Video: Full-contact Wing Chun

[Content warning: disturbing violent contact]
This is an example of the effects of full-contact Wing Chun chain punches. Notice that, though this bout takes place in a ring, it's without gloves, and there is obvious intent on the part of the fighters to do major damage. The knockout that takes place toward the end is the result of a perfect WC vertical punch to the point of the chin.

Watch and learn:

Lessons:
Notice that the fighter on the right consistently maintains his centerline, and though he eschews defense, because he punches from the centerline, he occupies the center. The fighter on the right also flanked his opponent using flawless WC footwork.

The only mistake made was that the first fighter to score assumed that once he knocked the block off of his opponent, that the opponent was unable to counter - a fatal mistake, as his head was cleanly punched off of his shoulders.

Remember, my friends, the only opponent you can assume is safe is an opponent whose hands are completely off the controls.

Happy New Year from TDA Training! :-)

Integrating Striking, Wrestling & Grappling

Every martial art has it's strengths and weaknesses (see Ain't none of it is real! and some of the referenced links). One obvious aspect of martial arts around the world is the tendency to focus on one area and/or range of unarmed or armed combat. Even among those instructors whose systems have combined the unarmed areas of striking, grappling, or standing clinch, such as Jiu-Jitsu, Hapkido, and Jeet Kune Do, there is a tendency to favor one above the other, depending on the comfort level. For some, it's a range, as in a sport grappler like BJJ or Judo favoring either throws or groundwork, or a TKD player favoring kicking range and striking (despite the fact that all striking ranges are included in TKD). How to you make the transition from one range to the other?

We know that there's a definite need to be able to fight in all ranges. A situation may start with a shove then punch (standing striking), then the attacker may pin the defender against a wall (standing grappling) while trying to pummel him, then the fight may go to the ground (groundfighting, which is a combination of grappling and striking on the ground). It's often said that most fights end up on the ground, but how does one get there? Obviously, the combatants have to transition through the ranges. The questions for a martial artist interested in self defense are, "How do I integrate the ranges and areas of fighting," and, "What's the best way to train for that?"

Stephan Kesting gives his take in his excellent instructional article, The MMA Formula: Striking + Takedowns + Groundwork and his blog post, Integrating Striking, Wrestling & Grappling.

The reason you want to train each area separately (at least some of the time) is so that you can develop skills in that area, without relying on your strengths in the other areas. If you always blend standup and ground, grappling and striking, then your weaknesses in one area might remain hidden for a long time.

The reason you want to combine striking, wrestling and grappling in your training (at least some of the time) is to simulate a real fight as closely as possible and also to find out if you have developed any bad habits in your training. For example, if your wrestling stance is extremely low with your hands on your knees, or if you use your closed guard without breaking your opponent's posture posture or controlling his head and arms, then a brief MMA sparring session will definitely be an eye-opening experience for you.

If there isn't an MMA school near you then combining strikes with your wrestling with your grappling is going to be difficult. The boxers you train with will only want to box, the wrestlers will only want to wrestle.... So you may need to train these areas independently until you can either find an MMA school or some training partners who are willing to to cross train. Even if you are training them separately you are still laying solid foundations for later, so this is NOT wasted effort.

This is one way that sport training can be compatible with Combatives or self-defense-oriented martial arts: MMA builds on this throughout it's skill sets. For self-defense, an ideal way of training for the integration (I strongly agree with Kesting that you have to train and learn the individual skill separately to excel at them) is scenario-based training, and handicap sparring. Build on your strengths, learn the other ranges and areas of skill (including knives, clubs, and firearms), then drill them together. Add in multiple opponents and mixed weapons with multiple opponents. Get outside of your comfort zone.

For more information:

Todays TDA Tip: Handicap Sparring Key to Improvement
Handicap sparring: Striker vs Grappler
The Submission Trap
Cung Le video - Great Transition Between Ranges
Boxing for Self-Defense and MMA
Transition Into All Striking Ranges
THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (PTI)
THE ILLUSION OF REALITY (PT II)
W. Hock Hochheim, the Interview Begins
Air Guns and Self-Defense Training
Components of "reality training" explained
How One Barroom Encounter Changed One Cop's Views On Fighting
Practicality in Training

TDA Goals for 2008

Expect a number of significant improvements to TDA Training in 2008:

