internet did not turn out to be exactly as I had hoped it would, 25 years ago, there are some aspects to it that I can't help loving. One of those is the democratization of instructional value. Do you remember, back in the 80's and early 90's, when martial art instructional videos were always beautifully produced, often overpriced and not-so-rarely worthless? Did it happen that you had to save some hard earned money to order a title based on an ad in a glossy mag, claiming it to be some sort of "super advanced, top-secret, elite level, ultimate system of..." just to find it to be a repackaged bunch of the same old stuff (or sometimes same old shit)? It sure happened to me more times than I care to remember.
Well, although there are still products of that nature lurking around, it is great to see that the availability of recording technology has lead to the proliferation of excellent instructional content, even if with less than stellar production. And I am thrilled to direct your attention to one such offering!
Marko Novakovic is a man from Split in Croatia, and he somehow caught my attention on Facebook for his no-nonsense approach to training, incessant quest to learn more, and unfaltering resolve to sweat and withstand pain and bruises in search of better methods. His training group bears the moniker Ronin, and it suits his inventive DIY mentality well - have no brand or style as master, seek the truth for yourself.
He's actually an upbeat guy with good sense of humor
Well, he has recently put out a course on combative knife handling, titled Basic Knifework - Sabre Grip, and it's a treat. To begin with, we are talking an actual course here: set of lessons that follow a logical path of instruction, aimed at developing solid skill with the knife. Novakovic briefly discusses the preliminary considerations (training gear and safety precautions), and then proceeds to take us through the works on grip, stance, main lines of attack, footwork, targets and ranges. Finally he brings it all together in a series of drills in long, medium and short ranges, shown as solo work and with a partner (with a help from his superbly supportive wife).
What really stood out for me in this package is Marko's awareness of an often overlooked gap in martial art training - going for artistic level too soon. Namely, he understands that a knife is a tool used to cut and stab, and as any other tool it takes effort to become good in its fundamental craft. And those fundamentals are rather universal, hence his emphasis on good mechanics of motion and athletic attributes. As such, the material taught is excellent for anybody wishing to introduce this portion to their training, regardless of previous background in combative disciplines (or lack thereof).
It is also refreshing to see an instructor who constantly displays adherence to all of the principles he had previously espoused. That is why he is able to strike a very good balance between spoken instruction and physical demonstration, which is a great feature for today's fast-paced lives and shortened attention spans - you will spend more time moving and training, less listening to him ranting. Many instructors still have problems discerning between writing a book and shooting a videos, but that is not the case here. If on Facebook, check out the short preview https://www.facebook.com/RoninFMAblog/videos/1654450058036329/
Oh, and with regards to one of those "yesteryear" disadvantages mentioned at the beginning...at just $15 this video course really is the prime choice for any guy or girl looking to add a functional set of skills to their training or self-defense skillset.
Every once in a while, in the world of martial arts
and combatives training comes a set of events that leads to the general
paradigm change in how things are analyzed and approached. In the modern age,
the first such occurrence with some media coverage was Bruce Lee’s open
advocating of cross training, which at the time was seen as blasphemous in some
circles. Today, however, his Tao Of Jeet Kune Do is a classic book, while MMA
is a widely accepted concept, even among the lay people.
Oddly (maybe), the evolution in technical and
tactical training methods of training hasn’t really been closely followed,
until very recently, by adaptation in training in line psychological research, especially
in civilian circles outside professional sports. Even more rare is the
appearance of literature that treats the subject in a practical, yet profound
manner, without oversimplification on one side, or the indiscriminate avalanche
of expert terminology, in hopes of giving credibility to the publication. There
have been some authors whose insights had come from personal experience, able
to put it in writing in a sensible manner with excellent insights for the readers,
such as Marc MacYoung, Rory Miller and Varg
Freeborn, but those are few and far between.
It is thus with exquisite pleasure that I am writing
today of what should be one of those milestone works – The Maul, written by Schalk Holloway and Gavin Coleman.
Very adequate
The subtitle of the book is Preparing for the Chaos of Close Combatives, and it’s an
understatement. Many other books and videos will claim similar goal or result,
but keep regurgitation the same old information. Holloway and Coleman have
combined personal experience in dealing with daily violence in South Africa
with modern research in neuro-science, as it applies to humans in the
conditions of close combat. There have been works dealing with psychology of combat
before, but mostly in terms of what to achieve and how to deal with it, but not
so much about optimizing your daily training in accordance with the said
research. Without going into detail, this means primarily the two states in
which the brain operates and how they interact, as well as how they impact our
performance. The only brief reference to this, which I have seen in martial
arts literature was in a book
by Luis Preto, but without deeper interpretation.
This book is one of those that are so well thought
out that the logic of how its subjects are presented flows seamlessly, which
makes it easier for the reader to comprehend and assimilate the material. The
authors start with sharp and honest analysis of the actual problem, in terms of
how most combat training programs are run, in comparison to what are the demands
of the potential real world situations that would entail the use of such
training. It is then followed by the relevant presentation of the information
that one needs to have a grasp of deal with it. And unlike many other
resources, Holloway and Coleman do not stop there, but actually proceed to
offer systematic solutions and how to develop them.
