Now saying all this, there still are some awesome schools of Traditional Martial Arts. Just like there are some poor MMA and Systema schools. Personally, I look for schools that do lots of partner drills and pressure test. My friend’s school, the ShuKiKan Life Protection Academy is World Class Instruction using Tradional Martial Arts as the pedagougy. They teach it right. They do Kenpo Jutsu (Kempo), Arnis, Kobujutsu, Defensive Tactics, Awareness, Grappling, Partner Drills, and First Class physiological scenerio’s and pressure testing of techniques.

In short, if you are learning self-defense, it should be Heavy on Partner training and pressure testing, and light on solo or ridiculous fluff. Sorry, not looking to start a flame war. But I came across something close to me here that just irked me. I don’t care if people don’t come to me for training or not. There is a lot of quality training out there. I just don’t like seeing parents who think that their 3rd degree black belt in tae kwon do 15 year old girl can truly handle herself in a survival situation when I know for a fact that this school doesn’t live in the realm of reality. Look how much punishment your typical mma fighter can take in the ring. The human body can take a lot of punishment. Predators might also be willing to sacrifice that same punishment for their prey. Train the worst case scenerio. Train in a way that one or two punches or kicks WON’T end a fight. Systems like Combat Systema, Pramek, and the Shukikan Life Protection Academy are where you should send your kids and yourself. Again, question everything with an open mind. Let go of your ego and learn. Peace all. Please don’t take offense. If you disagree, throw in a comment to this.

“So few want to be rebels anymore. And out of those few, most, like myself, scare easily.”
– Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

“Most commonly revolt is born of material circumstances; but insurrection is always a moral phenomenon. Revolt is Masaniello, who led the Neapolitan insurgents in 1647; but insurrection is Spartacus. Insurrection is a thing of the spirit, revolt is a thing of the stomach.”
– Victor Hugo

http://www.livescience.com/22021-summer-olympics-sports-physics.html

Rick

I utilize these tools to help in a multitude of areas, but I will just give a couple areas here. First, explosive strength and quickness. One drill I do has two parts. First part, lay the ball on the ground and straddle it with your feet a little more then shoulder width apart. To start the ball should be in the middle, however I change positions throughout in order to provide subtle changes to the exercise. With the medball on the ground, SQUAT to pick it up. I have noticed that the American Culture is a culture that has lost it’s ability to squat. You need to learn to love the squat. It is your best friend. Now, back to the exercise. After I have squatted to pickup the ball, I will choose either my left or right side, and throw it as hard and as far as I can in that direction. Keep good form and don’t over exert. I will come out of the squat as I unleash the bodies kinetic energy. I will do chest throws, underhand throws, and one handed shotputs. Don’t start with too much weight. You will be suprised how far a three pound ball will take your explosive power. Part two of this drill has you grab one of the rubber balls that will bounce. This drill sets up the same, however, it is all chest pass. Find and brick, block, or concrete wall. Get ten feet away. You will start facing the side, and you will squat, pick up the ball, and then turn and chest pass the ball hard against the wall. The ball with come back fast, with the momentum of a heavy object, so be ready to accept it and work to keep your body in structure. Then repeat. Accepting the fast moving heavy object, while remaining good structure, is the key to this drill. As you get better, get closer to the wall.

The second drill will require a type of balance beam, like a cheap 4×4 post. Lay the post on the concrete to start. Take the ball in hand and start walking on the beam. While walking back and forth, side to side, extend the ball out in various positions, making body’s balance habe to constantly
readjust. This will also give you a great core workout.

Medicine Balls develop great explosive strength. I hope you add them to your training.

Don’t forget to breath properly with all the drills we discuss. Combat Systema breathwork must accompany everything you do.

Have fun. Be Smart. Go Real!

Rick

Basics, basics, basics!!!!! Everyone has heard this whether it’s from sports coaches or your boss. They need focused on. Combat is just like any other thing you need to know, basic stuff. Dont focus on speed or power with your striking or grappling. Focus on proper application, i.e. the slinging motion of a strike. Don’t worry bout how hard it is but more on the being loose. You don’t need to be in a class to work on basics. At home you can work on getting loose by just swinging your body around. Don’t focus on power moving your limbs, but swing them like a bat. This will work on taking a hit as well as giving the hit. Another basic that is extremely key is the breathing. Practice proper breathing with every day things like walking or working out. In through the nose into the diaphram and out through the mouth. Make it become habit so you don’t have to concentrate on it during combat scenarios. Basics are needed to do everything. You stack onto them to get more advanced. Its like swimming. When you start you’re not going to jump into the deep end of the pool right away are you?

