Downtown L.A. Self Defense - Steve Grody

Just A Thought

2012-01-20T23:13:00.000-08:00

Certainly people quit martial training for many reasons; lack of money; getting too busy with work-related things; family issues; or even maybe they felt they learned or experienced what they wanted and that was good enough. But I was talking with somebody at a party recently who mentioned having studied martial arts for a while. Sounded like he quit, as I believe many other may have, because at some point he intuited that was he was doing was just rote technique and not something that felt real somehow even if he was not clear what "real" would be. I think that's a more common thing than is acknowledged.

Drill Post #27: False Strikes

2011-12-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

One of the more underused but useful tactics for entry is the "false strike." A false strike is a full strike not intended to actually connect, but close enough to draw a response. Note that the difference from a fake is that a fake/feint is usually a body indication of a strike that doesn't really get thrown. The advantage of a false strike is that it can be more convincing than a fake, but if the opponent tries to time-hit (strike at you as you are striking at him), then you should be just out of his range, and if he responds with a simple hand defense without moving out of range, then you are that much closer to changing up your strike or jamming up his hands.

To play with this, A throws a false jab or cross at B, and B throws a looping right or left (to use common punches) which should not be close enough to connect if A is controlling his range, OR tries to block A's strike. A responds to the attempted counter-strike by following in with a real strike, and responds to the attempted block with either another strike or a trap.

As with any drill, work at a speed that helps both partners.

Interview and Video

2011-10-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

I recently did an interview with some video bits with Matt Numrich. Check it out at:
http://www.jeetkunedonewsletter.com/18-steve-grody/

Drill Post #26: More Environmental Training

2011-09-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Another environment that is good to do some work in is the stairs. Problem solve being on the low side, high side, or both on the same level.

Also, around corners. Going sharply around corner of a building structure, whether on the street or in a building gives you minimal time to see something coming (even just another innocent pedestrian that you might bump into). I recommend the habit of going wide, and leading with your eyes. For that matter, coming out of a door into the street, it's a good idea to scan comfortably from left to right (if it's a normal outward-opening door) just as a not-too-paranoid habit.

Drill Post #25: Environmental Training

2011-08-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

It makes sense that most martial arts training starts with a simple ideal environment: a smooth surface for stand-up training (no rocks or curbs to trip on), mats for groundwork (no pesky broken glass to roll on) and so on. When I have been in dodgy areas documenting graffiti (the second third of my professional life), I have been aware of the unfriendly surfaces, such as big river stones at one of the locations. I tried moving around and found no easy solution. The good news is that it would also be unfriendly for an opponent.

One environment that is more common for most people to find themselves in than under a bridge going over the L.A. River is their car. Clearly, there are numerous scenarios we can think of in this regard, such as how to get out of your car in a guarded way or timing the opening of your door as part of a counter, but let's start with a basic, someone trying to grab or hit you through an open window.

I'm not presenting a curriculum here, but suggesting that you play with possibilities such as using your covers and parries from the driver's seat. Also the perimeter of the open window is a good surface to grind or slam an attacker's arm against. Further, an attacker is generally not expecting you to pull you into his relatively stable position and continuing a counter attack with strikes, ripping and other effectively unsavory tactics.

I suggest you don't work with this kind of training where good citizens will either try to step in and help, or call the police!

Drill Post #24: Fakes

2011-08-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

There are many ways to train and use fakes. This is one way I like to develop the conviction, or "sell" of a fake. By "sell," I mean that you are trying to make it look real enough that your opponent will respond as though it's real. A certain amount of the technique is like acting, they must feel your intention to hit.

The striker is at fighting measure for the hands, and throws either an actual jab, or a jab fake. Separate the strikes at this point, because it's not about combinations, but about the quality of individual strikes. The goal of the striker is make the defender try to block a fake, and the defender's goal is to see if he can distinguish between real and fake and only respond to the fake.

Though that is the core drill, you can add on that if the defender tries to block the fake, then continue the jab, which in effect turns it into a "delayed" jab, and if the defender tries to block a "real" jab, then try to disengage to another strike without him being able to touch you.

As always, work at an intensity that works for both of you!

Drill Post #23: Chi Sao

2011-08-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Most of these posts are easy to understand by the general martial arts public, but "sensitivity drills" involve a more specialized training that may be harder to understand from verbal descriptions. In a nutshell, sensitivity drills are two-person drills where most reactions are determined by contact feel. Well known sensitivity drills include the "push hands" of T'ai Chi Chuan, "lubud/hubud" of Filipino systems, and "chi sao" (sticking/clinging hands) of Wing Chun lineage. However, it is easily arguable that any grappling and wrestling training is dominantly sensitivity based.

While the purpose of ground based sensitivity training, feeling for position and responses of your opponent, are generally clear, the standing drills mentioned are a bit more abstract. That is, it's not easy for the non-practitioner to understand; who is attacking or defending? Why not just strike etc.?

Addressing chi sao specifically (and remember this is a personal perspective that might differ from the traditional), the drill is based on the assumption that a confrontation can easily get "messy," that is, when there is an interaction between opponents that leads to contact of the limbs, possibly with no clear direct strike available. In such a scenario, chi sao provides the ability to feel what to defend in an efficient way, and how to feel or create an opening in your opponent's position at the same time.

While many kickboxing based folks deride chi sao as too refined, it is entirely relevant combatively. While a confrontation could certainly be ended with strikes and no sticking, it’s not at all unusual for things to get sticky owing to the natural chaos that can result from things moving and changing up faster than ones perception. As with the closely related trapping hands, one doesn’t “try” to stick, but it is very easy to find yourself in a chi sao related position. For example, if someone threw a haymaker and you “cornered” (biu sao da for the terminology-concerned) and they tried to block or muffle your incoming strike, you would be for an instant in “double inside” position. For another example, if you parried a jab as you hit up the midline (a time-hit which I like to refer to as a “split” for ease), and the opponent tried to parry or muffle your incoming strike, you would, for an instant be in “right handed” position. Also, something I observe is that it’s not unusual for someone throwing a strike to advance and not entirely withdraw the hand, creating an unintended sticking point.

Two ways I like to train students when showing the relevance of chi sao, are 1) playing the slob, i.e. after learning proper rolling, I play the untrained part of someone over-reacting to a strike in a continuous flow of messiness from one to another to give a naturalistic feel to the drill. I periodically counterstrike so they don’t get too complacent. I also emphasize direct striking when there is really nothing to stick to, and 2) Have them defend against a flow of strikes with the normal parries and covers, but stick only when I give them that attached energy.

This might not be the easiest to visualize, but worth playing with.

Bruce Lee "threw out" chi sao, who cares? He threw out many things that I'm not good enough to throw out. My understanding is that he thought that if someone was good enough to stick with him, he was good enough to beat him, and who was that going to be?

Drill Post #22: The Simple Foot Trap

2011-06-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

Throwing, sweeping, take-downs and tripping are four broad categories of manipulating someone to the ground. As with everything else, there are pros and cons to each method, a various degrees of suitability according to body type, skill level and amount of time one might want to devote to making something functional.

When I was at the Inosanto Academy, in the Maphalindo ("Maylaysian Filipino Indonesian") related classes, Dan Inosanto would go back and forth between Bukti Negara curriculum from Paul DeThouars, and Filipino foot trapping. The Bukti Negara material required much more sophistication to make workable: very effective but requiring an understanding of power lines, anchors and so on. The Filipino foot trapping curriculum by comparison is much smaller and quite simple. That is not a negative, not a critique, but rather, a very positive thing.

Does anyone out there not understand that the more complex and precision-requiring a tactic is, the more likely it is that it will fail? I didn't think so.

A simple foot trap is often very effective without even knowing the optimal direction in which to push or pull the opponent. That is because we take for granted our constant ability to adjust our balance through movement, and as soon as that's interupted, our stability quickly collapses, and we most likely fall down.

In the recent fight between Pacquiao and Mosely, there was an exchange where Manny fell down, and indeed, when the slo-mo was played back, it showed Mosely inadvertently stepping on Manny's foot. All it took was that one moment.

To train the foot trap in flow, the trainer throws light but smooth hand combinations at the trainee, and as the trainee defends wth parries and covers (along with footwork), he also looks for stepping comfortably on the trainer's foot (keeping it light and un-crunchy for training). The defender should help keep the trainer from actually falling down during the drill.

This form of tripping is robust, does not put you in an unnecessarily vulnerable position, and is low maintainence. What's not to love?

Upcoming Interview

2011-06-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Just a quick shout that I'll be doing an interview with Matt Numrich for his JKD newsletter. He has interviewed many JKD instructors, so you may want to check into his site.

Drill Post #21: The Guarding Hand

2011-06-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

The hand that is not striking while the other hand is striking is often, if not always, referred to as the "guarding hand" because it is thought to be most responsible for immediate defense during your attack (at least from the waist up). If you are throwing a right jab, the left is the guarding hand, and if you are throwing a left cross, then the right hand is the guarding hand.This is of course simplified for the sake of discussion, as someone might feel that head movement is more important than the guarding hand, for example.

Various systems stress the guarding hand should "always" be, on the cheek, centerline, by the armpit (many Gung Fu styles), by the side of the face on the striking arm side and so on. Which is correct? All and none. The problem is the "always" of it. Having the hand up by or in front of the face as a default is good, as it's at least potentially in the vicinity to defend, but to be more specific, the important issue is, where is the most immediately threatening hand of your opponent? Is it close to the right or left side of your face? Close to your face in the center? Your ribs?

To train where to put the guarding hand, play with this drill. "A," the trainer, steps into "B," the defender's, striking range, and B stop-hits with a jab. As B is doing so, A will have one hand clearly more close to B, so that B knows where to place his guarding hand. A varies which hand he places where, every time he steps in and B stop hits. A does not defend against the stop-hit, as this drill is all about the development of B's guarding hand, so B should take care to control his stop hit by either stopping short, or lightly placing his hand on A's chest.

If the threatening hand of A is close enough to, say, B's chin, B will actively monitor (place his hand on that hand), but if it's not within six inches or so, B will not reach to touch that hand, as it may be a deception to open another line for a strike.

This is an easy way to make placement of the guarding hand a comfortable instinctive action.

Drill Post #20: Root Technique Shadow Boxing

2011-06-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

There are many ways that Bruce Lee was smart and insightful about his training. One thing not commonly known, I believe, is that he knew that many things took a great deal of repetition to cultivate, and since repetition is boring, he developed many ways to approach the same goal to keep it more interesting. He had a number of ways to strengthen the same muscle group, for example.

As discussed in Drill Post #11, there are many ways to approach shadow boxing. One approach to add to your training is "root technique" shadow boxing. For example, take the jab or finger jab as a root technique, and then play with everything you can think of relative to that, defensively and offensively. Starting with some offensive examples; jab, cross; jab, lead hook; jab, rear hook. Then jab, leading to kicks (the visualization being that the opponent moves to a kick range in response to your jab). Sometimes complete your jab before the follow-up, but other times, just start or get halfway to completion before the follow-up. That is, the jab could be a deliberate fake, or you simply see the need to change up during execution. The initial jab may be practiced moving forward, backward, right, and left.

