Swinging big wood

The Chinese use the same word for challenge and opportunity.  Well, that is not actually true but it’s one of those things that is said over and over so often that everyone thinks it’s true.

The challenge I faced recently is that the department is short three Patrol Officers.  Kind of like every Marine is a Rifleman, every Officer is a Patrolman (or woman).  So I am back on patrol for a few months.  No big deal I always kind of liked patrol.  The challenge was making sure I still got all of my training in.  That challenge also created some new training opportunities.

Before we get to the new stuff lets review where I am coming from.  If you will recall the super soldier project, which trans-morphed into Batman by 40.  One of the requisites was training I can do in the morning before work, that increases cardio vascular stamina, works specifics combative skill sets, and doesn't lead to over training when combined with strength training and running.

For strength training I like to do a whole body suspension body weight circuit along with skill specific training.  Looks something like this:

Saturday – Strength & Fundamental Motions Tabata

Monday – Strength & Nage Waza (Throwing Techniques)

Wednesday – Strength and Kansetsu Waza (Joint Locks)

I also run three times a week

Friday – Distance

Sunday – Sprints and Plyometrics

Tuesday – Interval training 

My usual schedule is Monday through Thursday 0630 – 1630.  Thursdays are almost always tactical training days so I made that my rest day (sometimes a not so much rest day depending on the training).  So that meant I needed three (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) A.M. training workouts.

Monday – Atemi Waza (Striking) A heavy bag and jump rope circuit

Tuesday – Fundamental Motions Plyometrics.  Tabata training explosive fundamental motions against the resistance of plyobands.  A longer more intense version of what I do after strength training on Saturdays

Wednesday – Kenjutsu

Even Fridays I got extra training combining elements of Wednesday and Monday.

With the new schedule I work Saturday, Sunday, Monday every other week and on Fridays the opposite week.

So I needed some new A.M. workouts

I didn't want to just recycle the workouts I already do to prevent boredom and repetitive use over training.  So, I needed to develop training that fit my Batman by 40 criteria, and covered other aspects of combatives

Physical Skills Platform (Aspects of Combatives)

A use of force continuum is an example of rules of engagement found in most Law Enforcement agencies’ use of force policies.

Here is an example of a use of force continuum

1.       Presence

Physical Fitness

Awareness* situational awareness program

2.       Verbal commands

De-escalation

Communication Skills

3.       Contact Controls

Touching or Seizing the offender

Escort Compliance

Standing Controls

Pain Compliance

Joint Locks

4.       Compliance Techniques

“Soft Hands”

Take Downs

Throws

Pins       

5.       Disabling Techniques

“Hard Hands”

Impact Techniques

Striking / Kicking

6.       Potentially Lethal Force

3 – 5 – 7

Weapons Techniques

If you are going to employ your martial arts skills in the professional use of force you must assure that your own personal style covers all these aspects.

All Operators have to have skill sets at all levels of force.  I like to use this model as a frame work for operators to develop their own operational style.

Most of that is covered with my current training except for Pins (Osae Komi) and weapon techniques.

So I combined elements of the offensive ground work class I teach and transitions into different shooting positions into a workout.

But that’s not what this blog is about.  Maybe the details of that training and what I’ve learned from it will be the topic for a different day.

The title of the blog is swinging big wood.  Sexual innuendo aside what I’m talking about is Suburi.

Specifically how to get a good work out that improves skills applicable to 21^st century combatives from swing a big sword around.

Suburi is a Japanese word for practice swings.  Outside of Japan, the word is used exclusively for repetitive individual cutting exercises used in Japanese martial arts such as kendo, aikido, iaidō, and kenjutsu.

I like Suburi but I needed to switch it up from practice swings to incorporate more fundamental motions.

I have been very fortunate with the Kenjutsu training I received in that it tied directly back to the principles of what made empty hand techniques work.  Now, if I can find the sword in the motion then I know the technique no matter what the style.

Most combatives can be traced back one way or another to Jujutsu.  Jujutsu can be traced back to the noto techniques of Kenjutsu.  So it stands to reason that the fundamentals of the foundation would be universal to anything that came from it.

I train fundamental motions so often because they apply to all aspects of combatives.

