Last weekend I had the chance to host the seminar covering
the topics of Trinity Combat methodology of self defense and knife defense (day
1), and the Irish stick fighting system (day 2). The training was conducted by
head instructor Hendrik Röber and able assistance of Bernd Boss. In this blog post
I would like to share my impressions with those who have interest in it.
Day 1 – Trinity Combat Concepts
As mentioned, this portion of the seminar was dedicated to
fundamental self defense principles and especially their application in
defending against knife attacks. The outlook of this approach is, naturally,
heavily influenced by Mr. Röber’s professional background, which includes his
extended army stint as a member of para-commando units of the German armed
forces, as well as years of bouncing and security operations.
What I really appreciated about his method is the logical
and coherent nature of both the contents of the system and the instruction. There
are hordes of self defense instructors out there, but not all are created
equal. Röber certainly belongs among those who are doing their trainees/clients/student
a big favor by presenting a good and reliable set of skills they can count in
the case of dire need.
Essentially, the course teaches a finite number of
techniques and concepts that cover a lot of ground in application, either armed
or unarmed. In that sense, what we have at hand is a true self defense program,
and not an incompetent attempt of streamlining whatever extensive martial art
and then selling it as “ultimate, supreme, foolproof,
super-human-ability-inducing” lesson plan. Yeah, we all know plenty of cases of
the latter.
So, the Trinity Combat approach makes a basic distinction
between the situations when you can tell that conflict is brewing and when the
attack comes totally unexpected and by surprise. For each, they teach a fundamental
stance/position from which to launch the response, while minimizing the number
of possible openings for the attack. The nature of the response is to take over
the initiative immediately, and trying to stop the attacker in his tracks. Another
important aspect is to go for the position of spatial advantage over the
attacker and work on breaking his structure, hence finishing the altercation as
quickly as possible.
The nice thing is that the transfer of the skills from
working against empty handed attacks or those with the knife, but also in
situations where you yourself are armed or not, requires little to none
adaptations, which maximizes the efficiency of training time. In that context, being
an extraordinary physical specimen himself (standing at two meters, i.e. 6’8”
tall), Mr. Röber shows his competence as the instructor, by being aware of and
stressing the important mechanical points that will “make it or break it” for the
smaller people.
Day 2 – Irish stick fighting
When it comes to the issue of Irish stick fighting styles,
there is some debate going over that one, but without going into it, Hendrik Röber
is the main representative of Glen Doyle’s family system for the “rest of the
world” as I call it. And the kind of representative that any head of any system
could wish for!
Röber pay dues where it is called for, his execution of the
technical material is sharp and precise, while his teaching is passionate and with
the good balance of strictness and humor. Believe me, with the highly
physically demanding nature of the system, some humorous relief is very much
welcome.
Interestingly enough, the session started with a
characteristic warm-up fragment that seems to be devised specifically for this
kind of activity. I found it very interesting and well suiting what followed
afterwards. Assistant instructor for this seminar, Bernd Boss did a wonderful
job of demonstrating the exercises and bringing across the attitude required to
do them properly.
The Doyle family system, Rince an Bhata Uisce Beatha (RBUB
for short), does seem a bit strange at first, but once you develop some
understanding for the circumstances it originates from and what it strives to
achieve, it makes sense. What this seminar covered were the fundamental
striking techniques, referred to as stick punches, and the defensive measures
against typical attacks coming from seven angles. These are certainly not all
that are contained within the system, but they form the foundation for the
later work.
And some hard work at that. Yes, we all know that in order
to excel at anything one must put in some serious effort, but training in RBUB
means hard work on more than one layer. Fortunately, the instructors of the
seminar were able to encourage and stimulate the participants, by leading by
example, to endure through the rigors of some of the drills and exercises.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcH0ww_Jbfg
In the end, the experience from taking part in this two-day
event was tiring and painful but very rewarding. The material provided plenty
of food for thought and stuff to work on, while the instructors provided good
atmosphere and example of how to do your job, should you be an instructor
yourself.
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| Left to right: Hendrik Röber, myself, Bernd Boss |
Finally, if you would like to seek training with Hendrik Röber (which I recommend), you would do well starting by visiting the following website:
http://www.isfww.eu/grossbritannien-uk/
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