Core Combatives In Ireland

davidlewis

Hello all,

I just want to put a quick note up to let you know Mick Coup is back in Ireland again in July 5th & 6th.

The last 2 seminars were a great success and well received by all.

He will cover:

Foundation Tactics, Tools and Skills
Anti-grappling Applications
Positional and Situational Adaptations
Offensive and Counter-Offensive Tactics
Threat Management Strategies

This is a good mix of both hard and soft skills that will be of benefit to anyone interested in self-preservation!!

If you want to check out some of Mick's online clips on Black belt:

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/517

Just to remind everyone Mick Coup won the “REALITY BASED SELF DEFENCE EXPONENT OF THE YEAR 2007” at the SENI show in London.

Mick is one of the best instructors and coaches in martial arts today, so take the opportunity to train with him in Ireland when he is here.

Check out http://www.kapap.ie/combatants.htm

Sláinte,

Dave 087 9376069.

burtyburr

Cant wait for this!
Steve Morris in June and Mick Coup July! It gonna be a good year!

davidlewis

Core Combatives seminar with Mick Coup July 5th & 6th in Cork

I have received several emails asking what exactly will Mick cover in the 2 days, so here is as good a preview as I can give:

Foundation Tactics, Tools and Skills - this refers to the essential 'hard skills' material required for combat management at the most basic level, always requirement based - not just a collection of 'dirty tricks' and favourite techniques. It will be a revision as opposed to the full package.
Anti-grappling Applications - high-percentage tactics to enable the individual to continue fighting and prevent becoming incapacitated, over-powered and vulnerable to third party attackers.
Positional and Situational Adaptations - methods of adapting body-mechanics, and utilising the environment, to overcome the limitations of disadvantaged situations, such as when seated, or grounded, or otherwise restricted.
Offensive and Counter-Offensive Tactics - applying the above under controlled circumstances, using stress and duress to pressure-test and confirm effect, and identify limitations to address.
Threat Management Strategies - an introduction to the 'big-picture' concerning awareness and avoidance methods, the vital 'soft skills' that reduce the risk of personal danger from hostile individuals.

The 2 day course will cost €150-00 for 2 full days, this includes a light lunch each day and an event t-shirt.

We have had students from all MA backgrounds on the previous C2 seminars who all left with new material and big smiles, so, don't take my word for it that Mick is worth seeing, take the word of the people who awarded Mick the “REALITY BASED SELF DEFENCE EXPONENT OF THE YEAR 2007”.... enough said.

Around €10-00 an hour to train with the best!! how many of you are paying that for Sensei Reputation???

You can contact me on 087 9376069 or email info@kapap.ie

Visit the web www.kapap.ie and see the "Core Combatives in Ireland" link

or visit Mick's site www.corecombatives.com

Slainte,

Dave.

o_connnor25

This sounds great Dave count me in, Presume places are filling up quickly like the last two seminars. Should be another great weekend.

RedFred

Brilliant, Mick Coup's back, I presume all the heads from the last 2 seminars will be there!!! Eric, Jonathan, Mikey, The Limerick lads, Frank from Letterkenny, and all the Krav Maga lads... what a great craic the last 2 times..

My deposit is in the post Dave!!

Mick Coup - July and Steve Morris - June, excellent stuff, keep the good stuff coming Dave & Mark..

westhamutd

Thats great I will mail you the money on the 2nd of next month.

tks

davidlewis

Thanks,

we'll see you there

David.

Musashi

I'm in mate, will visit your site to book it!

davidlewis

Thanks Eric,

Look forward to seeing you there,

David.

davidlewis

“Anything is possible but not everything is probable, and I only deal with what is.” Mick Coup

Within what we loosely call the ‘reality-based self defence' sector, Mick Coup is one of the most well-known and respected names, constantly sought out for seminars and courses, with an international client-base. He has been regularly interviewed and has written numerous insightful articles on his chosen field, so I made a conscious decision to steer away from questions about his past history to concentrate more on his personal thoughts on key issues within the ‘RBSD’ world. In the flesh Mick is an imposing physical specimen and this reflects the way he teaches, as he is conscious of the fact that the person who needs his help is seldom built as impressively and rarely has the myriad ‘tools of the trade’ that he has at his fingertips. With this in mind he dispels self-defence myths with a brutal honesty and during the course of this interview another myth was clearly dispelled, namely the old-chestnut that you can’t have brains and brawn - so here is Mick Coup in his own words on...

Self-Defence and Martial Arts.

“Personally, I’m not a martial artist, not any more at least, and I'll go on record as saying that. It (self-defence) doesn’t have to come from martial arts but it’s not a bad thing when it does, if it’s done properly. Martial artists will decry a guy and say “he’s not trained”, but in truth, so ****ing what! The hospital is full of victims put in there by people who haven’t trained, so using force effectively is most certainly not the preserve of the martial artist alone.

The reality-based self defence tag that gets put on everything these days - they miss out on the ‘reality-based’ element all too often - learning how to defend against a martial arts assault rather than a street fighting assault, and looking at unrealistic attack formats that don’t actually occur. They still train in a manner that limits what they’re doing as opposed to expanding it into another arena. For a basic example, people practice punching heavy-bags and target dummies and become extremely proficient at it, but if you watch CCTV footage of actual fights, a couple of simple fact stand out - people put their arms in the way and they don't stay in one spot, they don't like getting hit and will try to stop it happening. This needs to be dealt with and in doing so it gets messy, it doesn’t look as good as the drills worked on the bag or pads, but that’s what the situation dictates, it can't be avoided - unless you've worked out some special deal beforehand! Train all you want against compliant and receptive targets that give a clear shot each and every time, but stand-by to get a big surprise when they change their minds…

If you look at John Smith in a street fight it's not much different to the pro-MMA fighter in the cage. Obviously the level of technical skill, physical ability and tactical delivery cannot be compared - this isn't what I'm getting at, not at all. The similarity lies with the basic tactical models utilised. Look at the following template as an example - closing the distance fast, using a barrage of blows against the other guy to force him into a defensive mode, then either take him to the ground or immobilise him against a backdrop and then hold, control and repeatedly strike him to finish. Ever seen that outside a club at 3am? Same as in an octagon cage, barring the previously mentioned huge skill and attribute disparity of course. I'm most definitely not using this to down-sell training hard, or to take anything away from trained fighters - quite the contrary, but it's a good thing to be shown which direction to take. If you want to go the furthest, you swim with the current - not against it.

It's no surprise, to me anyway, that even the top combat sport athlete's fights never resemble their training sessions - all the combinations and complex drills are replaced in the heat of the moment with the most basic and simplistic high-percentage tactical formats, that their unfit, unskilled and untrained street counterparts also adopt under stress. To a point, humans will fall back to a base default level of fighting with many common denominators, these being those techniques and tactics that fit in with our physical and psychological make-up the best, which are ergonomic. You can learn a lot from an untrained man because they will default to the most efficient means because they haven’t trained (in martial arts) with this as inspiration, you can refine and fine tune it as a concept.”

The different interpretations of ‘reality-based’.

“I hate the term ‘RBSD’ because I think it’s irrelevant. You can have a reality-based martial art certainly, but self-defence can only be based on reality if it's to be called self-defence at all. It’s becoming an extremely political style-based environment just like the martial arts that it sometimes tries to look down upon. For instance, I use the term ‘combatives’ as an adjective, just a descriptive word, but other people use it rather over-zealously as a style, a noun, as in “I don’t do Karate, I do Combatives” but you can have Karate that is combative in application, in the same way you can have Karate that is sportive or creative, so ‘RBSD’ or ‘Combatives’ should really be a descriptive term, not an entity in itself.”

Structured regular classes or intensive courses?

“I teach (initially) a very small skillset and any successful operationally-based model out there will use virtually the same small skillset, it’s no surprise that groups such as the military use as few techniques as possible that are capable of as much versatile application as possible in turn. I do believe there’s room for both the weekly training and the intense course although I prefer the latter personally, along with private tuition - I prefer to teach not train people - the training is best done by the person, he's got more time available and ultimately this is what it's all about.”