Acting on it
The seriousness of approach and scope of the book is
hinted already in the glossary of terms at the beginning – Close Combative
Incident, Pre-Incident Indicators, Tactic Determinants, Current Reality, Unscripted
Training, etc. Just take a look at their definition of Correct Execution:
…both an accurate movement pattern as
well as successful application in an Unscripted Training or Play Learning
environment. Correct Execution does not mean a person can simply successfully mimic
what a movement pattern looks like, it means that they can use the movement pattern
effectively and also achieve its intended outcome…
And not only are the authors honest in their
investigation of the subject matter, but also when it comes to not pretending
to be the revolutionary thinkers whose work comes from a vacuum. Instead, they
give credit where credit is due and direct the readers to further sources for
enhancing their understanding of the topics presented.
In case you are wondering, yes the book does go into
the HOW TO aspect of dealing with an assault, primarily through use of edge and
point tools, as they describe it. Still, the methodology is robust and
versatile enough to be implemented empty-handed or with smaller impact weapons.
In conclusion, it is really difficult to recommend
this book strongly enough, as a simple review is painfully inadequate in
attempt to do it justice. The authors are easily accessible via Facebook
and happen to be really nice, down to earth guys who will gladly answer your
question related to their work, even if not necessarily stemming from the book.
If you would like to find more about Schalk Holloway make sure to hit his web place over at
Training
by yourself is all the rage these days, obviously, so everybody and their
brother is casting their vote on what to do in isolated conditions. Now, I have
already written about it
(exactly five years ago!), and some of the more obvious
aspects or approaches
to solo training have seen their fair share of treatment here. Now, there is
another way to train solo, and quite controversial one, too.
Say what!?
I’m
talking about formal practice, i.e. kata,
hyung, jurus, taolu…depending on the geographical origin of your chosen
martial practice. The controversy arises, of course, in view of the value of
such practice. Some traditionalists will swear by it and claim it the ultimate
supreme training method; the modern day, sparring oriented systems, such as MMA
or various (so called) reality-based defense methods will think of it as a bad
joke.
Now,
a lot has been written and said about the actual meaning, or original purpose
of these forms, so I will not delve into it here. Suffices to say that, as some
may expect from me, the point is not so much in what you do, but rather how
you do it. And there are some glaringly different approaches!
First,
let me stir some commotion – (kick)boxers do katas, too. In essence, whenever
there is a standardized set of techniques strung together to be performed as a
sequence, you get a formal exercise. In boxing, one of those might be
jab-cross-front hook; in kickboxing jab-cross-roundhouse kick; in Thai boxing
they can get quite
elaborate; in savate there are
standard combos performed when testing for grades, just like in many
traditional Asian arts.
savate is French after all
However,
it is immediately evident how these formal exercises are practiced in said
systems. Let’s just go back to that basic boxing combo – all three punches
might be done to the head…or, head-body-head…or head-body-body…or body-head-head…or
you-get-the-picture. Next, add the footwork variables, as in stepping: all
advancing; all retreating; advance-advance-retreat etc. All of a sudden a single
formal exercise yields a mind-numbing number of possibilities
in application.
In
most Asian arts, as practiced today, forms tend to be some kind of pictures to
be added to your album. Basically static in presentation, even with predefined
rhythm in performance. Yes, even so there could be some merit in doing them, to
work on your breathing, focus, stamina and so on. I mean, in the circumstances
of home quarantine that may be enough… But why not take it a step further and
break them apart, maybe even assembling techniques in a different order
altogether? Kind of like Legos! You can follow the instructions, but you can
also make your own ideas.
Lgo action!
The
only traditional art (as far as I know) that nurtures this approach as an
integral part of its teaching is silat
with its pecahan method. Admittedly,
there are schools out there who also work on bunkai, along with their kata, but those are also frequently
fossilized and done by numbers. Indeed, there are always those thinking out of
the box, such as Iain Abernethy or Gavin Mulholland, but everybody could, and
should, try this approach, at least once in a while.
Finally,
there is another very important aspect of traditional forms that I find
interesting, but, alas, it is not often paid attention to. It has to do with
finer mechanical points of technical development, but instead of trying to
explain it in writing, take a look at this brief but good demonstration:
In
conclusion, although nothing beats working with good instructors and training
partners, there is still so much work to on your own that you should never be
caught idle of bored!
Teaching
martial arts to kids is something I have always been reluctant to do. My main
issue is that, the way I see it, it just doesn’t work well in mixed groups,
i.e. it requires a dedicated children’s group. The nature of the material
taught is not even among the top priorities here, but rather the training
methodology and dynamics of the class, if you’re going to keep the kids’ interest
and have them stay long enough to reap some benefits from training.