If you boil it down there really only so many ways to move in relation to another person

Lateral             (Yoko Sabaki)

Circular           (Tenkan)

Opening          (Hiraki)

Entering           (Irimi)

Direct Entry    (Shomen Irimi)

To the rear       (Ura)

No matter what the weapon, no matter what the art, no matter what combative aspect within that art in fits within one of those six general motions.

Cops don’t want to learn a bunch of Japanese terms so when Jimerfield Sensei teaches cops he assigns numbers to the motions.

Lateral             (Yoko Sabaki)             1 & 2

Circular           (Tenkan)                      3 & 4

Opening          (Hiraki)                        5 & 6

He took that from his training in Nihon Jujutsu.

That is cool but it didn't explain other motions that have worked for me.  So in the training I provide I added

Entering           (Irimi)                         7 & 8

Direct Entry    (Shomen Irimi)            9 & 10

To the rear       (Ura)                            0

There is a saying in Judo – When pushed, pull – when pulled, push.  Similarly in Aikido the saying goes when pushed open when pulled enter.

These ideas / motions complement or cancel each other.

Push / Enter                                         Pull / Open

Circular (Tenkan)                                Opening (Hiraki)                    

Entering (Irimi)                                   Lateral  (Yoko Sabaki)

Direct Entry (Shomen Irimi)               To the rear (Ura)

What makes fundamental motions so cool is that they are universally applicable

Those motions are also what makes Kenjutsu work.  

Ok, ok, you may be asking how does this apply to suburi specifically and working out in general?

Suburi training usually consists of standing still and doing a few cuts.  Not great for drilling specific useful motions, more just a warm up or a work out for arms and shoulders.

However, if you use the complimentary motion principle and work opposing motions together you get all the benifits of regular suburi training, plus fundamental motions training, plus good cardio vascular effect because you are constntly moving.

The next part might get a little inside baseball but bear with me take the principles and apply them to any weapons training that you may do.

The Suburi I do now looks like this

OFFENSE                                                      DEFENSE     

7          8          Entering                                  2          1          Lateral Motion

YOKO GIRI / NUKEDOMEN                     KUBURI SHINOGI 

3          4          Circular                                   6          5          Opening

SUIHEI                                                          UCHI OTOSHI SHINOGI   

9          10        Direct Entry                            0          -1         Enemy to the rear

SHOMEN UCHI                                            URA TSUKI 

2          1          Lateral Motion                        7          8          Entering

YOKOMEN UCHI VARIATION                SUMI SHINOGI       

6          5          Opening                                  3          4          Circular

YOKOMEN UCHI                                        HASSO GAMAE      

9          10        Direct Entry                            0          -1         Enemy to the rear

TSUKI                                                           HILT STRIKE           

                                   

ONE MINUTE PER SIDE (left and right) REPEAT X2 = 24 MINUTES              

{Side Note - when you add the number assigned to the motion to it's complimentary motion it always adds up to 9.}  

Now you may ask is this a coincidence?  Isn't 9 sacred to the Ninja?  Kasey are you a Ninja?

Of course not there is no historical proof that Ninja ever even existed, much less still operate today.  But isn't that exactly what a Ninja would say? 

Ok back to the point of the blog...

This motion training not only helps with fitness and Kenjutsu but has positive crossover training effects to empty hand combatives, and firearms skills

It takes about 24 minutes, it's fun, and it kicked my ass.

When you work the complimentary motions together (9) it creates a flow that reminded of Indian Club training.

For those you unfamiliar with club training I paraphrased the following information from

http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/products/classic-wooden-indian-clubs

Every workout, there you are, pushing and pulling heavy weights (which is definitely a good thing), but there's more to it than strengthening the muscles alone... You must maintain stronger joints as well. 

After all, when you lift weights, you can only lift them in straight lines...but your body moves and functions in a circular manner.  This is especially true for the ball-and-socket joint of the shoulder. Think of how many different directions you can move your arm and how few of them you can reach with "weights" alone.

There's no question that the shoulder girdle is by far one of the most movable areas of the body but it is also one of the most fragile. Regardless of how you use your body, it is very important to keep the shoulders strong, loose, and flexible. 

But many people never fully develop their natural shoulder girdle mobility and muscular balance. Let me tell you about a simple training technique that will help..

                                               

Several thousand years ago, Indian wrestlers and warriors prepared themselves for battle by swinging wooden "clubs" to condition their bodies and build upper-body strength. This practice spread amongst many different countries throughout the ensuing centuries - club swinging of various forms can be found in just about every middle-eastern and Asian country.