But there's more! The defensive aspects of this drill are as important and possibly more important than the offensive aspects. Remembering that someone's counterattack (inadvertently or deliberately) could come anywhere between initiation and completion, we have to be able to interrupt our jab at any point to move to a defense. So imagine during any stage of your jab; a hook coming on your outside or inside line; a high or low jab or cross coming over or on the inside; body hooks coming on the right or left. Your jabbing hand or your rear hand may be the hand that defends (if you didn't just slip or bob and weave). So for example, half jab, drawing it back to cover high or low against a hook coming on your outside line, and then without pause continue into your attack.

Time-hits (simultaneous defense and attack) can and should be integrated. For example, jab and immediately draw the jab back as a cross parry while simultaneously throwing the cross.

As usual, the options are endless and limited only by your imagination.

Drill Post #19: Do Something

2011-05-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

I have talked from time to time with people that are so concerned with devising the perfect home workout, that if they don't feel it's comprehensive, they end up doing nothing at all! My advice is to not stress it, perfection being a weird concept to begin with. If you are one of those that suffer from this, just remember that doing any part of a workout is fine. Shadowbox or swing a stick while you're watching TV or listening to some music... doesn't have to be the ultimate anything. In response to the old "No Pain, No Gain" saying, a person I knew said "For me, it's No Pain, No Pain!" I like that; plenty of cultivation can be had without going gonzo. So next time you feel like your workout has to be all or none, just get down with your mellow self and do something, anything that fits your mood.

Bruce Lee's Notes

2011-04-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

There are two volumes of Bruce Lee's note that have been published: The Tao of Jeet Kune Do (1975), and Jeet Kune Do: Bruce Lee's Commentaries on the Martial Way (1997). Both are interesting and highly problematic. The Amazon blurb for second volume states, "This landmark book serves as a complete presentation of Bruce Lee's art of jeet kune do." That is an embarrassing statement, even if they are just trying to sell books. Where to start? For one thing, Bruce, for all that he did show and was open about, was actually very secretive, so many things that were dear to him, technically and strategically, would not have been made explicit. Things that are made explicit require closely supervised and subtle training, none of which is available in either volume, or possible to get in book form anyway. For that matter, notice how often in the book there will be something like, for example, a list of defense solutions to the side kick, and at the end of the list will be "Training Aids." Well folk, "training aids" are the drilling processes that make any of the techniques functional, and none of that is spelled out. Also, how are we to make use of such entries as "Understand!"??

So, are the books useless? Of course not; they are food for thought, but at each entry, ask yourself "Do I really understand that? Is that something I can do? And if not how might I construct training that will help me develop that skill or attribute?"

Again, in JKD, it's not what you know, but rather, what you can do.

But You Knew That Already

2011-01-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

I'm out in frozy Iowa, and the environment poses interesting challenges relative to fighting: patches of ice, hard uneven snow, and big bulky clothes. A Filipino strategy here might be "De Fondo," which if I'm remembering correctly is essentially holding your ground (since you are not going to be able to move around easily). Of course the JKD tactic of stop-hitting would be good if you see it coming early enough. Sure, a grappling scenario is relvant, but those with that perspective would probably still want to play in the environment with the bulky coats, hats and gloves on to problem solve the unfamiliarity. In the meantime, I'm glad the great odds are in my favor of just having a good time! So if there are idiosycratic environments that are part of your regular travels, it's a good idea to figure out how you would fight in it with your particular skill sets.

JKD Theory and Weapons

2010-12-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

While it is true that weapons were not a central part of Bruce Lee's curriculum, the principles that are central to JKD apply broadly and are very useful for weapon methods. I have no doubt that many in the Filipino martial arts ("FMA") crowd will immediately talk of these principles as being old news because of the long history of the FMA and its being battle-tested over time and so on: that means essentially nothing in this discussion because, for one thing, a system's training can change in a single generation, and for another thing, much of what is being passed down now I doubt has been battle-tested.

Let me be specific about several essential issues...

Distance: while many FMA practitioners may talk about long, medium and close range, they rarely define the fighting measure in any kind of ready (non-striking) position. That is, long range is defined as being able to strike or cut each others extended arm, but not whether you are in reach of a strike (INCLUDING THE WEAPON-HOLDING HAND) without the opponent taking a step in when you are in a non-striking or ready position. In JKD, we would consider this too close, because if the opponent strikes non-telegraphically, then we are unlikely to have time to respond well. I have certainly found this to be consistently true with knife and stick as well. It would be humorous how close many knifers stand in their training were it not so misguided. And yes, I understand and acknowledge that surprise attacks happen and we can't always be at "ideal" range, but in training we have to start somewhere and most people's view of basic fighting distance is lacking.

Economy of Motion: it's curious that many contemporary FMA folk also practice some kind of kickboxing-based empty hand art where it's understood that telegraphing (some kind of visually readable preparation) of strikes is a no-no to be guarded against, but somehow this is overlooked when they pick up their weapon. To prove my point, take any ten DVD/videos or Youtube clips on stick or knife, both where an instructor is showing the striking/cutting angles as well as drilling/sparring, and I doubt if you will find even one where the telegraphing is not obvious! Even built into the system! Any movement of a strike that does not involve the business end of the knife or stick going towards the target is a telegraph. Some will say that you need the prep for a fully powerful stroke, but you don't always need a maximally powerful strike to smash a hand, and smaller strikes can be developed to a nicely functional degree. (In a future post I will define the four features of a proper strike.) Also included in the principle of "economy of motion" would be the "passive/active" analysis: that is, how much motion is defensive ("passive") and how much is attacking ("active")? Again, I do acknowledge that we are not always together enough to catch our favored responses, but if a weapon system focuses on a defensive maneuver such as a roof or sweep blocks rather than striking right off the bat (the basic tactic of "largo" systems), then they are lacking in economy of motion.

There is never a point at which we shouldn't ask ourselves whether something we are practicing couldn't be done in a more efficient way, and this is something that is part of the best "traditions."

Drill Post #18: JKD as a Filter

2010-11-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

From time to time, I get a call or e-mail from someone that's an experienced martial artist or instructor and has just discovered or become involved in JKD, and is now questioning whether they should simply toss out their previous system or not. What I advise is that they not throw out their system, but to feel comfortably disloyal to the system. What I mean is that they should go ahead and dump the material that they know is simply an artifact from tradition and not really useful, and modify or add what they know in their honest experience is a better thing to do.

Also, a system may just have missing links. For example, a student of mine experienced in traditional Jiu Jitsu always wondered when the teachers were going to show how they might actually get to the joint lock rather than just starting from the already connected position, so we worked on entries using a kickboxing with either time-hitting or trapping as a means to possibly get to a joint lock, and then it made sense to him. We also did kali lock flow freelance (which includes defense against strikes while trying to joint lock) so that it became more alive.

JKD is not just about efficient technique, but looking for the relationship between the pieces of the combative puzzle, and methods to make it real for you, an on-going process.

Drill Post #17: Taking Notes

2010-08-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

An important part of martial art education for many people is taking notes. Arguably the most famous notes are those that comprise Bruce Lee's "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do," although he did not write them for public consumption or arrange the very problematic form they ended up published in. But more about that another time. The point is that people in most creative endeavors write notes as a way of remembering important points or sources of information as well as working through problem solving.

Note taking at the Inosanto Academy was particularly important because so much information was covered during any given session. Ironically, there was a senior student that used to conduct some classes back in the '80s, and when he saw students taking notes, he would snidely ask "Are you going to bring your notes to a fight?" Well, no, but neither are you going to warm up, stretch out or wear boxing gloves, dimwit, we thought. It was also an ironic stance on his part because the two biggest note takers I know of are Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto.

Bruce Lee warned his students to avoid being either "physically bound" (i.e. able to fight hard and endure, but without being able to analyze what you do so you can progress past just being tough) or "intellectually bound" (i.e. being able to understand the theories but not getting your feet wet with training to see what you can actually do).

Notes are one of the ways to keep from being "physically bound."

Yes, in the moment of need, you just have to deal with it without mentally long-winded analysis, but to get to the point where you can be functionally spontaneous you have to do a lot of conscious non-spontaneous thinking, if you really want to be an efficient well-rounded fighter.

Here is the way I organized my notes. The date of an entry can be interesting just to look back at when you encountered certain kinds of training, but past that, I always noted whether something was either a technique (e.g. a jab), a drill (e.g. a random flow of strikes at a defender), or a principle. If it was a principle, I noted whether it was a technical principle (e.g. turn your waist into the strike, hand moves before the foot), a drilling principle (e.g. when delivering a flow of training stikes to the trainee, make sure that the flow is smooth and non-stop unless deliberately breaking rhythm), or a fighting principle (e.g. if the opponent steps inside your fighting measure as he chambers, then stop-hit).

As I have written before, I do feel that 90% of the training should be neither completely pre-set or anything goes, but rather where choices and responses have to made and with controlled or no contact.

Run your knowledge through the suggested organization above and see if that's helpful. You may also want to emphasize what techniques, principles or drills are most important to you.

Drill Post #16: One More Destruction

2010-07-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

Previously we've talked about a stop-kick/low side kick as a counter to kicks, punches and general advances, and in the last post we talked about two do-able destructions (injuring the attacker's incoming strike). Although the average street fight does not involve kicking very commonly, even with all the MMA popularity, it would not be shocking to encounter someone kicking. The low round kick ("hook" in JKD terminology) is often defended against by either evasion or "shielding," a block using either the shin or outside of the calf. The shin shield, however, takes a lot of conditioning, and while it will be painful to the kicker's shin, it doesn't feel great on the receiving end either. The calf shield doesn't feel as painful to use but it doesn't really hurt the kicker either. The kali knee shield is a good alternative. The proper execution involves getting the thick bone just below your kneecap to the instep of the incoming kick (which really can't be conditioned worth a darn). Done correctly, your leg will feel fine and their foot may be broken or be so painful as to be hard to stand on. It would be understandable for someone to point out that it takes much more accuracy to do than the standard shields, but it takes much less time to develop the accuracy required than the conditioning of a shin shield which makes this a great solution in a number of ways. An important point in the execution is to draw back rather than advance as you shield, because that way you are replacing the intended target, your thigh, with your knee. If you advance in any way, you will end up crashing shins. By using a slight retreat (possibly just pulling you weight onto the rear foot to be able to point the knee inward or outward at the incoming instep) you also move back out of hand range should the kick be a fake to be followed by a hand attack. If you have good shin/instep pads, then the trainer can put them on, move around freely and firing light round kicks to the inside or outside of the trainee's lead thigh, which he defends against with a "point shield," that is, one that drives into the kicker's instep as we have described. This can be a real show stopper.

Drill Post #15: Two Easy Destructions

2010-07-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Dan Inosanto refers to the Filipino Kali tactic of attacking of an opponent's strike or kick as "destructions." Some require finer timing than others. Two of the simplest destructions to time are the forward elbow against a jab or cross and the downward elbow against kicks coming straight in at the mid-section. Several issues regarding the jab/cross destruction to be aware of. First, the distancing should most often be using a small retreat as though you were going to use a "catch." This has two important functions; first, it gives you the room to fit the pointed-forward elbow between your face and the opponent's fist, and second, should you not have the proper accuracy, the opponent's strike should not be able to reach your face. An additional bonus is that if your accuracy/timing is off, it is highly unlikely that anyone is going to become gun-shy, thinking "Holy smoke! That guy just tried to break my fingers!" It is more likely that he will just think you were covering. It is important when training this, that the trainer/attacker (wearing good hand protection, duh, or using lighter strikes with his palm) actually aims honestly for the defender's face, and doesn't "help" him by aiming for his elbow.

As for a dropped elbow on a front or side kick, still maintain proper distance, retreating just enough to be out of the range of the kick but close enough to come back in quickly with hands or feet afterwards if you want to. As you drop the point of your elbow sharply on his ankle/instep (if it's a front kick) or low outside of his leg (if it's a side kick), still keep your eyes forward so you can see possible hand attacks coming.

Note that in both cases, it's a one-step defense and counter, and really, the finesse needed is not extreme, certainly not a lot more that just a simple boxer's catch in the first case and definitely easier and safer than a scoop parry versus kicks.

Finally, a quasi-political note. There are JKD "traditionalists" that would avoid developing these tactics because they were not part of the JKD/JF curriculum. But since they "fit in" with the structure and principles of directness and efficiency, there is no reason not to use them other than a misguided closed-mindedness, the antithesis of what JKD is all about.

Good for now!

Drill Post #14: Low Maintenance Kicks

2010-06-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

In a weird psycho-social way, I understand why certain kicks are not emphasized in most martial arts. Take the foot-stomp. Most people, particularly of the youth species, have an image of martial arts being exotic and physically dramatic (high flying kicks and so on), so if those people went to a school and saw the teacher showing people how to stomp on someone's foot or knee them in the thigh, instead of being impressed with the straight-forward practicality, they would be disappointed, thinking "Well, anyone could do that!" Of course they would be missing several points, among them that they wouldn't think to do that if they weren't turned on to it, and that one still needs the training to catch the opportunity amidst the flow of things. Which is why sometimes I call some of what I do "Old Fart" method; that is, I want to emphasize things that I could do as an old fart. As part of that ethos, we would want the lowest maintenance tools in our repertory. Two of those tools are the foot stomp and the knee to the thigh. One way to train these, beside the obvious use as a follow-up to hand or foot combinations, is in the midst of hand defense. So now, going back to drill post #7, when the trainer goes into a flow of strikes that the trainee is defending against, the trainee/defender should also look for opportunities to knee the attacker's thigh or to foot stomp. A few details here: The foot stomp may be toe point out or toe pointing out according to how your body is positioned as you are defending. Also, regarding the knee, some might ask why we don't just knee the groin. While kneeing the groin is a good tactic, it is more instinctive to defend, and there are many times when the opponent's groin is not an available target, but the inside, outside and front of the opponent's thigh is usually available when at hand range, and as an added bonus, no average dude thinks of defending their thigh. Needless to say, the execution of the foot stomp and knee needs to be completely controlled in training unless good protective equipment is used. Have fun!

Drill Post #13: Defending the Attack

2010-06-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

This will relate back to drill post #7 where the trainee sometimes has to switch up from attack to defense, but in a more concentrated way.

This may be done initially without footwork, but after working it in a stationary fashion, it should be done with the trainer moving the footwork around freelance.

Staying just INSIDE the fighting measure where the either of you can reach with a strike without having to step in to do so, the trainer has his hands somewhat up, but a bit wide and low so as to give the trainee available targets. The trainee throws a consistent flow of strikes using training targets (such as a light palm contact to the neck of the trainer, or the chest), and periodically the trainer (who is not defending) throws a strike or two at the same time as the trainee is striking, forcing him to choose appropriate defenses with his striking or passive hand (or bob and weaving).

Many martial systems have simultaneous defense and attack as part of what they do, but attack and simultaneous defense is not the same mental skill, and the reason to do this drill. Note that in many fights, both swing away and one gets knocked for a loop just out of happenstance.

Drill Post #12: Sandbag Training

2010-05-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hitting a sandbag feels better to me than a heavy bag or banana bag. Mine is up against a beam so there's no swing, and I like how little it gives. Years ago I used it with my first teacher's training medicine for conditioning and though I don't use medicine anymore, I still like hitting it without gloves for a certain amount of conditioning. Furthermore, what I like to do are freelance variations with hand, elbow and forearm strike and straight blast combinations close to the bag; think "inch punching" but using the full range of strikes instead of just the straight punch. Try combinations where your striking tools start from three to six inches away from the bag. Remember that if you are punching for a neck or throat, or elbowing a temple, you don't need the most loaded up variation possible.

Drill Post #11: Shadowboxing

2010-05-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

I doubt that I need to explain the value of shadowboxing to anyone interested in these posts. The way I'll suggest rounds of shadowboxing will mirror some of the partner training we've covered up to this point.

- Round one: Just footwork. Make sure that any piece of footwork is connected to any other. That is, if you have, say, six most basic bits of footwork (step/slide advance, step/slide retreat, side step right, side step left, slide;/step advance, slide/step retreat), then that makes thirty six possibilities. No need to put it in a series, just make sure that you are playing with it and covering the variations.

- Round two; Hand strikes. Whatever you want to be part of your arsenal, throw it in there, jab variations (finger jabs, palm jabs, vertical and corkscrew), crosses, short and long hooks, high and low strikes, elbows, "miscellaneous" strikes such as whip hand/finger fan, scrapes. Mix steady and broken rhythms. In other words, a jab, cross, hook smoothly, and sometimes half of the jab or cross before the following strike.

- Round three: Kicks. Just loosely combining kicks and making sure to be able to lead kick to lead kick, lead to rear, rear to rear, and rear to lead, including advancing, stationary, angling variations.

- Round four: Defense. Combining footwork with hand and kick defenses.

- Round five: Putting it all together. Just like with the focus gloves/mitts, you want to move from offense to defense with hands and feet, sometimes interrupting one thing to continue with another. For example, half way to the completion of your jab, you retract it to a modified cover or a bob and weave, imagining that the opponent's hook was going to nail you before your jab landed.

The rounds don't have to be long, but it's good to work through different areas of focus.

Drill Post #10: Focus Mitt Training

2010-05-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

Few non-JKD martial artists acknowledge that the use of boxing focus mitts in Asian martial arts was started by Bruce Lee. The initial method Lee and his students used was very crude; single targets and simple combinations. The methods evolved very quickly, but there is still a base level of use that is not common amongst the many systems now using focus mitts. Hand attack, hand defense, kick attack and kick defense are the four categories of stand-up fighting that we want to be able to flow between. It is assumed for this post that the trainee has trained the attacks and defenses that would be worked with here. The "feeding" by the trainer is at least as much of a skill as the trainee responding smoothly. The trainer should smoothly move between the four categories above, so that, for example, he holds the mitts for a hand attack combination, possibly switching up on the last punch of a combination to make the trainee miss and flow into another hand combination, or a kick, or at the beginning, middle or end of his hand combination the trainer throws a hand attack to make sure the attacker is able to defend his attack. The meaning of "smoothly" is that the trainer keeps the trainee moving with no pause for a response of at least three "change-ups," that is moving from one category to another. If the trainee gets to pause or cruise between each new thing to respond to, then the trainer is not doing his job. [Here comes the plug...] That's the focus of my Essential Self Defense Vol. 2 tape (still haven't heard whether the company that owns the rights will properly put them into DVD format. Don't order DVDs of my Essential Self Defense 1-4 series from Beckett Media until I can confirm that they have done this. At present they offer this series on-line, but are putting the wrong DVDs in the boxes if you can believe that).

The trainer may present everything as a visual cue, or he may also call out combinations as well as, for example, tapping his thigh with a glove as a signal for the the trainee to throw a controlled no-power round/hook kick to the trainer's thigh. That would be an example of a mitt hold that is not not recommended because they require too much accuracy from the trainee when going for power. Properly done, this training can provide much of the value of sparring without the wear and tear.

Drill Post #9: I "Heart" Foul Tactics

2010-04-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

So, as we've mentioned, that list of illegal/foul tactics that are part of sport combat MMA contests are what are known as (and should be sung to) "My Favorite Things." And again, before the MMA crowd gets their panties all up in a bunch, this is not to deny any of the many valid methods of that crowd, but it does go back to our view of costs versus benefits (how labor intensive is it to functionalize a tactic/technique versus another that will give you as good a result, our primary goal being the ending of someone's attack).

When taking someone through a progression of training, I don't like to wait too long before dealing with some standing vernacular grappling. By that I mean the "tent hug" mutual bear hug that guys often get into when the punching ranges collapse into a chest-to-chest scenario. This happens easily when one or both of the people fighting don't manage to control their effective punching range because they are both trying to agress. (We're assuming in this case that neither party is deliberately trying to crash/shoot in to grapple). It just takes an instant of inattention for this to happen.

Before I work with this material, I always like to ask a student what his instincts are when the bear hug-ish situation occurs, and by and large, when I bear-hug them (under their arms at first) they bear-hug back. The central point being that they respond with a defensive, not particularly effective thing. I then ask what the closest thing is that they can effectively attack. They may mention some decent possibilities, but not they ones I want to ingrain first. That's when I point out that the hand on the same side of my head (i.e. their right hand if my head is to the right of their head) is free to thumb an eye or attack the windpipe. These are the primary targets most easily available.

To drill this into instinct, the trainer throws a flow of very controlled light punches at the trainee who is up against a wall and not allowed to simply evade. On occasion, the trainer will start to "get messy" as in drill post #8, and although knees and close hand counter-strikes are good to do, the trainer will go for the under arm bear-hug and ideally the trainee will have his hand on the trainer's throat or thumb on the eye brow (the training target for thumbing the eye) before the bear hug is on. At that point the trainer gets pushed back into elbowing/striking range, so the trainee executes available variations. Do I need to say that both partners have to really control the contact? Light to no contact is the name of the game here. The Thais have drills they lump under the category of "Play/timing" and that's what we're after here.

