Knife Attacks on the Ground

The advanced Monday night class was full of fun and frolic on the ground. Coincidentally, most of the students participating also participate in Wednesday night’s ground fighting class. This made it a very interesting class, indeed.

The ground fighters easily made the adjustment from remaining on the ground with their opponents in order to apply chokes, arm bars and the like to striking, getting up and getting away. Later, intensity was heightened when punches and knife attacks came into play.

As I mentioned in a previous post, “Unless you’re a consummate grappler, have complete control of your environment (a plush surface to grapple on) and are sure you're facing a single, unarmed opponent, don’t go to the ground and grapple.” However, there are times when you end up on the ground through no fault of your own.

Warm up #1
Holding a tombstone pad moving around, our partner placed the pad in positions for straight punches, round kicks and groin kicks.

Warm up #2
Holding a tombstone pad moving around, our partner placed the pad in positions for straight punches, round kicks and groin kicks. Our partner dropped the pad and attacked us with chokes and bear hugs.

Drill #1
While standing with our eyes closed, our partner attacked us. We counterattacked and our partner fell to the ground. Our partner had to get back on his feet.

Drill #2
Straddling the tombstone pad with our knees in a mount position, we delivered strikes to the pad and then pushed off on the pad to get up and get away.

Drill #3
With our partner on the ground, we placed him in a scarf hold (kesa gatame) or headlock. We delivered strikes to our partner and then pushed off on him to get up and get away.

Drill #4
While our partner had us in a scarf hold or headlock, we practiced various escapes from those positions.

Drill #5
While standing with our eyes closed, our partner attacked us. We counterattacked and our partner fell to the ground. We went to the ground and placed him into a scarf hold or headlock. He had to escape from the hold.

Drill #6
With our partner on top of us in the mount position trying to stab us with a knife, we practiced 360 defenses.

Drill #7
While we had our partner in a scarf hold or headlock, our partner pulled a knife. We defended and got away.

Drill #8
We were on our knees facing our partner preparing to grapple. We both had knives hidden. We started to grapple and one of us pulled a knife.

“If the knife is present and used as a threat to induce you to hand over money, do so and get away as fast as you can; if a knife is going to be used to attack, your first option always is escape! If unable to escape, you have to counterattack, but wisely.”

– Peter Robins

I thoroughly enjoyed this class. It was like rolling on Wednesday night with a twist. In addition, it was a lot of fun with great intensity.

Related Posts

• A Night of Knife Attacks
• Principles of Krav Maga Reality Knife Defense
• Respect the Knife
• Defending Against the Knife… Counterattack!

Taking Your Opponent to the Ground

The grappling range is the range of body-to-body contact. It is the range where locks, throws, sweeps and takedowns are performed. In a recent groundfighting class, a new student asked the question, “Should we take our opponent to the ground when we’re in the grappling range?”

The instructor explained to the student that Krav Maga does not advocate taking your opponent to the ground because of the many perils that can occur once you are there. However, the instructor had no issues with throwing an opponent to the ground. He just isn’t going to follow him there. Krav Maga does assume that you may slip and find yourself down while the attacker is up. Sh*t happens.

Another important reality is that regardless of what you may have been told, size and strength do dramatically influence grappling ability. Unless you are phenomenally skilled, there are few other endeavors in which size and strength play such a predominant role. Big grapplers usually beat little grapplers. If you are a smaller, lighter or weaker fighter, you should not put all your eggs in the grappling basket. Instead, you should spend your time learning grappling defenses and perfecting your ability to surgically strike an attacker who attempts to grapple with you.

–Richard Ryan

Krav Maga’s groundfighting techniques are explosive responses to immediate threats, rather than the “chess match” response and counter-response moves of a larger groundfighting program.

Whether you’re proficient on the ground or not, Krav Maga’s main objective during a groundfight always remains the same: to get up as quickly as possible! During groundfights, you’re extremely vulnerable to more than one attacker or to being stabbed if the opponent produces an edged weapon.

Two of my friends were stabbed by women when they were groundfighting with men.

–Geoff Thompson

Moreover, there’s the mobility factor. When you're on the ground, you lose your ability to disengage. You have to be on your feet to retreat.

So... why participate in a larger groundfighting program like our groundfighting classes? It’s for the same reason that we learn to execute high kicks. We don’t learn to execute high kicks so that we can use them in a street fight. We learn to execute high kicks so that we can recognize them in order to defend against them, thus the same reason applies for advancing our groundfighting skills. Further, we learn how to be calm and deal with the stress when someone is trying to control and manipulate us on the ground.

I participate in our groundfighting classes because I want to feel as confident fighting on the ground as I do standing up. Plus… the classes are fun!

In and of itself, grappling is not the "ultimate fighting technique" that some people make it out to be. No single method is. It would be foolish to send a soldier to war with just one skill. He wouldn't last very long. In fact, he would soon be overwhelmed, outgunned or outmaneuvered by the many other techniques and tactics that make up real fighting.

–Richard Ryan

Grappling in a street fight must be short, sweet and overwhelming. It should be viewed as a tactical supplement to striking. Unless you’re a consummate grappler, have complete control of your environment (a plush surface to grapple on) and are sure you're facing a single, unarmed opponent, don’t go to the ground and grapple.