In the 1800's, British soldiers started practicing "Indian Club" techniques and brought them back to Europe where the clubs became part of the physical culture tradition. 

In time, European immigrants brought Indian Club training to American shores. Club swinging was adopted into American school physical education programs and military physical readiness training. 

In the early 20th century, many students began their day with a few minutes of club swinging to wake up mind and body. 

Utilizing a series of graceful swinging movements, Indian Club training was a simple method for individuals to build stronger, healthier bodies while promoting joint integrity and improving strength and overall vitality. 

You simply need a space big enough to let you swing the clubs with out interference and you are in business.  Keep in mind that just because the clubs are "relatively" light doesn't mean that you aren't going to get one hell of a workout. 

When used correctly the clubs can humble even the strongest of athletes

(As I mentioned this type of training kicked my ass, and I of course am awesome)

This is what Indian Clubs look like. They range from one to three pounds in weight and from 16-1/2 inches to 20 inches in length.

This is what a suburito looks like.  

A suburitō is commonly around 115 cm (45 in) in length, with a mass of 1 kg (2.2 lb). However, these bokuto (wooden swords) can vary widely in size and weight.

Look at this maniac swinging around a railroad tie

So bottom line - Work out.  But don't just work out, use your brains.  Find training that not only makes you more fit, but also makes you a more skilled combatant.

Physicality has it's limits, but you can always become more efficient and smarter.

Train hard, Train smart, Be safe

Do know harm

This was a patch from one of the tactical medics I trained this week

Cool week at work. My entire 40 hour work week consisted of tactical training.  Shooting, close quarters combat, room clearing, and combatives.  Fun, very "modern samurai".  Wake up, work out, tactical training, sleep. One night we even went out for sushi.

We started this week of training with a review of department policy and state use of force laws.

We are at the tip of the spear, the high end of the use of force continuum.  SWAT Operators (all professionals) have to know

How to use force

When / Why force is justified

How to scale force (ever changing as circumstances dictate)

Articulate the force used

So as you can imagine I haven't had much spare time lately.

In fact as I am writing this I am on my way to Mankato for a high end use of force seminar for Law Enforcement and civilian martial artists.  I was prepping my notes on assessment, scaling force, and articulation when I took a break to check into facebook.

Every time I did that this week, I came across the sentiment that knowledge of use of force law is for pussies.

As of late facebook has become more of a pain than fun.  As I am training professionals in the aforementioned fields of study I am inundated with armatures spewing their fantasies of how force should be used with blatant disregard for the law or reality.

Strike first, strike hard, strike fast, no mercy!

Pretty much the opposite of what I am teaching professionals who are actually going to face dangerous situations and use high levels of force on violent criminals.

Here are some examples of what I mean

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9rCOpTPRlU

So my busy week of tactical training and a couple of social media posts all kind of came together to inspire this blog.

Perfect pre-emptive self defense strike

You saw the video, here are some of the responses to it

"6 feet rule, any one crosses it I drop them."

Really tough guy, you pre-emptivly attack anyone that gets within 6 feet of you?

So if you ever walk down a busy street, eat in a crowded restaurant, watch a movie, go to a football game etc. you are just dropping people left and right?

Not likely

Big dogs don't bark

What do I mean by that?

People who have experience with more than just play ground /  high school fight type social violence rarely make statements like that.

More importantly professionals avoid violence.  They understand that any time things go physical, there is a potential for things to go lethal.  So anything not worth killing or dying for is avoided.

Professionals don't go physical unless they have to.

Look at the video, anything there worth killing / dying for?

Just a social violence pissing match between two macho assholes.

However, when I suggest the whole situation could be solved by walking away, I’m told it’s that sentiment that has ruined America

Bottom line is, even though I use force professionally it doesn’t matter what I think self defense is.  It doesn’t matter what Internet tough guys think self defense is.  Self defense is a legal term, what matters is what the law says self defense is.

I am the law

Strong arm of the law

You are expected and required to use the minimum level of force that you reasonably believe will safely resolve the situation.

That small sentence can be the difference between going home and trying to avoid ass rape in county lock up, and every word in that sentence is loaded so let's break it down.

Expected and required

Duty to Act (Law Enforcement) - Preclusion (Civilian)

Cops have a responsibility to control / stop violent incidents. Civilians are expected to leave violent situations if they can

Force

To make someone do what they do not wish or stop them from doing what they do wish

Levels

Generally ranked by level of intrusion. 

