Great post from Marks on the MT Elbow Strike. Click the video to go there and watch.
I’ve long taught that the elbow and knee techniques of Muay Thai are among the most effective and simple that can be taught or used in self defense, or in the ring. The video showed the effectiveness well. Any thoughts? Ever been hit by an elbow? Still remember it?
In Flanders Fields John McCrae, 1915.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Thank you to all veterans from all wars who have served, fought, lived, and still die for our freedom.
I thought this Twitter thread was interesting. Low Tech Combat asked, “Who thinks "Aliveness" is not important?” To which Jason Crouch of The Martial Explorer answered, “what is aliveness.” My reply was:
tdatraining RT @jessecrouch: @lowtechcombat what is aliveness- Great question! Is it rhetorical? I will answer anyway: There is no hard and fast definition, like most things in martial arts, unless you isolate it to a particular system, e.g. JKD. It may be easier to define by asking what is dead in MA? Most think that a "dead" drill is one where the feeder, for ex, is not responding, but simply feeding an attack or responding with a defense without thought or emotion. He may as well be a machine.
An "alive" drill may be closer to sparring, in that a partner gives feedback or resistance. Is it important? Yes, of course it's important, but the "dead" is important too, because it develops basics, skills, and tactics and "aliveness" when learning something new can actually be detrimental to developing a technique or skill before the correct time. Does that make sense? I know their are lots of other perspectives and would love to hear them.
Being the expert researcher I am, I used the search term “aliveness,” and found this video on YouTube. Watch.
What do you think?
Nice video of the debut of the return of the Chevy Caprice police model. It was right next to my company’s booth at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Denver. Check it out.
And a little promo video as well.
For more information:
Jalopnik
Discussions of target areas, like “pressure points,” can sometimes be a subject of controversy regarding effectiveness, as in the case of secret or hidden techniques. Some, on the other hand, are indisputably effective. Such is the “Brachial Stun” or a strike to the side of the neck.
Let’s look at a couple of good examples.
Example #1: Highlights of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, a former kickboxer, and currently an MMA fighter, known for his knockout prowess. Notice that the Thai kick applied to the temple or the side of the neck, when landed flush, almost always results in a knockdown. Ironically, Cro Cop himself was defeated in the UFC via the same technique.
Example #2: The Famous “Pimp Smackdown” video. In this case, the attacker is hit cleanly to the side of the neck by the “Karate expert” with a forearm or knifehand strike to obvious effect. Also notice that the Karate man was not planted to deliver maximum power, but snapped the technique while also penetrating through the target. If he were "planted” or had a stronger base, I doubt the pimp would have been able to stumble away at all.
So what is the Brachial Stun? An older version of the Army Field Manual on combatives (FM 21-150) describes it this way,
A sharp blow to the side of the neck causes unconsciousness by shock to the carotid artery, jugular vein, and vagus nerve. For maximum effect, the blow should be focused below and slightly in front of the ear. A less powerful blow causes involuntary muscle spasms and intense pain. The side of the neck is one of the best targets to use to drop an opponent immediately or to disable him temporarily to finish him later.
Clearly, the goal in FM 21-150 was to put an opponent down quickly, and this technique does. That’s why it’s become a staple of police defensive tactics and almost all combatives (military hand-to-hand use or based) systems.
CAUTION: This is for informational purposes only. Any strike that can drop or disable an opponent may result in unconsciousness or death, even by a secondary impact (the floor or another object).