Drill Post #8: Finger Wrench Drill

2010-04-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Of all the joint-manipulations/locks possible, the one that would be at the top of my Most Useable list would be a finger wrench. Going back to our observations regarding human combative instincts, it's clear that people reach out with their arms both in offense and defense, and often hands are open at that point. If you have "crashed the line," that is you are now in past the fighting measure and touching your opponent, you may have a finger available to grab and manipulate (a nice way to say "break or wrench"). As a general rule it will be when the inside of your arm is in contact with their limb and it is a quick slide down to get their finger before they know what's happening. For example, when executing a palm hook, if the opponent tries to obstruct with either a cultivated block or an instinctive defensive motion, a slide down the point of contact to the finger grab is viable. Other scenarios are equally good, such as a jackass pointing his finger at you in confrontation. It's not easy to accurately describe the way I like to train this, but give this a try; the trainer is grabbing/pushing the trainee in a messy way, and the trainee/defender, while looking for the most direct counter-attacks will grab the finger when that opportunity is presented (which the trainer insures will happen by sometimes actually in the mess of things putting his finger in the trainees palm). It's really interesting how many times, when doing this training at first, that I can say "freeze, now tell me what the closest thing is you can attack?" to a student, and they will point out three or four things they could do before I point out that my finger is actually in their hand.

As for the proper way to bend a finger, do not just grab the finger and point it back away from you, but (if, say, your right hand has grabbed his left index finger) use the little finger of your grabbing hand as a fulcrum to focus into the back of his knuckle as the index finger end of your fist bends it back towards him as you take the whole thing down to the ground while paying attention to move back and guard that he doesn't smack you with his other hand before the "point of no return."

Drill Post #7: Flow Training Between Defense and Offense

2010-04-12T12:31:00.000-07:00

First, let's combine the drills from posts #2 and #4, so that the trainer is moving the trainee around and having him look for the close evasion and reposte, continuous evasion and the stop-hit, and then sometimes as the trainee is striking back (just as his stop-hit is landing, for example), the trainer, WITHOUT DEFENDING, keeps a continuous series of strikes going so that the defender/trainee has to go into a defensive flow like in post #4 for four or five strikes before the trainer relieves the pressure enough so that that he can go back to the "Frankenstein" scenario. It's fine, and of course recommended, that during the trainee's defense he is "time-hitting," that is striking back simultaneously with his defense. I have also referred to time-hitting as "sectoring" on the DVD of that name, and while I won't be going into an in-depth exposition here, I will say that if you are doing the cover as I describe in drill post #4, your free hand can either monitor the trainer's non-striking hand if it is up, or you can put it can in the trainer's eyes or throat (touch the chest or throat for training targets). Remember that when attacking eyes or throat, you don't need full-body power mechanics to make it count, so you don't have to disrupt your defensive structure. In the next drill post, we'll add some stop-gap foul tactics (AKA "Some of My Favorite Things") into the drill.

Drill Post #6: Fine Tuning the Kick Range Reposte

2010-04-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

In Drill Post #5, the initial feed by the trainer involved a front kick/jab kick to the trainee's midsection with various degrees of depth of the trainer's advance, and the initial response of the trainee was to see how small a distance he could evade the kick by without parrying. Let's now add two possibilities to this. If, as is very common, the kicker drops his hands as he kicks and steps down, the defender (if he has controlled his distance properly) jabs or crosses, timing it to land just as the attacker's foot is landing. If the trainer keeps his hands up as he kicks and plants forward, the defender, after the evasion, leans back to execute a stationary low side/stop-kick. ("Stationary" simply means to lean the weight back on to the rear leg to kick with the lead so that there is no advance which would crowd your kick). Note that the jab or cross is in essence a stop-hit, even though it is after an attack, because it is intercepting the continued attack. As always, the goal of the defender is to make smooth timely responses. The trainer should not have to hang out while the trainee is figuring out what to do. As usual start at a mellow pace and work up.

Drill Post #5: Fine Tuning The Kick Range

2010-03-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

Again back to reading distance in flow and responding with appropriate footwork. As nice as it would be to stop-kick everything, sometimes a kick may be launched and we are simply not prepared enough to stop-kick, so we do this drill.

Starting at kick fighting measure, the trainer will execute a front kick/jab kick towards the trainee's midsection. The trainee's first goal is to evade the kick by the SMALLEST distance possible without blocking/parrying. If the kick is so shallow that the trainee doesn't need to move to evade, then he doesn't; if the kick is deep enough so that the trainee can evade with a small retreat, he does so, or moves back with a slide and step if it's deeper. If the kick is deep enough that the trainee feels the need to side step, or parry and side step that's fine, but he should parry only if he feels he'll get kicked otherwise. The trainer should kick in a mellow enough manner at first that the trainee would only receive light contact. That way he can feel comfortable seeing how close he can let the kick come. Being gonzo prematurely just slows the whole training process down. This is the first half of the drill.

The second half of the drill involves what happens after the trainers kick: does he plant forward? Drop his leg back? Slide and step back? The trainer should do all of the above at random, to which the trainee uses the appropriate footwork to deliver a controlled low side/stop-kick. We are limiting the return to one tool (the low side/stop-kick) so that the trainee has to focus on footwork and distance judgment. If the trainee moves in before properly reading where the attacker is placing his kicking leg, he is likely to be too far away or too crowded. The goal is to read smoothly so that the defense and attack flow together and that the trainee's kick lands on the trainer's leg the instant after it hits the ground. The interesting thing about this drill is how challenging it can be to use a simple set of tools with proper timing when there are even these few variables.

Drill Post #4: Hand Defense Training

2010-03-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

In drill posts 1 and 2, footwork was the primary defense, along with the stop-hit and then the stop-kick in post 3. Now, to develop the hand defenses further, we'll take away all footwork. As the trainee, put your back foot against a wall (now taking away all footwork) and having a partner throw a flow of strikes at you, not hard at first, and not so fast you are getting tagged most of the time. As your skill builds up, the trainer should go faster and appropriately harder. Also, the strikes being thrown should mix smooth combinations and broken rhythm, the simplest example being half of a jab followed by a rear hook, or half of a right hook (as fake) smoothly followed by the left hook. This will help develop a bodily understanding that what seems to be coming might turn out to be something else, and to keep all defenses small and tight as possible to be able to deal with those unexpected shifts in the flow. The primary tools the defender will use will be the high-line parries (parrying on the outside of the feeder's hands), the modified high cover for head hooks, low covers for body hooks, centerline forearm parries (like a detached "fook sao" from Wing Chun) for mid and low straight shots. For the variation of a cover (versus hooks) that I recommend, put your wrist on the back of your head, shoulder hunched up, with the elbow level between the nose and the eyebrow and, very importantly, pointed OUT slightly. This angle prevents a hook from getting any kind of surface to "bite" into and makes it slide off behind you. It's important to slip slightly forward when doing this to prevent the hook from slipping inside of the cover. The defender should keep his gaze on the attackers chest so as to be able to pay attention to a field of activity rather than one thing at a time.

Drill Post #3: Long Kick Fighting Measure

2010-03-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

Extending the fighting measure to include kicking means staying at the distance where your opponent cannot reach you with a kick without taking a preparation step. Again, this gives you the chance to see it coming and to intuit whether to intercept (attack on his preparation) or to defend whether through evasion or any other tactic. Now with the trainer moving around as described in drill post #1 but at the extended fighting measure, the defender stop-kicks every time the trainer/attacker tries to move in to attack with either hands or feet. The stop-kick (jeet tek) is traditionally done in JKD as a "stiff leg" kick, that is, it is not chambered, but rather delivered as though you had a cast on your leg and raised it to side kick position to the opponent's closest shin or knee. However, actually you have a slight chamber simply by merit of having your knees slightly bent in your stance, so I would recommend using that slight bend as a way of giving the stop-kick a bit more punch than a stiff leg one might give, although clearly either would work. Use the striking surface is the arch across the bottom of the foot, as it is more stable than the edge of the foot. Although you would ideally follow up after a stop kick, for the sake of the drill simply drop back to the long fighting measure.

Finger Jab Specifics

2010-02-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

I may not be able to do drill posts with as much depth as I would like for the next several weeks (although I'll try), so here is a quick technical one in the meantime. Regarding the finger jab, I recommend having the hand at a slight angle (not more than 45%) and using the pads of the fingers as the striking surface, and the fingers slightly flexed so that if you hit bone instead of eyes or throat, your joints won't get painfully jammed up/bent back. Try finger jabbing/tapping a wall surface with in this manner and see if feels comfortable to you.

Drill Post #2: Four Essential Responses

2010-02-02T17:37:00.000-08:00

We'll now add four important response possibilities to the previous "Frankenstein Drill. With the trainer moving the defender around, he will periodically throw a right or left haymaker/wide hook. The trainer/attacker will have four variations of hook that he will throw for the defender to develop the perception for. The first is a hook that is far enough away that the defender can simply let it pass (within inches) before returning a jab using a light palm to the attackers shoulder as a training target. The thought behind this first variation is that it's good to fine-tune our distance sense so that we don't defend against strikes that are not close enough to reach us (and indeed, nervous second-rate attackers do throw strikes like this). The second hook variation to be thrown is one where the attacker is stepping in just enough so that the defender has to take a small step back before his return strike. The defender should not "slip" back for now: That is, he should keep his weight forward/centered so that just as his rear foot touches down on the retreat, he can fire his strike and be leaning into it. In both of these first variations, it is VERY important that the the timing of the defender's counter-strike be initiated JUST as the attackers strike passes the defender's face and not at the end of the strike, as the defender might be stepping right into a following strike. The third variation, and one that could often be used, is when the attacker steps clearly inside the defender's FM WHILE loading up his hook, to which the defender will respond with a stop-hit, palm-stopping (not too hard) on the attacker's chest for a training target. It is important that the counter strike is not prepped with a drawback which would delay the strike. The fourth variation for the attacker to feed is the windmill, i.e. a series of continuous alternating sloppy right and left hooks while moving forward. This should be fed so that one hook is coming up in preparation as the other is firing, and that's what the defender looks for as his cue to maintain the FM until he sees both hands drop away at which time he returns his lead strike. This kind of emphatic but sloppy attack that dissolves is really common.

OK, I'll say in advance that Yes, there are many other good responses including stop kicks and time-kicks, but we are working a particular perception development here, and Yes, of course you would not necessarily continuously evade or have the opportunity to, but I repeat the above. Now, have fun with the drill.

Drill Post #1: The Fighting Measure

2010-01-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

Hokay, there are many legit ways one could start training, from the ground, from situations (grabs, etc.), but I will start with general stand-up skills.

Training partners A and B stand just outside of the hand's reach: This defines the fighting measure for the hands. In a street situation, one would stay just outside of the kicking distance/fighting measure, but focusing on the hand measure is a smaller distance and therefore helps develop a finer sense of distance. I'll call the trainer "A" and the trainee "B." A holds both hands extended in front of him (which is why we call this The Frankenstein Drill) so that B knows exactly where "just out of his reach" is. Then A starts moving at random in all directions while B maintains the distance. It is important that A also moves backwards and that B follows. When A moves straight forward more than a step or two, B should start to circle (but making sure not to step inside the measure while doing so). A should sometimes follow B when he circles, with his right extended arm reaching towards B's right shoulder so that B knows to keep circling. After a two to five steps of A having B circle in one direction, he should reverse it, and cut back and forth as so he's trying to cut B's circling off, which B responds to by always cutting back/circling away from the pressure.