Flow is another thing needed to start with in combat. You can’t be halting or hesitate, you need to be able to move from one movement to another. You stop you lose your momentum. Even if you didn’t do what youeant to do, go with it and switch it when you see an opportunity to. You gotta be able to do this as easily as you breathe. Nike says it best “just do it.” Do what feels right. React to thr body movements without thinking about what could happen. Obviously there is some thinking needed in the long run of combat but you need to be able to stay alive Before you are able to get away or hold off your attackers.

The basics and flows need to be able to be used together. If you can use your basics and flows extremely well. You will more than likely be better than someone who knows many advanced things but sped through them so fast they didnt properly learn how to apply them.

Brad

I have been Indian Club Swinging for a long time. Before heavy club swingers bashed them, before they truly understood(if they ever did) the ancient genius of the Indian Club Motions. A decade ago I sent a pair to the late Erle Montaigue along with a video of the exercises. He spoke highly of them. I asked about the qigong affects of them and he mentioned they work on the triple warmer areas of the body. This would be a tcm view of why one feels so good afterwards.

There is so much you can do with them. Multiple professional sports teams and golfers are using them as well. People are amazed of the workout that one can get from a two or three pound pair of clubs and swinging them around for a half hour. Afterwards your shoulder girdle feels open and wonderful. Then you add in some squats, footwork, posture, and core work. They create a pliable and supple upper and lower body when combining it all. As I said above, they are genius level tools. In addition to above, they create a great mind/body/spirit connection. Don’t ask me why, cause I don’t why. I just know what it has done for me and others.

There are plenty of good videos out there on the internet of exercises. I will end up posting some as well. I used to make some for heavier clubs, but I just don’t like the heavier clubs. I am sure they have their purpose. If I want to go heavy, while using the same type of motion, but two handed, I will use a sledgehammer. A heavy sledgehammer is a whole lot cheaper then forking over hundreds of dollars on heavy clubs. Sledgehammers are a hell of a lot more durable as well. I can do the same motion with it or spend a half an hour wailing away at my tire. Heck, I do one handed tire smashes with my heavy sledge as well. So I guess I like heavy clubs, as long as that heavy club is one of my sledgehammers. The tire smash, if done right, is a wonderful plyometric workout. Stretch and smash. Extend/stretch your body, legs, and arms straight up with the hammer in your hand/s, then contract your whole body as you bring that hammer down to bear on the poor old tire. Make sure you bring your legs to a squat during the compression. Be safe, start slow, start with short training reps until your body can handle a larger rep/set/time frame. I also do something similar with medicine balls of various sizes. Stretch up, lifting ball high, and then slam it into the ground. Lots of fun.

To sum up, Indian Clubs are wonderful for Combat Systema and all athletes and people. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. If they do, it is because they make money selling heavier clubs or heavy club exercises.

Goal Real!

Rick

Another drill. Do some zombie apocolypse 2 or 3 on one drills. Use super slow attacks. Put a bunch of sticks and staffs on the floor. The defenders job is to avoid and attack at sametime, while avoiding and moving the sticks on the floor out of the way. I prefer shoes on this drills, since you will have shoes on most of the time when you are out and about.

Have fun and keep it Real!

Rick

Get yourself a partner. How in the hell can you learn protective combative principles without a partner? The reasons people don’t work with partners is because they ain’t looking hard enough or they are to lazy to travel somewhere to find one or they don’t want to test themselves and find out how bad their training might be. So that is your training tip. Find a partner.

I am getting contacted a lot about training. We have a lot of fun in a very noncompetitive environment. I am gonna plan an Iowa Combat Systema training day some saturday. I need people to let me know what saturdays work well, since most of you live away from Des Moines.

Rick

So very busy. Getting a lot of people contacting me about training. That is awesome. We are very laid back but intense with training. We train survival. This is very different from sport mindset. Competitors want to dominate another human being. In my opinion, this isn’t cool, and nothing more than a bully personality. We need to help one another, not try to beat them. The people you train with are your partners, not someone you want to rub or hump like a dog does. Survival may mean you run, it may also mean you may get your brains beat it but you still escaped serious injury or worse. Victory? If your goal is to claim victory over another person, go train at your local punk club where they fight for Pride. Pride will cause the death of your soul. Street combatives training is about surviving violence. Most Martial Artists are concerned with pride. They want victory or a silly belt rank. How is your submission technique or 3rd degree ninja karate black belt rank gonna help you when I have a sharp knife and I can pull it and stab your gut faster than you see it coming?
You get stabbed once in the lungs or gut its over. It now becomes whether or not your can survive long enough to get to hospital and hope they can fix your insides before you die. When you are dying from a stab wound, are you gonna brag at how well you took him down and choked him out before realizing you have blood pouring from your gut?