1. The addition of a second author! I have lined up one of the best new martial arts (MA) bloggers out there to be a regular contributor to TDA. I expect we'll get occasional posts, plus input in the form of additional feedback in my posts. A second point of view will provide you with a better blog. Stay tuned for an introduction near the beginning of the year.
2. More regular posting. As you may have noticed, I post in fits and spurts. One of my primary goals has been more consistent posting, with five posts per week as an ideal. If you blog, you may understand how difficult it is to work an amateur pursuit in with familial and professional obligations. My time is divided between putting out fires, long-term projects, and travel in my vocation, and a new house, two kids, and my "honey-do" lists at home, probably no different than many of you. I brilliantly came up with the solution after reading this excellent advice: put together posts in advance, then do my brilliant off-the-cuff posts as they happen, as a supplement. Having another author on TDA will help with the consistency, as well.
3. New TDA Training group. Since moving the clan to northwestern PA, I have sadly left behind the group that provided my posting inspiration and material. As an instructor, I've run the gamut of teaching several classes or seminars of 15-25 students, and, what I like to call coaching small groups. I prefer the small groups because of the personal attention, and the pace and quality of progress in the student's skills and confidence. As I posted a while ago, I plan to assemble a group consisting of military veterans and active duty law-enforcement to train, primarily because that's the demographic that shares my interest in practical training and conditioning. More video and photo instructional posts will result from the new TDA group.
4. Improvements to the site design and services. I want to take TDA Training to another level. I realize that some consider this site a leader in the small field, but I see the deficiencies in a more glaring way as we get more and more popular. I'd like suggestions on the site layout and features from you. I'd appreciate it if you'd email me with any suggestions that you have.
5. Interviews with interesting martial arts personalities and other MA bloggers. I think there are so many great martial artists that can benefit us all, and I want suggestions and contact information (via email, tdatraining at gmail dot com). I'd like to do an interview a month, as an ideal. Any ideas?
6. More collaboration with the Convocation Partners, and other MA bloggers. I plan to use more guest posts, linking, and sharing to make TDA Training one of your best stops on the Web for MA training information. If it's out there, I want to know about, link to it, or post on it. Tips will be rewarded with gratitude and good will! Let me know about something you'd like to see covered.
7. Regular Q&A. I'd like to host some questions and answers from martial arts students, instructors, or aspirants on the site. Please email questions to me. If I don't know the answer, I will forward it to someone who does, then post for all. Posts will include references to first names only, or an alias to ensure confidentiality, if desired.
8. Finally, I plan to do more seminars, as time permits, including women's self-defense. This may indirectly benefit readers, if you plan to attend, but I will try to include follow-up information on the blog for everyone.

Anyway, thanks for a great 2007, and please join us in 2008 for an even better year!

More than you ever wanted to know about this blogger

How did I get memed?

Chris Marshall says that I'm "it" now (no idea why he picked me), so here are the ground rules (interestingly, I think this is our first meme post at TDA). The rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random or weird things about yourself.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

OK, here are the things about me:

1. When I was a kid, I was one of the biggest, most muscular kids in school. Until high school...
2. I never stretch, yet can do the splits cold. I've been able to do that as long as I can remember. My parents used to have me put my feet behind my head and walk on my hands to entertain our guests. A weird advantage when starting martial arts at seven, I guess.
3. I was married at 21, divorced at 24, and am remarried for life with two incredible kids and a wife I don't deserve. I have no regrets at all about that since I had no children with the first wife, and it put me in a place to eventually meet and marry the woman of my dreams.
4. My birthday is on November 27. Some of you will recall that that is also the birth date of someone named Bruce Lee? Coincidence, no?
5. I was on the "official" Filipino TKD Olympic team despite having never competed in Olympic TKD. Strange? Don't think I look Filipino? My dad's straight from Cabanatuan, near Luzon. Perhaps that's why I took up Arnis. My mom's Irish, Scottish, and Welsh genes gave me the white boy look.
6. I like to mix the following foods, which disgusts my wife to no end:
   Macaroni and cheese with ketchup or cottage cheese or peas and tuna. Mmmmm.
   Peanut butter with anything. Anything.
   Rice with almost anything.
7. I have cried (in a manly way, of course), while watching a few movies, including: Seabiscuit, Rocky, Chariots of Fire, Rudy, Invincible, and Gods and Generals. The last one was the worst. If you haven't seen it (very likely, unless you're a Civil War buff), Gods and Generals focuses on the life of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a Confederate general from Virginia known for his courage and steadfastness (hence the nickname). Jackson befriends a soldier's widow and takes an interest in making sure that the young daughter (perhaps 6 or 7 years old) receives necessities during those trying times. Jackson and his wife always wanted children, but were unable to conceive. During a lull in a battle, General Jackson is informed by an aide that the young girl has died of a common illness, and loses all self control, breaking down in front of his men at the loss of someone he barely knew, and to whom he had no familial connection. For some reason, the sight of this man, and the thought of the death of the girl made me sob uncontrollably for a while. I was alone, thankfully, when watching the movie. I have children of my own. Perhaps that was the reason...

Anyway, I hope you've learned a thing or two about me, and despite those things, will still consider reading TDA Training in the future.

