5 Brazilian-Jujutsu Techniques for Females, and the rest of us!

Whether you teach women's self-defense (WSD), as Mr. Bertolino and I do, or just want to be able to effectively defend yourself, there are few systems or styles more battle-tested than BJJ (Brazilian Jujutsu), specifically the Gracie family's variety. When I teach self-defense to men, I always start with the techniques that I teach in WSD, for one reason-they're effective. Let me put it this way, if a 110-pound woman can successfully use a technique on me (shamefully, 220-pounds!), then I should be able to use the same technique on a 300-poound man. If not, I shouldn't be teaching it.

I was fortunate to have so many large students. For example, I had a student in the early 90s who played for the Giants, Redskins, and KC (I think) as a defensive lineman. He was great to try things on, and I learned as much as he did. Anyway, this article features techniques from Rorion Gracie’s RapeSafe program.

In summary, unless you're as big as Andre the Giant, read this and learn...

Controlling The Flinch, The Blink And The Turn Away

A FightingArts.com piece on somthing which can be a serious problem - "The Flinch, The Blink And The Turn Away."


The consequence:

... the student is put at a momentary disadvantage since this type of reaction creates an opening an opponent can exploit. In competition the student might lose a point, but on the street this type of reaction can put him or her in real jeopardy.

If you blink you lose sight of an opponent momentarily. Vision is also disorientated during a flinch as everything becomes a blur of movement. And if you turn away, everything is exposed.

Very good solutions follow in the article. Read it.

How to be a good hooker!

Got your attention? Good! Another excellent instructional article by Chad Boykin. Read it.

Want to learn to be a good hooker? Watch the best - Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, or Bill Wallace (pictured above). Also, read the story of Max Schmeling versus Joe Louis, and how the underdog Schmeling KO'd the champion in thieir first fight because of how Louis threw the hook. Hint, guard hand position!

By the way, this is one of the most famous boxing fighters in history. Schmeling was a fighter for Germany, and was used by Adolph Hitler to promote his Aryan "master race" propaganda. Louis came back to beat Schmeling badly, knocking him out in short order. Schmeling and Louis went on to become great friends, with Schmeling even paying some expenses for Louis's funeral, if memory serves me. Schmeling was not a great fighter, but he was a great man. Joe Louis, on the other hand, for my money, was the greatest heavyweight champion in history.

Sucker punch - specific defenses

There are a lot of possible counters to the sucker punch. The following are what work for me:

[Click photos to view larger]
1. Fire out with a lead-hand palm strike to the nose. This will immediately put the attacker on his heels and take the steam off any follow-up. You have gained the initiative.

2. Eye jab.Again, a simultaneous block and counter. More properly, the attack is deflected by the lead arm (elbow is high), and the eye jab will probably end it.

3. Wedge block into a rear-hand palm counter to the nose. Same advantages as #1, but more powerful strike, and covers the rear hand better.

4. Wedge to forearm or elbow counter. The forearm could be used to the chest for a less-dangerous counter, or fire the elbow as a stronger shot.

5. Wedge to simultaneous forearm counter to the face.

Dealing with the Sudden Attack

In The Most Dangerous Opponent: Dealing with the Sudden Attack, DefendU covers exactly what we're working on now, the unprovoked, sudden assault - sucker punch, shove, or grab and punch. Good into and examples, then a drill from Tony Blauer.

Attack without Warning Drill

1. Stand within reach of your training partner (you can change positions to be facing, side-to-side or from the back).
2. Change your posture and arm position continually to mimic common, everyday movements. Start with your arms crossed, pretend like you are pushing your hair back, reach for your wallet, stand with your weight on one leg, etc.
3. Your training partner can attack at anytime.
4. Respond to the attack.

The Limitations of Submission Fighting

This is very accurate. Read it.

Blunt-force armed attacks - clubs

Another interesting read by James LaFond of the Violence Project - this time, a study of club attacks on unarmed subjects.

The key point: "If you have never been in a clubbing attack—more precisely known as a blunt-force encounter, you should consider yourself lucky. My research has shown that approximately 45 percent of all violent incidents involve an unarmed striking attack and/or the use of a blunt weapon. It has also shown that approximately 44 percent of armed encounters involve the use of a blunt weapon. Those statistics reveal that blunt-force strikes are the single most common means of armed and unarmed aggression."

The rest of the article is a Q & A format. Points to keep in mind:

• The ear area—especially when struck with a horizontal blow—and the back of
  the head are the most damaging locations.

  Most clubbing attacks are diagonal strikes aimed at the left side of the defender’s head, with the temple being the approximate aiming point. The overhead down stroke is the least common method. Martial artists tend to train against down strokes, thrusts, rising blows and horizontal strokes. All four angles of attack are rare in the real world.

  Easily concealed clubs—such as saps, blackjacks and whip-sticks—are perhaps
  the most deadly weapons of all.They are often used by members of violent groups and always injure the target person, who is incapacitated 47 percent of the time and killed 27 percent. Only 7 percent of the people who use such weapons end up facing criminal or civil charges.

  Clubs inflict fatal injuries 13 percent of the time, compared to 12 percent for edged weapons and firearms, which are more likely to be used to threaten.
  Heavy blunt objects are the most lethal at 14 percent.

  Knockout rates are as follows: clubs—50 percent, sticks— 24 percent, blades and shanks—19 percent, firearms—19 percent, and common articles—6 percent.

  While the majority of knifers, muggers, brawlers and sucker punchers attack as individuals, the majority of those armed with sticks, stones, bats and pickup trucks act as a member of a group. Also, while most knifers and gunmen— and many sucker punchers—are smaller than their victims, the majority of stick, club and heavy-object wielders are actually larger than their victims. In many cases, the club is not even necessary; it amounts to overkill for the group or individual involved.

  What are the most effective defenses against a blunt-weapon attack?
  Most defenses are not successful. Indeed, the club user has, in most cases, so stacked the odds against the defender that only chance and extreme levels of response from very capable fighters have been successful. The most effective defense against punch-outs and stabbings was shown to be grappling. But against aggressive groups, the only successful grappling defenses have been poor-leverage throws by extremely powerful men. Taking the fight to the ground when facing a group has, in almost every documented instance, resulted in a group stomping.

  The majority of successful defenses against blunt weapons by normal-sized people have involved the display of a firearm or edged weapon or the use of a better blunt weapon.

  Running away sounds like a good idea.

Training Log 2006-02-25 - Sucker Punch Saturday

Participants: Nathan, Mike, Bobby

Great training today. We are moving toward our DT, self-defense, and ground work on pace. It was nice being able to project the live camera from the overhead, and I also used it to show some information from the blog, and how to do a bloger search of this site. I am also happy that I remembered to do the post-training debrief on camera to get everyone's thoughts and opinions.

