Evolutionary Self-Protection

This week was a great opportunity to focus in on some core skills that are central to our approach: striking and biomechanical manipulation from the closed high guard (think Pensador type thing) and striking from disadvantaged positions.

Striking from the Closed High Guard:

From a closed high guard, we looked at sending out hook punches, hammer fists and elbow strikes. The focus, as well as being on good striking and footwork, was on snapping back to the guard quickly this time to protect those knockout areas of the neck, jaw and temples as best as we can, while driving into the attacker in a form that makes us awkward and difficult to attack.

Of course, this position also lends itself to devastating and relatively easy elbow striking.

Following this, we used jab kicks to create distance and break posture, and controlled the head of an attacker to create our own striking opportunities rather than passively waiting for them to arise. We used this to discuss the devastating effect of a good elbow strike and how the drop-step can add a lot of power. When utilising uppercuts, we discussed kinetic linking: how to generate massive amounts of power by using more of your body in a more efficient way than just boffing your fist up with the power of your arm alone.

Again: breathwork, posture and movement.

Striking from Disadvantaged Positions:

Not a nice place to be, lying on the floor getting kicked and stamped on. But that’s where we started off this drill! As a simple exercise in distance management, we gained control of the attacker’s legs with a quick movement towards the nearest calf. We explored how to generate striking power from this position even as we moved in, by planting a foot into the floor and pushing with it as we used the torso to add in a measure of rotational power generation, thus recruiting as many muscles as we can from that position into the strike.

Immediately as the strike lands, we closed in and gained (and tested!) the control we needed. Now that the attacker was unable to kick us or stamp on us so easily, we could climb our way up or take the opponent to the floor as we get up from a much safer position.

Being Threatened with an Edged Weapon:

A nasty position again, but one that’s worth looking at! Being held up with an edged weapon to your throat. Of course, as always we say the same thing: I’ll give away whatever it is that’s asked of me to be honest if a knife’s on my throat! However, it’s possible you might feel that that might not be enough. You might have that horrible gut feeling that he’s going to fillet you regardless afterwards, or the attacker might not want your money at all: he might just be enjoying the look in your eyes as you realise he’s going to kill you. Thus, it’s worth exploring how to act.

We worked on engaging the attacker with verbal skills – deception and distraction – and acting at an appropriate moment. Acting efficiently, we looked at getting the blade to an initial position of relative safety – away from your throat – and either controlling directly or if that was impossible just placing a barrier between the blade and your throat. We looked at which directions were viable for escape, and which were not, and how best to move in those directions to stay as safe as we could and hopefully not die.

I must as always reiterate – this is the seriousness of any edged weapon work. What you’re doing here is hopefully not dying. That’s about as good as anyone can give you in this area. You’re not necessarily coming away unscathed, or taking the knife and heroically removing some scum from the streets to further your vigilante career, but you’re just trying to survive. Anything better than that is a bonus.

As always, incredible effort by all and a wonderful session. See you all next time!

-Josh

All the details of this class are on the Public Classes page up at the top. Your first session is FREE and all are welcome to come along and take part. Every session is beginner-friendly. If anyone has any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch.