Tweaking your martial art

Folks,

I am kind of in a renaissance period of sorts with my martial arts training. As a member of my family, our Kenpo is a very unique expression of who we are as people. Now of course, there are a ton of folks who claim that they are in possession of unique knowledge and skill sets. I don't know if I would go that far, but I do think that I have come upon some interesting insights recently. It happened nigh epiphany style while I was watching YouTube. Yes I was watching YouTube, but it was not Epic Beard Man, The Star Wars Kid, or the Urban Ninja :) In the future, kids wont know what I am talking about, so I thought I would put it out there for posterity. Thank me later.

Anyhow, I was actually watching a Daido-Juku tournament. I love this stuff. For those of you who don't know. Daido-Juku is kind of like an MMA style, but they wear gis and this special kind of helmet. They wear these helmets because head-butts are as legal as a right cross. Like I said...LOVE IT!! Anyhow, they do a lot of kicks, throws, arm locks, the whole shebang. I know that their focus is practical training, but I noticed something. Their skills began to look a lot like the Shidokan (which I also love) and all of the other folks out there who claim to be seeking "realistic training."

Then it made me a little sad. As you know, one of my biggest beefs with mixed martial arts competition is that they draw mainly from 4 arts while neglecting a ton of other things from other arts. As a martial artist, I would like for people to still be able to express themselves according to their art. It made me sad to think that people felt that they must abandon skills that they have spent years learning in search of a VERY limited type of sport training.

What I resolved to do from that point is to make sure that I take the skills I learned, and make sure that almost all of the self-defense techniques are applicable for today's combat reality. I began with an idea. I was watching Roger Mayweather use the focus mitts to help his nephew develop and maintain a tremendous defensive ability. ( See post above this one) I began to think about how to incorporate all of these drills along with kicks and weapons and stuff.

I began with the Kenpo technique called Five Swords. It is a technique that is a defense for a right cross. It is a very limited technique when done in the traditional way. You can see it on Casa de Kenpo on YouTube.It still has its uses, but they are limited. I was working with another Kenpo Black Belt, and we worked on the technique in a new and dynamic way. See, the first thing that I thought was that it should not take 5 swords. It should only take about 3 swords. But the way that it is committed to muscle memory is very useful when using proper drills. Starting out with elusive footwork, let the person use the focus mitts to throw the realistic right cross. The block is NOT done in a static manner. It is like a soft inside block or parry. The back fist does not need any tweaking. Instead of a palm strike, I recommend a cross instead of a palm strike for extended reach for shorter defendants or women. Instead of an inverted punch, I would think of a hook to the face, or a roundhouse kick to the body if he backs up far enough.

That was just the beginning. It is MUCH easier than you think to make a self-defense technique applicable for sparrring. The fact is that most people that speak out against the traditional arts cite its lack of applicability in a sportive or sparring environment. The first thing that I do is say "duh". Fighting for your life and sparring for points or money are not remotely the same thing. One does not neccesarily translate well to the other. They can, if properly tweaked however. As a matter of fact, I was thinking that I will be able to tweak almost all of the classical Kenpo techniques. Circle of Destruction, Kimona Grab A&B, Thundering Hammering, they all have something to offer. Later folks, I have to get to tweaking :)

The defensive fighter

Folks,

It has been a long time. I feel like I have abandoned you. I am sooo sorry. Anyway, anybody who has been in the fight business, or a fight fan long enough has heard something like this," He doesnt fight. He just runs away. He is scared of (insert fighter here). He only won because the other guy got tired of chasing him" Sound familiar? Well right now, I am going to speak about the "defensive fighter."

The defensive fighter is the fighter that is not aggresive just for the sake of aggresion. The defensive fighter is usually, but not always a counter striker. They lure their opponent in by giving brief openings in their defense, only to close them and strike when the opponent advances.

In combat sports, like boxing, kickboxing, and mma, people often frown on the defensive fighter's tactics. Fans love to see a good old blood and guts brawl. Just think of how popular the Hagler/Hearns fight was. Or the Ward/Gatti trilogy. In the mixed martial arts world, the UFC was essentially saved by the back and forth onslaught of Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. Not very technical, but tons of heart and offense. Not very often, is the defensive fighter given credit for having any heart, or even possesing the skill to NOT get hit.

But let's look at this closely. What is the point of a match or fight? Isnt it to do damage while not taking any in turn?I know that people equate a back and forth battle with having a big heart. But I am here to tell you, that since we cannot regenerate brain cells, "stick and move" is an excellent plan. Let's look at this historically. The point of evasive footwork was NOT to avoid a punch or kick primarily. It was to avoid a weapon: a sword, a staff, a spear or nunchucku. It behooved the individual to be able to strike and not be struck. A blow from a samurai with a katana was all it took to end the fight, and your life. Lyoto Machida, the shotokan expert said that he always looked as punches and kicks as swords, you dont want to be near them. With that philosoply, Lyoto has taken less punches than anyone in UFC history. His ability to dash in and dash out after inflicting damage is, wait for it, wait for it........LEGENDARY! ( Thank you Barney Stinson)

But back to it, people are not really keen on defense. As a matter of fact, it is a lot harder to have impeccable defense than it is to have a ferocious offense. As a matter of fact, most of the legendary fighters become legends on the strength of their scary offensive skills: Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Roberto Duran, Ernesto Hoost, Miguel Cotto, Felix Trinidad, Mike Tyson, Ernie Shavers,Thiago Silva, Thiago Alves, Wanderlei Silva, Terry Norris, the list goes on and on.

The list of defensive legends is much shorter: Roy Jones jr., Willie Pep, Muhammed Ali, Lyoto Machida, Floyd Mayweather jr. and Pernell Whitaker. There are more, but these are a sampling of folks who made a living NOT getting hit.

Ask yourself, how many times have we seen someone get tagged after their offensive onslaught has failed? We saw Ali rope a dope Foreman, we have seen Willie Pep win a round without throwing a single punch. We saw Anderson Silva embarass Forrest Griffin with a scary display of defense before he dropped a much larger Griffin. And in the early days we saw a 176 pound Royce Gracie out-savvy and submit a 250 plus pound Dan Severn.

Face it folks, defense is extremely important. It is often over-looked due to a lack of discipline. The drills are not as fun, and not nearly as satisfying in the gym. Folks respect the sluggers, not the dodgers :)

That said, buck up folks, move your feet, move your head, and just stay the heck out of the way in general.