Class notes: arms drags and clinching

Once again a session jam packed with information, repetition of previous material and of course new steps on the ladder. In addition it is late in the day when I write this and some of the learning might merge in my words when in reality it was in a different drill.

Arm drags out of the pummel to get the back.

Arm drag to double wrist lock. A new detail I picked up tonight was the 90 degree angle of your arm against his. This means going longer on your forearm as if you do go tight to the wrist the your forearms might be more parallel leading to less control, pain and effectiveness.
Secondly for me was being square. Make sure when you have leaned back with the DWL you turn your hips towards him to complete the move. Turn inside him and not around him.

One hand in the half Thai clinch and one underhook. If your elbow gets caught on his shoulder, don't fight for the full Thai clinch. Pull him in tight with the shoulder control. From here you can turn him away by controlling the head to a lovely restraint which can lead to knee strikes to the face. This control also needs you to move the hips which will ultimately move your feet. It is like a mini version of the boxing footwork whereby we move off line by pivoting away.

Arm drags to get head and arm trap.

[EDIT] WHEN CLOSING THE HEAD AND ARM TRAP, TURN THE INNER FOREARM AGAINST THE BACK OF THE HEAD, THIS WILL HELP MAKE THE MOVE TIGHTER AS YOU ARE ALSO USING A FLEXED BICEP TO CLOSE IT OFF

Head and arm resisting the arm drag. Same as last week in terms of detail.

Thai clinch defence counter - reach and cross the centre to take his arm above the elbow for the head and arm control. Again this was covered last week. The extra detail this week was the escape. Martin demo'd on Big Ron who is a big and powerful unit. The key to escape is to relax and circle away from his energy and stand with a straight spine. His energy can only go in one direction so do not fight it. Even when the tension (physically) is up, don't fight it. Use, it, go around, it, let to show you the direction. how to escape - relax, to stop him getting out you must pull him in and not away. Interestingly, these concepts were some of the core ones in Systema which I studied for several years.

Sensitivity drill - the reverse chain punch, using a receiving pak sau, high on the forearm and guide along the powerline just past the chin. Ultimately going to slips but we were just at the first stages of the drill tonight. 2 attacks from this drill.

1: Follow the punch by snaking your arm along the top of his, sort of clasp the upper arm as you step in and take his back from the 3/4

2: Double lap - leave a hand there, move it forward slightly to take the double lop. Grab at the wrist and the elbow, both are natural handles. Hand at the wrist is palm down, hand at the elbow is palm up. Martin talked about tips on when and how to hold/control the arm at the elbow. if the arm is high thumb is up and as the arm lowers the hand rotates. For example, the rear hand which passes the elbow in the head and arm trap, fingers are pointing up as this is the naturally strong position for the hand to be in. You could not perform this technique with the fingers down. Get the missus to throw some slow punches your way and you will see what I mean.

3. Elbow from the outside over the incoming arm

Gloves on:
Jab and jab counter drill. Be at the end of your punches so you are fully protected. remember about the six inches. Be at a safe range when he jabs to avoid eating it and his combinations that would follow.

Jab, counter is a jab and cross, you roll. 3D movement. Struggling to feel the correct motions. My mind knows what to do but somewhere the message to the body is getting jammed...
Jab, jab and left hook counter, he covers by tightly hugging the head and responds with a hook of his own.

Even though the punches we soft fisted, it reaffirms the need for a protective shell, good head movement and footwork and keeping that chin tucked into those shoulders.
Break up the timing to stop him getting used to a rhythm or pattern of movement. This will not keep your training partner sharp. I also think the good thing about the gloves os that punches are thrown to the face as we need to practise hitting!! It was nice to get in the head again after almost a year of no sparring. There is a certain aliveness and being in the moment when sparring. I have always found it to be the highest form of being in the now. Nothing literally does not matter and in not in your head. It is just you and him. More of that please!

Left hooks, body head style

As we were looking at attacking with the left hand last night...

Class notes: footwork and hands

Footwork

Getting warmed up in the stance, light on the balls of the feet and deep leg bend. Moving forward and back on the count but making sure the protective shell is up and engaged.

Still finding this shell a tough position to get used to and comfortable in. I can turn the shoulders so that the chin is tucked but then my lead arm feels rather spasmodic. I guess I need to just put more time in being in the position, check it in window reflections.

