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!

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Threat Level Color Code Conditions

Lawrence A. Kane explains the following in Surviving Armed Assaults.
Condition White (Oblivious)
In this condition, you are distracted or unaware, not only perceiving no danger in your immediate area, but also not alert for any that may be presented to you. The only acceptable spot for this condition is within the confines of your own home and then only if you are safely behind layered security appropriate for your situation.

Condition Yellow (Aware)
In this condition, you are at ease, not immediately perceiving any danger, but generally aware of your surroundings. This condition is appropriate any time you are in public.

Condition Orange (Alert)
In this condition, you have become aware of some non-specific danger (via Condition Yellow) and need to ascertain whether or not there is a legitimate threat to your safety.

Condition Red (Concerned)
This conditions means that you have every reason to believe that someone poses a clear and present danger to you or some one with you.

Condition Black (Under Attack)
In this condition, you are actively being attacked.

Although it is possible to skip nearly instantly from Condition Yellow to Condition Black, you can still more or less align the OODA loop with the various alert conditions. In Condition Yellow, you observe something amiss. In Condition Orange, you ascertain that it may be a threat, building on past experiences to orient and interpolate this new information. In Condition Red, you pre-determine a response and decide what to do. You act in Condition Black.

By pre-cycling through the OODA loop, your reaction time may be faster than that of your opponent. Without doing so, it most assuredly will not be.

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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.

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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

Krav Maga Street Creds

Moshe Katz writes:

I first heard this phrase "Street Creds" while teaching a Krav Maga seminar at U Penn. A student had asked me…one of those "What if" situations. What if a street thug with a knife was standing at some distance from me, he was not attacking – thus none of my knife defense techniques would be applicable, he was not close to me – so I could not grab his arm or knife, so what would I do, he asked.

My response: run away if I could. He is at a distance, there is no knife touching my skin and no knife moving towards me, just a stationary street thug at a distance talking trash. Why should I try to disarm him? I have too much respect for the damage a knife can do. Besides, the great Danny Inosanto, the top student of the great Bruce Lee, said, "Knife disarms are incidental, if not accidental." My goal is survival, not knife collecting. If I can get home unscathed, I have accomplished my goal. I have no need to become an urban legend in the process.

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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.