After a brief warmup, we started by working on circling footwork, then I explained how to build combinations (high/low, inside/outside), and why they work.

Then on to the sucker punch. Agreed that fights typically start with a shove, grab and punch, or sucker punch, in this case, defined as a sudden attack with the fist to the head. Our focus today was the punch. Next week will be the shove (after drilling the punch again). To defend this, we:

1. Maintained a minimum distance to allow you to block/parry a grab or punch
2. Subtly assumed a "fighting stance" by placing one foot back, knees slightly bent, and hands up in a non-threatening (or "thoughtful") pose
3. Kept eyes focused on the entire body using peripheral vision, and used non-threatening eye contact

Techniques I recommended were: Wedge (dive position) block, lead palm strike/eye jab with high elbow to deflect the blow, and a simultaneous block and counter (palm to the nose/web-hand to the throat/palm to the forehead). I also showed how the forearm or elbow can be a part of the wedge block and used when entering.

We drilled these as the lead-off fighter engaged the counter-fighter in conversation, then, when the CF (Counter-Fighter) was relaxed and less "on-guard", attacked with a fast overhand or wide right to the jaw.

I mentioned that what we had picked up from our fighting versus an "untrained" opponent (See full post http://tdatraining.blogspot.com/2004/07/training-diary-sat-73104-self-def.html) was that an attack will be wild-blows raining from all directions, and that the typical martial arts blocks won't work, as untrained attackers throw reckless punches, and after the block they crash into you. We discussed the reality of being driven into a wall or other obstacle, and that you may be tackled. To counter that, I demonstrated the wedge defense, and the sprawl.

After demonstrating the feint, fake, and drawing, we drilled the check and half-trap. We did some rounds with them versus a lead-off fighter's jab.

Finally, burnout sparring and stretching. Great day!

Selected info from the "untrained post mentioned above:

... we did something I've wanted to do for a long time. We practiced fighting an untrained opponent. At least, we tried to do our best to seem untrained...

... it was a very interesting time. Sam seemed a little blown away by how different it was. As an attacker, my techniques were to try to tackle, and two punches: wide right haymaker, and wide left haymaker. I didn't try to grab as much as Sam did, but I should've tried to grab and punch him. I tried a couple of tackle/takedowns. Sam (as attacker) tried tackling, wide punches, and grabbing me.The idea was to give the attacker the initiative and see what worked.

Summary of effective defenses and techniques that we tried:
Vs. Tackle: Angle off and push the attacker's head so that he careens to the side.
Vs. Right haymaker: duck under and attack from the side or behind.
Vs. Infighting: Dive position blocking, then grab attacker behind the neck and pull into the knee and elbows.
Stop-hit the wide shot with a jab: All the straight punches I threw worked pretty well when I could get in position to throw them. If you follow the quick hard jab with a follow-through right, I think this is when you could move into position for a throw. I want to work on that more. I told Sam that when I was throwing the jab, I was visualizing using either the jab to the nose, or a strike to the throat. Sam commented that this was very effective against him.
Leg-kicking: I tried it only a couple of times, but it seemed very effective. Sam commented that when he was throwing a right and I sidestepped and leg-kicked, that if I'd landed hard it would've taken him off his feet.
Grab and knee: We both used this to good effect. If an opponent is flailing with punches and wants to get inside, the best thing was to let him in, block his punches
while clinching behind the neck, then repeatedly kneeing to the thighs, groin
and midsection.
Lateral movement: Seems like just movement threw off the attacker quite a bit.

What didn't work:
The standard block, then counter: Problem was, when you block the first one, the second one is already on the way. The effect of the block is to stop your counter as well as the opponent's attack. In other words, it's a temporary stale-mate. Better to counter as a defense.
Moving straight back: This should be a no-brainer, 'cause it never works, but if you're back on your heels, you're gonna be gettin' hit.
Standing there and slugging it out: You may as well be untrained too, if you do this. It takes away all the advantages of your superior skill. Don't do this! Both of us had a lot of trouble when we stopped and just tried to duke it out.

Let's try this next time:

• Start out at close range. We don't like this because we don't have time to prepare. This could best be done with a third person to say, "Go!".
• Start out from a grab. Say you're pinned against the wall and about to be hit or just choked out. Again, have someone start us off.
• Versus a club or knife. This is going to take a lot of work. Sounds like fun.
• Sprawl versus a takedown/tackle attempt.
• Work throws and sweeps into the mix.
• Work the leg-kicks a lot more.
• Experiment with high-kicks.
• Work the backfist and spinning backfist into this.
• Start in a sitting, prone, or even grappling position

Don Nguyen: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Don Nguyen: Brazillian Jiu Jitsu: "Many martial arts claim that they are able to subdue larger and stronger opponents through the use of superior technique. Very few have had to prove their claims against aggressive opponents seeking to inflict maximum damage. Gracie proved his victory was no fluke by returning to win UFC 2 and UFC 4. He has never been defeated at a UFC tournament. His stunning victories were in part responsible for the proliferation of his style, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). Due to his stunning victories, BJJ developed a certain mystique and many were hailing it is an unbeatable style.
Unfortunately these claims were premature. Strikers became more aware of the skills required to combat their grappling counterparts. They realised that in order to become well-rounded fighters, they needed to broaden their skillset and learn how to fight on the ground. Similarly, grapplers were painfully aware of how vulnerable they were on their feet. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners started to be defeated by ground-aware strikers who were able to deliver punches, kicks, knees and elbows with devastating accuracy."

Chad Boykin on Kickboxing

Great article and series on kickboxing. I think I've seen his book(s) at a store or somewhere. I recommend going through this for a good understanding of the basic tools of stand-up fighting from a Muay Thai and Western boxing perspective.


Reality check: Some of the techniques shown definitely have the "sport leakage" problem, but all are tools to have in your arsenal, and to learn to defend.

Natural Body Weapons

Sammy Franco explains the different natural weapons we have. Very basic, and that's important.

Your body is a lethal weapon! Actually, you have 14 natural body weapons that can be used in a self-defense situation. When properly developed these tools have the capacity to disable, cripple and even kill your criminal adversary. Keep in mind that whenever you use force against another you must be absolutely certain that your actions are legally warranted and justified in the eyes of the law. Also bear in mind that the lethality of your body weapon is predicated on two important factors; the target that you select and the amount of force you deliver to that chosen target.

The Entangling Armlock

I really like this technique. It looks pretty easy to get into position and very effective.

Law Enforcement Note: While this is not recommended as a handcuffing technique, if you are in law enforcement and you find yourself in this unfortunate situation (grappling on the ground), notice that the attacker’s arm and wrist is controlled and positioned to the rear where it can be handcuffed by another assisting person. The person is also stabilized and controlled by pain so the other arm can be easily added.