Going lighter. The shukikan dojo and I are looking to put on another seminar. Stay tuned. Gonna combine role-playing drills, Combat Systema Drills, Kempo Drills, and Naihanchi kata of Kempo. We will also introduce some world class physical fitness drills.

Peace

Rick

Use something to tie your hands up in front of you. You can use a rope, zip ties, handcuffs, belt, etc. With your hands tied, sprint 25 yards. Now you must defend yourself against one, two, or more opponents who are trying to subdue you. Your job is to get away and sprint off another 25 yards or so. Start slow with the defense part. Work up to faster and more resistance. Try and get your opponents to run into themselves, throw one into another, throw them down, etc.

After you get this drill down, let’s amp it up. Before you start your first 25 yard sprint, I want you to hold your breath for as long as you can. We want to mimic the physiological effects that stress and fear have on the body. You may want to try something that the co-founders of Go Real! Martial Arts, the guys at http://www.shukikan.com, recommended. Try fighting through pepper spray.

We don’t care what techniques you use to get away, just use what will get you away fast. You don’t want to roll around on the ground during this drill. We have another drill for that. If you find yourself on the ground with an opponent, you get 5 seconds to get up and away or another attacker comes up and kicks you. Or, if you get choked out, do what my friends at pramek do. If you get choked out, everyone still gets to kick and beat on you while you are out. Moral of story, don’t get choked out and don’t stay rolling around on the ground.

While pondering before and after drill, ask yourself how would you fight to survive if your hands were tied. Remember, everything is fair game. I love attacking the eyes. I will attack the eyes in my class. If a grappler wants to try to take me down, my thumb will automatically go into the eye and begin to dig and press. Now, I hear a lot that the grappler can do the same to me. Well duh! Of course they can. However, we do what we are trained to do. My grappling or jujutsu is about two things. One, defensive tactics and restraint. Two, survival. I had a very good and open mma guy I was working with. We were doing drills on ground, trying to get up fast. Well, I was on the bottom. First thing I did was reach for his balls. He jumped up and I got up. Next time, I dug into his eyes, same result. Now, he started to control my arms, and I was able to use pramek gear principles to get away. Again, I didn’t want to triangle choke him or armbar, I had 5 seconds to get away. If any off you have any suggestions for other drills or techniques, let me know.

Also, if you are one of those people who say ‘I will just use my gun.’ Well, if you think your gun magically makes you invincible, you ain’t thinking. You better practice drawing it a lot. And you better practice shooting it a lot. And you better practice shooting it on the move. If someone has a knife, and they are within 10 feet of you, and you haven’t yet pulled your gun, you are screwed, and dead. If you want to rely on your gun, you better practice. And please, please practice safely. Don’t be all Homer Simpson and practice like an idiot. Please be smart and safe.

Rick

This reminds me of a story…

A coworker’s husband wanted a Harley. This guy was dumpy and scrawny. Just plain weak. Well, instead of heading to the gym or working out he bought a Harley. He then bought all the Harley gear, got a tattoo, hung out at the suburban bars. He would tell people he knew not to mess with him because he had a Harley. Never mind the fact that he didn’t fight or train or exercise. His whole identity became wrapped up into him thinking he was no longer physically weak because he had a Harley. His marriage ended because his wife and her friends began to laugh at him, telling him big deal you have Harley, we could take you.

Those who wear Tapout gear do it for the same reason this guy wrapped his identity into a Harley. Moral of the story is pretty freaking funny. Guys, just be happy how God made you. You don’t need to dominate another human being to feel better about yourself. If you want to change, do it with sweat and tears, not ridiculous material things. God loves all of us equally. Remember that.