A Night of Knife Attacks

Knives are deadly weapons. They are popular, easy to obtain and silent to operate. They are readily concealable, highly reliable, and don’t take much special training to use to hurt somebody. They can be highly effective in grappling, close and short ranges. Like Moshe Katz, I respect the knife. I assume that everyone carries one.

If one accepts the often-heard statement that most gunfights take place at a distance of about 5 feet, then most situations where you would need a gun can be adequately handled with a knife. Within its range (and, for a trained person who knows how to move, 5 feet is well within knife range), the edged weapon can actually be more destructive to the opponent than a gun. The knife never runs out of ammunition and it never jams.

– Massad Ayoob

I enjoy knife drills and can’t get enough of them. There’s something about practicing knife attack defenses that raises the hair on the back of my neck. They can be very stressful. Here are some drills we did earlier in the week.

Drill #1
Our partner held a tombstone pad, close to his body in various positions, and we stabbed the pad various angles with our practice knife.

Drill #2
Our partner remained stationary as we stabbed her with the knife from various angles. Recognizing how the knife is being gripped sometimes indicates what the angle of attack might be.

Drill #3
Moving around, our partner attacked us from various angles and we made the appropriate defenses without disarms. In some cases, if we were very close to our partner, he would grab us and pull us into his knife.

Drill #4
Our partner held the back of our head with one hand (single-collar tie [dirty-boxing clinch]) and attempted to stab us with the other hand from various angles.

Drill #5
Moving around, we tossed the knife to our partner and our partner tossed the knife back to us. At some point, one of us kept the knife and decided to attack.

Drill #6
The class was broken up into groups of four. Person #1 was defending against Level 1 attacks. Person #2 was attacking Person #1. Person #3 was a bystander. Person #4... armed with a knife... was allowed to attack any of the other persons. I had a lot of fun with this drill.

Common knife targets that have generally proven lethal or severely disabling include the heart, subclavian artery (behind the collarbone), stomach, brachial artery, radial artery, carotid artery, femoral artery, auxiliary artery and kidneys.

Cuts generally cause more bleeding while thrusts can cause more serious damage.

There is an old saying: ‘Leave one’s yard and find seven enemies.’ No matter how skilled one is in the martial arts, he will find himself unprepared if encountered off-guard. Ideally, then, one should constantly be in a state of preparedness.

– Hironori Otsuka

A knife is a dangerous weapon. If you’re attacked and you have a choice, it’s better to run away. If you don’t have a choice, use an improvised weapon (stick, chair, etc.) to help you with your defense. Using your hands to defend yourself is an absolute last resort.

Third-Party Protection

Thursday night, at 7:30pm, is our scenario class and it was a treat to have Ernie Kirk with us that night to take us through several drills. Emphasis was placed on communication. Ernie mentioned that we’re used to communicating instructions to our training partners, but how well do we communicate instructions to our friends and loved ones in a stressful situation? Do we give instructions beforehand about what to do if a violent situation occurs? Moreover, do we communicate at all?

This class was quite interesting because, you were allowed to bring in a friend or loved one to be your partner. Essentially, there were Kravists partnered with individuals untrained in self-protection techniques.

Drill #1
You and your partner held hands and tried to touch each other’s elbows.

Drill #2
You and your partner held hands and while operating as a single unit, maneuvered yourselves around the room trying to tag other couples.

Drill #3
This drill was similar to the drill above, except that if you let go of your partner, you had to do push-ups. So, some of us were instructed to try to separate couples.

Drill #4
This drill was similar to Drill #2, except that if you tagged an individual three times… in this case an untrained person… the trained person, in the couple, had to do push-ups. This added an element of stress to the drill.

Drill #5
This drill had the trained person teach the untrained person how to execute palm heel strikes, elbow strikes, knee strikes and groin kicks. Another trained person assisted by holding a tombstone pad.

Drill #6
This drill was set with two lines of attendees forming a corridor. Each attendee held a tombstone pad or a kicking shield. The object of this drill was for you and your partner to make your way through the corridor. As you made your way through the corridor, individuals would randomly encumber you. It was the trained person’s job to communicate instructions to the untrained person. For example, as you punched, kicked and elbowed your way through the corridor, you gave your partner instructions like, kick that person… punch the person that has me in a bear hug… stay right behind me… etc.

Drill #7
In our final drill, we were put into groups of three. Two individuals (the victims) had their eyes closed while the third individual played the role of the assailant. The object of the drill was to make an appropriate defense and communicate instructions to your partner. An additional element of stress was added to the drill by having a few individuals, armed with knives, roam around the room making random knife threats against victims.

Communication is the key for third-party protection. Don’t leave home without it.

Another Night of Kicking

The class started with a punching drill warm-up. Our partner held focus mitts, we threw left jabs for a round, right crosses for a round, and then we threw Bas Rutten combinations for a round.

The next part of our warm-up involved kicking. We decided which partner would begin the round with a kick. Our partner would attack us with a kick and we had to attack our partner with the same kick. In addition, we were allowed to defend against the kicks. The next round began with us attacking with the first kick and our partner following with the same kick.

Drill #1
Our partner holds a kicking shield and from a passive stance we execute a side kick.

Drill #2
Our partner holds a kicking shield and from a passive stance we execute an advancing side kick.