If some JKD related practitioner thinks this sounds like the "mirror drill" they would be correct. However, the problem with the way most people do the mirror drill is that they are so focused on mirroring the feeders footwork, that they forget the whole purpose of the drill which is learning how to maintain the fighting measure, which is a key to generalship. That is why I have set the drill up this way.

It may not be clear at first how to do this from reading a post, but give it a try! Within the week, I'll add four primary responses to additional feeds.

New Post Series Starting Soon

2010-01-21T01:27:00.000-08:00

Hello All,
Just a quick note to mention that starting within the next week, I'll start to post WEEKLY a progression of drills that I find useful, so check back soon.

Chi Sao DVD Now Available!

2009-12-17T00:40:00.000-08:00

Well Woo Hoo! For some years now, people have asked when my Chi Sao (Sticky/Clinging Hands) VHS would be put into DVD format (with the addition of a navigation menu!), and finally it's here. Click the link to buy!

Knife Information

2009-12-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

In previous posts I have mentioned "available equalizers," anything that one could put one's hands on in a moment of need to give you an advantage that you would not otherwise have. A knife is something commonly carried and of course a very powerful equalizer (not trying to euphemistic here). In the future I may go more into the issues of whether to carry or not carry a knife, but for those curious about some base legal issues, Bernard Levine has a site you may want to check out. http://www.knife-expert.com/ is the place to go. I haven't looked thoroughly at the site yet, but it looks interesting.

What If It Doesn't Work?

2009-12-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

One of the interesting things that Dan Inosanto spoke about was developing the “educated eye.” That is, he would say, whether you prefer one system or another, you still want to know the strengths and weaknesses of what you might encounter. For example, a grappling oriented person would be a fool to ignore learning enough about good boxing to learn how to get inside its efficient range. Related to this is a question too often ignored in martial training. A technique is presented, and it's a given that it will work if practiced enough. But what if it doesn't work, what position does that leave you in? For example, a large blocking motion could work, but what if the first motion of the opponent was a fake? It's possible that the wide-blocking person could adjust, but there is no question that the larger the defensive motions, the harder it is to flow with and adjust to the unexpected things that happen. So a question/filter we should always be putting our material through is "What if...?"

Daily Weapons

2009-10-29T13:26:00.001-07:00

One of the things that Dan Inosanto taught was to classify weapons according to characteristics: long (i.e. staff-like, a broom or pool stick for examples), short, pointed, blunt, edged, flexible (e.g. a belt), throwable (sand, coins, rocks) and so on. Most of us on any given day hold car keys, pens and silverware as common objects that can be very effective "equalizers." Relating back to an earlier post about balancing awareness and paranoia, it's a good idea to remind ourselves as we come into contact with these various implements that they can be multi-purpose tools. I periodically play with smoothly switching a fork (a great nasty weapon) from eating hold to fighting hold, if that doesn't sound too soldier-of-fortune weird. In my often deserted neighborhood, when I walk out the door into the street at night, I may have my most solid car key in an appropriate grip for unlikely just-in-case possibilities. The odds are that if we are not engaged in regular knuckle-head behavior, that we will not need to face serious confrontation, but using a little energy for the insurance that we would be prepared for unwanted situations is a good idea.

New DVD

2009-10-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

Just letting you know my "Training Progressions Overview" show, previously available only on VHS is now in DVD with nifty new navigation buttons. Woo and Hoo! You can get it through my e-store. "Modified Chi Sao" will also be available in the near future, again with the very nifty navigation menu, so I will let you know when that is dropping.

Bruce Lee's Favorite Color

2009-10-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

Interesting that to this day, martial artists still have no shortage of opinions about Bruce Lee and his methods (Jeet Kune Do). Without going into a critique of the various sides of the debate, an interesting related issue is that people would decide what to train or not train according to what Lee did. It's certainly not a bad starting point, but doesn't take into account individual abilities or preferences. To be more specific, my understanding is that at his furthest stage of development before he died, he had thrown out trapping and most defenses other than close evasion such as slipping, and only wanted to jab or cross or possibly kick his opponent and then be back out. His goal was that the only thing that would be touching between him and his opponent would be Lee's strike or kick. Ok, good for Lee, he had the development to be able to pull that off. Dan Inosanto told me that the last time he saw Bruce, he had become so fast that the only way he knew he was striking at him was because he could feel the wind in front of his face. As for the rest of us, how many of us are anywhere near that level? So for myself, there are many things that Bruce Lee didn't find useful that I find useful. I do know of JKD practitioners that are trying to emulate Bruce's final stage, and I have to wonder if they knew what Bruce Lee's favorite color was, would they now decide that their favorite color was the same?

JKD Trapping

2009-09-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

While my posts up to this point have been primarily about self-defense in general, this will be a reprint from a very technically oriented book I have finished the rough draft for. The first section will still be relevant to martial arts in general.

The following is from my book in progress on "Jeet Kune Do Trapping Hands."

Before talking about jeet kune do, we need to acknowledge that all martial arts derive their viewpoint from, and represent a model of combat. This model includes beliefs about: 1) what we are likely to encounter, combatively, 2) what would constitute efficient responses, and 3) theories of training methods. A model is something that is either arrived at through experience and thought, or passed down through tradition. Since most of us are not self-taught from scratch (and are unlikely to have experienced all of the possibilities presented in any given tradition under actual fighting conditions), it is usually a combination of both, to varying degrees. Bruce Lee was aware that all models have limitations, which is why he never believed in a "final understanding". Clearly, much of the evolution of martial arts is the result of people's personal conscious or unconscious re-interpretation of tradition. Most commonly, a given model is based on many specifics of what ideally should be an expression of that system, but to a much lesser degree on a clear presentation of what we are likely to encounter, other than actions that support that system's assumptions. That is, rarely is there an examination, except in the sketchiest terms, of just what comprises the most deeply ingrained human combative instincts (1). Instead, the natural human tendency is to project the concepts of one's system onto the outside world without empirically examining whether or not there may be a gap between a particular system's point of view (represented by its training) and how untrained people might react.

For example, some of those involved in mixed martial arts (essentially kickboxing combined with grappling, the "No Holds Barred" view) assume that because mixed martial arts are popular, that the average person is now a skilled mixed martial arts fighter. This is a faulty model however, because to this day, the odds are that the great majority of people we are likely to be confronted by are untrained in martial arts (unless we are challenging other martial artists). The odds are that those that have trained at all have generally trained in garden variety strip-mall black belt factories and not for very long. The most common offensive and defensive performance instincts now in one-to-one fights are the same instincts as ages ago: wild telegraphed punches (usually hooking), hands dropping after and between strikes, relatively few kicks, grabbing and pushing (in offense and defense), inefficient defense when any, no sense of distance or footwork, and an inability to keep defense and offense in the same mental frame (2). Here, the mixed martial artist's perspective has legitimacy; fights easily get messy, close, and go to the ground. But this perspective is also geared towards people with similar skill levels (none, to very good) wherein people tend to neutralize each other or don't have any efficiency at kicking, punching and close ranges. However, in general street context where it's instinctive for adversaries (trained or untrained) to try to obstruct strikes, "stand-up" tactics, including trapping, can indeed be very workable for those that put in the development time. To say, as some have critiqued, that something is intrinsically wrong with trapping because it may not work every time in all situations is like saying a screwdriver isn't useful because you can't saw wood with it. It is a very good idea to be prepared for a skilled fighter, but if one only works within a martial arts class context (even contact sparring oriented), and doesn't examine the most common human combative instincts then they will be training to overlook many workable possibilities. The same idea applies regarding our defense: some think that if we can deal with a training partner's clean, quick movement, then we will easily be able to deal with an opponent's sloppy "improper" movement, but the principle of specificity holds that the way we train and what we train for will dominate our reactions. One of the oft repeated stories from Bruce Lee's Los Angeles Chinatown school involves a sloppy beginner giving a much more experienced fighter a hard time because of the beginner's unpredictable form.

This raises the issue of models of training methods. Various schools of thought regarding training methods run the gamut from emphasizing solo forms (kata, kune), to pre-set technique, to response drills, to sparring with narrow or broad limits. Extremes at either end of the spectrum are problematic; a curriculum with all pre-set technique will not develop our ability to make choices with timing and distance spontaneously, and a curriculum that only emphasizes all-out sparring will develop a lack in important areas outside of combat-sport-oriented kickboxing and grappling skills. That is, in circles that feel most training must be as non-cooperative and aggressive as possible, the problem is, besides the fact that training partners familiarity with each other greatly changes the range of reactions, that while important and useful, it is still not entirely realistic; realistic would mean actually attacking the eyes and throat, breaking limbs, and doing as much damage as necessary to stop an attack. Since this is an obviously absurd way to practice, there clearly has to be a balance between the degree of cooperation and non-cooperation in training (3). This easily leads to the conclusion that it is important that a significant part of training is spent with one of the partners semi-cooperatively playing the "slob," someone with committed aggression but poor technique (4).

Two additional issues arise when considering what approach to martial art to take: 1) how labor intensive different skills are to develop, and 2) how that relates to a continuum of probability regarding the likely severity of combat. The first issue simply put, is that some skills require much more effort to make functional than others. We have to ask ourselves if the effort required is worth the payoff, or if there may be easier ways to get the desired result. Methods such as trapping, joint locking and grappling require much more work to functionalize than basic kickboxing tools. Developing a decent non-telegraphic finger jab is more important than developing a complex wrestling hold or trapping skill. This is why JKD trapping is considered to be a skill learned after the development of kicking and striking foundation skills. Not everyone is interested in martial arts being a major part of their lifestyle, and yet they may want to have an idea as to how to deal with confrontation realistically. A desire to have some essential understanding of fighting with limited time expended is neither naïve nor uncommon, although devoted martial artists often insist that "if you are not constantly preparing for life-or-death conflict, then you are not preparing realistically". The truth is that many civilian confrontations are stopped simply with the proper attitude, and situations that require contact can often be stopped with a simple jab to let an opponent know that we are willing to engage him, and with authority (5). There are indeed people that may try to seriously harm or kill you for any variety of reasons, but that is not the average case. The average burglar is not looking for a difficult house to break into, and the average mugger or jerk looking to victimize someone is not looking for a difficult subject. In any event, in all-out confrontations, the will to survive often matters more than technique.