Peace in Christ,

Rick

The best advice in knife training I ever received was someone telling me to practice pulling it out and opening it, in all situations. Now, be safe about it, start with a really good metal practice replica knife that is as close to the one you have as possible. At first, clip it on or stick it in a pocket. Now, just standing, pull it out or off and open it. Do that for five minutes a day. Then, proceed to walking or moving and pulling it out and opening. Now, don’t be stupid, use your practice one. I ain’t responsible for you being a darwin award winner if you use a real one and stab yourself. Don’t be macho, leave your Tap-Out clothes in your closet while doing this. A real blade is nothing to try and dominate like a fool.

For you Kempo Guys, practice Drawing the knife while doing your kuzushi kata’s. Now move to practice drawing the practice knife while rolling, falling, or battling on the ground. Allow someone to take your back and sink a choke, see if you have time and room to pull your practice knife and use it to escape. Be creative. Before long, you will be amazed how fast and clean you can get to your knife.

At our Friday Nights Fight Club class, which by the way is Go Real! Martial Arts Certified, we worked some interested stuff on the ground. We usually don’t advocate ever starting on the ground, because in a street situation, it is absolutley the worst place to be for many, many reasons. They should be obvious, so won’t spend time here listing them. Ok, so we allowed and voluntarily gave up the bottom position. In a real street fight, in the heart of the concrete jungle, if you find yourself here, the last thing you want to do is spend time working your guard, looking for a triangle choke or arm submission. You simply do NOT have the time. What if the thug is armed. What if he has friends? Is he bleeding? Does he have aids? Hepatitus C? Will he start biting? Spitting? Back to the drill. We layed objects around the floor that could be bottles, large rocks, bricks, etc. We gave the bottom guy five seconds to get up and away or he was considered worm food. Now, you may have to risk blood contact by doing the biting of your own. Maybe a smashed can is nearby that you can use to slice or cut with. Of course we didn’t actually use these items in practice. We layed for focus mitts, shoes, etc. to represent them. You can practice pulling your practice knife.

The above is what your survival training should look like. Is it the best drill ever? Of course not. I am simply advocating taking what you know and making it REAL! As Real as you can safely go.

My last blog post garnered some interesting email. I am always amazed and humbled by the concepts of the Shukikan dojo in Story City, Iowa. The instructor gets it. He also has the experience every learner should seek out. They are also Go Real! Martial Arts founders. If you want your dojo or class or group to be Go Real! certified, let them or I know. This is no charge for the certification. We are working on a book or manual also. This isn’t a bible of techniques or methods. It will be just suggestions on how to train with more reality, to stay safe, all the while being as safe with your training as you want to be. This is a not a hierarchichal organization. We learn from each other. We want to make each other safe. We work as brothers and sisters, not as people who want to dominate other human beings. Thank you to the Shukikan Dojo for always keeping my ego in check and coming up with drills that are loaded with realism.

Recommended study of the week:

Anything by Kelly McCann or The Crucible.

Peace to all of you and yours.

Rick

If your Instructor tells you that standing armbars don’t work, go ask a Cop or Corrections Officer how often they use them on resistive arrestee’s. I am so sick and tired of listening to people who teach, and actually preach as if the know everything, when they have little to no experience in street attacks. Asking your buddy to punch at you, or grab you, and you show off your technique/s is NOT reality in whether it will work in a real assault. A real assault is the one you don’t see coming. You know, the one where you have been hit a couple times before you know what is going on and your brain finally tells you that you are being assaulted. I know, I know, we do have those superhuman dojo instructors who can never be blind sided or smashed out of the blue. These superhuman instructors who know everything, have spider sense, and whose will can emit such a force that it will slowdown the attacks and assaults of the most hardened and psychotic thugs and animals out there. Yes, this was sarcasm. Get the book, digest it, and get back to me.

Rick

Ok, enough of that. I am still recovering from my personal Pramek seminar with Matt Powell. Both he and Kevin Secours have more insight into the realm of human combatives than any other people I know. Seriously people, go train with these guys. Get their videos and read their writings. There is no fluff, no mystic garbage, no trumped up history. They will teach you biomechanics, psychology, the ins and outs of a multitude of possibilities. They will teach you how to fish. You will still have to provide the sweat and work. This is one thing I am thankful for about the MMA phenomenom. There were so many myths that the traditional martial arts had prior to it. Still is today. People, including myself, wanted shortcuts. We wanted one touch or no touch energy knockouts to be real. We would rather put our faith in the Jedi style mythos than blood, sweat, and tears. I wanted so badly to believe in it, that I lept right in, with both feet, to learn a system or art that others warned me about. It doesn’t matter what the system or art is or was. One of my Mentors, noted martial arts historian and researcher Hanshi Patrick McCarthy, gave me his concerns. Other friends did also. But I ignored them. But…that was many moons ago. Today is different. I would like to think that experience makes us all a little smarter. On to Today’s Go Real! drill is the following. Get some zip ties or long velcro strips, rope, or anything to tie your wrists together. Take one person and tie his or her wrists together. Be smart about it and make sure it isn’t too tight to start with. I am not a magician, so I can’t give you advice on handcuff escapes. However, now that I say that, wouldn’t it be cool to be privy to some Houdini type escapes and see if you can apply them in combatives?

