Thrilla in the Conference Room

After the Thrilla in the Conference Room, there's nothing left in the tank!

New Blog member Brian Furlano!

Please welcome Brian Furlano to our Blog. Brian is probably my oldest friend. I think I've known him since about 1980, when we met through my brother in Columbia, Maryland. We didn't like each other at much, and even fought a little, but eventually became great friends.

Brian was my original sparring partner in kick-boxing and boxing since the 80s, and has continued his training ever since. He used to work in security and has used his skills on more than one occasion to successfully defend himself, detain a subject, or just kick butt!

Brian is now married, and living in Florida and is planning adoption of a little girl, I think.

I'll give Brian a little more of a hard time in later postings!

Good to have you aboard, Brian!- Nathan

Training diary: Sat. 8/28/04

Attended by Nathan and Sam

FORMS – all from Kicho Hyung

We drilled stances and transitional movements, including hands:

• Back stance inner-forearm block
• front stance, out to in block
• Front stance, walking forward w/ rising block
• Front stance rising block, transition to side kick, side punch

Sam, my observations and advice:

• I'd practice Kicho Hyung this week, and commit to memory (muscle and otherwise), what we focused on today.
• Reinforce the weight distribution of the back stance. It's pretty good, but inconsistent.
• Front stance is pretty nice - not thing to criticize at all.
• On all movement, the way to get synchronized focus out of your body is to exhale at the focus of the technique, and flex the abs at that moment. Do you know what I mean? This is important, so if you don't please let me know.
• On transition to front stances, remember to start by bringing your feet together at the 45-degree angle, then torque the hips when you execute the stance and hand technique together.
• Another thing to remember is that the fist stays closed. You can do it!
• Weakest area was the side kick-side punch. Work it all the way from the FS-High block...

SELF DEFENSE drills:

We drilled what worked last time we trained.

1. Duck the haymaker - this was one of the effective techniques. Only way it is going to be a problem was if the attacked throws an uppercut.
2. Jam & grab off the haymaker with a dive position block, then knee and/or elbow. I hate being the attacker on this. It's very effective. Remember to keep the elbows high, and the chin down. You can also use the elbow away from the attackers punching side to elbow on the way in. It feels like you've hit a brick wall (as the attacker) when this defense is done properly.
3. Stop-hit the wide punch with a jab. I like this, but as I get better at Judo, I'll probably do #2 more than this. Very effective. Use with combinations, or immediately takedown as soon as the attacker is stunned by the counter.
4. We then mixed all of them up. This was fun. Threw Sam off when I used the left hand, though...
5. Handle the tackle. We had two methods that worked: blocking the tackle by placing the heel of the palm on the attacker's shoulder, and using the other forearm in a wedge to push the attacker's head to the side. This worked very well with a sidestep away form the direction you push the attacker's head. In other words, I step to my left if I'm pushing your head to the right. Important not to plant unless you're going for a throw. The block I was using was really the same as the dive position jamming type-of block.

BURNOUT SPARRING
We finished with two three-minute rounds of burnout sparring.

Sam's observations
Round 1:

• I was trying to do some different things. Side to side movement to evade. Trying to not just throw the home run, work the jab more. When I stuck to them, he was able to keep you away a little. Movement was successful. Had trouble when he got away from the movement. Two out of three times I used a backfist to cover the eyes and a landed a right to the body. After either of us closed, I just stayed there (got hit). Summary of the round, moderately successful. Average round.
• What worked for Nathan was that when I would come in, you'd immediately counter and were agressive in chasing afterward. Not losing composure and coming back strong. Able to hit with good body punches with weird angles. Very surprising punches. Couple to my left side with your right hand.

Round 2:

• Tried to concentrate more on not putting my heel down, even though I was tired. Tried to be more agressive because I was tired. Follow up more with combinations. Didn't pace myself. Need to do that more. I couldn't complete the round. Going backwards didn't work. Staying in place. Summary: Started well, finished weak. Stick to the basics- don't let them slide. Keep on the ball of the feet. Keep moving. Pace self.

