1/8/17: single stick master class - range, footwork and body mechanics

INOSANTO BLEND #1-17
1: downward forearm slash to the neck/side of the head RFL (right foot lead)
2: downward backhand slash to the neck/side of the head RFL
3: horizontal forehand to the body LFL
4: horizontal backhand to the body LFL
5: stab to the abdomen RFL
6: stab to the head RFL
7: reverse stab to the head LFL
8: redondo on the backhand LFL
8: redondo on the backhand LFL
9: downward forearm slash to the knee RFL
10: downward backhand slash to the knee RFL
11: upward forehand LFL
12: upward backhand LFL
13: abanico high to the left RFL
14: abanico high to the right then chamber on the right shoulder RFL
15: small umbrella redondo on the right LFL
16: large umbrella redondo on the right LFL
17: jabbing diagonal uppercut from lower right to over the left shoulder RFL

Numerada –defang the initial attack then continually moving to zero pressure as you move through a figure 8 followed by a redondo making it a 4 count.
Conceptually, the key learning points were that the defender (D) must focus on:
• Range – when you hit him your stick, he must not be able to contact you, use the full range of your weapon and body combined.
• Footwork – continually move and zone to zero pressure. The is an intrinsic relationship between range and footwork. Both need to be effective, you can’t have one without the other.
• Body mechanics – to enable fluid use of the weapon.

The above concepts were continually refined in the drills below.

1: Single stick (A) feeding the 5 angles v single stick (D)

2: Single stick (A) feeding the 5 angles and followed by a knife stab v single stick (D)

3: Single stick (1 hand grip) (A) feeding the 5 angles v single stick (2 handed grip) (D)

4: Single knife (A) feeding the 5 angles v single stick (D)

5: Single stick (A) plus another (A) feeding the knife attacks – stabs or slashes v single stick (D). Essentially it was 2 v 1. The third person comes in occasionally so the D has to add peripheral vision and awareness to the concepts of range, footwork and body mechanics. The second attacker moves with ‘Walking Dead’ pace, not ‘28 Days Later’ pace

6: Double stick (A) v single stick (D)

7: Single stick (A) v single knife (D). The D now needed to apply more aggressive forward energy to crash the range of the stick.

2/5/17: shadow boxing rounds, thai 4 counts, conditioned sparring and strips using the single stick.

Shadow boxing/carenza

Working the following rounds:
Evasion
Jab only
Forward pressure
Moving backwards
In close and tight
Counters
Moving left
Moving right
Pivoting
L-stepping
3 punch combinations
I’m certain there were a few more variations too…
Putting them all together

Thai 4 counts
All the kicks were targeted at the lead leg of the opponent, the left leg hit the inner thigh and the right kick was on the outer thigh.
1: Jab (lead hand) – cross (rear hand) – left round kick (lead leg) – right round kick (rear leg).

2: Uppercut (lead hand) – cross (rear hand) – right round kick (rear leg) – left round kick (lead leg).

3: Step off and left hook or jab (lead hand) – right round kick (rear leg) – step off right and right hook or cross (rear hand) – left round kick (lead leg).

Then, conditioned sparring rounds doing any of the 4 counts, 1 for 1.

Pad rounds x3:
Pad holder was the coach and caled the number of punches to be thrown from 1 - 5. the pad holder was also responsible for checking if the hitter's hands were up as well as ginving them motion - enetering the range and holding the pads in different angles so that the hitter had to moce round the holder to be in a sound position to launch attacks from.

Single stick strips against the angle #1

These were worked from long range with the mind-set of crashing in. Both the strips were worked from a static stick being held by the partner to enable flight time, they were then worked out of motion.

Snake:
Roof and shoot the left-hand arm/hand straight and wrap from there (rather than trying to cover the hand and wrap). Wrap with the left thumb up and high. Your hand and his should be at eye level. Add the rotation and hitting his stick arm for the strip.
If it does not go, insert your stick to the other side of his wrist as you slide you left hand down his stick. Continue the opposite direction motion to strip the stick and flow with a combination of strikes.

Vine:
Inside sweep and check the stick, moving to the left and away from the empty hand that could strike, jab to the eyes with your stick and lever his stick vertical. This angle was key for an effective strip. If this doesn’t work, take your stick out and put the tip in your left hand, you will now have his and your stick tips in one hand. Using the right hand, use the similar rotating motion as in the snake strip to take his stick. We were also shown a nasty variation where the hand is trapped and crushed between the two sticks.

28/3/17: boxing 3 counts, sumbrada plus stick and knife

BOXING 3 COUNTS

GLOVE WORK:
The following 3-counts were all about learning to develop and drill different options:
• Options to attack with variety in combinations.
• Options to crash range
• Options to fight at long range
• Options to break rhythm
• Options to attack from different angles
We need the different options so that we are not one dimensional or predictable or avoid getting stuck in doing our favourite attacks or strategies.

Long jab – long cross – long left head hook

Long jab – long cross – long left body hook – jab on the way out. These 2 techniques were worked with the longest punches you could throw; keeping the left shoulder forward and not being square. There was no stepping or moving the front foot as this would give him something to read. The image below is a good illustration of the length and body turn that Steve was requiring. Make the initial jab believable.

Jab – tight left head hook – right cross

Jab – tight left head hook – right cross to the body – jab on the way out. The tight left hook was all about sound body mechanics and tight hand motions. Once the jab was completed, (this time step in to throw the jab) do not retract as you would conventionally for the hook. The jab is completed and moves back a tiny amount so the arm can bend. From here, everything rotates as one for the hook. Make the initial jab believable.