Start slow. Identify an attacker and slowly throw different slow attacks at the handcuffed defender. Let me go back and say the tied up hands should be in front of the body for this drill. As the defender, play around with what you come up with. But again, let me insist that you start slow. After awhile speed up and throw some resistance in. Then add another attacker. Then go full on panic style attacks. When you are done, remember to put some thought into what you saw, felt, heard, etc. Takes notes on what seemed to work and what didn’t. Instead of just listening to some sensei, who is a fifteenth degree black belt who did ninja type stuff as a special forces operative, let your own experience teach you. This isn’t to say your teacher doesn’t know anything. This is to say that one size doesn’t fit all. And I have seen way to many teachers try to put their shoes on their students feet. Remember to be safe. Drop me a line and let me know how it went.

Rick

Please understand that I am a blunt man. I don’t mean to be, just please consider this when you read this review.

I really should start with thanking Matt Powell of Pramek for his hospitality. He treated me like a brother while I was down at his place. And we all know how brothers like to beat on each other. Also, keep in kind that Matt walks the talk. I saw him do stuff that I have only seen the top practitioners do. And he did it without fanfare or look at what I can do mentality. He also did it within context of brutal application principles. Ok, moving on.

Matt started out by taking me through some mobility drills, to see how I moved. As someone who has suffered from sometimes disabling chronic joint pain for most of his adult life, the pramek drills are almost a Divine Inspiration. I learned that even though I had been taught certain breath techniques from other so called russian martial art sources, there was still much for me to learn in this area. He taught me more practical breathing for stressful combative situations, as opposed to breathing for relaxation or even some strenuous exercises. Trying to figure this breathing out made me feel like I had been suffering from chronic asthma. I won’t go into details of the mechanics of it. But I am still working on it. Lets just say that I thought I was mobile and could breathe. But I wasn’t Pramek mobile or Pramek prepared. I would continue to find out that this would be the theme of my time with Matt.

Matt went into much of the history behind both the original russian system of combatives, that of Kadochnikov System, and how he evolved it into Pramek with his own combative experiences. Wow! This was worth the whole trip itself. As someone who is a big advocate of pressure testing, this meant a lot for me to hear and see. We stayed up while he showed me footwork, weapons, sneak attacks, wedges versus inclined planes, and how all this worked in the field.

The next day, he tried to turn me into a perfect, rolling human ball. He was very patient. I have so much work to do here. Pramek ground mobility is unlike anything I have ever seen. It starts with efficiency. Efficiency allows the body to do more than I thought I was capable of. When the crap hits the fan, we all know that the ground is a place we don’t want to be. But you may find yourself there, for whatever reason. I learned the Pramek gives you the biomechanical advantage to get back to a more advantageous position, and in a hurry. I have to say though, that we learned on a hard concrete floor. I was learning Pramek falls, rolls, got thrown, taken down, all on concrete. Ouch.

Afterwards we got into the equilibrium, wedge, and the screw. Now, I have Matt’s videos, and I thought I had a good understanding of these subjects. Well, I didn’t. Again, he was patient with me, especially when I got frustrated and may have said a few bad words.

The whole time I felt I was taking an advanced doctorate course on martial science. Days later I am still taking notes. I can’t wait to get back down there. It was truly the most advanced training on biomechanics, and the science of the human machine as it relates to martial arts that I have had to date. And we are talking two decades of training and countless number of seminars. Everyone who wants to elevate their survival system to a higher level, needs to get to Pramek in Atlanta.

Starting tomorrow, I am going to start a series on force vectors. By understanding what they are and do, you will be able to punch harder, throw easier, stay in balance, and cut through a lot of bs in the martial arts world that is perpetuated by a system of instructor worship. You will see why punching with a slanted or bent wrist is a mistake. You will learn why your doubts about a certain movement in your form or kata is substantiated by understanding the force vectors of the joint mass center of the body. See you tomorrow.