Knee Strike

I trained knees for years in Muay Thai.  There are a multitude of variations with different names, and it seems like the naming conventions changed several times over the years—I could not keep the nomenclature straight to save my life.  In any case, the knee, used correctly, is a force to be reckoned with.  I failed to find the video on YouTube, but there was a show produced by National Geographic called Fight Science.  It has received its fair share of criticism, but they did some interesting tests with crash test dummies to measure the impact force of different strikes.  I believe Bas Rutten delivered an “MMA kick” to the dummy on one of the episodes.  In addition, a dedicated Muay Thai practitioner threw a knee into the dummy, and according to the show, it was the equivalent of a 35 mph car crash.  I could not determine how many pounds of force that equates to, nor am I a physicist, NOR am I versed in all the science behind crash testing, but I will go out on a limb and say that is probably pretty powerful.  You can generate a lot of force, indeed, and I can attest to the pain of being struck in the solar plexus.  My training partner was moving fairly hard and fast, but not exactly with all his might.  I felt like every last ounce of air had been sucked out of my lungs.  Now, imagine inflicting damage against the bad guy when you really, really mean it. 

The easiest knee strike to teach, and that we often use in Gutterfighting, is the Straight Knee.  It just projects forward from the body, into the target.  The target might be the abdomen, the groin, the inside of the thigh (femoral nerve), or the outside of the thigh (the common peroneal nerve).  Keep in mind the range when you use knees.  I used to see some people try to land a knee from kicking range.  Unless you are launching yourself towards the target (flying knee) like they do in the ring when the opponent is bouncing off the ropes, or you are going airborne in a whole crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon sort of way, you may as well kick him.  The same goes for trying to throw a kick in knee range—if you are jamming yourself against him with your kicking leg, just knee!  The hip drive is the special sauce for this technique.  Even with the Straight Knee, I use my hips.  Some new students’ hips, and glutes, for that matter, are completely turned off.  They don’t really know how to employ their powerhouse.  Without the hips, a punch and elbow are just arms, and the knee and kick are just legs. 

I prefer to grab the body and drive it into my knee strike.  Typically I will hook the back of the neck with one hand and grab the shoulder simultaneously with the other, thereby impaling the adversary on my kneecap.  You could check the shoulder and apply a knife hand to the side of the neck.  You could also wrap the arm, while pushing away the head as you strike.  Alternatively, you could go into the clinch position and apply one Straight Knee, or rapid-fire alternating Skip Knees, like they do in Muay Thai.  Employing leverage here is really helpful in landing the strike.  Just make sure you know how to keep your balance and avoid takedowns.  I think the High Low Principle is very important—the more you can confuse him with high and low line strikes, the more control you exert over his decision loop.  I would also say that it is important to know how to disengage forcefully, after you have finished with a knee coupled with a grab.  Either push him away, or finish with some other strike—it could be a Hammer Fist, or an elbow strike, or whatever your position dictates. 

Kelly McCann talks about a Knee Lift.  With this strike, the opponent is doubled over, and the knee is essentially traveling upward instead of in an outward thrust (TANG!), like with the Straight Knee.  This opportunity might present itself after you have already done something very nasty to him, and you throw in one knee for good measure just before you fly away. 

One nice target for the knee that I want to mention briefly is the head, if it becomes available.  Sometimes it does, and if you feel it is necessary to end the fight and/or keep this guy from running after you, then use it. 

The knee strike is a great tool, and I really recommend you practice it.  I have logged countless hours of practice with it myself, so it is part of my JKD and something I tend to use naturally, now.  I cannot promise you that yours will be car-crash strong, but with some practice, it can be pretty darn effective for you.  

 

References 

Levine, Darren, and Whitman, John.  (2007).  Complete Krav Maga: The Ultimate Guide  to Over 230 Self-Defense and Combatives Techniques.  Berkeley: Ulysses  Press. 