Drilling multiple techniques or drilling few techniques.

“The best analogy I can use here is with owning guns. A gun collector might have forty or fifty guns - several of the same gun with different finishes, various grips, all kinds of calibres - he’ll collect them and love them but he’ll never shoot them 'properly' apart from on the firing-range. An ‘operator’ on the other hand will probably only have two guns, a pistol and a carbine - all the finish will be worn off of them and they'll be ugly and functional in form, there will be little to no gadgets attached but they will fit him perfectly - because he uses them all the time, for real as tools not ornaments. There is a very real and distinct shift in emphasis to what is outwardly the same thing. A street fighter doesn’t have a problem with technique that a martial artist has - a martial artist has too many techniques, he’s spoilt for choice and that’s why he falls victim to street fighters all the time.”

Human beings generally want to learn more and more - but only those that aren’t putting their necks on the line every day really follow this approach with regard to fighting - the guys that are in the thick of it want to learn less and less. Look at MMA fighters, boxers, Thai-boxers; they’ll consistently use the same techniques, devoid of frills save for individual specialities and, dare I say it, these are 'only' sports. In class you add and add, and add even more, but when you need to use it you take it away and boil it down, whatever survives the heat, whatever is left in the bottom of the pan - that's it, that's what you need.

When faced with a dangerous situation-mad dog or calm and collected?

“I weigh in at about 110kg and I look the part - I can scream and growl at people and they’ll believe bad things are about to happen! If I was to teach that to the average guy and he was going to use it on some scumbag on the street there's a very good chance that they're not going to believe him - he’s very likely to be writing a cheque his body can’t cash! I don’t ever think you’re going to be in a position to intimidate someone whose business it is to intimidate you, especially when they've started first. There’s a huge myth that’s grown from doormen teaching from their experiences - if I’m a law-enforcement officer or a doorman, someone official, then I can say “stay back” and certain factors back up my words and actions. If you’re John Q Public being sized up on a Saturday night by a couple of nasties that are going to mug you, then forget about committing everything to this approach - it's dangerously flawed in my opinion.

A lot of the stuff that has come out of the doorman template doesn’t apply to the average guy walking the street at night. Working on the door is looked at in some fields as being the highest point of combative experience but in reality it's a very limited form of exposure to violence and conflict. I worked the door for seventeen years near enough and I’ve worked with men who’ve been doormen for twenty years and counting, who can’t fight at all - it really is no guaranteed badge of experience. First off, what are the criteria for being in an actual 'fight' as opposed to just using force? If you're manhandling someone or knocking them out clean - these don't count as fights in my mind, only when it's a real struggle with two-way traffic that there is a very real chance of not walking away from - that's what I call a fight. Personally I’ve had very few 'fights' as such - I avoid them because I find them extremely unpleasant and I've never been a fan of giving someone any kind of chance - but I don't avoid using force, violence, when necessary - I just don't call such instances 'fights'. On the door you’ve got that bit of authority on your side, you’ve got the benefit of being sober, it doesn’t mean anything to me when I hear about people 'working the doors' as an endorsement - most of the people you can bang out easily don't need banging out at all, it's simply unprofessional.”

What to look for from a self-defence instructor.

“First of all, be objective - don’t be blinded by hype, by a name or reputation - including mine, rather look at what is being taught and ask yourself if you could have applied it to the last real fight you were in, or the last one you saw, don’t listen to what anyone else tells you just ask yourself will it work in an actual fight, not in a demonstration.

In the world of science for instance, proof is everything - nothing else matters. If the most highly respected scientist in any field releases a new paper, his reputation counts for nothing - absolutely everything has to be proven under highly critical and objective scrutiny. This isn't often the case with our 'thing' - if a 'name' invents something it can become 'law' all too easily and is never challenged - having a reputation gives credibility no matter how flimsy the theory, and I strive to avoid this situation at every turn. Faith and belief count for little to nothing when the stakes are so high, proof is all that matters. My seminar introduction takes no time at all, no long recounting of daring deeds designed to elicit trust and admiration - simply 'My name is Mick, don't believe a word that I say unless I can prove it' and I prefer it this way.

Everything will work in a prepared environment, but this can't be said once the situation becomes unexpected, or when the required preparation is absent. I won’t teach anything that won’t work spontaneously, because it's a lie to do so and claim to be teaching for reality. I teach on three levels - combat management, that’s the actual fight, the 'hard skills' and I teach it first, to everyone. I don’t care if they’re from Delta Force, a housewife or a policeman, the first thing I teach is how to manage combat and survive a fight. Once that’s in place at a default level, the next level is termed contact management and this is how to handle confrontation with other people who could be potential threats to your safety, how to minimise risk and if it doesn’t work, you can default back to combat management and save your neck. The final level is threat management and this is the most important, but I teach it last with good reason, and it's all about managing the threat of actual violence, how to plan to avoid being in a conflict situation, using what I term 'soft skills'. If it fails - and everything does on occasion - then you fall back on handling the contact with the threat, and if that fails you default to managing the combat that can result. If it all works? That's a bonus! All the above falls into what I term protective tactics, and is relevant to everyone - beyond this I teach to defensive tactics applications for those involved in security and law-enforcement, and offensive tactics for military personnel.

I'm blunt when I tell people what actual fighting really is - why? Because it's a tough subject - it's about battle not ballet, and if your approach doesn't reflect this, you should be wearing a tutu! I've never seen nor been in a non-violent fight, but I've seen plenty of approaches to personal combat that have violence conspicuously absent, but still claim to be reality-based.

I’m in good shape, have good technique, been in my share of fights and yet why do I seem to be the only one out there saying that fighting’s really difficult? Everyone else seems to have it all worked out - I must be missing something crucial! This is what’s putting people on the wrong foot, they’re being told it doesn’t matter if they’re a little guy, or if there's a weapon involved, or more than one adversary - there's no end of wonderful techniques that will ensure their safety, backed up by being super-positive obviously, but I tell them straight that it does matter - cats can’t fight dogs, so they avoid them, they’ll only fight if they really have to. If you’re a smaller guy fighting a bigger guy it's going to be hard work, period. Sometimes there is no perfect answer that people want, no matter how positive you try to be - often you’re stood upstairs in the window of a burning building, you’ve got a tough decision to make - basically which way will hurt the least, because not getting hurt at all is an option that you don't have. As soon as you meet that guy who isn’t going to go away, who is intent and capable of hurting you, your life just took a turn for the worse.”

Bursting the self-defence bubble.

“Some like it, some don’t, it’s like a version of the X-Factor sometimes, they’re sat at home, they think they’re great and been told so by their mates and peers, they stand in front of a panel of experts that tell them objectively that they’re not as good as they thought they were and it's the last thing they expect - which is the instant record deal, such is their self-belief. Some people take it on the chin and ask how they can improve, others stamp their feet and say you’re wrong and move on until they find someone that agrees with them.

A lot of people hate to be told that they’ve got a small percentage chance of winning but this is meant to be reality based after all, some battles you can’t fight and it’s best to realise your limitations first, that’s more important. You don't take on a tank with a rifle, no matter how romantic the notion may seem, you either get a bigger gun or you stay away completely.”

The government debate over giving householders more self-defence rights in their own home.

“This is a double-edged sword. Laws are in place for a very good reason and although some are ridiculous it’s better to have them than no law at all. I find it amazing that those that rebel against the law are those that need it the most, because they are those that, should anarchy take over, would become food for other people. In America where you have your ‘castle’ and are allowed to use deadly force against intruders, innocent people have been killed as a result.