Presence, for instance influences the Threat to modify his or her own behavior. 

Verbal might hurt feelings. 

Pain is more intrusive than hurt feelings
Injury is more intrusive than pain. 

Deadly force is the most intrusive of all.

Minimum

Minimum is the least intrusive

Reasonable belief

Totality of circumstances

As known to the officer at the time

Safely

You are not to turn it into a contest, but to win, safely. 

You have a responsibility to the citizens to stay healthy enough to do your job. 

No stupid chances

No “fair” fights

Re solve

End it, prevent the subject from further violence

Situation

Must be a legal use of force

In order for the situation to be a legal use of force you (or another) must reasonably believe you are at immediate risk of death or great bodily harm.

In order to be an immediate threat, an individual must display (and the officer must be able to clearly articulate how he knew) three things:

Intent

Means

Opportunity

Preclusion (civilians)

Intent is the desire to do something bad, e.g. harm the officer, self or a third party; break a law; or refuse to comply with a lawful order.

We are very good at reading intent but many officers are very poor at articulating intent. 

Means

The threat must have the ability to carry out intent.

 A person threatening to shoot you must have a gun to be an immediate threat, for instance.

Opportunity

The threat must be able to reach you with the means.

In the officer’s arsenal, handcuffs are intended to limit or eliminate means; jails limit or eliminate opportunity.

Preclusion

If you do not have a duty to act, ask yourself:

Do I need to engage?

More often than not (unless you are protecting a 3rd party) if you have time to ask yourself that, then the answer is no.

If you do not, then you better be already engaging.

So,  let's take a look at the "perfect preemptive strike self defense video again.

Both parties show intent, they both have opportunity and means as well.

Here is where people need to be trained to look past macho bullshit.

Both of these guys could have left at any time.   Why did sucker punch need to engage?

But what if I try to leave and he follows me?

Then you have preclusion, then you have a legitimate claim of self defense.

That is where tough guy's 6 foot rule would actually make sense.   Confrontation, one guy leaves, the other guy follows,  if that guy tries to close distance, then striking him is justified. It's not preemptive, his attack began when he followed, and attempted to close distance.

So the 6 foot rule is a good tactic. However, tough guy's instructor (or whatever source he took that tactic from) failed to show when, where, how to use it legitimately.

Which brings me to - Sensei giri

The obligation of the teacher. If you are teaching self defense you owe it to your students to know and be able to teach force law as well.  Students, if you are being trained in self defense you better be damn sure your instructor knows what the fuck he is talking about.

How would you explain the force you used if you had to write it in a report?

How would you explain the force you used to the first responding officer?

Here is an example of what I mean.  A portion of Saturday's class (from lesson plan)

NE WAZA (GROUND TECHNIQUES)
OFFENSE

Over all Learning Goal
Students will show proficiency controlling aggressive subjects on the ground and mitigating their ability to continue fighting.

Specific Training Objectives
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the underlying principles of:
• Hold Downs
• Vascular restraints
• Joint locks

Students will be able to assess if ground work is the best tactical option for the circumstance.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of use of force law
Students will be able to scale force as appropriate and articulate the justification for the level of force they used to resolve a conflict

Saturday's class was heavy on the deep end of the use of force spectrum. You can’t give students the physical skills unless you teach assessment and force scaling to go with them.

The amount of force needed to safely control a situation is ever changing from moment to moment as the circumstances change.

Therefore the amount of force justified is also on a sliding scale.

The more control you have the less force is justified.  The less control you have the more force is justified to gain control.

How can you scale force if you don’t know what force is justified?  How do you know when to stop?

Professionals stop a subject’s ability to continue fighting.

Amateurs strike a downed opponent because they can’t control their emotions.

How much more so if their instructor has ingrained finishing blows through training?

Ending an attacker’s ability to continue fighting is legitimate.  But people must be trained how to assess if that is necessary.

The attitudes reflected in social media are a direct result of this lack of knowledge / training. If all you train is physical skills, physical skills will be your only option.  Every thing looks like a nail when all you have is a hammer.  Physical skills should be your last line of defense. Obviously you need skill in that area. But the attacker should have to work through several other layers of defense before you get there

Multiple layers

Let me use another post I saw on social media to set up different layers of defense.  The post (survey) asked when / where you are most likely to use self defense.

One reply was, “when I’m walking home drunk from the bar at 0300”

WTF?

Better to avoid than run, better to run than to de-escalate, better to de-escalate than fight, better to fight than to die.

Avoidance the 1^st line of defense.

Bad things happen in predictable places.  If you avoid the places you can avoid a huge percentage of the violence in the world.

n       Bars – Parties – Anywhere people get their minds altered

n       Private places

n       Anywhere that young men gather

n       Where territories are in dispute

n       Anywhere with limited mobility or escape routes

Kasey, are you saying I don’t have a right to go have a good time?  No, go pursue your happiness.  However, If you have to / choose to be at a place where there is a predictably higher risk of violence, you need to operate at a higher level of awareness.

So instead of walking dark alleys late at night while you are drunk, try getting a cab and be delivered safely to your door.  Granted I can’t charge you $800 for a killer self defense what to do if…seminar if you use that free advice, but it has a higher chance of being successful than purposefully putting yourself in a shitty situation and hoping your kung fu is strong enough to get you out of it.

Escape and Evade the 2^nd line of defense

Ambushes work best when:

n       When the victim can be distracted

n       When mobility is limited

n       When the threat can safely get close enough.

n       When escape routes are limited

I can’t give you a list of things to look for.  If you look for every thing you won’t see anything.

Instead of looking at every place where you could be attacked, look at places you could use to set up an attack if you were a predator.

-On your daily route where would you wait to mug yourself? 
•If you were a process predator (enjoy the act) where would you set up to make a quick snatch? 
•How would you break into your own home?   
•Where would you come into your office on a shooting spree?

If something odd is happening at one of those places – RUN!

ALWAYS run

n       TOWARD SAFETY

n       NOT just away from danger

What does that mean?

n       Where are the exits

n       How could I get out of this place?

n       Have an escape plan / exit strategy

De-escalation the 3^rd line of defense

If you don’t ever practice it you are not giving your students permission to do it.  Whether purposefully or not you are conditioning your students to ignore anything but fighting as a solution.

Fight

Martial Arts vs. Social Violence

n       This is the type of violence most young men experience

•        Unfortunately many instructors then extrapolate that all violence can be dealt with by what works for social violence

n       This type is the easiest to avoid

n       This type of violence is a crime for both parties

Do I need to engage?

If you don’t have time to ask the question you better be engaging

•        Operant Conditioning

•        Counter Assault

n       Finding your core concept

Operant Conditioning

n       Stimulus

•        A surprise attack

n       Response

•        A technique or core concept that:

n       Improves your position

n       Worsens their position

n       Protects you from damage

n       Allows you to damage them

It feels like maybe I have written this blog 100 times before.  That’s fine maybe someone else will start thinking about self defense differently because they read this one.  Every time I write it the concepts become clearer for me too, so it becomes a form of self training. 

The folks that need a different perspective are the ones most substantially invested (financially, identity, or both) in physical skills training only, especially to resolve simple social violence situations.

These people mask their ignorance in flawed information / marketing being passed off as knowledge.

Examples include but are not limited to:

"There are no rules in a fight"
"I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6"
"90% of all fights go to the ground"
"We don't train for social violence"
"The stick is an average weapon"
"Flinch response"
Ultimate/guaranteed/combatives
"MMA is the closest you can get to streetfighting"
Streetfighting
Reality Based Self-Defense
"In a real fight..."

So if you are training for self defense make sure your trainer knows what he/she is talking about, and not hiding behind cliches.  Make sure they do KNOW harm, and that they do no harm to you by giving you no, or blatantly wrong information on the actual use of force.  Bottom line, it is you who is going to have to live with the decisions you make and their consequences not your Sensei.

Ok, Ok rant over.  I should really quit my bitching.  I had a great week and it was wrapped up in a very cool seminar.  I got to teach with my Judo Sensei and my Karate Sensei, and I feel I got a lot of good information out to some good people.

Train hard, Train SMART , Be safe

Price to pay for these skills

There is a price to pay to gain the skills necessary to be an effective Operator / a well rounded martial artist / to kick ass like Batman.  Obviously there will most likely be a financial exchange for training, and a time commitment as well, but that is not what I mean.

One night after a particularly long day of training, some people I respect deeply and I were sharing some scotch and cigars around a bon fire.  We were also popping essential fatty acids, imflatone, and ibuprofen like pez while trading stories of all our injuries and scars.  

One of these guys who has a penchant for mythology told me the fable of Odin’s eye. 

For those of you not from Minnesota, or if you don’t read Thor comics here is some back ground.

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard.  Odin is a principal member of the Æsir (the major group of the Norse pantheon) and is associated with war, battle, victory and death, but also wisdom, Shamanism, magic, poetry, prophecy, and the hunt. Odin has many sons, the most famous of whom is Thor.

{from Wikipedia}

So back to the fire side story

Odin knew about a well of wisdom.  In order to be able to drink from this well he had to pay a price.

Mimer the giant who protected the fountain of knowledge asked “What will you pay for a drink from my well, and why do you wish it so much?"

Odin replied "I can see with my eyes all that goes on in heaven and upon earth," said Odin, "but I cannot see into the depths of ocean. I lack the hidden wisdom of the deep, —the wit that lies at the bottom of your fountain. My ravens tell me many secrets; but I would know all” (Odin wanted the ability to see into the future)

Mimer told him “If I grant you a draught from my well, you will become as one of us, a wise and dangerous enemy. It is a goodly price, Odin, which I shall demand for a boon so great."

"What say you, then, to leaving one of those far-seeing eyes of yours at the bottom of my well?" asked Mimer, hoping that he would refuse the bargain. "This is the only payment I will take."

Odin hesitated. It was indeed a heavy price, and one that he could ill afford

But he glanced at the magic fountain bubbling mysteriously in the shadow, and he knew that he must have the draught.

Odin thought merely of the wisdom which was to be his. He seized the horn eagerly, and emptied it without delay. From that moment he became wiser than any one else in the world except Mimer himself.

Now he had the price to pay, which was not so pleasant. When he went away from the grotto, he left at the bottom of the dark pool one of his fiery eyes, which twinkled and winked up through the magic depths like the reflection of a star. This is how Odin lost his eye.

You may be saying to your self, wow that is cute Kasey, your bard must have rolled a natural 20 in charisma, (that is a Dungeons and Dragons Joke for all you too cools) but what does that have to do with training?

Recently several guys I work and train with have had problems with their knees.  In fact one guy's doctor told him human legs are like tires, good for about 20,000 miles.  He went on to say that my friend (in his late 30’s) has put 100,000 miles on those tires already.

We all have a use by date on us, we only have so many miles on our factory warrantees, and just like squad cars we get driven harder and used up  faster.

I believe that is one of the reasons why most department approved admin favored dt doesn’t work.  

Sadly, on occasion no matter how many safety precautions you take, training in effective systems will cause injury.  There are far too many administrators that view defensive tactics / police combatives simply as liability insurance.  Our department gave the Officer the minimum hours required by the state so if he gets hurt on the street we are not liable.  It doesn’t really matter to them if that minimum training is worth a shit or not.  

But, if an Officer gets hurt in training and Admin has to pay workman's comp and overtime to cover that Officer's shifts while he heals that training usually gets squashed.  

Then it is replaced with something that never results in training injuries.  

Unfortunately the reason the newly approved system has no or lower injuries is not due to better safer methods of training efficient techniques but rather because the techniques now being taught are inefficient and could not hurt anyone even if that was the necessary and justified intent.

The key is , the moral of the Odin story is losing one eye but not your sight.  Training hard enough to own the necessary skills (wisdom of the fountain) will take a toll on your body (lose an eye).  .  If you have to, lose just one eye, but not your ability to see.  Make sure that you pay that price with out rendering your body no longer capable of being an Operator.

Knowledge / skills that can not be used for the benefit of others is wasted.

Just like squad cars because we get driven harder we need regular maintenance more often to keep us in the fight.

So take care of yourself, keep yourself in the fight Train hard – Train smart – Be safe

Principles

Recently I received a message from a young Police Officer who has just been hired by a new department and started training in BJJ

Question:

Can you tell me what the 5 best arm locks from any position are?

I gave him the readers digest version of joint lock clinic, but his question got me thinking.

There really are no easy answers to a question like that.  Any answers that are easy are very prescriptive.  Meaning if he does this exact specific thing, then you do this particular move.

That is fine if you are trying to pimp a specific style, but actual confrontation is never cut and dried like that and happens much too fast for that type of if/then thinking.

