Flow and the “Failure Drill”

We talked in class last night about a very important concept we term the “failure drill”.  A lot of people bristle at the idea of a failure drill, and don’t like the negative connotations associated with the terminology.  I won’t get into all that.  The real concern is this: how often do we have a backup plan (A, B, C, or even D) when a technique fails?  The tendency of many people is to beat the dead horse—they keep working on the technique in a scenario in the event that it will eventually succeed.  Now, I am not talking about the process of learning a brand new technique.  That is totally different.  I expect failures as I work to acquire the new skill and get a feel for it through repetition.  I am talking about the situations we create in training wherein we have to use some defensive tactic, or even a pre-emptive, offensive maneuver, and due to timing, body position, or a whole litany of other reasons, the technique just fails.  So, we try, try again as seeking a new result from the same actions—hey, isn’t that the definition of crazy?  I’m sure the adversary is going to patiently wait while we get it right. 

Why not move onto a new technique?  Many of us were simply not taught that way.  We were not taught what it means to flow, which is one of the pitfalls of static training.  This is not to say that static training is bad.  On the contrary, it is a necessary step in the process of learning flow.  Nevertheless, many people get stuck in static training and camp out forever.  Training must evolve from static, to changing single variables, to something that mimics real life: dynamic flow.  Having more than one option to be able to branch to in a given situation is very important.  Then, having too many options gets into the whole Hick’s law problem regarding slower reaction times.  We must find balance! 

Flow can be encouraged and facilitated by good instructors.  A positive training experience helps students the most, but some learners are going to have a more challenging time becoming dynamic than other students.  I find those that are more rigid in their thinking patterns, highly self-critical, and very analytical, will have the most difficult time.  I can say that because this used to be me!  With the right mentor, I was able to relax and flow more than I ever thought possible.  Luckily, being dynamic in one area truly carries over into others (most importantly, the street).  I remember reading an inspirational little book about Parkour practitioners.  They talked about the practice of free running, and how it helped them see more possibilities and make decisions more rapidly in other areas of life.  The beauty of tapping into our subconscious processing!  Flowing with the body helps the mind flow.  We are energy beings, after all, made for movement—really before we are consciously thinking about anything!  I feel myself about to launch off onto some crazy tangent, so I will stop there.  Suffice it to say, it’s important to jump into the flow.

Training Your Grip

In Tuesday night’s Gutterfighting class, we got off on a tangent about grip training and broke out some of the grip toys we have.  A lot of people don’t really think about grip too much. Nevertheless, there are so many instances across the wide spectrum of martial arts training, whether empty-hand, or in the utilization of weapons, that could benefit from improved grip.  Aside from that, whenever I have concentrated on grip training, I find that my hand and wrist pain (from years of repetitive computer work) completely disappear. 

Dexterity Balls

Before I use other things, I tend to “warm-up” with dexterity balls, also known as Chinese meditation balls.  There are a number of exercises you can do with these, believe it or not, and they come in different diameters.  I do find the practice quite relaxing.  The great grip master, John Brookfield, also uses them, and I believe when I ordered them a few years ago from Ironmind, they came with a manual that he wrote.

Expand Your Hands bands

Next, I move onto some Expand-your-hands rubber bands.  You place all five fingers inside the band as it rests/loops around the fingernails; extend your fingers outward, thereby opening your hand.  In my mind, this is great for balancing out the grip work that involves so much flexion of the fingers and hands.

After warming up and extending, I get down to the realy nitty gritty: Captains of Crush grippers, pinch grip tools, and various wrist strengthening tools like the Twist Yo’ Wrist and a wrist roller. 

 

Captains of Crush Grippers 

Captains of Crush Grippers

Everybody loves these.  They are kind of addictive, and every time my partner has brought these out for LEO training classes, they just cannot get enough of them.  COC grippers come in lots of different strengths, beginning with the “Guide”, at 60 pounds of resistance.  Most of you men out there will probably be able to start with the Sport (80 pounds) or the Trainer (100 pounds).  For women, it’s hard to say, and you will have to experiment to find out where you need to start.  For strength, I would recommend training every other day, and do about 3 sets or so of 5 to 6 reps on each hand.  Once you get in the groove, you can certainly do more.  As a general rule of thumb, we say that if you can get 10 good reps on a gripper, and be able to “grind” the ends together when you close it, it is time to step up to the next gripper.  If men can close a #2 (195 pounds), they are getting into very respectable territory.  The same goes for women closing the #1 (140 pounds).

 

Pinch Grip Tools

Hub Grip

Block Grip

IMTUG

We have the hub-style gripper (who needs tools to get off lug nuts when you have your monster hands?) and the block gripper (for your C clamp—great for shooters!).  We use the Olympic size loading pins (with clip).  These are awesome, and you can just lift them up, or even take a little farmer’s walk with them.  I won’t kid you.  Using these pinch grippers is not incredibly exciting training, but you will definitely reap benefits from the time you put into it.  We also have several of the IMTUG grippers for working two-finger grip.  These help you build up strength in individual fingers.

Wrist/Forearm Tools

Homemade Wrist Roller (left) and Twist Yo’ Wrist

I have a love-hate relationship with these.  They are great, but they hurt like the devil.  I have a Twist Yo’ Wrist tool.  It is cylindrical, and you grip it as you would to remove a jar lid.  Roll the climbing cord, with weight attached, on and off the cylinder.  It sets your forearms on fire!  It mimics the wrist rehab exercises for ulnar and radial deviation. 

I fashioned my own wrist roller with PVC pipe, climbing cord, metal washers and a clip.  I drilled a hole in the middle of the pipe and fed the climbing cord into it.  I attached a clip so I could add Olympic plates.  Similar to the Twist Yo’ Wrist, I roll the cord on and off the pipe, and I extend my arms with palms facing down.  I suppose you could use it with palms up, though I never have.  I’d rather do standard wrist curls for that.

In addition to all the aforementioned tools, kettlebells do wonders for your grip.  Some people want to use gloves because they hate calluses, but they are truly missing out on the added benefits of slinging these little cannonballs.  John Brookfield does a number of different things for grip that cost little or no money, including “bone dry”.  All you do for this exercise is fill a bucket with water, dip a towel into the water, and wring out as much water as you possibly can (hence the name, bone dry!).  Rope climbing and towel pull-ups are tremendous for grip.  Picking up sandbags, wherein the weight shifts, can be great for grip.  We have a lot of manuals with ideas for training grip, and the possibilities are endless! 

If you want specialized grip tools, Ironmind is an excellent place to go.  That’s where we have bought many of our tools: 

http://www6.mailordercentral.com/ironmind/departments.asp?dept=7 

Now go forth and work on your death grip, my friends.  I daresay in the process, you will develop a very respectable, if not scary handshake. 

Improvised Weapon: Magazine

Recently we brought in a stack of magazines to class and told the students we were going to practice fighting with them. Naturally, people were curious about turning a magazine into a weapon. As it has been taught to me, improvised weapons are more of a mindset. The same can be said for combatives.

The other instructor tells the story best about quizzing Guro Dan Inosanto about Filipinos fighting with rolled-up magazines, and using them much like a palm stick before casually going back to reading the magazines (In my mind’s eye, I see him reading and whistling a tune). I imagine a little tape would be great to hold it together. Once we got ours rolled and ready for action, we realized what a multi-tasker a magazine can truly be. Jab it into vital areas and nerve motor points, use it with your hammer fists, or just swat that guy like a big, nasty horsefly. It’s all good. I like the way it concentrates the energy of the strike into one tiny area, like with a kubotan.

Not sure we could re-use our magazines. We tore those suckers to bits.

Open Your Eyes and Defend

We worked on a fun drill tonight.  Everyone stands in a circle, and one person moves into the center of the circle.  That person has to close his or her eyes and await an attack from someone else in the circle.  The attacker is picked randomly and he or she can choose to attack with a training knife or a blue gun.  The one in the center is cued to open their eyes.  Then, he or she has to defend whatever unfolds in the situation.  The scenario can include multiple opponents.  This drill can also be performed wherein the person in the middle wears a hood, and the hood is pulled off for each scenario.  Everyone eventually gets a crack at the guy or gal in the middle.  <evil laugh>

Even in a safe environment, where we slow down the speed of the attack, it is a stressful drill.  Well, it is for me, anyway.  Should students run into snags, it is good to discuss these particular scenarios and allow them to perform tasks again successfully, which leaves them with a positive experience and helps set them up for success in the future.  I think this is especially important if they completely freeze during the exercise.  Once students gain more proficiency, they can speed things up, or even progressively change other situation variables (don’t change too many at once).

Simple Knife Drills

After practicing smooth deployment of our folding knives, we worked on some very simple knife drills this week, first with focus mitts, then secondly with a partner wearing a boxing glove.  Our folding knives, though they are training blades, turned out to be too sharp for the focus mitts!  Oops.  So, we drilled with our fixed blade trainers.

Drill 1:

One partner, with strong side forward, holds the knife in a sabre grip and points it towards the target (knuckles up, thumb towards center).  The other partner feeds the focus mitt randomly.  Knife-wielding partner strikes with a straight thrust and retracts.  Think of a fencer lunging forward to hit the target, bridging the distance.

Drill 2:

One partner puts on a boxing glove and feeds the knife from any angle.  The other partner uses the concept of “de-fanging the snake” and uses his knife to take out the hand of the feeder.  You can add in other, unexpected strikes, like kicks–just be cautious of how hard students are thrusting with the knives.  Padding couldn’t hurt so everyone comes back to train another day. 

The Drill

 

 

We like The Drill for body mechanics, basic skill practice, and conditioning.  Try it for 2-minute rounds and 3-minute rounds on either BOB or focus mitts.  If you are using a BOB, try body hooks instead of head hooks–especially for beginners.