The Cross Armlock

Read the whole article -FightingArts.com. A good point the author makes is that wrestlers try not to roll belly-up, but that it's much more dangerous to be on your belly.

Reality check: My concern would be a bite being taken out of my thigh or the back of my knee. If it isn't locked in quick, or the initial pain doesn't cause my opponent to submit, I could be vulnerable.

"In the photo sequence that follows, the cross armlock is executed by a person
who is above and positioned across the opponent. The exact position is not
important. Many other starting positions are possible."
[As always, click the photo to see it larger]

Real Self-Defense by Geoff Thompson

Self-defense has been sold and sold to death. There are a million how-to books on the subject and experts are coming out of the martial woodwork. They all mean well but good advice is rare and bad advice can be get you killed. I can save you a lot of reading and a lot of pain by giving you my tried-and-tested learned-in-the-field system for physical self-defense. It's only five words long (and one of them is an expletive) - Learn to hit f****** hard. - Geoff Thompson

RealFighting.com - new Link

I've "discovered" another good site. I have added it to Links. Let me know what you think. It is organized into "Issues" like a magazine. If you want to get to past issues, click on the Past Issues link at the top. Pretty nice.

From Issue #1:

Realfighting.com is an informative online resource for people interested in the subject of real fighting and reality-based self-defense. Our focus is not the sport, art, or spiritual aspect of martial arts, but real fighting. Although traditional martial arts and reality-based defense are different, we also understand that martial arts can provide a vehicle for self-defense training.

Every issue will feature profiles and interviews of top fighters, articles on reality-based self-defense, health © conditioning, armed self-defense, a woman’s perspective and reviews of books, videos, movies, schools, seminars and products. Whether you’re a UFC champion or a novice in self-defense, you’ll find practical and useful information in our articles, profiles and reviews. Major profiles are updated quarterly and many smaller articles will be updated more frequently.

Joe Lewis on the myth of the "street fighter"

Definitely worth a read.

What does the Black Belt mean now?

A Fighting Arts.Com essay by Jonathan Maberry seeking to debunk the belief, now not-so-common, that someone who wears a black belt is a "master". My take is that a first-degree adult black belt has shown serious commitment, no more (usually).

In this age of six year-old second and third degree black belts, I think most Americans no longer even hold the black belt in much esteem anymore, but it wasn't always so. Unfortunately, the popularization of the martial arts by movies and cartoons have made martial arts seem like soccer to many parents, and has definitely "watered down" the meaning of the black belt, and even more, the white belt (which I think is more important). The popularization of "karate" by the movies led to many cashing in on the fads (Ninjas, Kung Fu, Brazilian Jujitsu, and now MMA) by awarding rank at a as fast as the testing checks can clear. Judo, which started the color belt system, and other early followers, used to have only 5-8 underbelt (before black belt) grades, then black belt degrees up to seventh or eighth. To achieve higher, one had to be either the founder or head of the entire system!
Not anymore. Most schools don't hold the requirement that a black belt be sixteen, and even award degrees to pre-teens. I've personally known three kids younger than twelve who are either second or third dan (degree) , or getting ready to "test." I also know of a good number of "masters" that are sixth through eigth dan, and aren't even 35 years-old! I last tested in 1994 for 3rd-dan, and haven't done so since because I haven't seen the point. When I know that a ten year-old is probably fourth dan in his third year of training, what does it matter? Sad...

That said, do I still wear my black belt much of the time because of what it represents to me personally, and because I am proud of the achievement. I am also proud of those whom I have promoted to black belt. All of them know that they earned it, and were given nothing. I have also trained and worked with many fine black belts whose achievements I hold in high esteem.

Despite this, I will probably test again with a reputable organization at some point, just to have the credential, but as you can tell, it's not a priority.

Excerpt:

Not even close. A first-degree black belt is a very advanced beginner student. The belt signifies his passage from the ranks of those students who are still learning to the ranks of those persons who have now learned how to learn. This is a significant difference.

... A black belt should be able to genuinely grasp the concepts upon which the martial arts are based, which is far more important than his ability to perform any given technique.

Does this mean that the black belt is an expert? Well, my colleagues in the martial arts are fairly evenly split on that point. One point of view is: Yes, the first-degree black belt is an expert on the basic gross motor skills necessary to perform martial arts skills. The other point of view is: No, a first-degree black belt is not an expert but is rather a very advanced beginner who is just grasping the concepts he will need in order to become an expert within a few years.

Most of the traditional instructors I know maintain that a person becomes a true “expert” of the basics of their martial art by the time they reach third degree black belt, which is for many arts the point at which that person is allowed to begin teaching.

In modern times, especially with rapidly growing chain schools, first and second degree black belts are often assigned to teach classes and many are even called “sensei”. This marketing procedure greatly confuses the issue -- and confuses younger students -- who then equate anyone with a black belt with instructor-level
expertise.

Benny "The Jet" Urquidez

The original "Jet" (as a tribute, Rick Roufus also adopted the nickname). Much of my original fighting style was adopted from what I learned from his book on kickboxing. For my money, the best champion from the 70s through the 80s, Benny fought all over the world, challenging the Japanese and Thai fighters on their home turf and winning. Incredible fighter, and great instructor.

Multiple Assailant Training

Realistically, there are few things that would be more frightening than dealing with multiple assailants, armed or otherwise. The problem for me is that, thank God, I've never had to do it. My training has consistented of sparring with up to three opponents, and I can tell you it wasn't realistic.


If I were working with a group to attack someone, I'd want to:

1. Attack simultaneously - none of this "line 'em up, punch 'em out" stuff, where the attackers take turns getting kicked in the head and backfisted. One of the reasonsthat I hate most martial arts movies is that they don't reflect the reality that the odds are way against you. I read something on DefendU or somewhere, that above two or three attackers, the assailants just got in each others way, and weren't effective.
2. Take my victim down and stomp him - taking down a defender takes away his mobility and gives you the opportunity to kick and stomp without much risk.
3. Attack from behind - not only for surprise, but because it is less risky. Again, you can get him on the ground and stomp him into the pavement.
4. Use weapons - again, less risk. If you gave me a choice between a blade or club/staff, I'll take the impact weapon every time. However, I may pull out and use the unseen knife for stabbing once I have gotten behind the victim, or when he is down. I never want him to see it.

Scary? It is to me. So how do you defend it (without a firearm)? Multiple attackers definitely constitute deadly force, and you need to escalate your response. While I may have fun with a single attacker, the odds go way down when there's a weapon or numbers against me, even worse when there are both.

Food for thought, eh? Please research this and get back to me. We WILL be working on it.