As to the odds within trapping itself, given average human reactions, a scenario where a simple trap could be successfully executed is common. A second trap, whether immediately or after several strikes, could happen just as easily as needing to go to a defense or some other tactic. As should be emphasized, the skill of trapping lies in how to set it up and flow with what comes. Within the trapping curriculum, there is trapping to deal with unskilled brawlers and there is trapping to deal with martial artists. At each step of the way there has to be a drilling process to get a reflexive feel for the time and place for any given technique, otherwise it is dead memorization. And while some of the trapping material may at first glance seem complex, it should be a central part of understanding that any complexity arises out of the needs of the moment and not out of an attempt to execute a predetermined sequence in the hopes that an opponent will give us all the "right" responses. For example, often when sparring or drilling, we may respond in some appropriate way that involved a complex set of responses, but if we taught what we just did as a pre-set technique, it could be difficult to execute because it would be out of context, out of the flow which includes not just physical position, but momentum, pressure and where the attention is, among other elements. However, we would not have been able to respond as we did had we not practiced the various possibilities and then worked towards the free but precise use of those possibilities. To put it another way, if we were to go to art school and start to study color theory as part of the curriculum, we would be presented with the color spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), and someone in the class might ask the instructor why he's showing all these bright colors when he wants to paint "realistic" scenes and he doesn't see any of those bright colors out in the dingy city, not realizing that he needs to understand all of those colors before being able to artfully express the full range of possibilities from the bright to the bleak. Any curriculum starts with a formal arrangement. It is up to the instructor to guide the students towards an intuitive functional understanding of that material beyond the curriculum. And as well, ultimately the student has to "own" the material and be responsible for what he or she can make work. We could own a Ferrari, but that doesn't mean we know how to drive like a pro.

1) Hoplology, the study of human combative behavior is greatly recommended in regard to investigating what comprises instinctive human fighting. Visit the hoplology.com web site.
2) Although culture influences combative behavior (e.g. kicking in a one-to-one fight back in the 1960's would have been considered cowardly or cheating), human emotion, bio-mechanics and cognition are the dominant factors in how fighting plays out. Even world class athletes don't generally translate their skill into fighting ability; when basketball player Kobe Bryant reacted to getting jabbed during a confrontation at a game, he put his hands up and then telegraphed his strike so obviously that his cooler opponent jabbed him again! Sports brawls among professional athletes look like any other kind of brawl. It is a challenge to keep form under pressure, whatever system we study.
3) For that matter, if we are to train "realistically", then since according to a number of sources the majority of street attacks involve weapons (knives, clubs etc.), then the primary emphasis in training would rightly be weapons training, and against more than one opponent.
4) There is a tendency to train only against one's own system rather than be able to fit in with a broad variety of possible fighting styles.
5) I have had a number of students stop potential fights by putting their hand out to stop the aggressor from chest bumping. This simple act of generalship, who controls the basic nature of the fight, interrupted the expectations of the aggressors enough to make them think twice and back off.

Copyright 2009 Steve Grody

Downtown Site

2009-08-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

Just came across the blog site Central City East: Downtown Los Angeles. If you're a DT resident or skulker, check it out.

What Works For You?

2009-07-03T14:03:00.003-07:00

Experts and wonks of all stripes... whataya gonna do? Whether it's in regard to exercise and nutrition, politics, religion, pick a subject, there are always those that preach THEE One True perspective. No relativity or context or considered possibilities, just the proper conclusion that any right-thinking individual would come to. Of course, I wouldn't claim I'm entirely immune from that syndrome any more than I would claim I can, or would want to, transcend my humanity. So bringing this back to the issue of self defense/combatives training, everyone's system is Thee system that is efficient, unbeatable and so on. But while there is overlap regarding issues of sport combat (Mixed Martial Arts, boxing, hockey) and street-oriented self-defense, individual needs and capabilities are part of what should define one's approach to training and tactics: Not everyone is a big burly guy always going up against another BBG (new acronym for you all). It is not feasible, or necessary for many folks to do hours of ground training or physically tough/abusive training. But again there is always some good news here as well, in the same way that it was finally generally acknowledged some time ago that you don't have to do grueling physical training to be in good physical (just regular "good enough" physical work), neither do you have to be in "caged fighting shape" to help your odds to a good degree regarding self defense. A small body of technique, some cognitive training to recognize offensive opportunity and defensive need, and an attitude of being able to do what needs to be done are the most essential requirements.

Desert Island Repertory

2009-07-03T13:56:00.002-07:00

It's a natural thing that martial artists would be interested in acquiring more and more knowledge and skills. That's not problematic as long as one doesn't loose sight of what's essential.

The concept of "Desert Island Books" or "Desert Island Records" is interesting: If you were to be stranded on a desert island, but could take ten books, and to be generous, also ten records, which would you choose? It's a good idea to do the same thing with our martial arts training, as it's much easier to talk about many things than to narrow it down. So that's always what I suggest to students at a certain point of training; what offensive and defensive maneuvers and tactics do you feel most important to cultivate and maintain? Jab variations are essential, but a spinning back-fist is not (to me), for example. A car will function just fine without cladding, but not without all four wheels. If you are an experienced martial artist, see what you would choose to put on a single sheet of paper that would be your Desert Island Repertory.

Superior Laziness

2009-07-03T13:56:00.001-07:00

Many people, if not of the Young Dude species, when entertaining the thought of doing martial art training, may be put off by the assumption of extreme physical demands relative to flexibility, endurance, strength and so on. They may also be put off by the thought of hard contact sparring. The good news is that, while any of the aforementioned kinds of training can be beneficial when properly done, they are not all usually needed at anywhere near maximal development. Endurance is important, but not "combat sport" endurance: most street fights are short, and while the adrenaline dump involved in a fight can be exhausting, there is not going to be a "round two" to worry about. As for flexibility, if you can get your foot up to average knee or thigh height comfortably, that's quite good enough. And strength, sure it's valuable, but if someone wanted to just be in decent to good general shape, that's fine as long as they understand that they need to be smarter and more efficient (read "nastier," e.g., jab the throat if possible rather than the nose) than the opponent. This is not just an optimistic theory, as it has actually panned out that way for a number of guys I know that did not have to endure hard contact sparring and are not exactly the greatest of physical specimens. The main point of all of this is that whatever shape someone is in, self-defense is a feasible possibility within their limitations.

Progressive Flow

2009-07-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that the best martial training progressions are based around what could be called “progressive flow.” What I mean by that is that as soon as a thing is learned, another thing to contrast or compliment it is learned and then put into a drill format so that cognition is developed to distinguish between them. For example, if a parry is learned as a jab counter, then a parry (or any appropriate defense) against a cross should be learned soon after that, so that the trainer can feed a random series of jabs and crosses to the trainee who learns to see what’s coming. At the point that defending against jabs and crosses doesn’t seem overwhelming to the defender, then we might add defenses against the lead or rear hook which would make at least sixteen two-count combinations to learn to perceive (e.g. jab, cross; jab, lead hook; jab, rear hook etc.). Then we might add kick or take-down defenses and so on. So the point is that a body of responses is progressively broadened so that the trainee is able to handle more and more possibilities. This (and here comes the trash-talk/critique) is in contrast to some systems that teach technique or pattern memorization and no flow or sparring training, or technique memorization and then sparring with no progressive bridge, which would be the equivalent of learning to memorize some phrases in a language and then be expected to speak that language functionally. And under stressful conditions. Some people might make that work, but it is not an efficient way to go about learning.

Self-Defense or Self-Development?

2009-07-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

On occasion when talking with someone, usually a person outside of martial arts, I get the question regarding martial training, “What is more important to you, self-development or self-defense?” To me, it’s the same as asking “What’s more important to health; inhaling or exhaling?” After all, the self-development value of self-defense training is in what you learn about yourself, and if the combative training isn’t realistic, then the issues that follow from it are questionable. If the training brings up issues to deal with (emotional fear, physical fear, determination, anger) and demands problem solving (e.g. why isn’t this tactic working for me; is there a more efficient way to accomplish a goal), then there is a good chance for personal growth unless one is just too plugged up to be open to it.

My Students

2009-06-24T01:06:00.000-07:00

It's an idiosyncratic little list of people that have trained with me. It includes blue-collar workers (construction worker, fireman), digital professionals, therapists, some lawyers, students and so on. One thing that they have in common is that they are just here for the training. What I mean by that is that all of them are doing the training because they enjoy it and find it useful, not because they are working towards any kind of certification to hang on their wall, or to be part of a social group or hierarchy (there is none to be part of as I just teach privately). Nobody is too concerned about the Jeet Kune Do lineage. What has been a pleasant and consistent surprise over the years is how the training has affected them personally; I seem to get reports of noticing how much less anxious they are in personal interactions where power dynamics may be at play. And of course it's been important that on those occasions when necessary, the model of how confrontation works and how to deal with it has been born out.

Even Simple Is Complex

2009-06-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

When you think about it, executing even the simplest technique in context is a complex task. Take a jab, for example. Even doing a proper power jab, with no telegraphic movement, coordination of the turning of the waist timed with an advancing step, the final jab extension coming just before the lead foot touches down, well, that's something that takes cultivation. And that's just the solo part of it. Then to develop the sense of timing and distance relative to an opponent is another cognitive skill set. And then on top of that, to be ready for all of the possible things that can happen as you fire the jab is a boatload of complexity; being ready to counter the opponent's simultaneous counter-strikes, or to shift smoothly to another line of attack as the jab is being defended against, you get the idea. And yet many/most traditional martial arts emphasize the practice of pre-set techniques with long chains of movements. Now certainly, the more honest of the instructors using that kind of training method would say that those sequences are just to teach coordination and possibilities of attack and defense, but if the techniques (and let's assume here for the moment that they are workable) are not ultimately practiced in a loose freelance way, the chances developing their spontaneous use is highly unlikely.

Balancing Awareness and Paranoia

2009-05-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

For many people involved in martial arts, the decision to cultivate those skills is a way of taking responsibility for their own safety. It's a given that even in the safest of societies or areas of town, that there may be the possibility of incidents involving anything from road-rage to attempted mugging. As mentioned in a previous post, awareness may preempt an unwanted situation. The challenge is having awareness without paranoia. So while walking somewhere, for example, it's a good habit to notice things in our immediate environment that could be used for defense, such as club-like objects in a street dumpster, or having a pen within reach, but not letting that awareness translate into an assumption that a boogie-man is going to jump out at you if you are not hyper-vigilant. Not always an easy thing if we watch too much tabloid news, but something worth striving for.

"What's The Best Technique?"

2009-05-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

"What's The Best Technique?" is a really common question that martial trained people get from well-intentioned people curious about self defense. To put the answer in immediate perspective, we should ask them first "What's the best driving technique? Is turning right best or turning left best? Should I speed up, stop or go into reverse?" They will say "Well of course it all depends where you are IN CONTEXT, in the flow of traffic and so on, so I can't really answer that question!" And so it is in self defense. Also, your car does not drive itself; it requires your learned cognition specific to that skill, even if it now seems automatic. A Ferrari may be an amazing car, but it can be driven badly, so one can't say they practice some "proven and effective" system and assume that makes them somehow safe by association. Any system of self defense still requires that we do enough work to "own" the skills and not just know about them. A saying in Jeet Kune Do is "It's not what you know that counts, it's what you can do."