My victims?:

I am tagging Argonautica of Argos Classic Martial Reprints, Steve of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - Steve's BJJ Log, Colin of Traditional Taekwondo Technique Workshop, Marks of Marks Chat, Charles James of Isshin Ryu Karate Bugei, George of Boot to the Head, and finally, John the Dojo Rat.

Savate Mobility and Broken Rhythm

View the Pennacchio vs. Dekkers at Boot to the Head for a great example of what makes Savate such a monster style in the ring. I think it was a good counterpoint and contrast to our post, "Muay Thai Lessons from Ramon Dekkers."As you know, I posted on the Muay Thai lessons we can learn from Ramon Dekkers a little while ago. Let's turn that around and see what we can pick up from François Pennacchio in the video posted at Boot. Make sure you watch the whole video, then let me know how you see it.

Mobility
As Ruiz states in his Boot posts, the superior mobility that is the hallmark of Savate is tough to deal with. I noted that the constant circular mobility prevented Dekkers from getting "set" before firing, thus neutralizing much of his power, and creating many misses. As you may know, missing takes much more of a toll than hitting a target, and it shows. An important point is that Pennacchio has excellent discipline to stay in his game plan. As someone once said, genius is the ability to stay focused on the matter at hand. Superior fighters, race car drivers, tennis players, and others have that. Pennacchio definitely does, constantly moving away from the power of Dekkers, preventing him from landing more than one shot at a time.

Power
I agree with George that Dekkers wins the power game, but he rarely got to land cleanly, so that wasn't much of a factor. Savate kicks have an odd sort of focused power which hurts you badly, but in a different way than Muay Thai. Pennacchio stayed on his game and didn't really try to get set and blast Dekkers - probably a good idea!

Broken Rhythm
I think Pennacchio's ability to stop and redirect his momentum to another direction is what appeared to frustrate Dekkers. When he's start to lead off, Pennacchio wasn't there anymore. The broken rhythm also allowed him to fire on the move because Dekkers was off-balance with misses. Excellent!

Conditioning
Finally, I have to credit both fighters with being in excellent shape for the fight. Dekkers could not have maintained that pace without it, but the constant mobility of Pennacchio requires unbelievable cardio and muscular endurance. I can't usually get through a whole round of constant movement, much less 8, 10, or more.

Summary
I'd definitely score Pennacchio the winner of this bout due to his superior ring generalship and defense. He used a "stick and move" tactic which yielded an overwhelming decision on my score card. Due to this type of training, if you like full contact striking, I'd give Savate a look.

Carnival of Martial Arts #4 is here! - updated!

[NDT] I was going through my spam filter, and found another submission, Way of Harmony. I am adding it as a separate post, but wanted to make sure it was included with the Carnival. My apologies to the author!

Without further ado, here are the Carnival posts to close out 2007!

In no particular order:

A. Decker presents Way of Harmony posted at Resonant Enigma.

Ultimate MMA Videos posts his New Top 5 Pound for Pound Rankings. As with any sport, these types of rankings are always controversial, but always fun. Do you agree with his list? Head over for this great post, and more.

The always excellent Mokuren Dojo gives an insightful (he's a high-Dan in both arts) opinion on Aikido vs. judo. Read the whole post and the comments.

Production Blog posts the cool Bacon Samurai Video. "You have heard of Samurai Jack but I bet you haven’t heard about the Bacon Samurai. The Bacon Samurai is kind of like Aquateen Hunger Force on crack in Feudal Japan. So if you are brave enough Watch Bacon Samurai fight Sausage Samurai in this crazy (in a good way) video." Check it out!

Eric Frey presents » Do Martial Arts Actually Work? Eric Frey Dot Com: Hopes, Dreams, Ambitions And Things of Interest posted at Eric Frey Dot Com.

Eric Frey presents Why Head Kicks Are A Really Bad Idea For 90% Of Fighters. posted at Eric Frey Dot Com. Always interesting to get a take on the subject of high kicking.

blue skelton presents Jet Li Warlords Trailer posted at Production Blog. Good stuff!

Anmol Mehta presents Free Online Yoga Video - Breath of Fire Yoga Breathing Exercise posted at Mastery of Meditation, Zen & Kundalini Yoga. Check it out!

Chris presents You Might Be a Neijia Martial Artist posted at Martial Development. Are you? Head over and see!

Bob Patterson presents Women in the Martial Arts posted at Striking Thoughts. Beautiful site redesign, too, Bob.

Argonautica presents A Third Fatality for Modern Mixed Martial Arts posted at Argos Classic Martial Reprints. Very good historical and current research. Read it.

That's it for Carnival #4. Until next time!

Nice mention from the G4 blog

Nice mention from Attack of the Blog! in a post titled, "BlogWatch: MMA Blogs."