The "Combat Roll"

From FightingArts.com, an explanation of the combat roll - which is explained in detail, so I won't try it here. I will tell you a short story about a time it may have saved my life. Apologies to those who've heard me tell this repeatedly (students)! In the late 80s, I was riding a ten-speed bike in Reston, Virginia, with my friend Kevin, and we were riding on a residential road. It had been repaved repeatedly, and the new pavement was just put on top of the old. We were riding along, when I rolled down into the little gulley formed by the repaving, and tried to just ride back out-big mistake. My bike started to fall over to my left, into traffic. I still don't have any recollection of exactly how it happened, but I remember Kevin pulling up behind me as I was standing on the grass beside the road, next to the sidewalk with a scabbed knee, and a little disheveled. He said something like, "Dude! That was wild!" Or something to that effect. He told me that he saw my bike start to go down, and that I did a roll and popped up off the road. It was an Aikido ukemi (roll), executed without thought. I had a bloody knee, but wasn't struck by any cars. My bike was damaged, but I am still here. It works.

No more posts for a few days

I have enjoyed doing this blog more than I ever thought I would. It's given me a great outlet for the writer I always wanted to be, along with the masochist I am, to work together. Thanks to those who have contributed, and to those who haven't, start now!

I will be taking a few days off, but should start posting again toward the end of next week. Enjoy the long weekend, and happy President's Day, better yet, happy Abraham Lincoln and George Washington's birthdays. They are the ones who really deserve it!

UPDATE - I mean it this time!

Criminal predator (muggings) and victim behavior

I can't stay away. Sorry.

This is a pretty good FightingArts.com article on "method of victim selection as well as method of attack," as opposed to the mechanics. Note that the author's location is the UK, and notes the higher frequency of firearms in the US. The writer uses the analogy of the lions and the gazelles to make some points regarding criminals and their victim selection. Read it.

How striking, takedowns and groundfighting interact

An excellent essay on MMA combat. It's actually almost exactly what we're going into. I'm OK with that as long as we keep the "reality" in, and the "sport leakage" out, as Hock would say. In other words, does every technique pass the test of being a real technique without a sport-only usage or practicality. Anyway, here are the key points, but read it all:

The MMA Formula:
Striking + Takedowns + Groundwork

... For the sake of argument we can divide MMA combat into 3 phases: Striking, Standing Grappling and Groundfighting. Each of these phases is composed of a large number of sub-categories. For the sake of discussion, I will divide each major phase into some simple and sometimes arbitrary categories.

Standing Striking
1 – Punching
2 – Kicking
3 – Knees
4 – Elbows
5 - Headbutts

Standing Grappling
1 – The Clinch (e.g. inside trip, whizzer, lateral drops, knee strikes, etc.)
2 – The Shoot (e.g. single leg, double leg, high crotch)

Groundwork
1 – Position fighting (guard passing, pin maintenance, etc.)
2 – Submission attacks and defenses
3 – Striking attacks and defenses

... Some fighters are most skilled in the clinch - this doesn't mean that they don't have other skills, but only that this is where they feel most at home. The clinch can helps them negate the punches and kicks of an opponent and keep the fight standing or on the ground.

... Other fighters have superior striking skills, and back up their gameplan by developing their takedown defenses and a survival-oriented bottom game.

[The point-NDT]
A striker without any takedown defenses and ground survival skills is very vulnerable. A grappler without any takedown skills or striking skills is likewise vulnerable. Someone hoping to be successful in the NHB arena should definately seek to develop a variety of skills, at the very least becoming somewhat familiar with the basic attacks and strategies in each phase of combat.

Agreed? Great. Let's get to work!

Spinning backfist

Very good instructional article.

Are kicks effective for self-defense?

This DefendU.com article is well worth a thorough read, so please click the link above and read the whole thing. Realize though, that opinions will vary, depending on what the respondents skills are. For example, a Savate or Muay Thai fighter may say that they are, while a Brazilian Jujitsu player may not. One of the things I've realized in my years of training, and meeting many other martial artists and "tough guys, " is that it isn't the style, it's the practitioner.

For example, as I always say when teaching, "Every technique will work sometime." The skill comes in being good enough at that technique, knowing when to use it, and having the will to do so. The third point, "will to do so," is the difference between a fighter and a pretender.

A fighter will work into his arsenal every practical technique that he or she is capable of being successful with, and then concentrate on the "when" to use it.

Personally, I have found that kicks are an important, if secondary weapon. You definitely have more versatility and practicality in spending more time on use of your hands in striking, simply because you have to use them for defense and close range combat, but more importantly, kicks cannot always be relied upon when you are standing on uneven or slippery terrain, when you are hurt or stunned, or even when you're just fatigued.

All kicks (as all techniques) have their moments and place, but those that I rely upon are the knee, push kick, Thai kick, side kick, and spinning back kick, primarily. I supplement those with the hook kick, traditional roundhouse, leg obstruction, front kick, and jump spinning back kick. Last, I like the axe, lift kick (into the groin), snap kick (ditto), and spinning kick.

My two cents...

82nd Airborne Division - a personal anecdote

I was watching the Military Channel last night as I was getting my clothes ready to work out with Mike this AM. They were featuring the venerable Ranger unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, and I saw William McBride interviewed repeatedly.

Around 1990 or so, after my first wife and I divorced, I worked with an interesting guy named Bill McBride. He and I were in sales together at Holiday Spas, a health club chain that later became Bally's. After I divorced, Bill moved in to my condo in Reston, Virginia, and helped pay my mortgage, and we became quite good friends. I later found out that his dad was with the 82nd, and even went down to visit his family in Fort Bragg, NC, and I met his family. At the time, I don't think I realized who his father was, by he was the Command Sergeant Major of the 82nd!

I remember vividly the day Bill and I went to Bragg later, as the division was coming home from Desert Storm. As William McBride's family (and I was his guest), we were right in the front, and as we watched the transport aircraft land, and the dusty, bronzed paratroopers deplaned, marched, and were dismissed. I can't adequately describe the pride I felt then as I mingled with Bill, his dad, and lots of stars (up to 3 and four stars), general officers. It was interesting, the respect and deference that the those generals showed CSM McBride, and I was proud to know him then.

Bill and I have kept in touch, mostly via email every year or so, and he's since moved to California, but I'll always remember that day with pride.

More Headlock - Against A Headlock Already In Place

Thanks to FightingArts.com
This is really good. I use a couple of the techniques listed here. The headlock is probably the stupidest grappling technique, because it leaves you so vulnerable, as an attacker. Try these. Some will work better than others for you, but all are good to know.- NDT
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Update: I noticed one thing in this picture - if you notice the defender on the right's head position. If you don't turn your jaw toward the body of the attacker, you expose your windpipe. You want to turn your head, and get your chin under the arm to protect your carotid and trachea. This is important. I think the article covers it, but the picture can mislead if you don't read it.

New Link - Crime Doctor

Great site with very good information! I've added it to Links. I recommend you share it with your friends and loved ones.