There is always that hypothetical question, what happens when you hear noises downstairs? You get your baseball bat, go downstairs and have a look-around, but what if you find three guys like me down there? You are going to get killed and then we are going upstairs… You don’t want to hear it but the reality of the situation is that you don’t have a clue who is downstairs – best place you can stay is upstairs, protecting your family. Having that bravado, tooling up and going downstairs because the law is on your side - that’s a problem. I would never advocate cowardice to anybody but I would never advocate a ‘Hollywood’ stance to anyone either.”

Mick’s physical size as a hindrance to teaching self-defence.

“As in I don’t need self defence because of my size, or it works for me because I'm strong etc? This can be a problem when I teach and the way I alleviate it is to not demonstrate things myself too much. During the introduction I make it a real point to tell people that this isn’t about me and what I can do - you will very rarely see me demonstrate - after all it's an instructional course not a presentation - so I'll get guys on the course to actually do the demo’s with minimal coaching to show how simple it can be. That gives people confidence in the material itself rather than just being impressed by my performance of it. I can make most things work in truth - but again it’s all about high-percentage use and I define that as being what will work for most people against most people in most circumstances. Anything is possible, absolutely, but not everything is probable and I only deal with what is.”

The Seni Seminar 2008

“At the very least you’re going to leave knowing that you can hit a man hard enough to put him down- 99.9 percent of people I teach could knock me out if they knew how. What I teach is what I fear the most, I will teach you what will work against a guy like me. I don’t teach beginners arm-locks, hold-downs, weapons even - to be honest they don't really need them, not yet anyway, if they ever do. I teach what they can do on that day (when they’re attacked) in the car park and the base level of that is impact, heavy explosive and repeated impact - for when it all boils down to workable high-percentage stuff you can't beat good old-fashioned blunt trauma to the head. In two hours you’re never going to be an expert in anything but what I want is to give that person enough information to go away and practice it proficiently with a view to ultimately becoming combat proficient in that technique. [/size]I teach the same small skill set to everyone but I teach it in layers - the guy with a lot of experience is working on the same stuff but on a deeper level. I build foundations, I don’t build towers, I build bunkers. If you’re going to build a functional structure you don’t need a lot of rooms, what you need is for those foundations to be as deep as possible and that’s what I teach people.

The one bit of feedback that I continually hear is how it all makes sense - which I like obviously, but to be honest….shouldn't it?”

davidlewis

SURVIVAL OF THE STRONGEST (Build A Better Machine)


How many times do we hear, regarding the effectiveness of some system, various statements such as ‘technique not strength’, ‘no matter the opponents size’ etc? Strange how the people usually hard-selling such notions are often not in ‘prime’ condition themselves, or their target market are the vulnerable persons wanting a ‘magic-wand’ system of evening the odds already stacked against them. Time to wake up ladies and gentlemen. Combat is an intense physical affair. It stands to reason that the more physically capable you are, the better off you’re likely to be should you decide, or be forced, to indulge.

Technique is extremely important, yes, but so is the physical ability required to pull it off against fully resisting opponents. Is it any coincidence that every army, through history, has promoted some form of physical training? No coincidence either that the more elite and likely to encounter force that a combatant is, the better the physical condition they will be found in. It has long been recognised that the better shape you’re in before combat, the better shape you’ll be in during combat.

Take a close look at the specialist police and military teams, the ones doing the business on a regular basis. Do they undergo gruelling physical training for fun? No, of course not, they, and their decision makers, know the score. Most of these units weed out unsuitable applicants during the initial stages of selection and training using some form of hard physical testing, as it is accepted as being one of the most important basic attributes.

Excellent physical condition is of vital importance for all combatants in the forces. As has already been stated, combat is a supremely strenuous affair. Not only does it provide a strong machine for the tools needed by the job, but also fitter individuals are more resistant to injuries and can retain more mental concentration through periods of stress-induced fatigue, and subsequent fatigue-induced stress.

Getting back to the point, is your ‘machine’ powerful enough for your chosen ‘tools’? Techniques, the tools, are vital, but I would argue that they are not enough on their own; you need a machine that is up to the job.

My advice is to get down to the gym and do whatever you can to improve your physical condition – strength, muscular endurance and cardiovascular training, everything. It all counts. I place particular emphasis on strength for combat, as my personal style of fighting is based upon heavy explosive impact tools, with muscular endurance coming a close second in order to sustain this high-energy output, if required. Cardiovascular training is the foundation activity; CV fitness has so many benefits, not least the ability to reduce the resting heart rate, which in turn helps to keep you in the ’performance zone’ under duress.

I used to be dead against weight training, before I tried it in earnest, probably for the very same reasons that most of its detractors use. I thought it would slow me down, and as I use velocity extensively to produce high impact, I wasn’t keen on that happening. I thought my push-ups, pull-ups and all the other exercises would suffice. The one area where I really felt the pinch was when bodyweight was being directly applied, during grappling and general manhandling of adversaries. I was at times struggling to control stronger and heavier opponents, often getting properly mauled in the process, which I always compensated for using impact, which in turn wasn’t always ideal for the circumstances. I decided to increase my usable body mass (i.e. muscle not fat) and strength as direct result of this failing, as I was involved in an increasing number of tasks requiring the application of force, both in a military and private capacity.

When I first started resistance training, I was still serving in the forces and it was, and still is, a hugely popular activity. Luckily, I learnt from some master craftsmen, seriously dedicated types, and eventually I progressed to qualifying as a NABBA certified weight-training instructor. Since then, I’ve met and trained with some truly phenomenal examples of muscular development, and I’ve been able to learn much more. I make resistance training my number-one combative support system, and I’ve developed a whole range of specific exercises for nearly all my fighting requirements.

Strength is vital to all physical activities; even Formula One drivers have extensive physical training programs. Just technique? No, not enough I’m afraid. Teaching control and restraint methods to colossal doormen and the like puts you straight – the best hold in the world can be overpowered by some lunatic who has 150% of your body weight, and maybe 200% of your strength, and that’s without adding any chemical factors. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never advocated any use of ‘cold’ grappling, instead I always prescribe large doses of anaesthetic impact before such risky operations. If you have never trained with such individuals, and you train for the real thing, then you need to find some – look under ‘Big Nasty B******s Ltd’ in the yellow pages! You need to be strong and have good technique, no question about it. Try to remember the following adage - “Quantity can have a nasty quality all of its own.”

If you do know any huge meathead types (don’t tell ‘em I used this term) try your arm / leg / neck holds on them, with and without resistance. I’ve trained with, and taught, men who have virtually zero flexibility, and so much bulk that it’s almost impossible to secure any effective holds – even with compliance in some cases, and you sometimes get the impression that if they flinch, something of yours may snap! Try putting a real strangle on a man with a 22” neck. Scary isn’t it? If you don’t agree, I strongly suggest that you stick to activities that have weight categories, for your own safety. Thankfully, heavy impact that targets the central nervous system still works in these extreme cases, but even then – strength is an important factor. Impact is highly influenced by simple ballistics, and a basic premise is that if you want to make a bigger bullet go further and faster, you put a bigger bang behind it.

I’ve honestly never had too many reservations about tackling the highly trained types -sorry to sound so arrogant - during the course of any work that I’ve been doing. The people, and I use that term lightly, that make me wonder if I’m in the wrong place, are the monsters, the ogres, the raging bulls – you know, the ones who you know are going to be nigh-on indestructible, and those you know will throw your team around like rag-dolls.

I could give so many examples of such freaks of nature, as I’m sure many of you could, but none are so vivid in my memory as a giant Dutch soldier that I, and three others, once had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting. During a NATO Escape and Evasion exercise, we captured said soldier and proceeded to attempt to restrain him while transport arrived to whisk him off for some very unpleasant interrogation. Was he coming quietly? Not likely. It soon became a bit of a concern if he was coming at all! Ever see anyone burst Nylon Plasticuffs? We hadn’t either. Ever see four big men savaged and thrown around by one, much bigger, man? Think of a ‘World’s Strongest Man’ competitor here. All the technique in the world wasn’t getting us very far that day, and I can hear you saying “No matter how big he was, my eye strike / groin kick / sleeper hold would have sorted him out.” Yes, we tried all of that, in turn, with three men trying to hold him down, and it seemed to make things worse. In the end he gave up before the transport arrived, he was “Only messing” with us after all! This was only a training exercise. For real? It would’ve been done with bullets, without a shadow of a doubt. We all wished we’d been a lot stronger that day I can assure you, just as you would if ever you found yourself in the same situation, and someone decides not to play by the rules of nature.