It appears that TDA was featured on their G4 TV show! Watch (be patient, it takes a long time to load). Watch toward the 2 minute mark. Nice!

 

I didn't know TDA Training was an MMA blog, but I appreciate the mention!

Carnival of Martial Arts edition #4 - submissions closed

The Carnival submissions have now been received. Please check back tomorrow for the results!

TDA Training is the proud host of Carnival of Martial Arts edition #4! How did this happen? Argonautica claims that we "graciously agreed," but all I remember is us heading into the pub together, him buying me a brew, then I woke up and was hosting!! [I think Dojo Rat was involved, but have no proof!]

Anyhow, this is a call to all the excellent martial arts bloggers out there: submit your good stuff now, and be featured in the Carnival!

CLICK HERE to submit a post!
submission deadline: December 15
carnival posting: December 17

I encourage all of you to participate, and submit current, new, or oldies, but goodies by 12/15. You can also check out previous editions at Argonautica's Carnival page.

Friday Blitz

More like a blizzard today. I've been on travel, and my wife says it's been snowing since Sunday. Welcome to Western  PA, huh! Anyway, here's a roundup of items I think you may appreciate.

Five survivors keep history alive at Pearl Harbor (USA Today)
PEARL HARBOR — They are the ironmen of their generation, living through Dec. 7, 1941, and the World War that followed, and defying the pitfalls of age and health into their 80s and 90s.
TDA-We all owe a great debt of gratitude to our service men and women, and these guys just remind us. Thank a veteran or service-member any time you can.

Tremendous Judo throw at Mokuren. Watch it!

Black Belt Mama's review of "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is an insightful analysis of a book I should've read a long time ago. My brother read it years ago, recommended it to me, and I've remembered his thoughts on how soldiers and kids (through media and video games) are desensitized to all types of violence against others. There's a healthy thread over at CoCA on it, too, so check both of them out.

Chris at Martial Development's post "The End of Mixed Martial Arts?" is well-worth a read. I think he misses the basic point of the success of MMA, but makes a very good argument. As a surface analysis, I think MMA is here to stay for the same reason that other major sports are - kids today idolize their favorite MMA stars and their fighting style in the same way that we used to root for boxers, action heroes, and sports figures. MMA is exciting, and the UFC's marketing has displaced something in the public consciousness, including those other sports. Certainly, it's fans are also fans of other sports, but it has, to no small degree, changed perceptions of what fighting and martial arts are (accurately, or not). Read the whole post at Martial Development.

Along with many others, I've really enjoyed Dojo Rat's "Old School" series of videos on a myriad of martial arts. Head over and check them out!

Class of 84 best ever?

I grew up watching free boxing on TV - even world championships. I know, I know, hard to believe, but the Manly Art of Boxing was once free to watch on television! Anyway, I saw many great fights and fighters: Tommy Hearns, Ali, Frazier, Holmes, Arguello, etc. At that time, you were also able to watch a fighter progress from his amateur days through world championships. I watched Tyson lose the Olympic trials, then go on to win the undisputed world championship (didn't see him lose it on PPV, though). Really enjoyed watching a whole Olympic class in 1984 go on to glory in the pro ranks. Take a look at this class:

106: Paul Gonzales, Los Angeles, Calif. (1st)
112: Steve McCrory, Detroit, Mich. (1st)
119: Robert Shannon, Edmonds, Wash.
125: Meldrick Taylor*, Philadelphia, Pa. (1st)
132: Pernell Whitaker*, Norfolk, Va. (1st)
139: Jerry Page, Columbus, Ohio (1st)
147: Mark Breland*, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1st)
156: Frank Tate*, Detroit, Mich. (1st)
165: Virgil Hill*, Williston, N.D. (2nd)
178: Evander Holyfield*, Atlanta, Ga. (3rd)
201: Henry Tillman, Los Angeles, Calif. (1st)
+201: Tyrell Biggs, Philadelphia, Pa. (1st)

*Denotes world champion

What do you think? Is there a class that compares? Note that Gonzales, McCrory, Tillman, and Biggs actually contended for world titles, so that makes five world champions, and four contenders out of twelve weight classes! In addition, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, and certainly Evander Holyfield should be considered among the best ever in their respective weight divisions.

For me, personally, I enjoyed watching Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker making people look silly with his preternatural defensive skills, Mark Breland because I was always in awe of his height and how he was always on the verge of getting knocked out, and Evander for his toughness. Of all of them, the ironman is definitely Holyfield, who's still fighting, and trying to work toward that elusive world title at 45 years of age! Evander should be considered one of the best-ever cruiserweights, and was unrivaled during his reign, so dominant that he left his natural weight class for the big dollars and tougher competition of the heavyweight division.

Any opinions on this? Head over to the Convocation thread or comment here.

Watch Whittaker: