25/7/17: knife masterclass and syllabus work

KNIFE masterclass

Defanging the 5 angles of attack.
The angles are the same for the single stick.
Angles #1, 3 and 5 involved defanging with a slash cut and passing the arm with the hand to get to the outside and zero pressure followed by a stab.
Against angle #2 - knife tip up and the outside of the forearm, fingertips up, against his weaponised arm then pass the arm towards and into him.
Against angle # 4, exactly the same as above except your knife is tip down now. Both angle #2 and 4 also had a stab to finish the technique phase.

Defanging in any order.
Steady consistent feeds bringing more aliveness into the drill as this required more awareness of his ‘whole’ to see the attack coming.

Adding slash attacks on the #1 and #2 lines between feeds
After each defence, we added continual movement by slashing on the #1 and #2 angles after the stab motion to the outside and rear of the body. This was to facilitate not stopping after the stab as that might not be enough and also to keep you moving with your attacks – never be stationary.

As an aside, one of the lads at the club tonight, reckoned he could take 2 stabs before being stopped; so long as the stab was not to the heart. I thought this was a really interesting consideration, simply because it was not something I had ever mused but also the reality of my job compared to his means that this is genuinely something worth understanding from his perspective. This also personified the potential need for multiple strikes with the knife, not just one. Shout out to the powerful Ben.

Feeder giving depth and penetration to the attacks
Now the feeder was trying to get his blade on to your body. The feeds were not necessarily faster, just had greater intent and penetration. This evolution of the drill really emphasised the need to move your body and to defang and pass with long arms.

Dagger pass loop drill into defanging the 5 angles
Slash on the angle #1 line as partner steps back (to get the lead leg out of the way) and does the dagger pass – clasp and guide the weaponised arm past and away from your centre. After a nominal amount of looping the motion, we went into defanging the 5 angles, in any order.

Low line stab loop drill into defanging the 5 angles
Stab on the low line #5 as the partner parries (fingers down, move your centre offline) the weapon hand and continues as above into the defanging practise

Adding secondary attacks (punches, kicks) after the initial feed
This then ensured we were aware of his whole body and teaches not to be fixated on the blade as he does have other weapons. The aim was to use your knife to defang these weapons too in addition to all the other learning points.

Stalemate 50/50 drill

Imagine the above image but each person is closer and holding the other’s knife. We looked at different ways of controlling him whilst extracting our knife. The intention was also to keep the arms low and not to be too passive or aggressive with our energy – if that was the case, he could feel it and use the energy to his advantage.

Syllabus work
Split into our grade specific groups and got on with our work.