The Basis Of Martial Systems

2009-05-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

One of the problems of traditional martial systems is that they generally don't start from scratch. That is, they start by teaching the proper movements of their tradition rather than presenting any kind of view of what natural human combative instincts involve. The first two common scenarios I'm referring to are mugging and "regular guy" types of confrontations. In "regular guy" confrontations, some of the most consistent things that can be observed are:
- No sense of distance or range; rather you see the hands-down chest bumping I'm-not-ascared-of-you distance, or two guys trash-talking from a mile away because they clearly do not really want to fight.
- Wide looping strikes; because our arms are on the outside of an axis, natural punches are curved swings.
- Stems (reaching out) in offense (grabbing) and defense (straight-arming and blocking).
- Separation of offensive and defensive actions.
- Telegraphing; huge obvious preparation of strikes.
So really, what we want to do first is ask "What are common human combative instincts?," followed by the question "What are the least labor-intensive potentially effective offensive and defensive actions we would want to functionalize?"

More about this in the next post...

Some Youtube Clips

2009-04-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

Just letting you all know that if you go to this link to Youtube, you can see some clip bits from some of my DVDs/tapes. Most of the material is more advanced, which is to say not as important as the basics, but you may find it interesting.

Ideal In A Nutshell

2009-04-26T00:53:00.000-07:00

Along with politics and religion (and I suppose any human discussion), martial arts is fraught with controversy. In martial arts, arguments over what's workable or necessary or what is a likely street scenario splinter into various camps. We'll examine some of these points of view, but my instructor, Dan Inosanto, put the ideal general skill set in clear perspective. He said to be well-rounded combatively, you would want to have some understanding of offense and defense at the kicking ranges, punching ranges, some grappling skills, know a bit about edged weapons, something stick length, and in terms of physical qualities, appropriate strength, some endurance, some pain tolerance, and the final thing he said it was good to have was luck! That being said, the good news is that you don't need to be tremendously skilled or well rounded to improve your odds in many combative scenarios. The most important tools, i.e. anything you use, are not acrobatic or exotic, just efficient. A kick to the knee is not something that takes years to make effective or maintain. This is not to say that high kicks can't be effective, but clearly they are more labor intensive to develop and I would rather use that time to cultivate more important skills. Or read a book for that matter.
To be continued...

Awareness and Fear Of Looking Afraid

2009-04-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

So many potential confrontations may be avoided, first by awareness (relevant to both men and women), and second by not worrying about looking afraid (more relevant to men). In the first case, just paying attention to our environment, (who is around us, if someone seems to be following us and so on) can preempt finding ourselves in an unwanted scenario. Of course the awareness is useless unless we act on it. For example, if it seems you are being followed, then rather than just dismissing it as being paranoid, going into the nearest business and seeing if the person/s in question keep on moving down the street or not, and if there's a bouncer or doorman at a bar or restaurant, then actually letting them know your concerns is not a bad idea.

In the second case, if some knucklehead on the street is acting like an ass towards you, rather than responding in kind, responding to it in the most neutral way possible can often lead to nothing more than being annoyed. As one of my instructors said, "Someone can call me anything they want, as long as they aren't trying to get physical with me." The problem is that guys don't want to appear cowardly and that can lead to unnecessary trouble.

Look at all of the places written or reviewed on sites such as blogdowntown.com or angelenic.com think how relevant the above scenarios are.

Links

2009-03-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

I'll be listing various martial and L.A. related links that I find useful. The first I'll post for those looking for general martial arts information is Martial Arts Exchange. The site has quite a bit of information on a variety of martial arts. Check it out.

Three Elements of Self Defense

2009-03-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

People interested in martial arts often focus on technique. "What would you do if...?" kinds of questions are very common. This is understandable, if missing the point. Before discussing technique (either a specific technique or technique in general, as in a particular approach to combative scenarios), we have to consider cognition, the ability to recognize in a timely fashion either the offensive opportunity or the defensive need. And before we talk about developing cognition, we have to acknowledge that cognition won't be functional if we don't have an appropriate state of mind, something other than deer-in-the-headlights-this-can't-be-happening. That does not mean having to have complete confidence, as some fear can be very inspirational, but an attitude that at least allows us to respond. To sum up, technique may matter, but fighting is first and foremost an emotional challenge.

Welcome!

2009-03-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new site! I'll be posting regularly about issues relating to various points of view regarding self defense. These issues will include ideas on technique, strategic principles and, very importantly, the training process. I'll be back later today, but will just say for now that there's very good news and bad news relative to self defense. The good news is that with a few essential skills (physical and cognitive), you can make a very big difference in your odds for a positive outcome in a physical confrontation. It does not take years to achieve this, but weeks or months because the most essential tools are not exotic, but direct and efficient using a natural range of motion. The bad news is that you could study for many years and be very good, and still get sucker-punched or surprised somehow or just overwhelmed. There will never be a point at which someone is magically undefeatable, regardless of the comic book-worthy martial arts adds that claim otherwise. But we wear seatbelts to increase the odds of our safety, not for a guarantee of safety. Same thing with self defense training.

Contact

2009-03-24T00:59:00.000-07:00

Sessions may be arranged Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m to early evening.

Email: sgrody@earthlink.net
Phone: 213-625-0516

Located in the Arts District since 1986 at
427 Colyton Street, CA 90013.

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Training Overview

2009-03-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

I offer information and training on a range of Jeet Kune Do and Filipino martial arts related subjects. My training is based on a street-oriented perspective. That is, from a perspective based on the most direct defensive and offensive skills that are most likely to be effective in probable scenarios.

Training is based on response drilling, very physical but somewhat game-like, rather than memorization of patterns. Sessions at my studio are for individual and private groups only. Specialized programs available include: women's self-defense; improvised weapons training; Taoist Qi Gong (breathing exercises).

Sessions may be arranged Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m to early evening.
Located in the Arts District since 1986 at 427 Colyton Street 90013.

Testimonals

2009-03-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

Steve's training is "non-sport" oriented, though what is taught would be relevant, even novel, in any combative context. Steve goes to lengths to consider self and situational awareness, as well as issues that ought to be "common sense" when looking at being prepared for most likely, to least likely combative eventualities.

The training is of equal utility for men, women, older and younger persons. The material is organized in a more clear-sighted and useable way than I've ever seen. Intensity of training is based solely on the abilities of the student. Training is always comfortable but challenging, and always fun.

A rarity in the millennium- I can wholly recommend Steve's instruction.
-Petar S.

Steve Grody is one of the best instructors I've ever trained with. His knowledge of JKD is both encyclopedic and functional! His eskrima/stick material is truly unique. No one is teaching material this pragmatic, this relevant and this useful.

The time I spent with Steve ranks as some of the best training I've ever done. Recommended without reservation at twice the price.
- Jay H.

Steve teaches practical, effective self defense. He discards complex, unrealistic dogma and replaces it with effective real world technique.

As a police officer, my training with Steve gives me confidence in my ability to protect myself in a real world encounter. Steve trains realistically and with one singular goal - win the fight."
- Matt K.

I wish I had studied with Steve 15 years ago. I am a very new student of his, but even after 15 years of martial arts training, I walk away from every class with a ton of new ideas and material. I consider his instruction to be truly top-shelf stuff. He's very down-to-earth, and really wants to make sure that you're learning the material.

Although LA is an incredible place to study a wide variety of arts, good martial arts teachers are very few and far-between. Steve's a great one. That's pretty rare."
- John S.

Bio

2009-03-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

Here is a brief background of my involvement with the systems I am authorized to teach.

· My training began in 1973 with Dao Dan Pai, a traditional southern Chinese Daoist system which I learned under Share K. Lew from China. The training included not just the traditional Gung-Fu, but a very potent series of "internal exercises" for health, which also served as the basis for the healing system Master Lew taught.

· Jun Fan - Jeet Kune Do. I studied under Dan Inosanto for thirteen non-stop years (1979 to 1992) and became the primary substitute at his academy from '85 to '90 when he had to be away. To say it is fascinating to study Jeet Kune Do and other systems under Sifu Inosanto would be an understatement; he constantly experiments with various curriculums, bringing in new material, editing out material, showing constant curiosity and openness. He is truly inspirational in the way he always pushes his knowledge forward. During the time I was helping with the Academy teaching, he would train with as many as seven different teachers a week to expand his knowledge, but always with an eye towards "absorbing what is useful and rejecting what is useless".

· Inosanto Kali, a combination of twenty five Filipino systems including the highly effective LaCoste-Inosanto empty hand methods which was taught at Guro Inosanto's academies. I assisted and was substitute instructor for these classes as well.

· Lameco Eskrima. I was extremely fortunate to study privately with the founder of the system, Punong Guro Edgar Sulite from 1990 until his untimely death in 1997. Although I had enjoyed taking his seminars when at the Inosanto Academy, I didn't start training one-to-one until Guro Inosanto treated me to a private lesson from Punong Guro Sulite at Dan's house, and at that point realized what fine personal teaching technique he had. I was flattered that he felt I eventually understood his system well enough to have me direct a number of his videos. Master Sulite and I developed a friendship over those years and besides his extreme skills, his warm open-heartedness and humor are greatly missed.

In September 2000, I was honored to have been inducted as a Master Instructor of the Year for the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame, sponsored by the World Head of Family Sokeship Council.

Notes on Training

2009-03-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

People are interested in the sequencing and relationship of the many areas of technique and training method in Jun Fan - Jeet Kune Do, FMA (Filipino martial arts) and various adjunct areas such as Muay Thai and Silat. In response to questions in this regard, I'm presenting a general progression overview.

EMPTY HAND TRAINING

There are various options for sequencing progressions of material. While an approach that integrates jeet kune do and kali curriculum is recommended because they complement each other so efficiently, skills may be separated according to needs and interests (studying straight jeet kune do trapping for example). The following is a general progression that is very beneficial for a development from foundation to more advanced skills.

Each body of material includes technical principles, training methods to functionalize the material, integration with the other skill areas, and working on gaining a sense of strategy and priority as to what's most effective at a given moment. That is, in addition to obvious physical work, we do progressive cognitive drills so that we can smoothly handle more and more choice reactions as we learn. This applies whether talking about Jeet Kune Do, or Filipino martial arts.

Each technical area should be sequenced so we're not putting the cart in front of the horse. For example, it would be a bad idea to teach jeet kune do trapping or kali joint locking before working with the kickboxing skills that allow us to set up trapping and joint locking

Here is a general curriculum progression.

1) Footwork drills to develop distance sensitivity and timing when to go in or not, when to angle or circle right or left. These skills are the first step to developing "generalship", or being the one that controls the nature of the confrontation. These drills are drawn from jeet kune do, and personal research.

The next three areas could be in any order;

2) Hand attack, with an emphasis on non-sportive tools and targeting, including finger jabs and elbowing, drawn primarily from jeet kune do.

3) Kick attack, with an emphasis on low-maintenance kicks from the groin down, but working some mid and high-line kicks for the sake of being well rounded and being able to help our training partners work on defenses for those kicks. This material is initially drawn primarily from jeet kune do.

4) Hand defense including parries, covers, gate blocks, bob and weave and drills for choice reaction. That is, against a left hook, for example, we might evade, cover, simultaneous block/hit, bob and weave or stop hit, and some choices are more efficient at a given moment than others; how do we learn to spontaneously choose? This material is primarily an integration of Jun Fan and jeet kune do western boxing and Wing Chun methods.