Jab (slide and step to cover distance) – right body hook – right head hook

Cross – left body hook – left head hook. You must move in deep as either he jab or cross are thrown to get you in the correct position for the hooks. It was important to get deep next to, almost past them yet close enough to have the nearside elbow on him. This will minimise his ability to throw punches but also facilitate maximum positioning for your hooks.

Jab – right uppercut –left head hook. In between the jab and uppercut, bring the back leg in then lengthen the front leg to make sure you have a sound, short uppercut, not a long and looping one.

Conditioned sparring using the sumbrada idea – counter for counter
The first 4 in any order, 4 for 4.
Counter for counter – any 3 count whilst practising the different options.

STICK AND KNIFE (KALI)
The main flow of motions was a four-count using alternate stick (right hand) and knife (left hand) attacks. This might need some editing...
1: angle 2 backhand strike ( right hand ) with stick, while stepping off to the right
2: left hand high line stab with the knife, on the same 2 line, followed by
3: angle 2 backhand redondo ( right hand ) with the stick
4: reverse stab on the angle #1 line

In the mirrors and then mirroring with a partner.

Angle #1 (stick) - Angle #2 (stick) - Angle #1 (stick) - then 4-count pattern
Abanico backhand – abanico forehand – abanico backhand then the 4-count pattern.
Heaven 6 – Angle #1 (stick) - long backhand cut with the knife then into the 4-count pattern

16/3/17: thai boxing fundamentals, knife sumbrada plus strips

THAI BOXING FUNDAMENTALS

Shadow boxing warm up - head movement, punch defences plus footwork patterns

Long guard drilling
Long guard: left arm out straight down the centre, right arm covers the right eye / right bicep is against the cheek / right forearm is diagonal across the face so that the right hand is at the top left of the head / chin is tucked / looking through the eyebrows
- by holding the structure
- by moving into the position from the on guard stance

Crush drilling
Standing leg is bent, 'blocking' leg is 90 degrees bent with the thigh parallel to the floor and perpendicular to the body, toes flexed, long arm of the same side as the standing leg which is simulating pushing into his chest/head/shoulder
- by holding the structure
- by moving into the position and combining this with the long guard

Kick for kick
Crush the kick and return, first against the switch kick off the left leg, then against the rear kick of the right leg.

PAD ROUNDS - Thai 4 counts
Lead round kick - cross - hook - rear leg round kick
Lead round kick - cross - body hook - rear leg round kick
Lead round kick - cross - lead uppercut - rear leg round kick

KNIFE SUMBRADA
5 count, building on the practise from last week. Trying to make the motions tighter and use the non-weaponised hand/arm to control his weapon hand.

STRIPS

OFF THE ROOF
Take control of the wrist and swing counter clockwise (with your left hand) so you finish with your palm up. Have your elbow pressing into your side for structural support and be off line of the line of attack. If he was simply stumble forward, the knife would be in you, hence being off the line of attack. Strip the blade out against the gap in his grip using the webbing of your right hand.

If this doesn't work, maintain wrist control with your left and use your right forearm against the flat of the blade. You move to being back on his centreline and feed the blade back to him by pushing your right forearm forward.

OFF THE STAB
Step the right leg back as you come down on his stab with the left forearm, reach over your forearm and clasp his writ with your thumb and put the blade of the blade against his wrist to secure the position. Use the left hand to quickly 'slide' up the weaponised arm for the strip.

What a great class as always. On the way to training, I was listening to an interview with Duane "Bang" Ludwig on the Drunken Daoist podcast, and he was talking about how we need to be honest yet respectful to our training partners - we must feed them the right energy; too much and it becomes silly, emotional and senseless injuries occur, too little and they don't get to work with a decent energy and thus get a false sense of security coupled with crap technique. That to me feels like essence of this group; hard work, honest attacking and safe work. Challenging yet supporting each other. Bloody brilliant.

9/3/17: Carenza, jab and cross defences plus knive v knife work

CARENZA
All the following were 2 minute rounds.

Double stick

Single stick right hand then left hand.

Stick and knife stick in right knife in left then swap hands.

Single knife right hand then left

Double knife

Empty hands

As above but adding kicks and knees

GLOVE WORK
Person A double jab with forward pressure and pentertration with both. On the 1.5 beat and light and fast. Person B catches both.

Jab cross on the half beat, person b just catches both as previous.

Person A attacks with double jab or jab crossPerson B splits on the second attack

Person B waslik (scoop) and short uppercut against the 2nd attack. Put a blanket on it then scoop rather than just scooping out of thin air

Person B responds with pak then forearm to the neck

Final round - put them altogether or in any order.

KNIFE V KNIFE
5 count sumbrada

Adding an extra challenge by inserting the feint on the stab then the angle 2 stab

24/1/17: Thai 4 counts and single stick

As I am currently yet briefly out of action with illness, James has thankfully written the blog post for tonight.

Thai 4 Counts

Done offensively then defensively:

1. Step-off jab, rear leg thai kick, cross (throw it without putting the leg down after the kick and kick the leg back like a superman punch), inside leg kick.
2. Catch the jab then do combination (1).
3. Inside leg kick, cross, rear thai kick, step-off jab.
4. Crush the switch thai to your rear leg and do combination (3).
5. Cross, inside leg kick, step-off jab, rear leg thai.
6. As (5) but throw the cross as a cut punch as he jabs.
7. Rear leg thai, step-off jab, inside leg kick, cross.
8. Crush the rear leg thai and do combination (7).