McCann, Kelly.  (2009).  Combatives for Street Survival: Hard-core Countermeasures for High-risk Situations.  South Korea: Black Belt Communications, LLC

Behold the Face Smash

The Face Smash (also sometimes called the Face Mash), is a great open-hand strike that we use in our Gutterfighting.  I love the name—it just sounds all “down and dirty.”  As Kelly McCann points out, it is similar in execution to the Hammer Fist, only you hold your hand open, like you are palming a grapefruit.  The tricky part about this technique, though it is a beautiful gross motor movement, is telegraphing.  One thing to do is throw your hands up—you appear to be submissive to the attacker.  Take a step back with your strong side and slightly cock the striking arm.  When you do strike, drop your weight into it, just like with the Hammer Fist, and plunge into his face.  Follow the SWAMP principle (Stay Relaxed, Weapon First, Accelerate, Move in the direction of the strike, Plunge).  In my mind’s eye, it looks like I am pitching a baseball into his face, with the added bonus of fingers jabbing in the eyes.  Keep in mind that with enough force, you could take him to the ground from here as you continue to plunge. 

You can also get to the ending position of the Face Smash from the Chin Jab.  Once you clip the chin and snap the head backward, tilt the hand forward and dig the fingers into the eye sockets.  While maintaining contact with the face, lift the elbow and PUSH.  Obviously, you are going to have to take advantage of the position quickly—you can’t dawdle too much before attempting the takedown.  Remember that the body goes where the head goes.  But in the event that he just steps backwards and does not buckle, move onto another technique.  Play with it.  If you practice it on BOBs, it does hurt at first.  BOB’s face is rather unforgiving. 

Lee Morrison demonstrates delivery of the Face Smash similar to the Palm Strike/Tiger Claw, in addition to the baseball pitch method.  You may like it better this way.  Try both! 

http://www.urbancombatives.com/facesmash.htm 

 

References 

Grover, Jim.  (1999).  Jim Grover’s Combatives Series: Power Strikes & Kicks, Vol. 1.  [Videotape].  Paladin Press. 

McCann, Kelly.  (2009).  Combatives for Street Survival: Hard-core Countermeasures for High-risk Situations.  South Korea: Black Belt Communications, LLC.

Headbutts

Headbutting BOB

I was doing some research recently on Headbutts. Holy smokes, I guess I never realized the multitude of ways the Headbutt can be used. I suppose it is just not a technique I have thought that much about over the years. I know plenty of people who look for the Headbutt constantly, and it really got me thinking. I have a hard skull—why not?

We actually do teach the Headbutt in our Gutterfighting—usually as a part of the rapid assault tactics (eye rake to Headbutt, knee and elbow strikes). Very close quarters kind of stuff—hey, you are noggin to noggin! With this one, we grab the back of the head or neck and drive it into the Headbutt. I suggest you use the top of your head around the hairline and not your own forehead. As the other instructor would say, that is a self-correcting problem.

In the Kapap training, we used the Rising Headbutt. You’ve got to be really up close and personal with this one because you are moving straight up his centerline, dragging your face through it, as you thrust your whole body upwards towards the prize—his chin. One of the instructors often used a Sideways Headbutt, (and sometimes a shoulder strike) during weapons disarms. I must say they worked out very nicely, especially since the hands are all tied up—just stay aware of the business end of the weapon!

I’ve seen folks use Rear Headbutts in scenarios where the attacker has grabbed from behind. Well, no one should ever allow themselves to get into that position in the first place. Stuff happens, I know, and we are occasionally switched off. Often space is created with the hips (bend at the waist and drive hips back), the head is tilted forward (chin to chest) and then snaps back, using the area below the crown as the striking surface. Lovely! You really might need it if your arms are tied up, so it is good to know this weapon is there, and can be used straight back, or even diagonally.

Headbutts present themselves in other ways, and much like improvised weapons, you just have to open your mind to the opportunities.  Look for situations in your training where you may be able to employ them.  One point to keep in mind: if you can hit him with your head, rest assured he can do the same to you. Look for and avoid the opportunities for an enemy to go head-to-head with you.