5) Kick defense, including footwork (of course), parries, shields and covers and the stop-kick. This material is drawn mostly from jeet kune do, with Kali as an adjunct.

6) Close quarter stop-gap tactics (AKA "foul tactics," AKA "my favorite things"). It's a given that any method can fail; all it takes is a fraction of a second of distraction or brain-freeze and whammo!, things get messy. But even though it would be relevant to talk about grappling at this point, there are things that are very effective and take less skill. Again, the less skill something takes, the less likely it is to screw up. Things like thumbing the eye, finger grabs, head-butting, shouldering, pinching, biting, and a few selective nerve tweaks. It always amuses me when an instructor says in response to this " well anybody could do that!…" as though it's lack of needed technical sophistication is a negative. When I grapple with my students (standing or on the ground), we always go for these targets first if available. Jeet kune do and kali share these methods.

7) Jeet Kune Do - Jun Fan trapping. When we get to the point where we function at least fairly well with the relationships of the above material, then we can take a step up in skill level either offensively or defensively. Jeet kune do trapping can be done defensively, but the progression makes the most sense starting in offensive mode. At every step of the way, it's important to relate back to the previous material so it's not an isolated skill. It is part of the base understanding that we don't trap because it's cool, but because the context presents itself.

7) Sectoring. Up to this point in the progression, we have done some simultaneous defense and counter-attack, primarily against hooking lines or as a stop-hit. But doing this against straight line strikes requires a better eye and timing, so we don't do it at an earlier stage. These variations and relationships (actually termed "time-hits" in jeet kune do via fencing terminology) can be efficient entries, or used as back-up counter-attack for other tactics like trapping or locking. This material also serves as a beginning to specific kali empty-hand skills. This is also numbered "7" because it would make just as much sense to work with sectoring at this point as it would to work with trapping.

8) At this stage, we have broader options. Going into grappling and groundfighting, joint locking, or sensitivity training would add important pieces to the puzzle.

9) Kali empty hand. The Inosanto-LaCoste system, emphasizing the limb counter-attacks and it's follow-ups with percussion, joint locks and take-downs. This material blends beautifully with jeet kune do, but can be learned as a separate area.

10) Anything that takes extreme precision, such as silat, or other specialized jeet kune do training.

As always, the challenge in jeet kune do is to integrate the skills so that at any appropriate point, we can flow to one efficient response or another, otherwise we might as well be learning card tricks to show at the family picnic.

WEAPONS TRAINING

As with the empty-hand training, there are many possible Kali/Eskrima progressions that would make sense. Here is one general progression that I use.

I think it's beneficial to be exposed to Dan Inosanto's system and Edgar Sulite's Lameco system at the same time, but it's certainly legitimate to focus on one or the other for the sake of interest even if both men's systems shared important material and both men were always changing their drills and training structures as a reflection of their continuing research and growth.

1) Single stick with emphasis on using the motions at long range and follow-ups at middle range as our "home" to use Edgar Sulite's term. Developing an eye for "before, during, and after" variations of timing is central.

2) Double stick with emphasis on developing the motions with offsetting combat syncopation and in relationship to other patterns. For example, once we've learned a "heaven 6" pattern (Inosanto system) in matched coordination, then we not only learn variations, but variations randomly fed and matched. Then syncopated applications, and then how six-count might interact with a four-count pattern. In other words, some of my friends think that the more counts there are (e.g. Villabrille 24 count), the more "advanced" the essence of the drill is. More complex is not the same as more advanced; advanced has to do with how something is used. As Dan Inosanto would tell you, the crudest pattern in the Inosanto system, "caveman" Kobb Kobb is more advanced, if used in syncopated form, than the so-and-so 84 count, and the simplest free-lance drill will generally be more beneficial than the most complicated set pattern.

3) Single stick at intermediate range. There are many interesting drills at this range, including the use of checking, counter-checking and the principles of disarms. Shortly after gaining some understanding of the checking hand with these drills, we would move in to close range, and then work on flow between the three primary ranges.

4) Available weapons. If someone wants to carry a knife, it would be a good idea to start the whole weapons progression with that. But for the majority of people that don't carry a knife, understanding available weapons is important. The reason that I'm mentioning this in relations to knives is because the most common available/improvised weapons are short; pens, forks, hairbrushes, car keys.

5) Knife, starting at long range and working timing, distance and rhythm in attack and counter-attack variations, and eventually working in closer. I recommend drills that work at real time with broken rhythm rather than traditional flow drills.

6) Staff. Staff-like implements are not unusual in our surroundings, so learning staff is not just an "art" part of the FMA, but very practical.

7) Stick and dagger. While it is true that it's unlikely that any of us carry a stick and dagger or sword and dagger around with us, and even more unlikely that someone carrying stick and dagger would have to spontaneously fight someone else carrying stick and dagger, it's a fascinating discipline because of all of the intricacies involved and attention that must be paid. It's like four people doing counter-for-counter drills all at the same time, two with daggers and two with sticks.

Instructional DVD/Video

2009-03-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

All of these videos are packed with information. I don't show twenty repetitions of the same technique so I can extend the tape series. I don't include filler material or "teases," but give an in-depth look at these subjects.

GOOD NEWS! "THE FLOW OF FILIPINO KALI EMPTY HANDS 1-3" is back in stock!

HEADS-UP! The producer of my Essential Self Defense series has majorly screwed up and has put the wrong DVDs in the boxes, so sales of those shows are temporarily out of the catalog until that can be straightened out. Furthermore, if you order them from Beckett Publishing you will not receive the correct DVDs!

The Jun Fan/ JKD Trapping Series vol 1 - 4, Jun Fan/JKD/Kali Sectoring, Siko Ordibas/Tapi Tapi Drills and Hubud Lubud Drills are now available on DVD:

From this site only:
Get the Complete Trapping Series DVDs vol 1 - 4 at a discounted price:
All 4 DVDs for $129.99 with FREE SHIPPING!

From this site only:
Get the Sensitivity Training 3 DVD pack - includes Hubud Lubud, Siko Ordibas and Chi Sao DVDs at a 10% discount. All 3 for $67.47 with FREE SHIPPING!

Jun Fan / Jeet Kune Do Trapping Skills Part 1 - DVD
The first tape in this series presents primary traps to initial strike obstructions and the all-important functionalizing process, and begins the progression dealing with secondary obstructions after the initial trap.
Approximately 58 minutes. $39.95

Jun Fan / Jeet Kune Do Trapping Skills Part 2 - DVD
Volume 2 completes the double trap (first and second obstruction) series, and presents drills to develop the speeds of perception and reaction in trapping.
Approximately 58 minutes. $39.95

Jun Fan / Jeet Kune Do Trapping Skills Part 3 - DVD
The tape presents the skills necessary to defend your trapping against counter-puncher during trapping, and begins the counter-trap series.
Approximately 45 minutes. $39.95

Jun Fan / Jeet Kune Do Trapping Skills Part 4 - DVD
In Vol. 4, the counter-trap series is completed, entries are looked at in detail, trapping from defense is dealt with, and finally, how trapping is used against boxing completes this series.
Approximately 60 minutes. $39.95

Kali/Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do Sectoring - DVD
There are many systems that use elements of what we are calling "sectoring," also known in JKD as "time-hits," (simultaneous counter-strikes). For the first time, sectoring is being presented here as autonomous body of knowledge beyond mere "entry" moves. This includes the inter-relationships of possible time-hits and how those choices are made moment to moment. Sectors are also shown as a back-up for other tactics such as trapping and joint locking. These skills cross the boundaries of JKD and Kali.
Approximately 55 minutes. $39.95

Modified Chi Sao - DVD
The thrust of this DVD is less about how to play the game of chi sao (sticky hands) with another chi sao adept, and more about how it fits into useful fighting skill in the naturally sloppy world of combative instincts. This DVD includes; individual hand roles/applications; outside/inside defensive, outside/inside offensive, luk sao, drills from the roll, active/passive changes, non-standard additions, five ways of attack within chi sao, gua chuie cycle, single hand patterns, entry (clean and messy), loose boxing to chi sao and back, adding kicks.
Approximately 55 minutes. $24.95

Hubud Lubud Drills - DVD
This DVD goes into this Filipino empty-hand drill in detail. Contents include; Defining the Kali lubud/hubud drill, hammer/overhand cycle breakdown, active/passive beats, stealing beats, switches (double tap, outside pass, backhand, circle hand), vertical gunting cycle variations and switches, horizontal gunting variation, elbow variations (da kop, wave, lift), boxing into lubud, lubud to boxing, the loose drill principle, low pass and meet, elbow check series, taking the whole line, numerado principle and interruption, downward rolling elbow, underclip elbow, backhand cycle, honesty factor, integrating kicks, locks, and other sensitivity drills.
Approximately 56 minutes. $24.95

Siko-Ordibas/Tapi Tapi Drills - DVD
This DVD works through the Siko Ordibas (elbow and backhand) drill, and the Tap and Wipe drill. I also show how these drills are countered at each step, how they offset and blend with each other, and how these drills can move back and forth between who is feeding, and how to mix these drills with other sensitivity drills such as chi sao, lubud, elbow control and boxing drills.
Approximately 55 min. $24.95

Training Progressions Overview - DVD
This DVD deals with the overall arrangement of training progressions including technical levels and necessary drills. Areas covered: the concept of pre-requisite skills, mobility drilling, sticky evasion vs entry or stop hit, principles of body mechanics and power, drills for hand and elbow combination recognition, foul tactics, defense drill, kick ranging, kick defense drill, principle of progressive integration, relative value of choices, sectors (time-hits V jab/cross variations), trapping vs alternative lines, pros/cons of locks, sensitivity value, Kali based on sectors.
Approximately 28 minutes. $19.95

The following DVDs are available from me directly via Paypal:

The Flow of Filipino Kali Empty Hands Volume 1 - DVD
In this DVD, we work through a comprehensive series of counter-attacks directed at the opponent's punches and kicks, and done in the distinctive way of Inosanto-La Coste Kali.
Approximately 45 minutes $29.95

The Flow of Filipino Kali Empty Hands Volume 2 - DVD
In this DVD, we work with Kali kicking methods, Kali trapping attack, primary gunting (nerve hit) combinations and gunting follow-ups.
Approximately 55 minutes. $29.95

The Flow of Filipino Kali Empty Hands Volume 3 - DVD
In this DVD, we go into the details of Kali's distinctive hand and elbow follow-ups to the opponents limbs and body, wrenches, joint locks and take-downs. Also for the first time on tape, we take a thorough look at foot trapping and crucial training methods to develop technical flow.
Approximately 56 minutes. $29.95

VHS titles:

Street-Tweaked Boxing - VHS
This tape includes; boxing's street value, alternative tools and targets, street-alternate cover, foul tactics, high and low cover to elbow and hammer follow-ups, head butting, foot stomps, jamming. Sound quality is not great, owing to the age of the tape, but it's clearly understandable.
Approximately 28 minutes. $19.95