Single Stick

All of these motions are not ‘blocks’ but hits to the hand:

1. Your stick points down - roof block the angle 1 (drop your weight down and slice the stick from L. to R.) and then angle 1 down his centre line.
2. Your stick points down - umbrella the angle 1 (block like a roof but instead of slicing the stick from L. to R. just block then take the stick anti-clockwise behind your head) and then angle 1 down his centre line.
3. Your stick points up - inside sweep the angle 1 (zone R.) and reverse slash across his stomach.
4. Your stick points up - outside sweep/deflect the angle 2 (zone L. into cat stance) and hit down on the arm.
5. Your stick points down - wing block the angle 3 (zone R.), flip the stick then jab to the throat.
6. Your stick points down - wing block the angle 4 (zone L. - hide your L. hand behind your stick by putting the edge of your little finger against it), forehand redondo and jab to the throat.
7. Your stick points up - shield the angle 4 (zone L.), forehand redondo and jab to the throat.
8. Your stick points up - you see the angle 3 late so you pass it by shifting your R. leg back and hollowing your stomach and using your L. hand to deflect his hitting arm back into him and to the R. (not just moving it sideways) as you hit his arm over the top.
9. Your stick points down - you see the angle 4 late so you pass it by shifting your R. leg back and hollowing your stomach and using the back of your L. hand to deflect his hitting arm back into him and to the L. (not just moving it sideways) as you hit his arm in a similar motion to the wing block.

1/12/16: double stick, takdowns into submissions and positional rolling.

DOUBLE STICK PARTNER WORK
All the following with female footwork. All the double stick work gets the brain firing because you constantly crossing the centreline with alternate hands and the feet are moving. The more I did it, the more rhythm I felt I got despite the constant mantra in my head of what strike or numbers or patterns we were working.

FIGURE 8’s
Open posture, right hand figure 8 then left hand figure 8 as a continual loop drill.

HEAVEN 6
Right forehand, left backhand, right backhand, left forehand, right backhand, left backhand.

We then put the 2 drills together as a loop – figure 8’s on the right followed by half of the heaven 6, figure 8’s on the left hand followed by the rest of the heaven 6.

8 COUNT
Right forehand (high), right backhand (low), left backhand (low), right backhand (high), left forehand (high), left forehand (low), right backhand (low), left backhand high.

We then put all 3 together as a loop drill:
Figure 8’s left and rights sides into complete heaven side then full 8 count.

CARENZA (shadow boxing with sticks)
Using double sticks and adding footwork.

SINGLE STICK
3 count high box sumbrada

5 count sumbrada. My first time in a while but managed to fumble along. Looking forward to putting the reps in. I still, to this day, find it fascinating how each person has a different energy to feel to the work they do. It always takes me a few minutes to adjust to the feel of a partner change because we all attack from slightly different angles, or check with slightly different energies or have small adjustments in range. Plus oddly, I appear have a tiny stick compared to everyone else. They must be compensating for something…

Adam was working double stick gunting against whoever was working the 3 or 5 count. I think Charlie and James might have been doing some cheeky punyo variations as well in their corner of the room.

TAKEDOWN TO SUBMISSIONS

AGAINST THE JAB
Parry and eye jab on the outside of the arm, overhook to had on the shoulder and step up to him, step back with the right to take him down whilst maintaining the control of his arm and upper torso. Left knee is tight to his back, right hand hammerfists the face. Step over with the right foot and use the calf against his face to tighten to control. Control the arm tight to your body and turn to your left for the shoulder submission.

Parry and split entry, shoot in for the takedown by driving the shoulder into the abdomen as you pinch the knees together, double underhooks at the lower back and takedown into mount.

From here, depending on the response from the person on the bottom, there were 3 options we looked at.
If he blocks and covers the head, go for the Americana.

If he extends an arm, go for the head and arm triangle.

If he tries to push away and make his arms long, go for the arm bar from s-mount.

Although the Olympic judoka and world champion is not pinching her knees together you can see how tight her hips are to the shoulder of Meisha Tate; escape was futile.

AGAINST THE JAB CROSS
Parry and cross over the parry to the chin, sandwich grip the hand as you plant the back of the hips to him, you now have his arm (elbow up) on the top of your shoulder, maintain the grip as you drop under the arm and rotate and turn the wrist outwards for the takedown. From here, put his palm on your hip and turn to the left for the wrist submission or break.

Parry the jab and split entry off the cross onto into Alien / head tilt takedown, knee on belly to possible pull up wrist lock. Thanks Steve for the edit.

POSITIONAL ROLLING
Giving and taking positions, no submissions. When Steve said rolling my eyes must have lit up as I saw James’ grin from across the mat. This was about getting a position of dominance and then allowing them to escape and find their own position of dominance. Almost like a counter for counter drill. A lovely activity of movement and feel. You get a chance to flow and breath with no need to worry about control or things getting ripped. Steve did show a variation where you look for submissions as a counter for counter but that is for another day.

Once again, a bloody great class. This is class and the instructor is clearly the best kept secret in martial arts despite my best intention to advertise and promote the Academy through this blog. In addition, the senior students are always so accommodating and patient with the lumpier work from those of us with less experience. A great place to be, to learn and to grow #SMFAA

8/11/16: glove work 3 counts, pad training and syllabus specific work

GLOVE WORK

3 COUNTS
A throws the 3 count and B moves and defends so there is an element of aliveness to the drill.

1: Jab - cross - lead hook (defender uses long guard to defend)
2: Jab - lead hook body cross (defender cataches the jab, bob and weave the hook and tuck twist for the body shot)
3: Jab followed by long step and slide, get to his side and throw the right body hook and right head hook (defender catches the jab and covers for both hooks)
4: Right cross - left body hook to left uppercut (defender parrys the cross, covers for the hook and uppercuts the uppcut to take it off line)

3 COUNT FREE PLAY
Attacker has to get at least one punch in, defender blocks, covers and parrys. Attacker plays with timing, distancing, feints and angles. Really great drill as you can keep the eyes open without worrying about heavy shots coming in; meaning you get to practise sound defensive mechanics whilst punches are coming in.

KNEE TO KNEE 3 COUNT
Any 3 punches, take in turns, try to get them all in and allow none of his to get in. Keep moving, use the elbows to open him up, keep the crazy monkey defence fluid and the eyes open.

PAD ROUNDS
1: Jab-cross, feeder throws lead hook, bob and weave under and insert the body shot, cross-hook-cross, right body hook-right head hook.
2: Pad holder holds left pad long and right pad to the side of the face, this is to force movement in and out. Jab on the long arm pad, step in and jab the pad near the head, come back out and jab the long arm pad, pad holder moves forward and you pivot off line and control the head and neck with your lead arm, then throw an overhand right, left uppercut and right overhand
10 second Tabata style rounds
Jab-cross
Cross-hook
Double uppercut

KNIFE TAPPING AGAINST THE 5 ANGLES
Against #1 move inside, high block and strike to eyes and neck, backhand sweep the knife hand towards him, cover the elbow, strike to the eyes, head, face.
Against #2 stay behind it, high block and strike to eyes and neck, backhand sweep the knife hand towards him, cover the elbow, strike to the eyes, head, face.
Against #3 low block (like a bong sau) and strike to eyes and neck, backhand sweep the knife hand towards him, cover the elbow, strike to the eyes, head, face.
Against #4 low block (like a bong sau) and strike to eyes and neck, backhand sweep the knife hand towards him, cover the elbow, strike to the eyes, head, face.
Against #5 move inside, low block and strike to eyes and neck, backhand sweep the knife hand towards him, cover the elbow, strike to the eyes, head, face

4/10/16: Panantukan and hubud

PANANTUKAN (FILIPINO BOXING)
Against the jab and the cross: split entry (get the head off the line of the shot), so against the jab short parry with the right and the left goes straight down the centreline to the throat or face, left gunting to the bicep followed by pak sau with your right to the forearm and left hammer fist to the neck.

On the right side against the cross, short parry left and send the right down the centreline, right gunting, left pak sau and right hammer fist as you step with the right leg. The forward pressure puts them on the back foot.

Steve talked about the functionality of trapping. It is merely a way to isolate or move a limb to facilitate a strike. Nothing more, nothing less. If there is no barrier then hit, if there is a barrier, remove it and hit.

The next phase was adding a punch combination, so after the hammer fist it was cross-groin hit/hook-cross

The following phase was him stopping the hammer fist. You turn the body to create a tan sau (just enough space to clear the line for the strikes) and hit followed up by low covering pak and hit.

The final phase was him giving too much energy and pushing the hammer fist across the centre line, from here you lap sau and hit, low line trap and hit.

Steve earlier on talked about the use of the gunting, not every shot is a KO and some strikes are major and some are minor. The gunting (bicep attacking strike) falls into the minor camp. Minor does not mean useless, it merely means having less reaction and effect than a major one.

Below is an interesting video of Vunak doing his thing. He seems to like the use of the gunting in its various guises in this short video. Also, it hints at some of the work we did tonight.



PAD TRAINING
ROUND 1: Feeder throws a jab, 'pad hitter' split entry, pak and hammer fist, cross-hook-cross

ROUND 2: Feeder throw a jab, split entry, pak and hammer fist, feeder puts up the pad, hitter uses lap and hammer fist and again lap and hammer fist followed by cross-hook-cross. The feeder needs to get the pads and energy forward for the hammer fists. Thankfully I had little Nick, several times my pad was too close to my head and the weight of his shots caused me to hit myself on the forehead. What it did teach me was to give strong energy on the pads when power and weight are coming forward.

HUBUD
The basic roll where the initial attack to to get the neck for the clinch. Steve talked about this drill being excellent to work out of motion and find things with lots of movement and aliveness.

Each person took it in turns to feed the energy for the attacks.

On the first defensive motion (hand inside the neck attack and towards the eyes), step back, extend your left hand so you are inside his forearm, load the right ready to punch with the cross, step and punch with the cross. As the punch comes in, he will short parry left and gunting with the right, the right hand then pistons back as the left hand presses down to clear the path for the right punch along the centreline, from here the hubud drill continues.

The second energy we worked was being on the outside of the arm and attacking with the right cross. To get to the outside of the arm, on your third motion or pak/slap to the arm, rotate the palm down and push your arm long against his elbow. As your right cross comes in, he will this time will short parry left and biu jee/ eye strike with the right, followed by a lap sau with the right and punch with the left. From here, the hubud drill continues.

Like most aspects of training in JKD, hubud is something I love to practise. Yet again, another great session at the Academy. Perhaps the highlight of the night was the fact that it was eventually decided how we end the class and say thank you to each other. There is now a simple solution. Praise Odin. Grading has been set for 17th November at 8pm sharp.

27/9/16 Syllabus focus

Apologies up front to James, Jay and Noel who were working on material pertinent to their grade.