The Drill

Jab

Cross

Hook (left)

Hook (right)

Uppercut (left)

Uppercut (right)

Elbow (left—we usually do a horizontal)

Elbow (right)

Knee (left)

Knee (right)

The Power of Bodyweight

We were talking a lot this week about using the hips in all our striking techniques.  You notice some people hit hard with just their arms.  But even these guys could utilize the untapped power of their hips, or what I always call the “powerhouse”.  Using your hips is efficient, too.  More power, less work!  In this YouTube clip, Peter Consterdine displays amazing skill in using his powerhouse.  He calls it the “double hip”.  Every time I watch this, I am completely blown away.  Check out the way he effortlessly swivels around and beats the tar out of the pad! 

The Slap

 

We teach the slap as a pre-emptive strike–you perceive that the situation you are in is going downhill FAST.  Perhaps another individual is taking an aggressive stance, or he is threatening you, or worse yet. . .he is drawing a weapon.  Time to reach out and touch someone!  The slap is just plain insulting to most people–maybe the last time you were slapped, your mama did the honors.  This one has just a bit more behind it, because you want to rock his brain inside his skull, if you know what I’m saying.  We practice from either a Jack Benny stance, or from a protective fence.  This is a nice time to make a point about NOT posturing during a potential confrontation.  The protective fence is great because you LOOK pretty harmless and your body language is saying, “hey, I don’t really want any trouble.”  In truth, you are ready to roll, if need be.  Check out Al Peasland, who is affiliated with the British Combat Association, and his book and/or DVD on Fence Concepts: http://www.completeselfprotection.com/booksanddvds.html

If you cup the hand during the slap, and hit the ear, it is possible to rupture the eardrum.  We use both the BOBs, and in our video clip, we also use the focus mitts.  Check out Paul Vunak, as well, as he explains the slap.  Good stuff!

 

Knife Defense

 

We looked at defenses against several angles of attack with knives.  You know, so many times I was instructed that getting cut was an inherent part of knife fighting.  Very recently I gained new perspective.  I don’t want to pre-program myself for the probability of being cut in the event that a knife comes into play, and it is simply not true that I will always be cut.  Past instructors even admonished against carrying a knife for protection.  But you know what?  There is responsibility that goes hand in hand with any weapon I carry, whether it is knife, OC spray, a gun, or my own body.  I accept that responsibility.

 

The biggest points about last night’s training were the following. 

 

• Avoid trying to grab a moving target.  I may miss.  We used our forearms to block the varying angles of incoming knife strikes, then grabbed the wrist/hand for control. 
• After that, it’s time to soften him up so that he’s thinking less about the knife and more about his pain!
• The disarm may just happen, especially after I’ve struck him several times.  Keep this in mind: disarming does mean you have to specifically take the knife away.  You may disable him, take the striking hand out of commission, or simply remove his ability to use the weapon, at which point he is basically disarmed.  Also remember that if you are in survival stress mode, your dexterity is most likely gone due to vascular constriction in the fingers and hands.  Knife disarms are very sexy, but will they work when you are threatened?

 

We also need to train ourselves to look for furtive movements.  Perhaps you can lock him down before he has a chance to draw the weapon.  Pay attention to his hands—what are they doing? 

 

If a technique is not working, don’t keep beating a dead horse.  Train to move onto something else.  I will address more of this in upcoming blogs.

 

Combatives on BOB and Striking Pad

 

We performed these on the dummy and a pad, but I highly recommend practicing on a partner also (not full force, of course).  Kelly McCann talks about Combatives being 90 percent attitude.  Especially when you are performing on pads and dummies, hit like you mean it.  I try to visualize the scenario as I perform the techniques.  The training must evolve into something more dynamic and realistic with emotional content.  I often wonder, if someone cannot even let loose on pads or a dummy, what will happen if they are confronted with a life or death situation?

 

Drill 1

 

1. Block the haymaker.  This looks like a Thai boxing cover. 
2. Chop (axehand) to the neck/side of the neck. 
3. Swivel punch to the midsection (really engage those hips!)
4. If the assailant is down, stomp on his leg (could be a break here).  If not, you can continue on with a myriad of other techniques.

 

Drill 2

 

1. Thai cover
2. Chop
3. Face smash (cup your hand like you are palming a grapefruit and get those fingers in his eyes)
4. Kick to shin

 

Drill 3

 

1. From a guard stance (maybe you have your protective fence), move right into the short chop to the windpipe (maybe it goes to his face, too).  I step in and drive forward—I think my foot even drives into the ground.
2. Long chop (more power here with your hip rotation)
3. Vertical chop to side of neck/top of the shoulder—you need power, so use your strong arm, just like throwing a cross

 

Drill 4 (On Pads)

 

We used the long cylindrical pad for this one so students could practice the face smash (it really hurts on BOB).

 

1. Thai cover
2. Chop
3. Face smash
4. Low side kick

 

Drill 5

 

1. From your protective fence, a flick to the eyes
2. Face smash
3. Left horizontal or snap elbow
4. Right horizontal or snap elbow

 

Drill 6

 

1. Flick to the eyes
2. Palm heel strike to the nose
3. Knee to the groin or body
4. He is down, stomp the leg (we stomped on pads) and drive through with your heel

 

Drill 7

 

1. Chin jab (with the heel of your palm, drive through his chin much like you would with an uppercut)
2. Immediately go to the face smash and push him to the ground