A Tribute to Professor Wally Jay

From Hock's Close Quarter Combat Magazine (Summer 2005), a tribute to the Small Circle Jujitsu man, Prof. Wally Jay. I attended a seminar of his years ago, and I had always wanted to meet him (and see him in action). He didn't disappoint. He had all of us writhing in pain soon after the seminar began.

This article is good. It has the best diagram explanation of his "small circle" method I've seen. Take a look, 'cause this is what I'm going to go over with you on the finger and wrist locks.
Mr. Sam is familiar with it because we do it as part of our women's self-defense classes, and he can attest to its effectiveness.

Release from the headlock before it's secured

This is an effective defense when a headlock hasn't been secured. Check it out (fightingarts.com).

Sticking with your plan (if it's a good one)

Mike and I worked out this morning, and this point came up - stick with your plan (if it's a good one)!
We boxed about three short rounds (I'm getting rusty at it! Too much with MMA), and here's what happened, from my perspective:
R1 I used circular footwork and counterpunching. Mike pressed the action without trying to really commit. There wasn't much infighting.
R2 I started picking my shots and leading off, instead of laying back and countering. It was pretty effective-I was fresh at the end of the round.
R3 I went on the attack, pouring it on. I went after Mike, and he said (during the round) that he was frustrated by getting hit. After I would connect a few times, he'd be thinking about what just happened, and I'd attack again.

What was my plan? Just what I did - coast, then counter, then attack. It worked, because I was fresher at the end than I'd normally have been, and I was able to execute what I wanted, and when I wanted.

I told Mike that what would have worked against me was to move more, instead of trying to attack so much, and that I was able to get in a lot with my lead right because he was stationary. It was even worse in round 3 when he was getting frustrated. He would, after getting hit with my lead-off combination, try to throw a barrage, and was getting hit on the way in. He did commit very well with a couple of jabs, and they created openings, but he didn't follow up.

Remember this? http://tdatraining.blogspot.com/2005/11/training-log-11-19-05.html

3 Cs of Defense:

1. Circle the opponent
   
2. Cover/Guard hand up
   
3. Counter when able

3 Cs of Offense:

1. Close the gap safely
   
2. Cover by keeping the guard hand up
   
3. Clear the engagement safely – plan this before closing the gap

Hand protection: what is the cost?

Sam's comment on the homework post (http://tdatraining.blogspot.com/2006/02/homework.html) of about a week ago brought this up for me. This is an excellent essay from Fighting Arts.com on safety equipment, particularly handgear. What is the cost? As you may know, I like to grab-a lot. I like to check, clinch, and pull you into a knee or elbow. The fact is that most of the techniques we use right now, though, are straight from boxing, which can be effective, but every punch to the head is a chance at a broken or sprained hand. Read the whole thing. My conclusions at the end.

Protective equipment on the hands and feet during sparring in karate, taekwondo and in many kung fu styles has it increased safety, but have they also created a new set of problems?

... The palm strike and bent wrist block have all but disappeared, and grabbing has been virtually eliminated too. Furthermore the knuckles have become so padded in foam or other material that they have become solely instruments of blunt power attacks. In short, is safety equipment turning karate into a power punch and kick art?

... participants had some freedom to utilize many of the grabbing, trapping, sweeping and other techniques – those same techniques found in kata, and which help define the art form.

Before safety equipment was adopted sparring often involved grabbing another at the chest or shoulder and pulling in, pushing, or grabbing an arm to control it or effect a sweep. The variety of techniques was much greater than found today...

So, what happens on the street, if and when the martial artist comes face to face with a real threat? Well, the many knife/spear hand attacks, grabs, off-balances, elbows, knees, head butts, groin and kidney strikes and pressure point techniques found in kata, just aren’t practiced. Without practice they become irrelevant...

How many advanced, highly ranked martial artists do you know who would have no idea how to react if someone grabbed their hair and pulled them (hard) forward and down? ...

The more realistic the attack and defense, the more the participants will actually be prepared of a real life assault. This will produce more well rounded karate, taekwondo or kung fu practitioner, one who just might thank his teacher if he is ever actually attacked on the street.

Conclusion:

When you wear full hand protection, you create a bad habit of always punching, lose the grabbing and checking skills that allow throws and takedowns, and lose the accuracy need to go inside or around someone's guard. You also develop unrealistic blocking skills. Consequently, I recommend:

• Drill without gloves, or at the least, use the MMA gloves to protect the hands while still allowing grabs and finger strikes.
• If you don't use boxing gloves, beware hitting to the top or front of the skull with your fists. Punch to the side of the neck or to the body, and use palms, and knifehands to the hard parts of the skull.
• Protect your thumbs and fingers. They can now be grabbed and broken because you aren't wearing protection around them. I try to always bend the thumbs, and to curl in the fingers to protect them when throwing an open-hand technique.
• Better yet, use elbows and forearms as much as possible. They are less precise, but more powerful. They are also harder to injure.
• You practice against what you are likely to face. That means sucker punches, hooks & overhands, and takedowns. It also means training versus a grab & punch, headlocks, chokes, and other common moves (without boxing gloves).
• Groundwork is essential, as many, some say most, fights will end up on the ground. Especially for DT students - you ALWAYS take a subject down, because that's where you can reduce his mobility, then cuff, while still controlling your weapon and not killing him. You can do that without gloves.
• Knife and club training is mandatory. An upcoming post highlights that he most common club attack is with a baseball bat - and that usually comes in groups, and against smaller victims. What do you do then? Grappling is out - you need a better weapon, and skill/knowledge to reduce your risk of injury.
• I will start to use arm bars, wrist locks, etc. in sparring. Why not? Control. I can do it with MMA gloves.
• We will be doing scenarios as opposed to standard sparring a lot.
• Why do I like plexiglass goggles? Because we can eye jab without fear of hitting our partners. We train with MMA gloves so that we can do the grabs, pokes, and open-hand techniques, but the goggles give the freedom to build muscle memory of going for the eyes, which is so effective.

letter from the Mayor of Tall 'Afar to the 3rd Armored Cav. and their families

This was posted Monday, 2/13/06. Regardless of your opinion of the reasons for the global war on terrorism (or Iraq), we should all be grateful for the sacrifice of our military service members and their families. Read it all, it's worth it, then give thanks again to the Lord for our brave warriors.- Nathan

Source http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/004167.html

Via email from a family member, a letter from the Mayor of Tall 'Afar, Iraq to the men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and their families.

In the Name of God the Compassionate and Merciful

To the Courageous Men and Women of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who have changed the city of Tall' Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life.

To the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months.

To those who spread smiles on the faces of our children, and gave us restored hope, through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days, and stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city.

Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. The city was completely held hostage in the hands of his henchmen. Our schools, governmental services, businesses and offices were closed. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every corner. Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city. Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young. This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi's followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3d ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zumar and Avgani finally destroyed them.

I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism.

The leaders of this Regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong, LTC Hickey, LTC Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage, strength, vision and wisdom. Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and truly deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage.

God bless this brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women. From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget. To the families of those who have given their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls hovering around us every second of every minute. They will never be forgotten for giving their precious lives. They have sacrificed that which is most valuable. We see them in the smile of every child, and in every flower growing in this land. Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life.

Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this brave Regiment, I haven't the words to describe the courage of its officers and soldiers. I pray to God to grant happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their brave families.

NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID AL-JIBOURI
Mayor of Tall 'Afar, Ninewa, Iraq

Members of the Regiment are now returning home to Ft Carson, Colorado.

--
UPDATE, thanks to Powerline Blog:

Haider Ajina and several other readers have forwarded the mayor's earlier letter to General Casey (in PDF) expressing similar sentiments and requesting that the 3rd ACR stay in Tall 'Afar. The letter concludes: "Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, our hero, General Casey."

THE VIOLENCE PROJECT

UPDATED-----------------------------------

"A Study of the Parameters, Dynamics and Results of 1,000 Acts of Violence "
This is a really good read, and important for all us civilians, and law enforcement alike. Sam and I were talking about training for the most likely situations, and this may help you figure out what the most likely scenarios are.

The author, James LaFond, bills this as "A Study of the Parameters, Dynamics and Results of 1,000 Acts of Violence." Not being familiar with polling or study methodology, I can't vouch for the "scientific" validity of the results, but I remember reading several of his articles in Black Belt several years ago, and it was great information, regardless.

The opening:

Case No. 46-05: night, minutes, first-person defender.
Duncan, a 6-foot-4-inch 240-pound bouncer, had just ejected a short, stocky PCP freak by putting him in a full nelson and opening the door with his face. A friend of the freak’s then pushed Duncan out onto the sidewalk, unhitched a chain he was wearing as a belt and began swinging it. As Duncan, standing between the two, turned toward the chain man, Gordan, a 6-foot-6-inch 300-pound friend of Duncan’s, stopped his car, rushed over and began a minute-long disposal of the “twerp with the chain.” At that point, the freak charged Duncan.

Duncan hit him in the face with a straight right and grabbed the shorter man’s shirt with his left hand.

He then shoulder-butted the freak in the chest, picked him up and threw him to the pavement, then kicked him when he rose to charge.

This sequence of events was repeated at least 10 times until Duncan became tired—which, he said, is unusual for him because he enjoys fighting and feels no stress under such circumstances. Besides, most of his battles are decided in less than five seconds.

Duncan and the freak clinched again. When Duncan “got low” to gain leverage for a throw, the freak bit into his left shoulder and began to tear off a piece. Duncan was stunned but quickly regained his composure. As the freak munched away, Duncan placed his left ear between his teeth and ripped it off.

Then the police pulled up, saw the blood and took them to the hospital.

... [these stories] are included here not to shock but to show martial artists how complex and unpredictable real fights can be.

Key statistics:
• 60 percent were described as attacks (as opposed to mutual combat)
• 59 percent occurred outside
• 59 percent occurred after dark
• 53 percent involved alcohol or drug use
• 17 percent actually occurred on the street.

With respect to the action that took place during the altercations, the statistics were:
• 57 percent of the aggressors were successful (32 percent by KO)
• 13 percent of the defenders were successful (50 percent by KO)
• 30 percent of the altercations had no clear winner
• 28 percent of the defenders required medical care
• 7 percent of the aggressors required medical care
• 28 percent of the fights were reported to the police
• 16 percent resulted in an arrest, criminal charge or civil suit.

Duration of Combat:
Few of the subjects I interviewed could assign a duration to any struggle that was not resolved instantly. Time perception seems to warp under stress. Usually, when they would say one minute, they would mean 10 seconds. However, by breaking down the incidents act by act and calculating interventions, it became possible to place fights into three broad categories:

63 percent were resolved in less than 10 seconds. Most were highly successful attacks decided within five seconds. The balance involved indecisive third-party interventions, defenders successfully drawing and brandishing a weapon before contact, and trained fighters countering or intercepting untrained attackers, often resulting in a KO.

25 percent lasted 10 seconds to one minute. They were most often successful defenses. The second most common type of mid-duration events were successful attacks against a group, usually by a lone aggressor.

13 percent lasted more than one minute. Most were acts of extreme violence in which the attacker gained the crucial advantage within seconds.

For Women Only
The survey revealed a treasure trove of facts that can aid any female martial artist interested in self-defense:
• 11 percent of the situations involved a female aggressor
• 17 percent of the defenders were—or included—a female
• 3 percent of the female defenders were trained fighters.

Of those encounters that involved women committing acts of violence on other women,
• 67 percent involved alcohol or drug use
• 33 percent went to the floor
• 20 percent were related to traffic
• 43 percent were indecisive.

When the fight took place between a man and a woman,
• 46 percent involved women attacking men
• 45 percent of female-onmale attacks were successful.

Female defenders were five times more likely than their male counterparts to be unarmed.

Women are just as likely as men to be attacked with a weapon.

Perhaps the most important finding was that female students of self-defense with no previous fighting experience successfully defended themselves 75 percent of the time. It seems that martial arts training really does pay off.

Going to the Ground
Thirty-eight percent of the encounters involved or resulted in grappling. That figure includes clinches (both parties standing), throws (one party down) and floor fights (both down). Almost one quarter included the use of weapons.

Only 15 percent of the floor fights studied took place between sober men.

My conclusions:

1. The most fundamental tenet of self-defense is true - you can't be a vicim if you're not there. Stay out of, or leave any situation which may become dangerous to you or your family.
2. Drunks are idiots ("53 percent involved alcohol or drug use "). If you're hanging out where people are getting drunk or high, you're increasing your risk. Common sense?
3. You can't play defense ("57 percent of the aggressors were successful"). If you think you're in danger, don't wait - get out of the situation. Also, if you think an attack is imminent, strike first, strike hard, and get out of there. Do whatever it takes, no more, but certainly no less.
4. Don't pace yourself ("63 percent were resolved in less than 10 seconds"). I have never seen a real fight that went 12 rounds. If you beat your opponent to the punch, you will probably survive. Have you ever watched the toughman contests they had on Spike TV? They most closely resembled a real fight, in that the fighter who lands the best punch first will win. Now, I would change that to say that, if you can grapple, it gives you other options, but don't wait around to figure them out!
5. If you don't have a weapon, get one. That means OC spray (pepper), a firearm, or anything that's handy.

I welcome comments. Stay safe.

Black Belt interview of Dominique Vandenberg

Click the link and read the whole thing. It's not instructional, but very interesting. Vandenberg is definietly a warrior, if his claims are true- professional Muay Thai competitor, French Foreign Legion, training and fighting no-rules, bare-knuckle matches in the jungles of Burma, bouncer, etc. Now he's working on movie stunts and fighting coordinator. Interesting life.