CARENZA rounds to get warmed up:
- double stick
- single stick
- stick and knife
- knife
- knife ice pick grip
- double knife
- hands only
- legs only
- hands and leg

GLOVE WORK:
jab-catch and reply with 4 defences
1: slip with the left shoulder, right uppercut
2: split entry
3: cut punch
4: scoop and lead uppercut

basic cross loop drill with 6 defences
1: shoulder roll
2: short parry
3: long parry
4: lead elbow crush
5: gunting (rear hand parry and lead hand bicep attack)
6: lead uppercut

SINGLE STICK:
high box 3 beat sumbrada. Getting the pattern flowing, doing it with 'swords' for flowing stick use. We also worked without making contact with the sticks and making the checking hand do all the work.

It was great to focus on core material work, drilling our basics. Me and big Nick were lucky tonight to have Jay on hand with all his experience to keep an eye on proceedings.

Kali

Daniel Lonero seminar, day 2

Right off the bat, if you have any details or notes you want to add, email me and I will insert them citing you. It would be great to get different perspectives and experiences from those in attendance.

Email: pcaswe1@elp.rbksch.org

James has already sent me his notes. Please find them after my partially coherent ramblings.

The day started off with warm ups based on mobility and flexibility. Mobility work is pretty generic and we ran through the main joints. I have my own mobility program I do and will put that up in a later post. He then ran through the opening postures of the Bikram sequence of yoga. On a side, this is something I have become interested in over the summer and have incorporated Bikram Yoga as part of my own training schedule.

I love it, give it a go.


Part 1 of the day was following where we left off yesterday and working with the sticks. There was a variety of co-ordination drills followed by in-depth punyo focus. This was followed by redondo and abanico strikes against the 5 angles. My actual recall of these, even a few hours removed, is poor. What I will take away, as with the whole weekend, is that I am now a tiny bit better than I was on Saturday morning. Maybe I am more aware of my feet, or lowering my posture or have gained an improved understanding of the punyo. What I can say with certainty is, had I stayed at home, I wouldn't be that one step closer to getting better. This blog is called Kaizen JKD as Kaizen is a Japanese concept of continual improvement. For me, that is what all this is about. Getting better through practise.

After lunch it was silat time. Many moons ago I trained in Harimau which brings back painful memories of leg conditioning. Thankfully, Daniel gave us an insight into applications off the lead punch. We entered in the same way but ended with with the opponent's arm in 6 variations yet each variation took us to the same place - in control of the arm and away from other striking tools. I have watched many silat videos and have been fascinated by this art and how things just seems to be there for the next technique and then next technique and so on. I really enjoyed the flow and feel of the motions to the sweeps to the takedowns and to the finishes, which relative to the rest of the weekend, were particularly violent. Daniel gave the context of the silat material, obviously it was born out of a need and society very different to ours. I do however, think it is a valuable study.

Daniel also talked about the 5 targets in silat:
Hand - that is the first target as that is the thing usually attacking you.
Eyes - can't see, he can't fight.
Airways - can't breathe, he can't fight.
Groin - pain
Legs - transportation system. With a rye smile, Daniel said so he can't use them, changed his mind to, so he can't run away!

It was watching him move in the silat section that it was apparent how skilled he is in movement and has absolute mastery over his body. This is not because he was born gifted or special, but because he has spent time working, making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. They say a black belt is white belt who never stopped going to class. Failure is a significant part of our journey and for me it is a great way to keep the ego in check. In my mind, I am THE shit, if you train with me, you know I'm just shit! But I'm happy with that because meeting people like Daniel and seeing all the people there at the seminar this weekend helps to reinforce that idea. Chael Sonnen says 80% of winning is just turning up. For me, that is turning up to class but also turning up to my yoga mat or kettle bells and putting the time in.

The day ended with some delightful pummelling for double underhooks. For me, some of the best times I've had in martial arts has been grappling. I just love it. I love the honesty of it, the effort, the problem solving and the struggle.

Daniel talked about relative truth, he mentioned silat, not a critique but as an assessment. I think the point he was making was that arts like this, don't appear to have contested or non-compliant work and would benefit from developing more of this. I loved my time in Aikido but felt the training methods, not the techniques, were not honest enough. I even thought that when my shoulder was 'accidentally' dislocated.

I guess it is all about balance and find what is what you want and what you need. It was a pleasure to be in the room for 8 hours with Daniel and his most able assistant Anton. It was just friggin awesome.

JAMES' NOTES. As yesterday, many thanks James. This is quite a piece of work.

Double Stick
With partner, starting in open guard do the following in sequence:
1. Cobb cobb x4.
2. Angle 1, angle 2 on right then left.
3. Angle 1, low backhand watik, angle 2 on right then left.
4. Switch to closed guard and heaven 6.
5. Standard 6.
6. Earth 6.
7. Forehand, backhand as you umbrella, forehand on right then left.

From closed guard:
1. Partner feeds an angle 1, hit his stick with a right forehand, then right Redondo, left backhand, right backhand in the air.
2. Partner feeds an angle 2, hit his stick with a left forehand, then left Redondo, right backhand, left backhand in the air.
3. Partner feeds an angle 3, hit his stick with a right forehand, then right Redondo, left backhand, right backhand in the air.
4. Partner feeds an angle 4, hit his stick with a left forehand, then left Redondo, right backhand, left backhand in the air.
5. Partner feeds an angle 9 (forehand to knee), hit his stick with a left forehand, then left Redondo, right backhand, left backhand in the air.
6. Partner feeds an angle 10 (backhand to the knee), hit his stick with a left forehand, then left Redondo, right backhand, left backhand in the air.
7. Do 1-6 as above but this time partner feeds for both the forehand and the Redondo and so you hit his sticks for those two strikes then do the two backhands in the air. For example partner will have both sticks on his right shoulder and will feed two angle 1’s with the left stick first then the right.
8. As (7) but mix the angles e.g. first strike high, second strike middle; first strike middle, second strike high; first strike low, second strike high; first strike high, second strike low.
9. Partner feeds an angle 5 with the right stick, abanico 3x (left, right, left; hitting stick, hand, elbow) then Redondo twice, backhand, backhand (in the air). Do same on left side.
10. Partner feeds an angle 6 (reverse thrust to head) with the right stick, deflect with your right stick by flicking your wrist to the right (so your palm faces up) then Redondo twice, backhand, backhand (in the air). Do same on left side.
11. Partner feeds an angle 7 (forehand thrust to head) with the right stick, deflect with your right stick by flicking your wrist to the left (so your palm faces down) then Redondo twice, backhand, backhand (in the air). Do same on left side.