Drill #3
Our partner holds a kicking shield and from a passive stance we execute a front kick using the ball of our foot.

Drill #4
Our partner holds a kicking shield and from a passive stance we execute a back kick.

Drill #5
Our partner holds a kicking shield and from a passive stance we execute an advancing back kick.

Drill #6
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we’re told to execute a side kick and follow up with our choice of combatives.

Drill #7
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we’re told to execute a back kick and follow up with our choice of combatives.

Drill #8
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we’re told to execute a ball of foot front kick and follow up with our choice of combatives.

Drill #9
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we we’re given instructions, by our partner, as to what kick to execute and then follow up with our choice of combatives.

Drill #10
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we’re told to execute a side kick and follow up with our choice of combatives. We continued until our partner told us to go to the ground and execute drop elbow strikes on a tombstone pad. We continued with drop elbow strikes until our partner told us to get up. We get back to our feet and the cycle continues until the instructor tells us to switch roles with our partner.

Drill #11
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we’re told to execute a back kick and follow up with our choice of combatives. We continued until our partner told us to go to the ground and execute drop elbow strikes on a tombstone pad. We continued with drop elbow strikes until our partner told us to get up. We get back to our feet and the cycle continues until the instructor tells us to switch roles with our partner.

Drill #12
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we’re told to execute a ball of foot front kick and follow up with our choice of combatives. We continued until our partner told us to go to the ground and execute drop elbow strikes on a tombstone pad. We continued with drop elbow strikes until our partner told us to get up. We get back to our feet and the cycle continues until the instructor tells us to switch roles with our partner.

Drill #13
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we execute any kick of our choosing and then follow up with our choice of combatives. We continued until our partner told us to go to the ground and execute drop elbow strikes on a tombstone pad. We continued with drop elbow strikes until our partner told us to get up. We get back to our feet and the cycle continues until the instructor tells us to switch roles with our partner.

Drill #14
Our final drill involved groups of three. One person was the victim and the other two were the attackers. Attacker #1 attacked with a front choke. Attacker #2 was in striking distance. The victim defended against the front choke with a front choke defense of his choosing. While the victim was in the process of making a defense, attacker #2 attacks. The victim executes a kick of his choice against attacker #2. In some cases, the victim would use attacker #1 as a shield between himself and attacker #2.

Night of Side Kicks

We started the class with a warm-up that was like a fruity cocktail drink. In other words, it sneaks up on you. You were winded at the end of the routine. However, while you were performing the routine, you would not expect to become winded.

Drill #1
Our partner holds a kicking shield and from a passive stance we execute a side kick.

Drill #2
Our partner holds a kicking shield and from a passive stance we execute a hopping side kick.

Drill #3
Our partner holds a kicking shield and we side kick our partner the full length of the floor with our left leg and then when we get to the end, we side kick our partner the full length of the floor with our right leg. We had to do this twice to complete the drill. Side kicking our way down the floor was not kick… partner sets herself… kick. It was kick-kick-kick. The idea was to keep your partner from setting herself. This drill brought back memories of my traditional martial arts days when we had to perform kicking drills up and down the dojo floor.

Drill #4
We executed a high side kick toward our partner’s face. Our partner defended with an inside defense.

Drill #5
We executed a medium high side kick toward our partner’s midsection. Our partner defended with a plucking defense.

Drill #6
Our partner holds a kicking shield and tells us the number of side kicks we must execute. Once we’ve executed the required number of side kicks, our partner tells us to drop and sprawl on the floor. While we’re sprawling, our partner moves to different position. We get back to our feet and our partner tells us again to execute a certain number of side kicks. He tells us again to drop and sprawl. This cycle continues until the instructor tells us to switch roles with our partner.

Drill #7
The final drill was the practice of a different variation of the bar arm choke defense.

Go to Plan B

Sometimes you have to go to Plan B because Plan A just ain’t workin’. A few weeks ago... on our ground fighting night... we were practicing a shoulder choke. This choke works like the leg triangle choke except you're using your arms instead of your legs.

The choke is sometimes called an arm triangle choke. In Judo, it’s called a Kata Gatame. When using this choke, your opponent’s arm restricts blood flow on one side of his neck and you use an arm to restrict blood flow on the other side of his neck. You want to make sure that your opponent's arm is trapped between your head and his.

So... I’m practicing the choke on a person that weighs 275 lbs. He has… at least… a 19-inch neck and arms almost as big as my thighs. My preference for applying this choke is to use a reverse lever. For example, if my right arm is around my opponent’s neck, I place my right hand on my left forearm. I then move my left hand up to the side of my head and squeeze. I get a much tighter choke this way... 99 percent of the time.

One of the problems that I encountered with this individual was that my 80-inch reach (measured from fingertips to fingertips) hardly got around him to apply the choke. Another problem was that when I attempted to apply the choke... I couldn’t finish it. I called over another person... a 300-pounder (I’m a 240-pounder)... to attempt the choke. He used a gable (palm-to-palm) grip instead of a reverse lever. He… also… couldn’t finish the choke.

So... what’s the moral of the story? You can’t expect every technique to be effective on everybody. If something doesn’t work, switch to something else. Go to Plan B. Don’t waste your energy trying to make the technique work. The idea is to make your opponent waste his/her energy thereby facilitating your victory.

