Evolutionary Self-Protection

Consterdine, Peter. Powerstrike. Protection Publications.

Review: Powerstrike:
by Josh Nixon, ESP

This review is part one of a two-part series. Part two can be found here.

Powerstrike begins, as with many of the British Combat Association’s videos, by making a very important point that all who are interested in practical and realistic self-protection should take note of; that real combat usually occurs at very close ranges. Another important point raised in the beginning of this video is that pre-emptive striking really is an essential addition to a self-protector’s skill set. Thus, this video is concerned primarily with pre-emptive strikes and the delivery system required to deliver them hard.

This video looks at traditional punching mechanics based on rotating around a central axis, before introducing the ‘double-hip’ striking method that Peter Consterdine advocates. This method, without going into the mechanics of it, is similar in ways to the ballistic and waveform striking methods used in Russian Systema. Both this and the Russian methods are based on sound biomechanical understandings and on physics rather than aesthetics or tradition and so they are very effective ways to strike more efficiently with a much greater impact.

This close-range and efficient delivery system is discussed with many demonstrations from Peter himself of striking with a fist, with the open hand and with the elbow, along with some discussions of other aspects of setting up your strikes and following up afterwards.

Over the years, Peter has developed the ‘Powerstrike’ system to deal with ‘street’ encounters, but the system revolutionises impact in martial arts and can be adapted to most systems. The ‘Powerstrike’ system develops the natural dynamics of the body, so that strength is not a requirement, rather the power comes from the natural transmission of body weight. These principles have been adapted into a range of ‘Pre-emptive Strikes’ producing a ‘One Shot’ knockout blow.
(Information from http://www.peterconsterdine.com/powerstrike.htm, 06.01.2013)

I would recommend this without hesitation to anyone – whether you’re in a sports, martial arts, self-defence or self-protection situation, the concept of the double-hip striking method can be useful to you.

This video is available on DVD or for digital download (much cheaper, understandably) fromhttp://www.peterconsterdine.com/store.htm. Further information and a download link can also be found at http://www.peterconsterdine.com/powerstrike.htm