Stick Hubud
1. Start with standard hubud.
2. Pass the angle 1 like a dagger pass (switch to left lead). Guide the path of the stick so it does not hit your leg. Partner does the same.
3. Raise, trap and backhand (keep the stick under your armpit). Partner parries it down and feeds back the same strike.
4. One side does (2) and the other side does (3).
5. Raise, trap and feed an angle 3 (leading with the punyo), partner stops with his left hand, hits the inside of the elbow with the punyo, hits the bicep with his elbow then flips the stick to hit you on the head, you shield then raise, trap and go back into the drill.
6. Raise, trap underneath your right arm and feed an angle 2, partner blocks, raises, traps and goes back into the drill.
7. Raise, trap above your right arm and feed an angle 4 partner blocks with L. hand (palm up) or with the outside forearm of the stick arm, raises, traps and goes back into the drill.
8. Pass the angle 1, backhand hit the hand/knuckles, retract your left hand to allow you to bring the punyo back up to feed the angle 1 then put your left hand back on.
9. Pass the angle 1 and inside gunting under the arm and feed the angle 2, partner stops it, raises, traps and hits.
10. Feed the angle 1, partner blocks in the normal way and as he does this you throw a left vertical punch, partner parries with his left hand to the right, hits the inside of the elbow with the punyo, hits the arm with the stick by flipping the stick up and can feed a straight punch to turn the drill into punching hubud or he feeds the angle 1, partner passes and goes into one of the options off the pass.

Sumbrada Flow 1
1. Pass the angle 1 and feed back the angle 1.
2. Partner passes the angle 1 and feeds the angle 3.
3. Stop with left hand and guntin the arm right to left with punyo and feed angle 4.
4. Partner passes the angle 4 with the back of his hand (his stick should be chambered over the top of his left arm) and feeds the angle 2.
5. Stop the angle 2, raise and feed the angle 1 and the flow starts again.

Sumbrada Flow 2
1. Pass the angle 1, backhand hit the hand/knuckles, retract your left hand to allow you to bring the punyo back up to feed the angle 1.
2. Partner passes and guntings underneath and feeds the angle 2.
3. Vertical gunting and throw the left vertical punch.
4. Partner parries with his left hand to the right, hits the inside of the elbow with the punyo, hits the arm with the stick by flipping the stick and feeds the angle 1 and drill starts again.

Silat
Partner throws the jab. You parry inside with the left and monitor his right hand with your right hand then:
1. (Arm over) Wrap your right arm over his left arm as you step your right leg forward in front of and between his legs, shoot your right leg back to sweep his leg then step your right foot behind his right foot, as he loses his balance and posts on his hand, bring your right foot towards you to sweep his leg and stamp on his knee with your left foot, keeping control of his arm step around his head and sit back for the arm bar.
2. (Arm under) Shoot your right arm under his left arm above his elbow as you step your right leg forward in front of and between his legs, shoot your right leg back to sweep his leg then put your left hand on the back of his neck and reinforce it with your right hand on top, push down on his neck and feed his head through so he ends up sitting with his back to the front of your legs, keeping control of his right arm feed your left arm behind his neck (palm against his neck) and push down on his neck as you twist his arm.
3. (Both arms over) Circle your hand over his arm and feed it to the left then roll your right arm over (like the way you roll for the wave and hack switch from hubud) as you step your right leg forward in front of and between his legs and use your right forearm above his elbow to bend him forward (your left hand should be on top of his wrist), shoot your right leg back to sweep his leg, use your stomach to walk him forward at a 90 degree angle so he ends up face down on the floor, place your right knee on his tricep and pull up on his lower arm.
4. (Right arm under, left arm over) Circle your hand over his arm feed it to the left then shoot your straight right arm underneath his arm (keep your left hand on top of his wrist) as you step your right leg forward in front of and between his legs, shoot your right leg back to sweep his leg then step your right foot behind his right foot and use your right hand to pull on the back of his knee, as he loses his balance keep control of his arm as you pick up his right foot with your right hand, right knee drop his groin and squeeze your knees together around his right leg as you put his right foot under your right armpit then heel hook.
5. (Right arm over, left arm under) Circle your hand over his arm and feed it to the left and roll your right arm over and put your left hand under his wrist as you step your right leg forward in front of and between his legs and use your right forearm above his elbow to bend him forward, shoot your right leg back to sweep his leg, put your right hand on the floor and then slide your right knee through so he goes face down onto the floor and you’re controlling his arm in a keysa position with your right arm over and left arm under his arm, apply pressure into him and arm bar.
6. (Both arms under) Circle your hand over his arm and feed it to the left as you put both hands under his arm and go to step forward but as you do so he puts his right hand on your head, pop his left arm up as you step his right leg behind him and put your right elbow on his chest, posture up and use your right elbow to unbalance him over your leg and spin clockwise keeping control of his left arm then go into a suitable finish.