Related Posts

• Applying a Shoulder Choke

When is Your When?

I attended the scenario-based class on Thursday and it was quite enlightening. The beginning of the class was like a TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) conditioning session. It was all part of our instructor’s diabolical plan for where he wanted us to be physically in order to produce an outcome.

The outcome showed our instructor what combatives we used at the final stage of the TUF session. For example, after being completely exhausted, I ended the session by throwing straight punches. I felt that straight punches would be my most effective combatives at that juncture as opposed to hook punches, for example. Unknowingly, each student ended the final stage of the session with what he/she believed to be his/her best strong suit under the exhaustive circumstances.

So... for the final drill... the class was broken up into groups of three. One student played the role of a victim and the other two were in the roles of predators. Each group’s scenarios played out differently based on the dynamics of the group.

What was most interesting... at least to me... were the comments during our open discussion after the drill. We were asked how we felt about the drill and if we had any issues. Several issues surfaced, but what stood out most for me was the problem of some students not being sure about when to strike.

As an observation, the instructor pointed out that he had noticed that one student allowed one of the predators to touch him at least three times. I can’t imagine me letting that happen.

For me, it’s matter of instinct. It may be rooted in what my neighborhood was like growing up. It may be a matter of déjà vu. Nonetheless, when I get that “gut feeling” and if I have no exit, I will strike first.

See Lawrence A. Kane’s Rule #1 in his Nine Rules to Live By. Also, see the OODA loop.

When I’m approached by questionable individuals, I immediately think of Geoff Thompson’s four D’s - dialogue, deception, distraction and destruction. Here’s his explanation of the four D’s from his book Dead or Alive.

Dialogue designed to disarm and distract the targeted victim is the professional attacker’s most common priming technique. His objective is to make you think about his question, so that you do not notice the weapon he is drawing or his accomplice coming round behind you.

An attacker uses deception to make himself appear harmless. Do not expect dangerous people to stand out in a crowd.

Distraction is a part of deception and usually comes through dialogue. The attacker may ask his victim a question and then initiate attack while the victim is thinking about the answer.

Destruction – Few people survive the first physical blow and most are out of the game before they even realize that they are in it.

For those of you having issues with when to push your “Go Button”, heed Rory Miller’s words from his book Meditations on Violence.

If you are ever faced with extreme violence, you will have to make the decision to act. Make it now. You must decide what is worth fighting for, never forgetting that the question involves the risk of both dying and killing. You must decide now. Taking damage in the middle of a shitstorm of fists and boots is the wrong time to agonize over the moral dimension of conflict. There are things worth fighting for. List what they are.

Lastly, a fellow Kravist at my training center suggested a book to me titled “Self Portrait of a Hero.” It’s a book of letters written by Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Netanyahu to his family and friends. Lieutenant Colonel Netanyahu was killed in battle during Israel’s 1976 daring rescue hostage mission “Operation Entebbe.” In one letter, Lieutenant Colonel Netanyahu writes to his teenage brother, “Remember what I told you? He, who delivers the first blow, wins.”

Related Posts

• Go to your Dark Side

Recommended Reading

• The Gift of Fear

Fighting Ranges

One of the classes I attended this week dealt with fighting ranges. Here’s a general category of fighting ranges:

• Grappling range (touching)
• Close range (arm length)
• Short range (leg length/short weapon distance)
• Mid range (long weapon length)
• Long range (pole weapon length)
• Extreme range (projectile weapon length)

We started the class with a little warm-up refresher doing Level I defenses and then Level II defenses. These Levels are your foundation in Krav Maga. Many times techniques from these Levels are used as a warm-up in our upper Level classes.

Drills

• Our partner threw a punch (straight or hook) and we… standing in a stationary fighting stance… had to slip the punch or bob and weave under the punch.
  
  
• With our backs up against a wall, our partner threw a punch (straight or hook) and we had to slip the punch or bob and weave under the punch and then counter with a three punch combination.
  
  
• While we were moving around, our partner threw a punch (straight or hook) and we had to slip the punch or bob and weave under the punch and then counter with a three punch combination.
  
  
• While our partner held a kicking shield and was beyond striking range, we moved toward our partner throwing punching and kicking combinations until we got into knee striking range of our partner. We then got into a clinch with our partner and delivered knee strikes to the kicking shield.
  
  
• Our partner has us in a clinch and delivers a knee strike. We block the knee strike.
  
  
• Our partner attacks with a knife at various angles. We block the attack or move out of range. We don’t counterattack or disarm. This drill is about adjusting to the range of a knife attack.
  
  
• Our partner attacks with a stick at various angles. We block the attack or move out of range. We don’t counterattack or disarm. This drill is about adjusting to the range of a stick attack.
  
  
• We are attacked by two attackers, one with a knife and the other with a stick. We block the attacks or move out of range. We don’t counterattack or disarm. This drill is about adjusting and then readjusting to the two different attack ranges.
  
  
• Two students don’t have weapons. Everyone else in class has a knife or a stick. The two students are randomly attacked by everyone in the class. They block the attacks or move out of range. They don’t counterattack or disarm. This drill is about adjusting and then readjusting to the two different attack ranges.
  