On a personal note, I've met many people who were looking for something in martial arts that they couldn't find somewhere else. They were looking for an ego boost, a spiritual leader (a la "Kung Fu", or "Karate Kid"), or to just belong. I can relate, as I probably have had all of those desires at some point, and looked at the next style or instructor as a possible fulfillment of it. Trust me, it's not there (in martial arts). Ask me.

For me now, training is what I like, and teaching for their own sake. I enjoy lacing 'em up and getting bloody, or my bell rung. I like and admire when I am the recipient of a well-executed counter as much as I like delivering one, if you can understand. Many of you can. Martial arts training, to me, is like breathing mountain air, or seeing a beautiful sunset. Doing it is it's own reward-Jesus provides the rest, if I let him. "Not a sermon, just a thought..."

Example of all ranges of combat

Most of us tough martial artists think of the ranges of combat in terms of, "Uh, kicking, then punching, then trapping, and then, grappling," or as esoteric as, "Green (long range kicking/punching), Yellow (knees/short punches), or Red (infighting such as elbows and grappling)." We should think of it in more this manner, because it can be applied to street crimes (carjackings, muggings), and to regular or tactical police work.

If you've never read Michael Yon's online magazine (http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/), it's worth exploring. He's a former soldier (special forces), with no formal journalism or photography training, who embedded himself with a U.S. combat brigade in the thick of the action in Iraq. He has been nominated for a Pulitzer for his up-close, first person journaling of the actions of the units he's been with, and the Iraqi civilians and combatants (terrorists all, Iraqi and foreign).

This account is of an ambush of the unit he's with, and as you read, notice how they progress from vehicles (a combat range) to rifle, then close quarters (pistol/shotgun), then hand-to-hand. Also notice the reaction of the men who've never experienced combat, and how they froze. This just shows you what our brave men and women can face. How can we apply these lessons? Read on ...

... Prosser ran around the corner, passed the two young soldiers who were
crouched low, then by me and right to the shop, where he started firing at men inside.

A man came forward, trying to shoot Kurilla with a pistol, apparently realizing his only escape was by fighting his way out, or dying in the process. Kurilla was aiming at the doorway waiting for him to come out. Had Prosser not come at that precise moment, who knows what the outcome might have been.

Prosser shot the man at least four times with his M4 rifle. But the American M4 rifles are weak - after Prosser landed three nearly point blank shots in the man’s abdomen, splattering a testicle with a fourth, the man just staggered back, regrouped and tried to shoot Prosser.

Then Prosser’s M4 went “black” (no more bullets). A shooter inside was also having problems with his pistol, but there was no time to reload. Prosser threw down his empty M4, ran into the shop and tackled the man.

Though I have the photo, I do not remember the moment that Prosser went “black” and ran into the shop. Apparently I turned my head, but kept my finger on the shutter button. When I looked back again, I saw the very bloody leg of CSM Prosser inside the shop. It was not moving. He appeared to be shot down and dead.

I looked back at the two soldiers who were with me outside, and screamed what amounted to “Attack Attack Attack!” I stood up and was yelling at them. Actually, what I shouted was an unprintable string of curses, while Kurilla was also yelling at them to get in there, his M4 trained on the entrance. But the guys were not attacking.

I saw Prosser’s M4 on the ground, Where did that come from?

I picked up Prosser’s M4. It was empty. I saw only Prosser’s bloody leg lying still, just inside the darkened doorway, because most of his body was hidden behind a stack of sheet metal.

“Give me some ammo! Give me a magazine!” I yelled, and the young 2nd lieutenant handed over a full 30-round magazine. I jacked it in, released the bolt and hit the forward assist. I had only one magazine, so checked that the selector was on semi-automatic.

I ran back to the corner of the shop and looked at LTC Kurilla who was bleeding, and saw CSM Prosser’s extremely bloody leg inside the shop, the rest of him was still obscured from view. I was going to run into the shop and shoot every man with a gun. And I was scared to death.

... When the bullet hit that canister, Prosser—who I thought might be dead because of all the blood on his leg—was actually fighting hand-to-hand on the ground. Wrapped in a ground fight, Prosser could not pull out his service pistol strapped on his right leg, or get to his knife on his left, because the terrorist—who turned out to be a serious terrorist—had grabbed Prosser’s helmet and pulled it over his eyes and twisted it.

Prosser had beaten the terrorist in the head three times with his fist and was gripping his throat, choking him. But Prosser’s gloves were slippery with blood so he couldn’t hold on well. At the same time, the terrorist was trying to bite Prosser’s wrist, but instead he bit onto the face of Prosser’s watch. (Prosser wears his watch with the face turned inward.) The terrorist had a mouthful of watch but he somehow also managed to punch Prosser in the face. When I shot the propane canister, Prosser had nearly strangled the guy, but my shots made Prosser think bad guys were coming, so he released the terrorist’s throat and snatched out the pistol from his holster, just as SSG Konkol, Lewis, Devereaux and Muse swarmed the shop. But the shots and the propane fiasco also had brought the terrorist back to life, so Prosser quickly reholstered his pistol and subdued him by smashing his face into the concrete.

When in Doubt, Move

Invariably, at our women's self-defense seminars, Mr. Sam would say, "just do something!" His point was, that the act of "acting," overcomes the inertia and tendency to freeze or start thinking in a situation. This Defend University article highlights that well. One of the problems that people have when confronted by someone else, or something physical happens, is that they freeze, or start a mental conversation along the lines of, "Is this really happening to me? What should I do? I know 16 techniques. Is this serious enough that I might have to defend myself?" What Sam was telling the women was an excellent point, that by just doing something, they will overcome that tendency to question themselves. Excellent article. Read it all...

A police officer responds to a silent burglar alarm one night at a warehouse.

He is just moving from a brightly lit area into the dark recesses of the loading dock area when he is hammered by a series of blows.

The blows continued to rain down on the officer and he knew that serious injury or death was all the awaited him if he could not escape. His martial arts background is in a karate style that emphasizes circular movement and whipping techniques -- he resorts to his training and begins to whip around in a circular fashion to try and find an avenue for escape.

As he is moving, he begins to hit various bodies and, through the fog, senses that there are people around him. He draws his baton and begins to land some strikes as he whips around. One backhand baton strike fells an opponent. Another lands, and another. He regains the initiative and drives off the other attackers.

It turns out there were a total of six attackers who jumped down on the officer from the back of the flatbed they were loading with stolen goods.

However, even when faced with a situation that was (at first) completely foreign, the officer successfully solved the problem by resorting to his training and moving.

Action beats reaction – when in doubt, move.