Now here is an individual who has really done the Headbutt justice and turned it into an art form. I mean this guy, Gerald Moffatt, has truly written a treatise on the subject, and I recommend when you have the time, to peruse his article entitled, “Headbutts, or How to Be a Nutter”:

http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/rma/gmhead.html

Cupped Hand Strike

The Cupped Hand Strike is one of the basic techniques we teach in our Gutterfighting.  This technique often seems fairly natural to women, and they appear to enjoy training it more than the other techniques.  Think of it as a slap, but with a little more curvature in the hand—in other words, it is cupped!  The hand should still stay fairly relaxed, though.  The target is the head, but if you are able to get the ear, it has a nice concussive effect upon the eardrum.  In fact, in Applegate’s book, Kill or Get Killed, the strike is called an “Ear Concussive Blow.”  He taught using both hands to hit both ears.  I can imagine the effect, literally slamming a pocket of air into each ear canal.  Yow!  If you ever watch some of Dr. Ruthless’ videos, she also likes to use both hands in a very close quarters situation.  I recall seeing a video of Paul Vunak teaching the Slap, and his hand makes almost a whipping motion because he keeps the hand so relaxed and the wrist very flexible.  This reminds me of what Kelly McCann talks about regarding weapons against the head, which is a very rigid, bony structure; flexible weapons work very well for rocking the brain and causing a KO.  We like to call this “rebooting the computer.”  Kelly often recommends using the open-hand, like palm strikes, face smashes, chin jabs, and cupped hand strikes, as opposed to punches, which also pits one bony structure (your knuckles) against another (his skull).  It stands to reason that with punches and no gloves, you have a good chance of sustaining a lot of damage.  Boxer’s fracture aside, learning to slap is a little easier skills-wise, and more readily available to the new practitioner; boxing skills take much more dedication to acquire!

I would teach this particular technique from the protective fence (arms outstretched and slightly bent, palms facing you), or a more aggressive fence (palms facing the aggressor).  The scenario might be that the adversary is encroaching on your space, has ignored your protective barrier (the fence), and you kick off.  However, you may find yourself in a situation where you have to basically shoot from the hip and strike from a ready stance, or with your arms at your sides.  Train from all these positions.  The Cupped Hand Strike can come from the front hand, but we usually start teaching it with the rear hand—folks just have an easier time with it.

I like the way Lee Morrison sets up the strike—a bit of misdirection!  Very cool: http://www.urbancombatives.com/cuppedhandblow.htm

Here is Dr. Ruthless with her “primal” self-defense–yeah!  She uses a double Cupped Hand Strike at the beginning of this video:

Ha ha!  Here is Paul Vunak teaching the “Ear Slap.”

Low-line Kicks, Part 2

 

Shin Kick

Unless people train to deaden the shins and calcify the bone, this area of the anatomy doesn’t have much protection between skin and bone.  So, it’s a very nice place to throw a kick.  We train with the rear leg only.  Lifting the leg slightly, the side of the foot accelerates towards the shin—the hip is open.  We use the instep instead of the toe for the striking surface because it’s tricky to make contact with toe to shin, especially under duress.  Sometimes we scrape or drag the foot a little bit across the ground until we get close to the target, (like kicking up dirt) then explode with the foot into the shin bone.  Once your foot is planted to the side, after the kick (hopefully you get some hyper-extension with this one, too), there is a nice opportunity for a downward elbow strike.  We train this on one of the Slammer pads, but you could also train this on a piece of PVC pipe with a wide diameter.  Very nice, indeed.