  
• The final drill was an unarmed assault. We were attacked and had to defend against the attack, however, the student playing the role of the attacker continued the attack until he felt that he was thoroughly neutralized. In other words, you might be attacked by someone under the influence of a drug like PCP. You kick the attacker precisely in the groin and he continues attacking. The attack ain’t over until the fat lady sings!

Related Posts

• Defending Against the Knife… Counterattack!
  

Groundfighting Rules

“...in Krav Maga, whatever we do from an upright position, we do from a ground position, with modifications and with weight properly positioned. Just as there are no rules in an "up" fight, there are no rules in a "down" fight.” –David Kahn

We have to have some rules during our groundfighting night for safety reasons or we wouldn’t be able to make it to class on a regular basis due to injuries. So, what I’m writing about here is the mindset you have to have when you’re practicing your groundfighting. Remind yourself that you are... after all... a Krav Maga student.

I remember wrestling with my BJJ instructor one time and he was maneuvering himself into a position to apply a leg triangle choke from the mount position. I calmly and matter-of-factly said to him, “You know that I can bite your balls right now.” He shouted, “What!” I replied, “That’s Krav Maga.”

A few weeks ago, I was wrestling with a young man that had made the decision to smother me into submission. I bit him through his t-shirt on his upper abdomen. I didn’t break the skin, but I did leave teeth marks. He jumped off me like a hot popcorn kernel.

The other night, I was assisting with demonstrating how one removes his trapped leg while caught in an opponent’s half-guard. There are a few very nice finesse BJJ escapes from this position. However, during the demo, my streetfighting mind went into action and I thought, “In reality... I would ground and pound my opponent nonstop. His OODA loop would look like OO-OO-OO-OO.”

The bottom line for me is that even though I love the techniques of the grappling arts and its game of physical chess, I’m always... always thinking about the real deal while wrestling. The fact is that my opponent could have a weapon. The fact is that my opponent could have accomplices that decide to interject themselves into the fray... and they may have weapons. The fact is that... I will cheat to win.

Related Posts

• Misunderstanding Krav Maga
  

Krav Maga Kata

After an apprentice instructor warmed us up, our instructor for this particular class began to take us through our paces.

Our first drill had us standing stationary in a fighting stance; our partner threw left jabs to vulnerable targets on our body while moving around us. Next, our partner, in a right-hand lead fighting stance, threw right jabs to vulnerable targets on our body while moving around us. As always in these drills, at some point there is a role reversal.

Next, our partner threw one straight punch at us. We had to defend and counterattack with a minimum of three combatives preferably mixing them up with upper and lower strikes.

The next drill resembled the former drill with the exception of our partner throwing a kick instead of a punch. Once again, we had to defend and counterattack with a minimum of three combatives preferably mixing them up with upper and lower strikes.

Now it’s time to mix it up a little. Our partner has the option of punching or kicking and we counterattack as mentioned previously.

Okay... now we’re in groups of three... one person takes center stage, another holds focus mitts while the other holds a tombstone pad. The person in the center punches and kicks their way toward the person holding the tombstone pad.

Once she’s in range, she delivers a knee strike to the pad. After the knee strike is delivered, the person holding the tombstone pad moves the pad into a position that enables the center person to deliver a downward hammerfist strike.

At about this time, the person holding the focus mitts slaps the center person to get her attention. The focus mitts person calls out punching combinations.

The center person responds by throwing the required punching combinations. Now the person holding the tombstone pad bumps the center person to get her attention and the cycle starts again.

Our next drill involved an attack by our partner and us defending and delivering a knee strike to the midsection causing our partner to bend over. Cupping our hands, we deliver a downward strike to the base of our partner’s skull (nose to toes) driving our partner down to the ground.

Our final drill was like a two-person kata... Krav Maga style. As our partner engaged us with combatives, he delivered a knee strike to our midsection causing us to bend over. Our partner applied a standing reverse headlock (guillotine) and we defended and counterattacked.

If a knee strike was not delivered, our partner moved around to our dead side and applied a headlock from behind (bar arm) and we defended and counterattacked. Essentially, it was as if going through the stages of a prearranged quasi-fight.

Recognizing Punches

We started Monday’s 7:30pm class off by doing Bas Rutten punch combinations. We used our boxing gloves like focus mitts to practice the combinations. When we called out a number from 1 - 4, our partner threw the appropriate combination. The number 4 four-punch combination could end with a cross or an uppercut. Partners were rotated during this drill.

Once we were finished with the Bas Rutten combinations, we practiced targeting. While our partner stood stationary in a fighting stance, we threw punching combinations to available targets. We were allowed to make hard contact to the body targets.

Next, we practiced the various defenses for straight punches, hooks and uppercuts. First, we practiced all the defenses for straight punches, all the defenses for hooks and then the uppercut defenses.

Now, back to holding the gloves like focus mitts for your partner and calling out numbers for punch combinations. But this time, after a combination is thrown, you throw a punch and your partner defends appropriately.

In order to work on our recognition of the punches we did a drill with our partner standing in front of us and out of punching range. With our hands up and in a fighting stance, we watched our partner throw various punch combinations. We were looking for the “tell”, the signs of body movement by our partner that indicates a particular punch is about to be thrown.

In our final drill, we added headgear and ended the class by sparring. Essentially, the class dealt with upper body strikes, recognition of those strikes and defenses against those strikes.

I’d like to mention that any time that I am sparring; I never in my wildest dreams imagine that what is going on during my sparring is what is going to be going on during a streetfight. In a streetfight, I won’t be wearing protective gear, there won’t be an agreement with my opponent as to what is allowed or not allowed (rules) and I won’t be able to maneuver around the way I can in the pristine environment (terrain) of our training center.

I treat my sparring for what it is and that is practice for recognizing combatives, distancing, timing, targeting, absorbing punches and kicks, offensive attacks, counterattacks and defenses. That’s it, nothing more... nothing less.

“Martial arts and martial artists often try to do it all. They teach self-defense and sparring and streetfighting and fitness and personal development, as if they were the same thing. They aren’t even related.” –Rory Miller

Retzev and the OODA Loop

One of the classes I took this week continued with retzev (continuous motion) counterattacks. We did some slow drills, isometric type to start things off.

If your partner threw a straight punch, you appropriately defended and then followed through with retzev. Doing the retzev in a slow manner, gave you a chance to see if you were executing proper technique and targeting.

We practiced inside defenses, outside defenses and round kick reflexive defenses. Then we were on the floor, on our backs and sometimes on our knees, defending against punches and round kicks.

We did two types of stress drills. One drill pre-exhausted you prior to defending against attacks. And the other drill... which was very interesting in its affect on you... had you spin around several times bent over. Once you finished spinning, you had to defend against attacks. Obviously, after spinning you were dizzy. This drill simulated the effect of being sucker punched. Trying to defend against attacks while dizzy ain’t that easy folks.

Our final drill involved groups of three. Person #1 was on her back holding a tombstone pad. Person #2 was mounted on person #1 and was delivering elbow strikes, punches and hammerfists to the tombstone pad. And, at some point, person #3 attacked person #2 with punches and round kicks.

Once person #2 was attacked, he defended against person #3’s attacks, dismounted person #1 and then counterattacked person #3’s offense in a retzev-like manner.

When I think about retzev, I also think about the OODA Loop. OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. The OODA Loop was created by military strategist and USAF Colonel John Boyd. The OODA Loop approach favors agility over raw power in dealing with human opponents in any endeavor.

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Richards, Chet: OODA explained. Seven-slide presentation explaining the OODA Loop.

Another Week of Krav Maga Training

The 7:30pm class Monday night primarily drilled on fighting ranges and the continuous and smooth flow of counterattacks (retzev). We warmed up with shadowboxing using combatives that involve different fighting ranges, i.e., straight punches, hook punches, elbow strikes, knee strikes and kicks.

We practiced the retzev by drilling on Level 1 chokes and with some choreographed fighting. The choreographed fighting sequence went something like the following:

Partner: holding focus mitts

You: left jab, right cross, reload hips, right low round kick

Partner: right cross

You: inside defense

Partner: left hook

You: covering, left hook, right cross, reload hips, right low round kick

Partner: right low round kick

You: left shin defense, left jab, right cross, reload hips, right low round kick

Wednesday’s ground fighting night was a marathon rolling event. One of the aims of the class was to slow things down a bit, particularly for the beginners. Typically, beginners overexert themselves and because of that, they tire quickly. The idea was for them to take their time so that they could figure out what was going on and then try and deal with it.

One person started on his back with someone in his guard. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, this is considered a neutral position. Everyone else waited his turn to wrestle the person on his back. When the instructor said go, both combatants jockeyed for a submission. The time limit was one minute per round.

What made it a marathon event was that the person on his back had to wrestle everyone in the class! Once everyone had their turn starting on their back, we wrestled everyone one more time.

The rest of the class involved a review of the Americana arm lock and practicing a new defense against it.

A 3-hour seminar was held today. Suggestions were requested during the week for what students would like to drill.

We started out with some distancing drills and then we moved on to:

• Overhead stick defense
• Reverse horizontal swing stick defense
• Handgun defense from the front
• Handgun defense from behind
• On the ground and on your back defending against a knife or handgun
• Third party protection

As is typical in our Krav Maga classes, we had some closed eyes drills whereby you didn’t know whether you were going to be attacked with a stick, knife or handgun until you opened your eyes.

The third party protection drills raised some concerned issues relative to an assailant taking your significant other as a hostage. What basic facts apply to all hostage situations? Go here to read about hostage situations and how negotiation works.

I’d like to sum this post up with a quote from a book I’m reading by Rory Miller. The title of the book is Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence. In the book, Mr. Miller defines self-defense the following way:

It is recovery from stupidity or bad luck, from finding yourself in a position you would have given almost anything to prevent. It is difficult to train for because of the surprise element and because you may be injured before you are aware of the conflict. The critical element is to overcome the shock and surprise so that you can act, to “beat the freeze.” Self-defense is about recovery. The ideal is to prevent the situation. The optimal mindset is often a conditioned response that requires no thought (for the first half-second of the attack) or a focused rage.

All Levels Training and Escapes

Due to the weather conditions Monday, the training center decided to combine the three night classes into a one “All Levels Class” for an hour and one half. So... we did 360-degree defenses at the beginning of the class (Level 1) that actually appeared again in a knife defense against a downward stab (Level 5) by the end of class.