The solo footwork then led into looking at using the lead leg to take a mini side step to get the motion going for the pivot away and the perpendicular (or 90 degree) evasion. In my own shadow work and visualization work I feel more fluid with perpendicular (my own label idea, not Martin’s) evasion, the pivot is still an immature motion. In order to help best understand my position and that of my invisible training partner I need to use the lines on the floor (or those in the paving stones in the garden). From here I have a reference point of the angle they are moving in from, I can then make sure my feet and then body move off those attacking power lines. I remember seeing videos of Silat and Filipino martial arts and them having all these geometric patterns on the floor of their gyms as a tool for teaching actual foot placement and evasion lines. I think I now see a purpose for people like me who need both a visual along with the verbal and kinesthetic input. Martin also talked about using the head to get the motion going for the perpendicular evasion. By dropping and turning the head slightly this forces the hips to follow allowing the body to now move in the direction it is facing.

This led into leading the partner by trying to get square on them to land the right hand. In addition we had to enter their space by coming forward at given intervals to which they then applied the 3 varieties of the off lining footwork: pivot away, perpendicular rush, going backwards. Going backwards but with balance and poise and not raising up.

Jab and counter jab drill.

Jab weight distribution analogy was butting forward with the lead shoulder, a slight turn in the hips and the weight more front than back foot. In defending the jab use the head movement along with catch the ball. This will hopefully prevent over reaching in the defence and showing the other person huge gaps in your motions.

Shoulder roll against the right hand

Left hook counter against the right hand

This was off the shoulder roll motion – not looking but feeling at where it lands and keep it flowing over his arm. Knuckles in and connecting with the jaw line.

Left uppercut counter to the right hand.

When they start to defend the hook by having a tight chin to shoulder the uppercut catches them nicely as they are expecting the counter looping left hook.
Both need bigger movements to the left and head movement as this is where they will throw the punch with the right hand. The uppercut felt slightly more technical as there was a slight side step with the lead foot, use a cross tan sau to cover the right hand as your drive the left punch from where is sits after your left jab counter. Bing.

Both of the counters are something I am looking forward to exploring in sparring as well as finding solutions to them also. I do feel as if the motion and aliveness of sparring will make these techniques settle into natural options.

Slipping the right hand in an anticipatory motion to set up the left hook.
This needs lots of work as head and body movement is something I am happily struggling with more than my understanding of it. This is one of the reasons why I am loving the new evolution of the system. Small precise alterations and details from previous learning actually make a massive difference. I am getting better at making mistakes and not expecting to be smooth at the motions first, second or third time.

Standing grappling work:

Drilling counters to hands on shoulders and hips plus the Thai clinch. Counters were arm drags (Make sure the elbow lifts and the path of the arm drag is circular. This makes the motion more efficient), head and arm trap, Thai clinch defence, double wristlock.
Extra arm drag detail: clinch from the side or three quarters never the back, inner wrist bone of top hand against their ribs. I did this with Ayyaz and was not getting it right until we had this extra detail and I could feel the difference in tissue and bone with my wrist. Also his head and arm trap is a cougher so don’t get caught in it.

Resisting the arm drag with a shoulder manipulation.

He is pulling his arm back so think about moving yourself and not moving around him. Punch the hips to get a quick and friggin painful control of his upper arm. This will flatten his feet as the pressure on there is all your brain want to go with. In fact this was bloody horrible for me as in the direction of this type of pressure, my shoulder are tremendously weak and have a poor range of motion. Then reach around and get hold of whatever you can, keep the pressure on the arm and pull it away to keep the weight on his front leg and limit of movement potential, then you can reach for a better handle on him for control.

MMA training videos

Here is the link to all the MMA footage I made when training with PROMAI MMA in Feltham, it is a martial arts playlist I have created on my YouTube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDbTeCppoNu5lAIFPnJOhnHM5W3-g5Rg_

There is a mega almost 7 hour compilation of all the videos



There is also lots of other videos ranging from stand up, clinch, grappling drills as well as free form sparring in all the ranges.

This is training not teaching footage.

Teaching of some specifics can be watched here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/promaiXman?feature=watch

Slipping the right cross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXK1RwbXMiY

This video talks about some of the concept Martin taught us last night; getting to the outside of the right cross to enable left hand body shots, coming under with the right hand or even driving in with Wing Chun punches as you have his centre.