However, principles are universal despite style.  People have been in confrontation since Cain and Able.  There is nothing new under the sun, and there are only so many ways a human body can be manipulated.

To help clarify my point and answer my friend’s question lets look at arm locks or joint locks (kansetsu waza) in general.

There are 1000s of locks but only very few principles. Understand the principles and you can improvise / create locks under pressure from any position.  Much more useful in conflict then trying to choose a technique from a mental list of different locks form different positions you may have memorized.

To lock an arm you have to attack one of the joints of the arm

• Elbow
• Shoulder
• Wrist
• Or even the knuckles of the fingers

Elbows (and finger knuckles) are hinge joints they break by placing a fulcrum close to the joint and applying opposing force as far away down the lever arm as you can.  This is a principle, it is universal across all styles.  Every joint lock you know that attacks a hinge joint works this way.

Shoulders (and although your thumb is not a ball and socket the principle still applies) are ball and socket joints. Distal to any ball and socket joint is a hinge joint (re elbow). Take the hinge joint to 90 degrees then turn either direction to lock the shoulder.  This is a principle, it is universal across all styles.  Every joint lock you know that attacks a ball and socket joint works this way.

Wrists are floating joints.  To clarify terms stick you arm out and point your thumb back at your nose, like you are drinking from a long neck bottle. 

From this position if you try to make your middle finger touch your elbow either palm to arm or knuckles to arm you are folding the wrist. 

From this position if you try to turn your pinky towards your chest or your thumb away from your chest you are twisting the wrist.

Folding can hurt, twisting can hurt, but floating joints are broken by folding and twisting.  This is a principle, it is universal across all styles.  Every joint lock you know that attacks a floating joint works this way.

Look for these principles in your techniques and you'll see there is no lock that cannot be broken down this way

Understand the principles and you can improvise / create locks under pressure from any position.  

That is a useful skill to acquire because hunting for joint locks in a confrontation is actually very hard.  

This is where Police Officers see many of the techniques they were taught at the academy fail.  

Because they were taught specific prescriptive techniques, not universally applicable principles.  

Hunting for a specific lock is difficult.  Taking advantage of a “gift” the control subject gives you is actually fairly easy.

A way I learned from Rory Miller (Also available in his book “Drills”) to train this can be broken down into two drills.

I call them different names than Rory does just because it sticks in my head better

1 – Improvise

After discussing the principles, pairs of students have 5 (or how ever long) minutes to come up with as many locks as the can think of for the shoulder.  Repeat for the elbow and the wrist.

2- Apply

After the discussion and the first drill students should begin to see that no matter how differently they locked each joint, even including using the environment and weapons.  The principles that made the locks work were the same.  Now time to play with it.  Using a one step drill and thinking about locks encourage students to improvise locks based on the “gifts" their partner gave them.  For example say your partner threw a right hook with his / her one step.  Can you in one motion improve your position, worsen his/her position, protect yourself from damage, and apply force to him /her (for this drill in the form of a joint lock).  If you hunt for a specific lock it will be very hard to do.  If in the course of improving your position, worsening his/her position, and protecting yourself from damage a joint becomes exposed (gifted to you) applying the appropriate principle is relatively easy.

Also, and seemingly inversely, understanding the underling principle makes learning the technique easier and allows you to adapt techniques to your specific needs.  

The technique may look different than your Instructor's say for example because you have short stumpy arms and Sensei’s arms looks like he received a transplant from an orangutan.  But if you apply the principles and lock the joint who cares what it looks like?  Does it work?  Can you make it work on larger stronger attackers?  Can you do all of that under pressure without eating damage while you lock it?  That is what matters, not any strict adherence to some aesthetic  idea of how a technique should look.

Question:

Can you tell me what the 5 best arm locks from any position are?

Re-examine the question, fight to the goal.  If your goal is to control an attacker with an arm lock we have to re-frame the question to what is the best way to lock an arm?

Understanding the principles answers the re-framed question.

By mastering a few principles you own 1000’s techniques and can improvise what is needed on the fly even if you have never been trained in that particular position or situation.

To me this is takemasu aiki, spontaneous creation, the highest level.  You don’t need to be the last dragon or train for 50 years to achieve this, but you do have to be able to break away form style specific, even dogmatic thinking and train smart (fight to a goal).

Train hard, Train smart, Be safe

You now posse the power of the glow