Tell the UFC / NHB / Vale Tudo fighters, or any boxer or Judoka, not to bother with strength training because technique is all they need. Imagine the response you’ll get, and these are all sports – however hard they are, real combat is in a league all of its own.

Generally, and hopefully, the average street thug, if there is such an animal, hasn’t got the kind of devastating power that a sport combat champion has, but is your training geared toward general, fingers-crossed, assumptions? If it is, good luck to you, but I’m playing it safe and training worst-case every time. There are very few surprises this way, take it from me, and anyone else who gets his or her hands dirty on occasion will agree. I can always tone it down if maximum force isn’t required, but what if it is and I’ve never really trained for it? Multiple attackers, weapons, and combinations of both, are situations where the sudden application of maximum force is possibly your only chance of survival – and the stronger you are the more this chance improves.

Back to strength training, I’m not going to delve into specifics here – I intend to cover these in future articles – but I can’t recommend it enough. Don’t ever think that as soon as you start lifting weights over your head you’ll experience massive, instant, muscular growth. This seems to be one of the most popular misconceptions. It isn’t as easy as all that, if you can prove me wrong on this, we stand to make a lot of money together, partner! Another mistaken belief is you’ll become ‘muscle bound’ and lose suppleness. Not the case, check out an American bodybuilder called Tom Platz, he’s now no spring chicken and still has some of the biggest legs in the business, yet his flexibility is amazing. Also, take look at gymnasts, especially the men; they have outstanding muscular development giving astonishing power, control and agility. As long as you train your muscles with a full range of motion, they will develop with a full range of motion, and as long as you maintain your flexibility, you’ll retain your flexibility. It’s as simple as that. The clumsy awkward types that you encounter are the result of clumsy awkward training – remember, the very first ‘muscle’ you should always train is the big grey one between your ears, learn from a real expert if you can find one.

You need strength. In close combat - strength counts. If you’re taking a door off with a ram during a room entry – strength counts. If you’re levering two lunatic drunks apart in a bar – strength counts. If you’re carrying a wounded client or colleague to safety – strength counts. If you’re getting bounced around a dark deserted car park by thugs – strength counts. Get the picture? Do I have to say it again? Yes – strength counts.

To sum all this up, I view the technique as the tool, and the body as the machine, as I’ve tried to make clear. If the tool isn’t sharp enough, or not suited for the job, then the results won’t be great. If the machine hasn’t enough power to make the tool work properly, then once again the results won’t be great. Carefully select and hone your tools, and put together a powerful machine – then check how great your results are!

davidlewis

INDEXING (Reach out and touch someone)


What exactly is an 'index', and why exactly would I want to do it? What's the fuss all about?

I could hard-sell the 'index' as the next combative 'super concept' - after all, the name certainly sounds cool and mysterious doesn't it? I'd never get away with it, because the truth is simply that indexing is nothing new at all. I guarantee that everybody is already more than acquainted with the concept, maybe just not the name I stick on it - and combative humans have been indexing targets prior to striking them from the beginning. If we take this existing simple support skill, and 'tune it up' a little - something I am fond of doing - it just gets better, it's an enhancement - nothing more, but the more it improves the better it enhances.

Hitting something requires a fair degree of proficiency to get any tool right on target with actual stopping power - just consider all the ongoing calculations such as judging range to the target, gauging the orientation of the target to yourself, assessing your available 'reach' etc - and this is only for a static shot! Start moving the target, just in one plane, and these calculations become more involved - now move it erratically in every plane and it becomes near-impossible - no wonder people miss!

Firing off a punch to the head, for example, relies on a visual point of reference before any of these conscious/subconscious calculations can even be attempted, and plenty can happen before the punch lands, requiring constant re-evaluation and adjustment - even in the split-second time-frame involved. Often the difference between a knockout or not is down to the target's instinctive shift away from the incoming blow to the head, this can be minuscule - not even a true 'flinch' as such but enough to negate the desired effect. Sometimes the head movement is dramatic - people just don't want to get hit I reckon! - making landing solid, finishing, blows hard using just visual reference, and this is an understatement as anyone knows who has tried it.

Having the free hand in contact, somewhere, makes this so much more effective. Any form of contact with a person provides a tactile point of reference, and dramatically improves both target acquisition and accuracy. The closer you can position the hand to the target, the more direct and effective the 'index' effect, but any contact, no matter how indirect, will improve target acquisition somewhat, as you have more information input to assist and enhance your striking. This same minute 'drift' of the head is less of a problem, as being in contact updates the necessary information as required.

Basically if landing a punch on a thinking moving target is a lottery, and it is, indexing it first buys you a whole load more tickets!

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, everyone already does this, it's found in every martial art, from the deep-rooted traditional styles to the modern progressive systems so I'm certainly not pushing it out as a new idea, but it is definitely something to be considered more deliberately - not so incidentally or even just accidentally!

Indexing is a skill, and as such it's less tangible than a more specific striking tool for instance - and it's especially useful from a contact-management/line-up perspective where the emphasis is often upon explosive pre-emptive strikes to finish an attack a moment before it fully manifests. Most methods of situational control advocate using the hands to dynamically control any existing interval and proximity, creating obstructions to be negotiated prior to any assault and maintaining a reactionary gap to buffer any incursion into personal space.

The index comes into play during such scenarios perfectly, naturally even, as there is no need to worry too much about touching the target and escalating the situation - usually you'll be prising an aggressor off with a virtual crowbar, so touching is usually down to them as they try to position for a possible shot. With this in mind, the index will be in play constantly and your first shot hit-probability will increase dramatically should you need it, especially if you use it consciously to this end.

As stated previously, any contact is good - but some forms are better than others. Using a constant 'sticky' pressure with the hand, possibly adding the forearm if close, is probably the optimum balance between input, security and flexibility. Indexing isn't simply grabbing and hitting, as many mistake it for, but a grab can be a form of index - just not the best example. Grabbing works well and is instinctive - sometimes a little too instinctive, and under duress people can 'forget' to let go when necessary (previously I've had to prise an unconscious subject's hand from my clothing - still locked tight) so I prefer not to fully commit the grip involving the thumb, rather just using a 'meat hook' type of open grab/trap/push/pull for a limb or neck control, or simply to apply the optimum forward pressure to the upper body while the other hand/elbow blasts in with repeated strikes, or a multiple knee strike is employed, or headbutts etc depending on circumstances. All this is done with a constant physical point of reference, an 'index' to guide the shots on target.

So you've indexed and landed your shot, and - welcome to reality! - you didn't manage to put the bad guy away in one, so what do you do now? Simple - keep the same index and repeat the shot until it works! Simple? Yes, but a little too simple maybe? Not really, just bear with me a while. Fighting is undoubtedly no easy task, believe me I know this, but ultimately combat of any scale is actually fairly simple in concept, just made near-impossible in application by us 'clever' humans! Surely if we can simplify the concept even more - from a purely pragmatic point of view - we can simplify the application in turn?

This 'index and repeat' tactic may be a little basic, over simplistic, 'unsophisticated' even - but it doesn't half get the job done! With constant offensive pressure, a real 'go for it' committed attitude and a 'good-to-go' green light I'd rather land 4-5 shots bang on target, easily, with the same hand - being in control and maintaining optimum range without restrictive attachment, than 9-10 shots that barely hit home, each one a 'lottery' that disturbs and negatively affects the targeting of the next.

