Some days go by way too fast — just like lifting weights. Some days it’s a grind, and some days the weights lift themselves. Today felt light, and we were able to deviate from the training schedule, improvise a bit, and still get everything in.

WARM-UP

I’ve always incorporated sprinting into my own personal regimen and have started working it into the class warm-ups. I’ll probably work it into applied drills later as well. So many self-defense schools are heavy on techniques, but very little attention is paid to the aftermath — both legal and physical — of a conflict.

If you can’t run well, then you won’t have much left in the tank after extricating yourself from an assault. Today we did sprint circuits across the dojo with sudden stops and turns, along with a short lesson on “receiving the wall” and how to deal with being choked against a wall in low-light conditions.

UKEMI

We reviewed the “Safety Roll” to loosen up and then moved on to the One-Arm Forward (Palm-Down) Roll. This is a good one to practice when assuming you are armed and need to keep your weapon secure.

CONCEPTS

We reviewed the five reasons an assailant would grab or hold you: to hit, slam, throw, hold you for someone else, or take you somewhere. We also discussed survivability statistics for each time an assailant moves you (a 50% mortality rate for each location change — do the math).

We covered what to usually expect with certain types of grabs. Single-hand grabs are typically a setup for a strike, while two-hand grabs usually precede a low drag — and sometimes a head butt if you’re from Memphis (ha).

Finally, we talked about the Four Elements of Defense: Movement, Deflection, Destruction, and Spear-Funnel.

TECHNIQUES

We spent some time drilling the Pike Kick, which can be likened to a jab. It’s more of an entry tool rather than a traditional kick most people are accustomed to. We also explored how the step after impact is what makes this kick so effective.

APPLIED COMBATIVES

We worked on two techniques to deal with two-handed shirt/lapel grabs:
Pike Kick to Ascending Elbow with Hammer-to-Palm Extrication, and
Pike Kick to Upward Palm Strike to Entering Elbow.

As for those methods, you’ll need to come to class to see how it all works. Feel free to sign up for the free trial class and see what we’re all about.

I hope to meet you soon!