Tyson talking about his training concepts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5myL5x-qmd8

Tyson in action with a masterful clinic on head and body movement and loading this motion into his punches with a devastating effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvoIlc5nYNE

Class notes: peripheral vision

Footwork basics:
Get the distance between feet and stance length correct plus balancing. Good old fashioned drilling of the footwork. From observation my weight is too much over the front leg so I need to shift it back. The usual refinements in front of a mirror and camera need to be employed for this and the rest of the training from the night. I want to be able to do it all well, fluidly and naturally and this won’t come by writing and thinking about it. Last Sunday morning, whist watching UFC 169 I worked on visualization and repping the lessons from last week.

Off lining foot work:
Remember that going back in a straight line is a no no so this helps to create vital time and space. For me, the best way to interanalise this is little step, big step, pivot, side step. We did this for a few rounds in the air then against a moving partner. The key is pulling the far side hip back as this will cause the rest of the body to follow. Again my weight was too much over the front leg. Need to get the feeling of 60% on the back whilst being on the heels, tight defence, chin tucked, flexed knees, lifted yet relaxed shoulders. In addition, move off line and out of danger and don’t be too quick to square up afterwards.

Peripheral vision drill:
Foot, foot, elbow, elbow, chin. First facing your partner then being perpendicular. This led into applying the right cross as when it lands you are not looking at the target as you are protecting your chin from counter shots.

Jab and counter:
Building on the reps from last week and refining the motions. Tonight more subtle details were added – be cognisent of the range, don’t be step into that danger zone, tucked chin, make sure you move the head and hand half distance, not just one.

Pak scoop jab defence followed by a right cross:
Rear pak guides the punch along its powerline down and away just giving you enough space to counter with the right cross.
This was full of little details for me hence the following list. This will enable me to practice the mechanics of it much easier.
Twist and extend, not lean and over extend. The finishing position, if photographed, sees the body balanced, head tucked into the shoulder chin arm, eyes looking down as the chin is tucked.
At first this was very bizarre as I am so used, wrongly, to having eyes on the target. This is where the peripheral vision comes in, also feeling his arm under yours can only mean that his head is more than likely at the end of his arm. It was nice to be called on my errors and refine the mechanics tonight. Now I know what it should feel like I can get on. A shade over 20 years in martial arts and tonight I learned how to throw a correct right cross. Better late than never.

Shoulder roll against the right cross:
Pull the far side shoulder back as you lean into the turn away. This is one of the passive defence techniques and makes more sense than biting down and swinging for the fences no matter what is coming your way. I think it also encourages constant movement and something else Martin talked about was using the body in ways that it is is always looking for ways to attack and set up attacks.

Jab counter with movement and freedom:
On with the 4oz gloves and more aliveness was brought into the drill. It was so rewarding to put the gloves back on after 9 months of no contact. What was interesting working with Darren tonight was seeing the tightness of his defence and movement. Nothing exaggerated or wasted, good balance, precision of movement, never still, presenting very small if any targets, confidence in movement. It is these refinements that I am enjoying learning.

Give and take a shot drill:
This drill teaches defending big shots but borrowing the energy and direction of the attack and loading it into yours and attacking from it. No good is it being hit and giving no response as the end will come quickly. This drill teaches tight and precise mechanics, efficiency in defence and attack,
Left hook attack, head hug defence – left hook counter, then from the right hook. Left body shot – meet it – uppercut, then the same from the right hand. This was most intruiging as well because the defence to a body shot traditionally is to fold slightly from the hip to minimize the target area, the problem is that this leaves you with few attacking options and outs your in a more vulnerable position. Meet it and stay tight, you can then fire the uppercut as your counter.

Double wrist-lock against grab from the rear:
As last week.

High on the chest taking of the back:
Turn the hips out, step back and behind them with nearside leg. From here you can lift, takedown.

Bringing the class to a close Martin talked about there being no concrete definition of what the class is. The journey is individual to us all. Hence the new blog URL. It is still about growth and learning from mistakes but it is also about becoming that complete martial artist. For many years it was about fear: of being attacked, of fear itself, of violence, of not being to deal with a violent encounter, of pain.
To a massive degree, BJJ and MMA taught me a lot about my fears. I still have them as part of what makes me me and my motivations to train. But I also am enjoying the journey a lot more. No longer am I concerned with some imagined destination where I become a ninja with B-movie style superpowers leaving all in my wake. It is now about refining movement, physical chess, learning to use my body and skills efficiently, not collecting forms, techniques and books (which I did for far too many years). I guess it is about being a martial artist and not someone who does martial arts.