There
is, however, an avenue of training with children that only occurred to me
recently – private sessions. Namely, my own son (10 years old) has shown some
interest in my weapons training and I agreed to teach him some. Obviously, this
sort of approach has its ups and downs.
On
the positive side, we are able to squeeze some training whenever it is
convenient, and possibly more importantly, it doesn’t have to go on for a full
hour, or whatever designated duration. It makes things easier with keeping them
focused, although some variation in training is still required. That said, I
find it neat to have two or three activities planned and then rotate through
them in 2-3 minute intervals. The biggest point to remember, as it seems to me,
is that the kids basically need to know the purpose of the activity if you want
them to do it with any semblance of attention and commitment. For example,
isolated footwork drills or swinging sticks along predetermined angles can be a
drag, but replace the stick with a sword replica, instead of abstract angles
put some kind of target to elicit the same movement, and move the target a bit –and
you’re in a game!
The
downside that prevails, in our particular case, is the attitude during the
training session. My son has this high-curiosity type of personality and will
easily slip into the “why this, why not that?” rabbit hole that wastes time. On
the other hand, if I cut him short and make him proceed without an answer he
will have hard time getting back to focused work. It may be the main advantage
of group work, as the children will somehow feel less inclined toward endless
rambling with other peers around.
OK,
so, how does this experience transfer to teaching kids privately, as clients?
Honestly, I have no idea. It’s not something that really piques my interest,
for many reasons. I do have ulterior motives in teaching my own, though. Namely,
besides all the right reasons for doing it, in terms of benefits for the kid, I
actually hope to “build” my own training partner in a few years, that could,
hopefully, help push my training further and maintaining a good regimen
year-round, regardless of training seasons and vacations, or the availability
of other training partners.
This is sort of a continuation of the train of thought discussed in the previous post on constraints and affordances. Over there I talked most of all about various physical constraints in training, which should, hopefully, make us develop some desired skills and abilities that otherwise would be left underdeveloped.
Another approach to the same tool would be the selection of technical or/and tactical tools to be "banned" in drills or sparring sessions, so that the only desired responses would be elicited in trainees' performance. In this regard there are no limits to how you limit your options (yes, I wrote that deliberately), depending on what you are trying to achieve. Say, in a boxing session allow the use of hooks only (technical limitation), or just lateral footwork (tactical). In a grappling session allow only sweeps from guard (technical), or award points only for getting the opponents back (tactical).
Of course, the ideas and approaches from this and previous post can be combined according to needs and training goals, but you may include other insightsas well, if that fits your purpose. The bottom line is - be aware and perceptive of the needs and possible shortcomings in your training, be selective with your criteria for adding one training method or another to your coaching toolbox, see if you can accomplish more by doing less in training, either by limiting stimuli or responses.
This may seem as a bit of a blast from the past, if you have been following this blog for a while. Namely, some years ago I addressed the issue of adaptability being one of the most important attributes of a good fighter, and what it meant, but this time I would like to address some of the more specific ways to approach this subject in your training. Now, what I am to offer may seem counter intuitive at the first glance, but it is a method of training that has been widely use for a long time and with good results, so bear with me.
If you read the linked article, you will see that I believe in a strong foundational skill set and then incessantly working on developing the ability to respond to the new challenges through exposure to specific situations and circumstances. In doing just that I have noted a natural tendency among the trainees, which in the long-term could hamper their progress in trying to accomplish this goal. What emerges as a typical reaction to such drills is the attempt to extract yourself from the challenging conditions and find the way, as soon as possible, to put your best game to use. An example would be working heavily on your positional escapes on the ground, so you can immediately get back on your feet and start striking the opponent. However, in the transition process you might miss on a number of opportunities to inflict some damage, either by blows or joint locks or whatever, somewhere between those basic situations, i.e. lying down and standing up.
So, how do we learn to recognize opportunities in this "grey area" ? In the coaching science there is a method termed constraints and affordancesand it entails limiting the options that trainees have on disposal in dealing with the demands of the drill/situation. That way, they are forced to use other tools, specifically those that previously had not been fully developed and adopted. Here is how the above "transition" scenario is typically addressed in silat classes.
The constraints-led method, however, is not the exclusive domain of traditional/exotic martial arts. Here is the insight into how it could be applied in boxing, to improve the in-fighting prowess among the boxers who typically rely on their footwork and/or longer reach in regular sparring bouts or matches.
In grappling this approach is exemplified in starting all your rolling session from a certain position, the one that is your weak link, maybe spending entire training period doing that; in RBSD/combatives it may be working out of the cornered position; armed systems would stress the use of the "other" hand and so on.
The main challenge in this kind of work is having to face the inner voices that come from one's ego when being forced to step out of the comfort zone. Therefore, make sure to resist the urge to rationalize the weak performances and seek excuses for going back to your feel-good practices. The only way to make breakthroughs in your performance is to "embrace the suck" and keep your eyes on the prize. After all, it is better to suck and be frustrated in training than to suffer in an actual arena of combat, be it urban streets, military battlefield or sport tournament.