Maintaining a constant point of contact with the non-striking hand is more efficient and therefore preferable to any alternating or 'cycling' method where there is still a moment without contact and the free hand actually moves the target away, the 'index' remains in place and is often, but not always, teamed with some form of 'control' such as a grab, or better still a more straightforward temporary 'trap' of an obstructing limb to create and maintain offensive opportunities and to prevent and hinder any attempts of defence.

Again this 'indexing' of a target prior to hitting is as old as fighting itself - I keep saying this don't I? It's often observed in bar brawls as a prime example, it's an almost primal act to latch onto someone and strike repeatedly with one hand, or drag someone's head down and stick the boot or knee in over and over again. I'm definitely not advocating abandoning all your training and simply watching thugs brawl for inspiration, but just maybe take a hint or two regarding what is already effective - untrained attackers still put guys in hospital on an all too-regular basis - and look at what can be improved upon further with a little tactical/technical analysis and a whole load of intelligent and realistic training.

Indexing as a support skill isn't limited to fighting either - nurses 'index' before administering injections, surgeons do the same before making incisions and if you were to write something on a wall, no doubt you'd place your free hand near to where your pen wanted to be - try hammering a nail in without touching the piece of wood throughout the act! People want a point of reference for precise work, it increases confidence if nothing else, and 'indexing' is the term I use for this.

I actually borrowed the term 'indexing' from a pistol emergency-reload method. As will be familiar to any tactical shooter, the spare magazines on your belt are arranged in a pre-determined fashion and when you grasp one you do so with the index finger in line with the front edge of the magazine. This ensures that it can be quickly and accurately fitted into the empty pistol without looking, by simply guiding the index finger toward the base of the hand holding the pistol and straight into the waiting magazine-well, whilst constantly observing your surroundings - these tend to be rather 'interesting' during or immediately after a gunfight!

Also, as an aside, the concept can be likened to the index of a book - a point of reference that lets you know exactly where to easily and quickly find everything contained in therein.

Try this basic drill to explore the overall concept, to 'tune up' its already instinctive nature - take just one finger and place it on the chest region of your training partner, close your eyes and then, maintaining contact, see how easy it is to repeatedly locate his head with the free hand. Try it touching the arm also, getting your partner to reposition himself between 'shots' - even calling out locations for you to target, progress to using the whole hand and feel the further improvement as you get more tactile input from the increased surface-area.

Now try it with the index-hand firmly touching the side of a focus pad, or the arm of the holder with just enough 'sticky' pressure to maintain contact, and fire in some heavy shots with the pad moved each time. Keep your eyes closed throughout and notice how power doesn't suffer, often with the eyes open the 'human condition' sets in - that incredible ability to make a simple thing complicated! Bear in mind to avoid placing the hand behind the pad, as this would in fact support the head if the action were transferred to a real encounter - which it will end up being - and drastically reduce, if not negate a possible knock-out blow.

As a matter of interest, I often find guys hitting harder with their eyes shut - testimony to them having a negative visual fascination with the whole 'point of impact' thing where the line of application is mentally split into a pre and post impact phase. In effect many fixate on the surface of the target - visually - and 'zoom' up to it before applying force, therefore not utilising as much mass-momentum as possible. In truth the strike should travel to the limit of its application in one fluid movement, colliding with and travelling through the point of impact along the way - but that's another story!

Note, importantly, that the above is just a confidence drill, I heartily recommend an 'eyes wide open' approach to personal combat - anything else is just showing off!

That said, it has obvious vision-impaired tactical applications - if you've been CS/OC/ammonia sprayed, blinded by blood or gouged, maybe you're 'banged-in-the-head-dizzy' or all of the above, you'll certainly appreciate a little help with your aim! Being able to observe additional threats, using active scanning mid-fight, whilst getting shots 'down-range' accurately is handy too, preventing that target hypnotism that leaves you wide open to a third-party assault.

Continue the drill to the next level, open the eyes and get the pad-holder to 'flash' present the target, then drift the target around a little and retreat, like people do when you try to hit 'em, this forces you to dynamically acquire the index and encourages forward offensive movement of some form. You'll continue to hit it good and heavy almost every time - plus it's often far easier to reach out suddenly and locate with an index rather than commit yourself to a strike straight off, and the whole act should be near enough simultaneous anyway.

Not convinced? No problem, try the above again but with the lights off, now it becomes less of an option and more of a necessity you'll find - even better get someone to ruin your pupil dilation with direct strong white light while you're hitting and really see the value, cover one of your eyes with a patch to spoil depth perception, wear safety goggles smeared with grease - are you getting the idea now? Draw obvious parallels with lowlight and snap shooting practices utilising tactical flashlights and lasers, the concept of enhancing the aim with additional external means is the same as it happens.

As soon as stress goes up, accuracy goes down - any enhancement might be crucial because as we all know, during combat the clock is ticking and you have to put people away fast before others want in. Missing means throwing more shots, which means taking more time and getting more stressed, and so the downward spiral goes until you possibly take one in the back of the head.

For solo training on a heavy bag, or similar piece of equipment, use one hand/forearm and keep it in constant fluid contact with the bag - applying and maintaining that 'sticky' pressure - keeping the bag away and at optimum range for whatever repeated hand/elbow/head blow works best at that point in time. Flow from one side to the other, switching index and strike as necessary, and for best results look through to the background during such exchanges, or even close your eyes for real tactile-only target acquisition.

Integrate this into to 'normal' bag work, in between more regular bilateral combinations, then move around and re-manipulate the bag using 'controlling' - the cousin support skill to indexing - making sure to put the bag where you want it, not the other way around. Add actual target 'dots' to the bag and engage only them, don't just hit wherever you desire - real targets simply are not so accommodating. Finally, and definitely, inject a little life into the drill with vivid visualisation to get the absolute most out of it.

The index can be and should be transitioned from one hand/arm to the other as/if required, depending upon how and where the offensive opportunities present themselves. It can be combined with various forms of controlling as previously stated and must be considered just a flexible and fluid support skill, not some 'super-system' use it with hand strikes, elbows, headbutts and knees, or index the ear with the fingers to gouge the eye using the thumb. It works with pre-emptive strikes and simple repeated 'unilateral' hitting only - anything else and you're on your own!

Is that it? I'm afraid so - were you waiting for the 'secret' stuff perhaps? Only if you have your decoder ring handy…….

One closing point - If you don't like it, don't use it……but I'm betting that you already do!

Musashi

Dave,

The family are all good man, see you up in Cork! I know my booking went through on your site since Paypal told me so Cheers mate, looking forward to another go round with you, your lads, Frankie from up North, the Thai guys and the kickboxers, maybe the lady First Responder?, and of course Mick!

If any of the lads are undecided about attending, hit this seminar! I'd rate training with Mick akin to training with John Kav. An eye opener as to what is possible and how neither man is what you might imagine from online posts! Meet up and see for yourselves, learning a wider range can only be good for all styles.

davidlewis

Eric,

Thanks for that, I'm just back from a weekend training with Mick, the topics covered on the upcoming seminar will be a real eye opener for a lot of people, as always with Mick's material its straight to the point, no fluff, 100% effective and transferrable to the real world of personal attack/violence.

We'll see you there:)

David.

davidlewis

TACTICAL IDEAS – TRIED AND TESTED


Jab – Cross – Hook! Ever done that in training? Only about a million times I’m guessing, or something very similar I’m sure! What kind of striking combinations do you employ and drill to the death on the pads? The ‘straight blast’ perhaps? This could get pretty technical couldn’t it? I’d better stop before this happens and change the subject, or should I? Just bear with me for a little while and all will be revealed.

Let’s talk tactics for a change – everyone gets carried away with techniques I feel, and tactics get a little overlooked, but without tactics all techniques are without application, no game plan, like without strategy all tactics are lost and aimless.

Lets look at the military view on tactics, which are generally quite standard around the world, unlike martial arts that evolve; military skills devolve into flexible generics. Pomp and ceremony are saved for the parade square, combat becomes more and more efficient as time goes on, forget futuristic weaponry – it still all boils down to getting stuck in on foot, and doing the business up close.