Week 46

Pad training:

Focussing only on the numbers 1-2-3-4 and any combo of each. In addition the feeder was crashing the range meaning this also became great off-lining footwork development. The feeder was also stepping back for number 1 and 2 so you have to have strong and explosive forward footwork to close the distance, in balance with power.

The training then evolved into the corkscrew body mechanics when employing the hook attacks. When seen in its entirety the whole body is moving. The descending corkscrew is amassing the energy and momentum for the attack. We worked these of the 1-2, the feeder then simulates the punch attack, you corkscrew and attack with a 3-2. The other technique started with 1-2-1, then corkscrew finishing with 3-2-3.

Eye gouge against double under hooks:

You have seized the gold medal pre-suplex position of double underhooks, as he goes to gouge the eye ball, shrug off and forward and attack with a 2-3-2.
This training and use of body mechanics is very modern and un-wing chun in that it looks more like Western Boxing. But in terms of concepts, the body mechanics are very compact and efficient and for me these are always at the forefront of my own martial development.

Standing grappling:

The gis were donned to enable is to work against 3 primary standing grappling attacks; the pull forward, pull to the side and push back whilst being grabbed at the shoulder. The problem this presents for us as Wing Chunners is we are relying on control and the range (of our punches). When being violently ragged around these internal safety nets disappear. So we must modify and adapt rather than being too small minded to think pure Wing Chun solves all problems. Only those who have never tested their concepts and techniques will say this. We know we need to adapt because being KO’d is what will happen and we need to go to work tomorrow looking handsome and respectful. Firstly, we need to be sensitive to the energy being given to us. Go with the pushes and pulls. Do this by moving the feet. Avoid moving the body then the feet as this will rapidly result in you swaying like a palm tree in a hurricane. Good positive posture and structure and if the range is too far for us, throw a long cross punch. This will close the distance and give him something else to think about.

Instead of being mucked up by this chaos, let it happen, when based, throw the punches. For the hard push away, you need to shrug under the grab to give you decent range. A final point worth noting is that through experience (Martin’s), if you are being held very tight, it is likely that his punches will not have the same energy and power as the grab. There must be some trade off for it to work for him. Doing both should not happen.

3 drill:

Lap, lap and practise the lap. Getting straighter, getting tighter but increasing in tension. Must find a happy medium of speed, technique and relaxation. Perhaps in 15 years. The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step a wise man from ancient China once said. Well for me, a few steps have been taken and glancing over my shoulder I can see where I started. Long, long way to go but the path is hard, challenging but always learning and getting better.

Week 42

Lat sau:
More practise on the basic roll with changes and defending the cross punch. A new detail was that Martin mentioned the triangle with the apex at the tip of the chin sloping down to the shoulders. This is because the movements for punches are started here, so eyes on the chin.

Pad training:
Warmed up by hitting with a pattern of 1, 1-2, 1-2-1, 1-2-1-2 then start the pattern again. The learning points were to be in balance at the end of each sequence and to have full extension of each punch.

From the wrestlers pummel, push off and disengage then hit the pads with a 2-3-2.
From a position of being roughly controlled and held by the shoulder we worked on being able to hit whilst off balance. This was tough and awkward and hopefully something we will be doing again next week. I am going to take down my gi jackets so the attacker won’t ruin our fine silk garments,

Simplicity and efficiency:
One important point made by Martin tonight was when hitting with repeaters, keep doing it. Why change to another move or technique if the one you are using is working. Surely this is a wing chun concept that too easily overlooked. Too often do you see videos on YouTube of people doing a load of different consecutive moves because it looks good. The videos of the club’s Facebook page of Emin Boztepe highlight this point. His keep flying in with a punch to the face, no matter what technique his opponent throws. The most simple and efficient technique appears to be the most effective.

Linked to this footwork. Martin stated that we should be very wary of people that teach defences against punches where the first move is to move the feet then the hands. It is too slow, too impractical but it looks good, it looks easy and it looks clean. It also probably very ego massaging. The following quote from Bruce Lee highlights this.

‘The quality of a man’s technique depends on his footwork, for one cannot use his hands or kicks efficiently until his feet have put him in the desired position. If a man is slow on his feet, then he will be slow with his punches and kicks. Mobility and speed of footwork precede speed of kicks and punches’ p.142, Bruce Lee, Tao of JKD.

Watch the following video and you will see sharp and fast feet resulting in laser like hand work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB3eW0hfy0U

For me, my balance at the end of punches is worse than at the start, therefore, according to Martin, Bruce and Emin, my hands are less effective because of it. Footwork, footwork, footwork.