It was good for the beginning students to see how the Level 1 techniques are applied in the higher Level techniques. Moreover, it was good for the beginning students to see why it is important to master the Level 1 techniques in order to be effective in the higher Level techniques.

We did some defensive front kick drills against two people with kick shields. We also did some of these kicks with our backs against a wall. If a person approaching you was too close for a front kick, you delivered a knee strike.

Another drill had you stand in a neutral position (hands by your sides) with your eyes closed. When you heard someone say hey, you opened your eyes and defended against a knife attack.

We ended the class by having someone attack you with a knife. You defended with a defensive front kick if the attacker was in kicking range. If the attacker was too close for kicking, you defended with the appropriate close quarters defense. At times, you were told to do a back breakfall and then you had to defend against a knife attack while on your back and mounted by the attacker.

Wednesday’s ground fighting night was focused on escapes from arm locks and the dreaded triangle choke. Most of the beginning grapplers are familiar with applying the Americana, Kimura, Straight Arm Bar and Triangle Choke, but many don’t know how to escape from them. The KMWW curriculum shows how to apply the Americana, Straight Arm Bar and Triangle Choke in Levels 3 and 4, but surprisingly it doesn't show how to escape.

This week’s lead instructor showed two escapes for the Americana, Kimura, Straight Arm Bar and the Triangle Choke. He explained that you should have a minimum of at least two escapes for each situation in your repertoire.

Although the escapes the instructor showed were high percentage escapes, nothing is 100 percent guaranteed. What works well for one individual might not work as well for another. Experiment in the grappling lab until you find what works well for you.

The instructor also explained that once your opponent has the lock or choke cinched, you’re toast. You have a better chance of escape or reversal upon initiation of the lock or choke than you do when it’s been applied.

Back In The Saddle Again

Having recuperated from last Saturday's Test Day, I'm back in the saddle again.

Wednesday, our ground fighting night started out with doing some light wrestling. At the end of a period of wrestling, the instructor asked if any of the least experienced grapplers had any questions relative to situations they found themselves in. Once a question was asked, suggestions and demonstrations for solving the situation were given by everyone that had an answer. Usually, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Later we practiced alternative mount position escapes to the Krav Maga mount position escapes. The standard “Krav Maga bridge, trap and roll” poses some problems for some individuals.

Next we practiced an alternative attack from the rear mount position. The bread and butter attack from this position is usually applying a rear naked choke to your opponent. However, since most savvy opponents expect this, an excellent alternative attack is a straight arm bar.

In Thursday night’s scenario training class, we started out with the standard confrontational situation whereby you made an attempt to de-escalate the situation. I always have a hard time putting myself in that bad guy roll. When I’m in the bad guy roll, I usually accuse people of cutting me off while driving or taking “my” parking space.

Our next drill involved practicing hook punches with and without focus mitts. Along with knee strikes, hook and uppercut punches are great combatives to use against that person who decides that they want to get in your face.

Later a scenario drill had you leave the room so that your group could plot its assault on you. When you re-entered the room, you had no idea as to how the scenario was going to play out. In my case, I was approached by two male individuals. One of them acted like he knew me and wanted to talk. All the while his friend was trying to circle around me.

Acting on the gut instinct that this did not look or feel right, I attacked. I kicked the guy circling around me with a back kick and then scurried away from the other guy.

We ended the class with a stress drill. You were surrounded by five people. Two held kicking shields, two held tombstone pads and one held a focus mitt. You could kick or knee the kicking shields, straight punch or hammerfist the tombstone pads and hook punch the focus mitt. Once the instructor said go you did the aforementioned. At times, the instructor would tell you to drop. You sprawled on the floor, got back up and continued striking until told to stop.

I wonder what we’ll be doing next week?!

Test Day

Well… Level Testing was held yesterday. Level 1, 2 & 3 students were tested. And, although in attendance, Level 4 students didn’t test. For them, the day was a review of prior Level material as well as some material for their Level.

Past practices for testing have been that each Level was tested separately. You would start out with a review of the required material to go from your current Level into the next. Once that review was finished, the actual test began. Now… as you can imagine, once the review was completed, you’re exhausted. And that’s where Krav Maga instructors want you. They take students to a point where they think they’re about to quit.

Yesterday’s Level Testing was done differently. There were no reviews. All reviews were conducted over the past two weeks. This past Friday’s class afforded all students the opportunity to review any technique(s) that they felt needed further review.

Level 1, 2 & 3 students took their tests together. Everyone started at 9:30 with the Level 1 material. Once the Level 1 test was completed, Level 1 students were excused and the remaining Levels continued with Level 2 material. Once the Level 2 test was completed, Level 2 students were excused and the remaining Levels continued with Level 3 material. Once the Level 3 test was completed, Level 3 students were excused, but although utterly exhausted, the Level 3 students stayed to review the Level 4 material. I think that’s called esprit de corps!

Knowing that we were going to be testing for several hours nonstop, I prepared like a marathoner. I hydrated heavily during the week and carbohydrate loaded Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday morning, my breakfast consisted of a Met-Rx drink and a banana. Thirty minutes before testing I took a pre-workout drink called Arnge Krush. During the testing I consumed 96 ounces (approximately 3 litres) of an electrolyte drink called e-Fuel. I had 4 Balance bars with me, but I didn't have time to consume them during the testing. Two of those bars ended up being my post testing meals during the ride back home. Next time I'll take a post workout meal like After Glow.