Standard generic tactics for any type of military combat engagement are to split your available resources, usually into two groups – one provides cover or support whilst the other closes with the enemy, to assault the position. These roles are interchangeable, according to circumstances. When one half (team) of an infantry section moves, under fire from the enemy, the other team gives suppressive fire until the moving team has reached it’s limit of safe movement. The moving team quickly goes to ground and covers as the other team becomes the moving team, and this process is repeated as often as is necessary, until one team is in a final position to assault. The underpinning concept is of having “one foot on the ground” at all times – seldom will both teams move simultaneously, it’s too hard to control, and just too risky without accurate covering fire.

This has obviously been rather over simplified but I hope you get the idea!

To adapt this concept to close combat at a personal level is simpler than it seems, just think of your limbs as your resources – focus on the arms, (kicks and knee strikes have their place, but in the midst of real close combat, the sudden dynamic application of bodyweight fuelled by aggression can leave it hard enough to stand on two legs, let alone just the one!) one arm can be utilised as cover/control/support (think fence/trap/grab) and the other arm can provide the firepower. Like with the cover and move of the teams (actually termed fire and manoeuvre) when the active limb has exhausted its use, it switches to covering and the other limb goes live.

The benefits of this method are many – just the mere act of having one hand or arm in contact with the ‘enemy’ (force of habit but the term suits!) improves your hit probability dramatically with the other, to the degree of being able to land full-power shots on target with your eyes closed! Just this makes it worthwhile, think of the applications of being able to locate and hit a target without looking – blinded, observing third parties etc. I implore you to try it!

Using both limbs to launch alternate strikes actually lowers your hit probability and your impact too! Hitting a ‘clean and clear’ target is a lottery – admittedly training and experience buys you more tickets, but chance plays a massive part nonetheless! Remember the last time you faced a sparring partner with good head evasion skills? Or trained hard on a good floor-to-ceiling ball? Tricky to land a real shot, cleanly, but almost guaranteed if your use the lead hand to constantly track and ‘confirm’ the target.

Under massive instantaneous stress – read ‘combat’ for this – the brain has a very difficult time accepting too much input. It needs simple gross-motor stuff only, to cope effectively. Trying to simultaneously focus on multiple limbs, multiple targets, multiple angles and everything else associated with the various ‘standard’ combinations (not to mention various other factors such as a man trying to rip your nuts off!) is simply too much information – instant ‘log-jam’ or system ‘crash’ – whereas sticking to one tool, one limb, one target, one angle works fine, repeated until the situation doesn’t suit and you change to another one tool, limb, target etc that does.

Repeating one shot puts the power up too – alternating (termed ‘reverse’) combos create a pivot in the centre of the body and therefore create limited leverage, ‘repeat’ combos place the pivot where it needs to be for maximum power, on the opposite hip/shoulder – as far away as possible from the tool to generate the maximum leverage and acceleration. Think of a door slamming shut, the hip is the hinge, the handle is the arm. Move the hinge in the direction of whatever shot you’re employing, not just toward the enemy, to gain massively increased impact and more direct attack lines – but that’s another article…..

Using the ‘reverse’ combo does have its uses most certainly – when you need rapid instant firepower to regain the initiative – it is the equivalent of both teams reacting instantly to enemy ambush and counterattacking to clear the ‘killing zone’ before dropping into the ‘fire and manoeuvre’ type drills, see the similarities? The immediate action to an ambush type attack is to lay down as much firepower as is possible, as quickly as is possible, to fight through and take control of the event, then confirm the target with one hand and apply the other with repeated maximum-power attacks, switching wherever necessary. Until the job is done.

Remember though, even when (especially when) using a reverse combination, keep the brainwork to a minimum! Stick to the same shot, punch, elbow – whatever – and simply alternate limbs. For both the repeat and reverse combo, always keep combinations short, rapid bursts of 2-4 shots max, quickly assess targets, and go again! If you don’t do this you might find that, on auto-pilot, you’ll end up either hitting thin air or a very unforgiving elbow or wall, or worse!

From an interview type ‘contact’ the lead hand performs many functions – it is your reconnaissance patrol, perimeter guard, warning sentry, protective shield and much more. The famous ‘fence’ is no new thing – only the term is – and it isn’t the preserve of the trained man either. That finger pointing at your face, that gesturing distraction, that aggressive posturing – they are all subtle versions of the fence, whether employed consciously or otherwise. And they will all reduce your first hit probability, not to mention successive attempts. Therefore, train to defeat the ‘fence’ or it will do for your ‘enemy’ what you expect it to do for you! Never underestimate the flinch reflex that your opponent will demonstrate when you attempt to pile in, deceptive dialogue may assist your accuracy – never try to hit a man who is ready for it – but utilising the lead hand to clear a path, confirm and control a target will seal the deal!

Trapping and grabbing – simple momentary stuff only – will create gaps, prevent counters and defences, but most importantly will confirm the target for the other limb to repeatedly attack. You don’t have to actually grab and hold, any contact, usually in the form of a forward pressure type ‘trap’ does the job just fine, and confirms the shot (so effectively that it’s illegal for this very reason in boxing, for example) even if it is not in the immediate vicinity of the target – it serves as a point of reference.

Without delving too deeply into ‘tool specifics’ all the above should be fairly straightforward. Try it out on the pads, try obscuring one pad with the other held in front – to force the lead hand into action, to make the gap. Try obstructing the hitter with the free pad on his or her chest, make them work for the shot, force them to trap and control, to close in, locate and confirm, and to repeat-hit with the most suitable strikes. Repeat and assess, repeat and assess. Above all, move back, move around – simulate the head flinch that ruins a clean shot, the erratic movement that begs the lead hand to confirm the shot – drift the target to and fro, side to side, up and down, hitting a head is hard work, make hitting a pad the same.

Try it with and without the index using the lead hand, see for yourself how the accuracy improves, how the blows land heavier and heavier when you have that point of reference. Switch sides, simulate the attacker covering up, make the hitter find another target and employ another tool. Every now and again push the hitter off and throw a volley of heavy shots with the pads, force them to cover up, just for a moment, then step back and feed a pad for a blitz style reverse combination – to program the hitter to break ambush at the first opportunity with the rapid firepower of the reverse combo, leading into more confirmed, indexed, repeat shots. Always step back, make the hitter advance with every action, even while covered up, again, program the forward drive with everything. Don’t ever call the shots; make the hitter assess properly what is best and what isn’t, according to range and angle. Present the targets only when they should be hit – leave them up and you only encourage routine back and fro, work them intelligently, with relevance and realism, utilise visualisation always. Targets move when hit, they react to impact, simulate this, make the hitter hunt the target; don’t bring it to the slaughter!

Try all this, with your most basic tools only, I absolutely guarantee you will be able to see the fight in it all, and actual relevance to the last real fight that you saw. Just save the jab - cross - hook for the square ring!

davidlewis

REAL COMBAT EXPERIENCE (The Nature of the Beast)

I know I’m going to offend someone, somewhere, with this article, so I’ll say sorry now! I realise that a lot of people train in ‘real combat’ systems, but (and here’s the thing) what is real combat and what do most people know about it?

Everyone knows about real combat training, yes? Maybe not, if we’re telling the truth. Real combat is a desperate, brutal and terrifying experience, mercifully unknown to most people. It cannot be accurately simulated unless the stakes are raised to unacceptable levels. It is not just about learning and drilling technique after technique, most truly effective fighters – the kind found in dark alleys, not training halls – have extremely limited technical repertoires. What is lacked in ‘expertise,’ is compensated for with numbers, surprise and viciousness. What can really prepare you for these factors? Experience certainly can, but are you ready for this kind of experience?