Daniel Lonero seminar, day 1

There was much banter today from my 'friends' from the club at the lack of ability to blog in detail. Well they were right. Lots of material was covered in our 4 hours with Daniel. At the end of my blog post are the notes and reflections made by James. He puts me to shame, many thanks James.

Daniel is an inspiration in the way he moves and the way he teaches. There was a combination of actual martial arts material but also a healthy dose of cultural contextualisation.

Kickboxing session.
Warm up with evasion methods - maintaining striking range
Form training of kicks using a partner to take care of your balance so you can focus on the legs: lead leg round kick to the chest, to the inner thigh, chest then thigh, double kick to the chest.

The main theme of this part of the seminar was ripost -
noun
1.
a quick, sharp return in speech or action; counterstroke:
a brilliant riposte to an insult.
2.
Fencing. a quick thrust given after parrying a lunge.

- and being able to ripost to after your opponent attacks.

Daniel built the learning in layers, I stayed at the lowest layer because quite quickly the brain was filling with information and unable to process.
-4 evasions of the jab, then the cross then the hook. The idea was to use footwork to get out of range, coupled with the footwork were a variety of parrys or connections with his punches.

Kicks were then added. So the idea was to evade the punch attack and ripost with a kick.

Then came the ripost work against kicks. There were 6 riposts (after evasive footwork) to the lead kick to the inner thigh and 6 riposts to the round kick to the outer thigh. I
Ripost kicks -
side kick to lead leg,
round kick to rear leg
round kick to the mid line,
stomp the thigh,
follow the kick with a kick,
heel stomp (looks like a crush),
gay gordon (lift the heel to the arse to block the kick)
round the world (going over the top and with the energy of the kick)

Putting it altogether - Partner A feeds punches and occasional kicks. Partner B has to control the punches, look for ripost kicks to the arm attacks as well as trying to use the ripost counter kicks.


Double stick session.
'Walking lines' with flow and exaggerated motions. Daniel talked about going slow to restore or cultivate energy in the body.
Doing different examples of Heaven 6. walking forwards, backwards, sideways, quarter turing. Also inserted was different ways of doing the Heaven 6. I don't know the names but there were X versions, more vertical versions and then one where the final strike goes around the head.

Paired Heaven 6 - forwards, backwards and sideways.

Triangles of Heaven 6 - one person going backwards as the two walking forwards are constantly throwing their strikes. The uniqueness of the drill was that each person going forwards only makes contact with 3 of their strikes.

4s of Heaven 6 - whilst moving down the hall, to your face partner, then shoulder partner, then corner partner.

This is when it all really fell apart in terms of details...

Double stick v single stick - gunting against the 6 angles (angle 6 looked to be upward backhand?), 6 or so different strips of the angle 2. The strips were the same, how he got there was different hence blankness in me.

We then moved on to using the punyo (the butt, the base, the bit sticking out from under your fist). We looked at hubbub using the punyo and inserting strikes on the 4 angles. This evolved into a counter for counter drill attacking on the 4 angles. More tomorrow.

Intermittently, Daniel talked a lot about culture and the differences between high culture and pop culture, the hierarchy of traditional (pre-industrial) Japanese and Chinese society. Interestingly, at the bottom of both were the merchants. In our society, making money seems to be the goal. There was also talk about solo training in Kail and the importance of it, not only for the practitioner but also in other contexts - for demonstration purposes, for ceremonial purposes and for assessment of skills and ability purposes.

Today wasn't just about techniques, it was about martial arts. Really excited for day tomorrow. I am going to try and be, feel and absorb.

In summary, today was a remarkable experience to see a master of movement (of self and others) in action.

Below are the extensive and detailed notes from fellow classmate and seminar attendee James

Savate
Evasion Warm-Up
1. One side holds arm out and moves around – the other side has to maintain range.
2. Slip C. slip J, B+W RH, B+W LH, lean back from RC, bounce back RC.
3. One side throws L. or R. round kicks to body (kick with foot – extend leg so at long range – keep torso upright), other side moves sideways away from kick.
4. One side throws inside leg kicks, rear leg kicks or jeet-teks and the other side evades by bouncing back out of range using both feet.
5. One side throws a mix of punches of kicks as above and other side evades.

Leg Warm-Up
Both sides in left lead hold each other’s left hands or balance. Chamber left leg, keep the torso as upright as possible and:
1. Roundhouse to liver / solar plexus 7x without putting leg down.
2. Roundhouse to inside thigh 7x without putting leg down (bend supporting leg each time you kick).
3. Roundhouse to liver / solar plexus then roundhouse to inside thigh 7x.
4. Roundhouse to inside thigh then roundhouse to liver / solar plexus 7x.
5. Double roundhouse to liver / solar plexus (second kick only partially retracts) 7x.
Do the same from a right lead.

Ripost
Partner jabs:
1. Catch, pause then jab back.
2. Catch and jab back on the half beat (ripost).
3. Jab back as you catch (simultaneous).
4. As you see his punch start to come you jab (interception).
Aim is to use your legs to control range and timing. When you parry maintain contact with partner’s arm so you can feel his energy.