After all of that, I still ended up cramping. About the time we got to the Heel Kicks in the Level 3 material, my right calf was cramping up on me. I guess after four and one half hours, something had to start breaking down on this old body. And, of course, every muscle was sore by then. The only injuries I sustained were a strained right thumb and some scratches and bruises on my right forearm.

So… I now start the process of recuperation for a couple of days and then get right back into the Krav Maga training mix. Hooah!

Level Testing Reviews

As I mentioned last week, this Saturday is “Test Day.” Level 1, 2 & 3 students (yellow belt, orange belt and green belt) will be testing. Level 4 (blue belt) students will be put through the paces by reviewing all material up to their Level.

The class I attended Monday night was mostly a review of Level 2 material with a smidgen of Level 3 material. We started with punch combinations (straight, hook and uppercut) then we did outside punch defenses, and then we went into defenses against outside and inside punch combinations. Next, we reviewed the standing reverse headlock (guillotine). We also did chokes from the front, back, side and choke from the front with a push as well as choke from behind with a push.

We reviewed bearhugs for the rest of the class. We reviewed:

• Bearhug from the front with arms free
• Bearhug from the front with arms free (leverage on the neck)
• Bearhug from the front with arms caught (with space)
• Bearhug from the front with arms caught (no space)
• Bearhug from behind with arms free
• Bearhug from behind with arms caught (with space)
• Bearhug from behind with arms caught (no space)
• Bearhug from behind (with lift)
• Bearhug from the front (with lift)

We ended the class with breaking up into groups of four. Each member of the group took his turn defending against the other three members as they attacked nonstop with various chokes and bearhugs.

Wednesday’s groundfighting night went over some Level 1 and 2 material, but concentrated mostly on KMWW curriculum for Levels 3 and 4. We reviewed:

• Arm bar from the guard
• Guard reversal (sit up and sweep)
• Escape from the guard (stacking)
• Trap opponent’s arms to chest to pop up and out
• Side mount (basic position)
• Side mount (arm lock)
• Side mount (strikes)
• Side mount (transition to full mount)
• Side mount disengage (knee on belly)
• Triangle choke
• Guard - bottom position: guillotine
• Guard - bottom position: defense against guillotine
• Defense against headlock from behind

Phew!

Reviews and Scenarios

This past week, there have been Level 1, 2 and 3 (yellow belt, orange belt and green belt) reviews for all Levels because of the upcoming belt testing scheduled for next Saturday. There will be more reviews next week also.

So... during our groundfighting night, Wednesday, we reviewed all Krav Maga Worldwide (KMWW) curriculum groundfighting techniques for the aforementioned Levels. We didn’t practice techniques that we might normally practice on this night because they are usually outside of the KMWW curriculum.

Some of the striking groundfighting techniques reviewed were front, side and round kicks from the ground. Some of the grappling groundfighting techniques reviewed were headlock on the ground, arm bar from the guard and choke from the side.

Thursday night, I took the Scenario Training class. The class was very interesting because we had to deal with the escalating levels of a confrontational individual. Our lead instructor asked us to play the role of the antagonist by trying to think and act the way an antagonist would think and act (method acting).

The first drill involved being confronted by an irate person and you had to try to de-escalate the situation. Another drill involved a person that would not calm down and continued to press you by getting in your space to the point of being threatening. You had to decide what your rules of engagement were going to be. In other words, when do I decide it’s time to stop this person before she attacks me?

We were put through another drill that exhausted us before being confronted. Our partners held focus mitts and we had to punch as fast as we could for speed, then as hard as we could for power, then for speed again and then for power again. I’m guessing we punched for a total of two minutes nonstop. Once exhausted, we had to deal with the whacko that’s accused us of looking at his girlfriend with lustful eyes.

Our final drill involved sitting in a chair. Our partner could attack us in any manner, armed or unarmed. We had to reach into our Krav Maga tool box and make a defense.

As I stated in my last post, “the more times you correctly repeat your techniques, the better you will be at them.” And you can’t beat the scenario-based training for putting you in mock situations where you get to practice the application of your Krav Maga skills.

Repetition

The classes I took this past week were essentially reviews of techniques. A Japanese master once said that you don’t know a technique until you’ve performed it 100,000 times. You can probably master a technique sooner than that, but if you did practice it 100,000 times, the movement would be as automatic as breathing.

Although, we would like to learn something new in every class, that is not the best way to proceed. You haven’t practiced the previous material long enough to commit it to muscle memory. It is better to do a variety of drills that work the past material in different ways. And that’s what our instructors did this past week.

So… there was more dirty boxing, but with the added element of dealing with a confrontational individual as well as an additional assailant. In addition, there were more breakfalls and drop-knee seoi nages. However, there was the added element of your opponent thwarting your throw and how to overcome that problem.

"Learning occurs when a conscious effort to put the body in a particular position or to move it in a certain way is transformed from a conscious action to an automatic action, requiring no thought."

The bottom line is… the more times you correctly repeat your techniques, the better you will be at them.