If you’ve never been there, don’t kid yourself, or others, that your ultra-system is going to do the business. Sorry, but until the risk is ‘real’ you’ll never know if your capabilities are. Fact. Nothing that hasn’t been stated before, but still it seems to me that plenty of people take too much for granted as far as real fighting is concerned. High stakes really put a new slant on personal performance, there is no room for failure – it’s not a rehearsal, second chances are never guaranteed.

Surely I don’t have to remind anyone what real failure is all about, but I’m going to do so anyway. Minor physical injuries, sustained during a real attack, can create deep and severe psychological wounds, these sometimes take the longest time to heal, if they ever do. While we’re on the subject, let’s not fool ourselves with the ‘minor injuries’ concept – real attackers don’t hold with it. They are going to do whatever they can to take you out, and then some for good measure, and then some more purely out of spite. Minor injuries? Not likely. Too many people underestimate the sustained ferocity of real attacks, the lengths that attackers are more than willing to go to, and the lack of assistance likely to be available to them at the time. Very rarely will anyone these days put his or her neck on the line for a stranger, when things really get messy.

I’m not trying to say that people won’t come to watch, but don’t count on them getting involved, at least not on your side anyway. Keep this unpleasant reality in mind, it is essential to train and mentally prepare for third-party attackers. Also, try to make sure that any witnesses are your witnesses, because should you prevail against the odds there may be an abundance of spectators keen to condemn your actions - you may have actually had to hurt someone! Such is the public’s ignorance regarding effective self-protection (minimum force tends to be interpreted as minimal force, and is still expected to work regardless!). Personally, I still prefer ‘judged by strangers’ over ‘carried by friends,’ however un-PC it may be. I must state in my defence that I’ve never actually been attacked or assaulted in a politically correct manner or in any way sanctioned by the European Court of Human Rights, to this date anyhow!

I really wish that I could deal with gangs and multiple attackers like in the manuals and movies; de-escalate, evade, block, restrain and the like. Unfortunately, I live and work in the real world and when it ‘goes off’, I try to get stuck in and level all concerned, then exit stage left. Not each and every time I assure you, but I’ve seen the result, and been on the receiving end, of group attacks too many times to have any misconceptions regarding how much force really is ‘minimum’ during such incidents, and hanging around post-incident is too much like asking for an encore as far as I’m concerned.

It is always preferable to attempt avoidance or de-escalation of a potential situation, as prevention is always better than cure. Sometimes, no matter how hard you may try, a situation won’t avoid you. Likewise, you can only talk to those who are willing to listen to reason. Wasting time with rhetoric, however ‘Win - Win’ it may be, can get you hurt when the other ‘party’ just doesn’t care what you have to say. Strong words I know, but I’m sure plenty of you out there know the score. When the chips are down and your neck really is on the line, you quite simply cannot afford to f**k about!

What I recommend, most emphatically, is that if you want to learn about real fighting ask those who really have been in life-threatening situations; real uncontrolled, unprepared and unlimited encounters – no safety net, the kind that nightmares are made of. Find someone who has been there, and who is honest enough to put his or her ego to one side just long enough to recount the real deal. Watch their face, especially their eyes, when they tell you what you possibly don’t really want to know. Either as predator or prey, their experiences of real violence are certain to make you step back and take stock of your real training.

However hard the training is, nothing is comparable to a sudden confrontation with some desperate addict who doesn’t care whether you give him your money or he takes it from your body, anything rather than endure an imminent heroin withdrawal. On the other hand, a group of young wannabe ‘faces’ who have nothing to lose but their reputations, their most important asset, will not hesitate to smash you up just for sport. You see for some people violence is a way of life, either as a sport or as a business, and to them you’re just a ball to kick or a walking ATM. Don’t believe me? Please give me the names of some estate agents in your area, or maybe consider getting some stronger prescription glasses!

Many experienced individuals have become complacent and underestimated the potency of ‘low-tech’ methods. Have you ever heard that old saying, “Professionals are predictable, unfortunately the world is full of amateurs.” How true, how many ‘experts’ have been hurt and humiliated by untrained, unpredictable, fighters? I certainly have, I admit it. Not often, but I’ve been taken by surprise, I’ve displayed bad judgement, and I’ve been plain careless in the past. For these mistakes and lapses, I’ve paid a bloody price indeed. Costly, most definitely, but isn’t good experience always expensive? Sadly, we can often learn the most from those who have paid the highest price; but we must never allow ourselves to follow their path through our own ignorance.

Under the acute pressure of combat, the effects of the fear / adrenal reaction are well researched and documented, and progressive exposure to stress during actual encounters and very realistic training can certainly help to prepare you for some of the massively detrimental effects on your performance. The necessity of hard realistic training is without question, but remember realistic is not real. Sorry to sound so negative, but it actually enhances combative training to recognise and remember all its limitations. However close to the bone you can make your training and sparring drills, they’re still blank-firing exercises (if you pardon the expression) and safety is always paramount. Just because you are prohibited from applying certain extremely effective practices during training, they must still be forefront in your mind, so if you are required to ‘do the business’ you don’t keep using blanks out of habit, when you really need the live ammunition!

I sometimes get the disturbing impression that some of the ‘real combat systems’ on offer these days are far too academic to be of use in real combat situations. By this, I mean that it appears that almost every so-called ‘simple effective system of self-protection’ is evolving into some kind of martial algebra, when all that is actually required is something more akin to simple addition (done on the fingers at that!). Some systems just do not seem to have the feel for the dynamics of real fighting. They do have a wealth of techniques for supposedly tearing attackers limb from limb, and counters to every possible form of assault from weapon wielding gangs, and more. Maybe I’m not seeing enough, but it seems that I’m seeing too much. One technique that will work in a thousand situations is worth a thousand that might work in only one, a bit of a golden rule in my book. A good right hand, quick headbutt and occasional low kick are about the limit of most real streetfighters, but combined with high doses of surprise, aggression and unpredictability they become truly effective.

Contemplate these following quotations, old favourites of mine that I swear by:
“The Essence of War is Violence.”
“No Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy.”
These gems are to be found at the front of Pamphlet 45 – Infantry Tactics. This is the manual used by British Armed Forces Infantry Section Commanders when training and preparing for combat. The first is superbly succinct; it simply underlines that no matter how it is dressed up with technology and the like, conflict is no more than the application of extreme force. The second quote reminds us not to obsess too much with fine details, as introducing the human factor usually negates any too-careful preparation!

Consider taking a leaf out of the military’s book concerning combative tactics, after all, they’re the market leaders! Whether it is on a personal or strategic scale; combat is combat, the theories behind such tactics are the same regardless. Being ambushed is the same wherever it happens, regardless of who is involved. In a pub wearing jeans or in a jungle clothed in camouflage, it’s the same thing. All the basic tactical principles hold true - avoiding potential ambush sites, reacting quickly to the initial onslaught, escaping the killing zone and fighting through the ambush, etc. Whatever the specifics, the basics still apply.

Combat tactics in the military are always fundamental and generic, not specific to each encounter with the enemy. They are basic enough to be easily learned and easily taught – an important consideration. Everything can rapidly become second nature and it’s all highly adaptable. What’s more, it’s all been proven to work consistently. Unit commanders and individual soldiers are trained exhaustively in general principles of closing with, and destroying, the enemy; these basic concepts can be applied to an unlimited number of situations. The key to this process is simplicity and flexibility, not micro-managed specifics that are doomed to fail.

Proven and dependable core skills are the essentials in real combat, they must be capable of instinctive application - if you are thinking, you’re not doing. When the stakes are high, if you’re not doing, you may be dying. Seriously consider reducing your personal arsenal of techniques and tactics to a solid core of generic tools that can be applied against generic attacks, whatever the situation or environment. Just think; soldiers do not learn a hundred ways of holding and firing a rifle, just one is sufficient - so long as it’s backed by rock-solid principles of marksmanship that can be applied whether standing, kneeling or lying prone, whatever the circumstances, situation or environment.