Stomp

Okay, now I want you to pay attention about this one.  Everyone already thinks they know how to stomp, but I want you to stomp BETTER.  Bring yourself directly adjacent to the target.  Lift your body up and lift your knee.  Now, bring all your bodyweight to bear on the target, like you’re squashing a humongous cockroach with your foot.  BAM!  No love taps or nudges, here.  Think of your leg as a powerful piston.  A stomp is nice insurance.  You triumphantly got him to the ground somehow, and you want to make sure he doesn’t. . .just fill in the blank, here.  Maybe you want to keep him from getting up and running after you.  Maybe you want to destroy the weapon-retaining hand.  OR maybe he is just kneeling, and you want to make sure he doesn’t get back up to try something stupid.  Expect that you might break the ankle, or if he is prone and his foot is dorisflexed (toe pointing towards ground), you might do terrible things to the Achilles.  Same thing if he is kneeling.  I see this one as a finishing move if I STILL FEEL HE IS A THREAT.  Obviously, only you can make that determination within the context of your situation.

Alrighty then.  I won’t get into the mechanics of the Thai kick, side kick or push kick—we don’t use them that much in our Gutterfighting.  They are awesome tools, and if you train in Muay Thai or other arts, they are definitely worthwhile, but take much more training to master, in my opinion.  I recently found an interesting article on the Urban Samurai about high kicks, and it discusses whether or not they are “worthless.”  A lot of folks say they’re too risky for the street, but you know, there are probably some out there with the timing and speed, who can actually pull it off.  Anyway, here is the link: 

http://urbansamurai.org.uk/martial-thought/are-high-kicks-pointless/

Low-line Kicks, Part 1

 

In our Gutterfighting, we utilize a number of different low-line kicks (i.e. below the waist).  As with other striking techniques, we tend to focus on kicks that are not highly technical, nor do they require tremendous flexibility.  I was reading somewhere recently about making techniques yours, and how it still takes practice to truly acquire a skill or technique, and I must agree with this mentality.  Just my two cents, of course, and though these kicks are fairly easy to learn, they still require some training.  We like front kicks, o’ou tek (hook or roundhouse) kicks, low destructive kicks (sometimes called a stab kick), shin kicks and stomps.  Because of my Muay Thai background, I also use a Thai kick, and have done thousands over the years.  We don’t work these very much in class because they are more technical, in our humble opinion, and those students with previous training in other arts tend to turn them into snap kicks anyway.  :)  On rare occasion, we work the side kick.  This has never been one of my personal favorites, but it is just a preference thing.  We have probably worked the push kick (teep) once or twice. 

Front Kick 

We use front kicks pretty regularly, with the groin being a common target.  We also start beginners with front kicks whenever we do the O’ou Tek series of combinations.  It’s just a little bit easier for them to pull off technique-wise.  We often train the lead leg in combinations, but there is no reason why you cannot use the rear and kick a field goal right into the groin.  Some folks point their toes up (dorsiflexion) when they snap the kick, others keep the toes pointed out (plantar flexion).  I guess it all depends.  If I were wearing big boots, as I sometimes do, and I was going to kick to the groin, I would probably dorsiflex.  Then, my kick would look more like a spike kick, with a little or no snap in the lower leg, as well. 

O’ou Tek 

We take this from JKD.  It is basically a roundhouse or hook kick, and we use it below the waist with the lead leg.  When I trained it, I also used a Pendulum Step.  We don’t generally require the students to use that footwork, but it is important for them to plant the ball of the foot of the rear leg at the right angle to open up the hips.  Some students have a hard time grasping why they need to turn the toes away from the kick.  I had “lift and pivot” burned into my brain.  In any case, we often train this kick with a combination series.  A typical combination we use leads off with the o’ou tek, follows with a Cross – Hook – Cross and ends with the o’ou tek.  I love the flow of these drills. 

Low Destructive Kick

With these we are usually aiming for a knee, from various angles.  I think of it as a stab kick because of the way the leg is chambered and the way kick is applied.  From the front, I crouch my body a little bit as I chamber my leg, with my instep facing upwards.  I throw the kick down, towards the knee joint, just as if I was thrusting a blade towards the target.  With enough force, I can make his knee hyper-extend.  I retract the leg just as I might retract the blade after stabbing.  I can also do this directly from the side, pushing the knee inward towards the opposite leg.  It takes a lot of force to break a knee.  It is a hinge joint, and therefore is not intended to move from side to side, nor even hyper-extend by very many degrees.  Having said that, even if it is hard to break the knee, with the right mechanics, I can cause a lot of pain and probably inflict some damage by making it move in ways nature did not intend!

More Kicks in Part 2. . .

Hammer Fist

 

One of the ten techniques that we teach in our Gutterfighting is the Hammer Fist.  I personally love this technique because of its pure simplicity.  Gross motor movement all the way!  As the name implies, your arm mimics the handle of the hammer, and your fist is the head of the hammer.  The meaty part of the underside of the fist is your striking surface.  I like to think of the Hammer Fist as “the beat down.”  Aim for the head, neck and shoulder region, but you really don’t have to be much more specific than that.  We sometimes aim for the area of the solar plexus, as well. 

We train it a number of different ways, one of which is depicted on Kelly McCann’s (Jim Grover) Combatives series.  If you are left lead, as we often are, accelerate off the back foot and plunge the right Hammer Fist in a downward arc, all the way through the target.  We often utilize an angled pad (we like to do a combination with a front kick and Hammer Fists) for our drills.  You can also use a thai pad (little less margin of error) or one of those big Slammer pads.  Use your whole body, as opposed to just your arm, and sink it into the strike to get the most bang for your buck.  I like the way Kelly utilizes the cycling with this and many other techniques. 

In Krav, they also train Hammer Fist to the side and to the back.  We train these, also.  On the first, the feeder holds the pad out from his/her torso and stands to the side of the technician.  The Hammer Fist arcs out from the body, into the feeder’s pad, just like a door swinging open.  With the second scenario, the feeder just moves behind the technician.  The tech must torque his body a little further (utilizing the ever-important pivot points on the balls of the feet) to blast into the target with that horizontal arc.  You could also drill this one with the feeder running into, or “bumping” the tech from behind with the pad, and the tech whirling around to throw the Hammer Fist.  I like this as a reaction drill. 

You can add a more sting to your Hammer Fists by clenching objects like kubotans, and even rolled-up magazines, like we used the other night.  This, of course, concentrates the force into a much smaller area, thereby making it a lot more painful when you land the strike.  In fact, in some target areas, this could very well be deadly force, so keep that in mind.

 

References 

Levine, Darren, and Whitman, John.  (2007).  Complete Krav Maga: The Ultimate Guide to Over 230 Self-Defense and Combatives Techniques.  Berkeley: Ulysses  Press.

Grover, Jim.  (1999).  Jim Grover’s Combatives Series: Power Strikes & Kicks, Vol. 1.  [Videotape].  Paladin Press.

Lee Morrison on Ax Hand

I was browsing Lee Morrison’s website, Urban Combatives (in our blogroll) and I came across some interesting videos, one of which was on scenario training, and the other on the principles and mindset of combatives.  I encourage you to check out his site to see the videos (some of which have strong profanity, just so you know, if that kind of thing offends you):

http://www.urbancombatives.com/m_intro/about.htm

If you have not done so already, you should check out some of his articles on combatives:

http://www.urbancombatives.com/m_resources/articles.htm

Then, I wandered out to YouTube and found a really good clip of Lee explaining the ax hand:

W. E. Fairbairn training Office of Strategic Service

Here is an ancient video of W. E. Fairbairn teaching combatives techniques to members of the OSS, the Office of Strategic Service, a wartime intelligence agency and predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Kelly McCann and Chin Jab

 

Here is another video clip of Kelly McCann explaining the Chin Jab.  Some downplay its effectiveness, but they thought it was effective enough to teach it to soldiers in WWII.  I often think to myself, “man, this would be really hard to pull off on somebody with a weak chin.”  :)  Always considerations to make, of course, in any given situation.  I recommend you really play with this technique.  In case you missed it, here is my old post on the Chin Jab technique, in detail:  http://gutterfightingusa.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/chn-jab/