Nathan's observations:
My goal for both rounds was to not get hit. In the first round I wanted to be intelligently agressive, maximizing damage, but not getting hit.

Round 1:

• I did a pretty good job defensively in terms of blocking. I tried to watch for the right and shoulder-roll it, as well as keeping my front arm low to block the body. I also tried to use the jab and movement to keep Sam off-balance. I also tried to draw some shots by putting both my hands down a couple of time, but Sam didn't bite! When Sam threw some combinations with commitment, they were very effective in either hitting, or keeping me off-balance and taking away the initiative. Also, one time he was stepping to the left as I was closing, then he threw a right and it landed-pretty sneaky! I threw some effective combinations, too. Same as for Sam, must have commitment!

Round 2:

My goal for this round was to try to not get hit at all, even to frustrate Sam by movement, checking, and feinting.

• I was pretty successful with the movement and angling off when Sam tried to trap me, or charged in. Two or three times I was trapped by a committed attack by Sam, could only block and counter, but other than that, the evasive tactics worked. I also checked his lead hand and stepped around him. I used both the rear hand and the lead for it, depending on which direction I was going. When I was stepping around to my right, I used the lead. When I was moving a little to my right and wanted to use a lead, I checked with the right hand. At the end of the round, I was shot and Sam became more agressive. I am in trouble when I can't move around! My style is dependent on movement, and at the end of this round I was so tired I couldn't even use my hands, arms, and body movement. I won 80% of the round, but not when it counts. That's why we call it a burnout, I guess, eh?

Practicality in Training

I've always looked at martial arts, in general, as an equalizer, much like the Colt 45 in the old west. I believe that you can improve your chances of survival in all self-defense situations if you have some training. For that training to be effective, though, you have to train as if you're in the situation.

This brings to mind something saw last winter at the skating rink near our home. As we were waiting for one of our kids' lessons to begin, I watched as the figure skaters were warming up in the main lobby area. Some of the competitors were just stretching and moving around, but a couple of them were practicing their jumps and spins in the air, then landing on the floor in tennis shoes. I realized that they were not only practicing some of the mechanics of the technique or jump, but from the focus, they were visualizing being on the ice.

That's how we should utilize the components of our training - everything can, and should, have a practical component. How often will we use a technique? Hopefully, never. If we need to, I don't think it's as important as being prepared to use whatever we have ready. By this, I mean that if I have very heavy boots, restrictive clothing such as jeans and a winter coat on, I probably won't be kicking very high, if at all. But, I should have full use of my hands, and can count on some protection from my clothing as well. If you've ever worn bag gloves, you can attest to the fact that you can hit a lot harder with them on than with them off.

What's more important than what I wear is that I have mental preparation and confidence that I can avoid or handle something. So how can we prepare?

Train with self-defense in mind
Drill scenarios like being attacked as you get in or out of your car; pushed from behind; grabbed from behind; tackled and pinned; in very light or dark conditions.
Train outdoors in street clothes. Make your training environment more realistic.
Train in confined spaces. Use a parking lot, or simulate an elevator or office area.
Mentally rehearse. Inconspicuously look someone over so that you could identify them. Go from head to toe: height, build, skin color, facial hair or other distinguishing characteristics, clothing, footwear. Could he have a weapon? Think about what you would do versus an initial move or attack by that person.
Think of escape routes. Never a good idea to turn your back, but, can you get away without being exposed to potential danger?
Practice the dynamics of fighting, not sparring. There is a very big difference between fighting and sparring. As you may know, sparring can be pretty, rythmic, clean (technique-wise), and can take a while. Sometimes in sparring, you need to pace yourself. Fighting is all-out, vicious, and messy. It doesn't have a discernable rythme, and there is no referee, or clock, so you don't have rules, and sometimes pacing yourself is going to mean you give your opponent more chances...
Train to survive fighting more than one person. Try to spar, at first, with more than one person until you get pretty competent at it. Then try to fight against a pair of partners that are working together to try to tackle or pin you. If you're really brave, try this against 3.
Train to defend and survive an armed attacker(s).
Practice knowing where you are - don't get lost, and pay attention!
Use your environment to survive.