Partner jabs:
1. Step right leg back and out at a 45, and parry outside with right hand, left roundhouse to body on the half beat.
2. Step right leg back and out at a 45, and parry outside with left hand (bridge), left roundhouse to body on the half beat.
3. Step left leg back and out at a 45 (so you are in a right lead), and parry outside with right hand, right roundhouse to body on the half beat.
4. Step left leg back and out at a 45, and parry inside with right hand (bridge), right roundhouse to body on the half beat.
Partner crosses:
5. Step right leg back and out at a 45, and parry inside with left hand (bridge), left roundhouse to body on the half beat.
6. Step right leg back and out at a 45, and parry outside with left hand, left roundhouse to body on the half beat.
7. Step left leg back and out at a 45 (so you are in a right lead), and parry outside with left hand, right roundhouse to body on the half beat.
8. Step left leg back and out at a 45, and parry outside with right hand (bridge), right roundhouse to body on the half beat.
Partner long hooks (to determine your long hook range, put your fists together then open your farthest knuckles so a triangle appears between your knuckles. When your thumbs touch that’s the angle of your fist for the long hook):
9. Off left hook, step left leg back and out at a 45, and parry outside with right hand (bridge), right roundhouse to body on the half beat.
10. Off right hook, step right leg back and out at a 45, and parry inside with left hand (bridge), left roundhouse to body on the half beat.
11. Off left hook, step right leg back and out at a 45 and tight cover the hook so it just brushes your guard then left roundhouse to body on the half beat.
12. Off right hook, step left leg back and out at a 45 and tight cover the hook so it just brushes your guard then right roundhouse to body on the half beat.
Do 1-4 above but off a jab, cross, jab combination. This time though you have to start moving your foot on the cross in order to land the ripost – leaving it for the final jab will be too late.
One side feeds punches and the other side covers in boxing range then starts to implement 1-12 above off the punches. You want to be continuously changing range – like a rubber band.

Evasion / Interception

Partner inside leg kicks. Evasion is always by hopping both legs back out of range:
1. Evade then pendulum or hop-in lead roundhouse to body.
2. Evade then jump in rear leg kick.
3. Evade then hop-in lead leg side kick.
4. Intercept with rear leg jeet-tek then lead roundhouse to body.
5. Intercept by lifting lead leg up and then pushing kick down on his quad then right roundhouse.
6. Lift lead leg up and circle it clockwise so it scoops outside his kicking leg the right roundhouse.

Partner rear leg kicks:
1. Evade then pendulum or hop-in side or front kick to body.
2. Evade then jump in rear leg kick.
3. Evade then hop-in lead leg side kick.
4. Intercept by lifting lead leg up and then push kick down on his quad then front kick to body (don’t put leg down between interception and kick).
5. Intercept by blocking kick with the sole of your left foot then spinning crescent kick.
6. Bring your left heel to your butt then scoop his kick with your left instep then right roundhouse.
One side feeds punches and the other side covers in boxing range then starts to implement riposts, evasions and interceptions.

Double Stick
Solo (slow and smooth – can be like a meditation):

Walking forward – closed guard:
1. Heaven 6.
2. Forehand, backhand, Redondo, forehand, backhand, Redondo.
3. Forehand, umbrella as you backhand, forehand, forehand, umbrella as you backhand, forehand.
4. Heaven 6 sideways – the shoulder doing the forehand should lead – requires cross-step footwork.

With partner who has a single stick:
1. Partner feeds angles, 1, 4, 3, 2, 5 then a 12 (vertical upward backhand). Gunting each strike and then insert a watik after each gunting (a backhand for angles 1, 3, and 5, a forehand for angles 4, 2 and 12).
2. Do (1) but drop to one knee. Ensure the supporting foot is to the side or behind the knee not in front of it.
3. Partner feeds angle 1, you gunting, both sides backhand watik then partner feeds an angle 2. Zone left and backhand hit the hand, step left leg forward and use the punyo of your left stick (stick facing down) to scoop on the inside of his arm (elevator), strike the body/left hand with your right stick and insert the punyo (stick facing down) inside his arm (almost replaces where the left stick was), use left forearm to strip the stick.
4. As (3) but as partner feeds the angle 2, zone left and hit his hand with a left forehand, hit the head with a right forehand then insert the right stick punyo inside his arm as in (3).
5. As (3) but as partner feeds the angle 2 shield block (like in punyo sumbrada) then go into left then right elevator strip.
6. As (5) but after shield zone left and hit his hand with a left forehand, hit the head with a right forehand then insert the right stick punyo inside his arm as in (3).
7. As (3) but as partner feeds the angle 2 outside deflect with the right stick, hit the hand with a left forehand, hit the head with a right forehand then insert the right stick punyo inside his arm as in (3).
8. As (3) but as partner feeds the angle 2 inside deflect with the left stick, hit the hand with a right backhand, then go into left then right elevator strip.

7/7/16: shadow boxing, carenza and knife tapping

SHADOW BOXING ROUNDS
- Hands
- Hands and elbows
- Hands, elbows and knees
- Hands, elbows, knees and legs.

CARENZA ROUNDS
- Double stick
- Single stick L&R
- Single knife L&R, regular and ice pick grip
- Stick and knife, swapping hands
- Double knife, regular and ice pick grip

KNIFE TAPPING

FEEDER - forearm hook stab - abdomen slash - backhand hook stab.
Key learning tips
- Footwork drilling: left 'cat' stance to right ;cat' stance
- Push the blade towards them

We worked:
- Footwork
- Basic drill
- Insert half beat strike to the centreline
- 3 taps per arms
- Feeder removes the initial tap
- Back to the basic drill

This video shows some of the tapping we worked on. Tonight we look using the back of the forearms and both people 'face' each other in that there was no back turning.



This video, at the start, shows the application we work.
Tap and pass the arm, crash in with the left shoulder and cover, thumb grip right and bicep wrap with the left (high on the bicep), weight through the arm and strip.