Modern Army Combatives Program

Doesn't this sound a lot like what we're trying to do? The difference is that we've started with Muay Thai/Western boxing, then we're going into the takedowns, then we're going to BJJ-style ground fighting. I want to just work in stick (Arnis) and knife, along with gun disarms.

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post. There's a link for a video download of the ground program.

This is the "official web site of the United States Combative Arts Association." According to the site, this program is "now official Army doctrine."

Two basic tenets:

There are a couple of basic tenets of Modern Combatives that are important to understand. The first one is that the winner of the hand-to-hand fight in combat is the one whose buddy shows up first with a gun.

... second tenet is that the defining characteristic of a warrior is the willingness to close with the enemy.

History:

The story of Modern Combatives really begins in 1995. The Commander of the 2nd Ranger Battalion LTC Stan McChrystal ordered a reinvigoration of martial arts training within the battalion. Although there have been many excellent and innovative combatives teachers in the Army over the years, none of them had never been successful at spreading effective combatives training to the average soldier. As the leaders of the battalion began training, it didn’t take long for serious problems with the existing program to surface. There was the feeling among the men that the techniques would not work and that it was a waste of valuable training time.

... The first step was to examine successful programs from around the world. What was found is that most of them had one thing in common, one underlying reason that the program was successful. Countries with an indigenous national program, Korean Tae-Kwon Do, Japanese Judo, Muay Thai in Thailand, would have much easier time developing an effective combatives program. One exception to this rule is Russia. They are one of the few who take an essentially untrained population, and yet have good success in training their soldiers.

The Russian system of SOMBO was developed specifically for the Russian Military by, among others, Vasilii Oshchepkov who studied Judo at the Kodokan. SOMBO combines the techniques of Judo and native Russian martial arts as its foundation. Although technically similar to what had been taught to the U.S. Army during the same time period, it was much more successfully spread throughout the soviet army. The feeling was that the success of SOMBO was linked in its competitive component which provides motivation for soldiers to train. If you can be the best in your platoon, company, battalion, or the Army, there is a reason to strive for excellence. However, the very thing that was the strength of the system also has
some distinct problems, not the least of which was that the competitive form has, in the opinion of some, changed the techniques that were emphasized. None the less the Ranger committee tentatively decided that the new system would follow a similar approach.

Realizing that there were not enough SOMBO instructors available the Rangers began looking for a similar system as a base for their program. Head coach J. Robinson, of the University of Minnesota wrestling program, himself a former Vietnam Era Ranger came out to evaluate the emerging program and gave some valuable advise. Finally, after looking at many different systems, the Rangers sent several men to train at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Torrance California.

The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as taught at the Gracie Academy fit almost every aspect of the Military’s needs perfectly. It was easy to learn, had a competitive form, and was proven effective within the arena of hand-to-hand fighting. It did however have some problems. One aspect of Jiu-Jitsu was principally designed for one on one arena fighting, and the other, sportive Jiu-Jitsu, had great potential to change the art into something not oriented toward fighting at all. It was decided that by refocusing on combat, these weaknesses could be overcome, and with forethought and by learning the lessons that various complementary systems had to teach, they could actually improve on the base systems.

With actual combat experience as a guide, the Rangers designed a system with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as the technical base that was oriented to the needs of the Army. A systematic approach to training emerged, which detailed the techniques that would be taught, and in what order. Rangers would start with the basics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ground fighting, and progress into the throws and takedowns of Judo and Wrestling, and the strikes of Boxing and Muay Thai. All of this could combine with marksmanship and contact weapons training from Kali and the western martial arts into a totally integrated system of Close Quarters Combat. Henceforth, yielding Rangers who could transition smoothly between ranges of combat, with or without weapons, individually or as a group.

Nice army article on it http://www.lavenpublishing.com/monitor/2004/06June/060304/combative060304.html

Link to download a VERY large (~80MB) video course of the MACP from Hock's free downloads area. Excellent material. http://www.hockscqc.com/videoclips/MACPModernArmyCombativesProgram.wmv

Training Log 2006-02-11

The gang's all here!

This was one of the first times we've had everyone here for training. We started right on time (new 0800 hours time), and Mike and Bobby were way early and almost had everything set up by the time Sam and I got there. I will be in a lot earlier so I can get the camera set up, and my gear on.

Bobby has almost all his gear- just needs goggles and knee pads. Mike's going to use some old SWAT gear.

Mr. Sam covered a warm-up, then went over basics with Bobby- stance, movement, and guard position (hands). I went over basic boxing combinations with Mike, then we all covered the front kick (rear-leg, offensive front-leg, and skip-front leg. We then covered the Thai kick to the calf and thigh, then whipping elbow to the head. We finished instruction with Thai kick defense - leg checking versus calf and thigh targets.

Because of officer testing, we had to clear the room before 0900 hours, so we just did a couple of rounds of sparring. Bobby looked fine- he adjusted his guard, from what I can tell, and was aggressive with the leg kicks, but his technique got sloppy when sparring. More drills needed. He needs to build muscle memory. I think he should stay away from sparring for a few weeks, except possibly some burnout - builds toughness and endurance. Mike and I gave Bobby a lot of openings, and he seemed to be pretty confident.

Mr. Sam's footwork (going to the left) and defense are both tightening up. When sparring, I'd like to see more with his left-it leaves less openings, and more clearing. Also, more circular movement (away from the power hand.

I need to work on integration of all the techniques in the ranges, and slipping in side kicks, high kicks, and spinning/jumping techniques when prudent. I need to fight smarter, not so hard.

My Favorite Martial Arts Films

In general, I don't like martial arts films, unless they're a spoof or comedy. Ever since I started teaching, martial arts films didn't seem "real" enough. The exceptions, in no particular order:

Above the Law - Steven Seagal showed us what Aikido really is - a deadly art. This had so much authentic technique, which I don't think had ever been seen in quite this way. The only thing that comes close is Under Seige.


Enter the Dragon - Just because of the cast- Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, etc. Lee's charisma is what this highlights for me.

Code of Silence - The fight in the bar scene is probably the most realistic I'd seen, up until that point. Chuck Norris kicked butt for about 30-seconds, when a bunch of bad guys worked as a team. They tackled him, held him, then beat him to near death. The rest of the film is typical, but that scene stands out. Also Chuck works out in the gym and looks pretty sharp!

Bloodsport - The variety of styles had never been seen like this before. Van Damme showed a lot of charisma and originality. Both he and Seagal went down hill from these films.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - A beautiful fable, which uses martial arts only as part of the setting. Like ancient Chinese mythology brought to life. I loved this.

Iron and Silk - Unbelievable, true story of a man who studied martial arts for years, then tried to find a true, Chinese "master". He succeeded. Rent it.

Anything Jackie Chan is on this list, too. It blows my mind what he can do!

Check http://www.imdb.com/ for more information.

Got any favorites?