Personally, I’m a little jaded hearing from ‘experts’ who look and act like they wouldn’t know a real fight if it punched them in the face. Not to say that such exponents are not indeed experts of their chosen arts, I’m only addressing some rather questionable methods of applying various techniques for real. This appears quite evident when observing some brands of ‘no-nonsense street fighting,’ ‘ultimate self-defence’ and ‘real combat’ training (self-protection does appear to be more fashionable than ever before). It seems to me that the dynamics, the brutality and the chaos of actual conflict are often appallingly absent, overlooked or glossed over. This is a frighteningly dangerous practice when purporting to train, and teach, for combat, as ultimately it is the basic raw violence of conflict that poses the greatest threat to individual survival, not the so specific attack formats that seem so technically researched and rehearsed.

The telling factor in combat is often experience, not expertise; a hundred training sessions are ultimately still a hundred training sessions, not real fights. Many individuals choose to work ‘On the Door’ as a means of acquiring first hand knowledge of violent encounters – very effective if done in a professional manner; the threats, the hostility and the confrontations are certainly real, plus you get an excellent, whilst disturbing, overview of the current culture of violence. Not for the faint hearted though, and doing such a responsible and dangerous job just to research conflict is rather questionable in itself.

Recently I read an article in a fitness magazine about a practical system currently doing the international rounds, it was boasting about its instructor training course, where a group of system examiners would pounce upon a prospective instructor at an unspecified time and place. If the would-be instructor successfully resisted and defended, he or she passed muster. Quite innovative I agree, but it still isn’t a real fight! Eyes won’t be gouged, throats won’t be struck, there will be no biting, and no one is going to get their head stamped on. It’s just another role-playing drill dressed up to look like it is the last word in street survival. I cite this as an example to highlight how the point is being missed – in this case, for example, if you can be surprised in such a fashion, surely your awareness is dubious and you have failed.

The emphasis of true self-protection has always got to be the early prediction and assessment of potential violence, and the necessary means of avoiding it. If you are teaching someone to cross the road, you do not focus on practicing being hit by a car! Personally, given the choice, I will always choose to find a spot where the cars are few and far between, as I am well aware of my inability to withstand vehicular impact. It seems to me that there is far too much emphasis on dynamic last-resort techniques, and far too little consideration is given to boring first-resort techniques. Good security of any description is usually pleasantly tedious – bad security can often be unpleasantly exciting!

Ever heard the term know your enemy? Does any effective law enforcement team ever raid a suspect’s location without information concerning any occupants who might present threats to their safety? No, because casualties teach hard lessons. How much do you know about the modus operandi of your personal potential threats? I class a real threat as being one that has three key elements present, namely capability, opportunity and intent. To constitute a threat all three elements must be evident. Effective threat management revolves around greatly reducing or removing one or more of these elements, usually opportunity (as this is the element that the threatened party usually has the most control over). Of the three, the element that scares me every time is intent. Where real intent to harm is present, capability and opportunity can usually be found nearby. Actually facing a man, or woman, who has a fully determined and highly committed intention to harm you, is unlike anything that can be accurately expressed in words. Some of you know what I’m referring to and I salute you, for you too have been in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Do you study and compare relevant incidents of violence? No? Why not? How do you know what to train for? It’s important to do your homework; never just assume to know the real deal about the nature of this particularly ugly beast. Compare the sterile conditions demonstrated by countless book / magazine / video sequences, to available footage showing incidents of football thug violence and CCTV scenes of petrol station robberies and so on. Ask yourself, and others, if your system, style or method would stand up to be counted upon in these circumstances. More importantly ask yourself the most damning question, regardless of your expertise, would you stand up personally under these same conditions? This is the crux of many a real fight. When the heat is on full, do you melt, or do you set? Incidentally if you really are serious about training in self-protection it is well worth setting your VCR to record as many Crimewatch / Cops type programmes as possible, even better if you can edit the relevant footage onto one tape for easier analysis. Such material is invaluable to get a feel for what you might have to face worst case. Know your enemies and their capabilities, before they get to know you and yours.

Never overestimate your chances of survival in someone else’s world, especially if they happen to be further up the food chain than you! Sounds bleak? It is. Real fighting is not a game, there’s no winners or losers, that’s for sports. In real combat you have only those that live to tell the tale and those that do not. Know your limitations and work with them, they in turn will highlight and guide your strengths. Certain factors will always assist survival in combat; surprise, aggression and commitment are to name but a few. Again, combat is combat, it is a simple horrible affair in essence. Look for training that has its roots in combat, not art or sport. Real contemporary combat that is; not ancient warfare, competition, or creative expression (no matter how martial it may be).

I can sense the scorn pouring forth from the outraged martial artists, but art is art and war is war – martial arts are no longer the military skills they used to be or the term wouldn’t have changed would it? Bear with me on this point; I am only referring to combative methods, not martial arts. I have absolutely no criticism of any classical system in its pure form; my only concern is with those that advertise ‘street self defence’ or the like, in an attempt to hop on the ‘realistic’ bandwagon. All classical and sporting styles can be made to work for real, but this is often down to the individual, not the style.

During my time in the military, I was heavily involved in the teaching of restraint and arrest techniques, and various close combat tactics. These I taught to select personnel within the UK and US armed forces, and a variety of non-military individuals and groups, ranging from nursing staff to police officers. Too many times, I observed guest instructors attempting to ‘teach’ experienced operational personnel seemingly amazing methods of unarmed and armed deadliness. Such lunacy was often jokingly referred to as ‘Nocandu’ as a direct derogatory reference to its impracticality! More often than not, the ‘students’ had forgotten far more about the subject of combat than the guest instructor would ever know. Generally they were actively involved in regular live encounters, whereas the ‘expert’ probably never left the safety of his or her own students and syllabus. True military close combat training isn’t simply khaki karate. It’s another base military skill, like shooting, map reading or first-aid, and this is how it should be developed and taught. The same can be said about the blue kung fu that used to be promoted by some ‘self-appointed’ police instructors, though thankfully this practice has ceased with the implementation of modern defensive tactics training. It is worth mentioning, however, that close combat training is still not widely conducted within the military, contrary to common perceptions.

Arguably, the busiest ‘users of force’ these days are the various personnel involved in law enforcement, true front-line troops. The current defensive techniques and tactics taught to, and utilised by, such individuals and specialist teams really are excellent. Why? Simply, because the stakes are so high, they have to be. If a technique or tactic doesn’t work for real - guess what? Nobody uses it and nobody teaches it. This is true reality-based training, nothing is presumed, and everything is either proven operationally or discarded. Can you say the same about the methods that you train in?

My closing advice? Keep training realistically, keep cross training in all the essentials of close combat, and constantly drill your techniques to become razor-sharp conditioned responses. Learn to fight from the ground and the driving seat, and more than one aggressor. Apply everything using weapons and against weapons, hone your instincts, heighten your awareness - do everything possible to train as completely as possible. Nevertheless, during all of this intense and complex training, you must never lose sight of the real issue. The true nature of combat is the brutal simplicity of thought and action. If you really are training for the protection of self, or others, you cannot afford to overlook this, or the training becomes worthless, without real purpose, and worse still, likely to fail when most needed. And that really wouldn’t do, would it?

davidlewis

IMPROVISED WEAPONS (Silver Bullets)


Believe it or not, you're better off hitting someone with your hands than most of the 'improvised weapons' out there.

Ripping lumps out of someone with a key isn't actually as effective as a good solid bang in the head - it's messy undoubtedly but definitely not a high-percentage 'stop'. It's true that you can turn anything into a weapon, but it's usually not much of a weapon if you look at it objectively!

Unless it gives a distinct advantage, such as increased 'stopping' power (not just wounding - this is a big difference), increased range (not something that will exist for long anyway) and/or durability it generally falls into the 'gimmick' category in my book.

I personally dislike 'gimmicks' and 'tricks' that are pushed out as real solutions, attacking the eyes with the thumbs is as effective, more in fact, than going mad with a key - especially for women.

Personally I teach everything from empty hands, to impact and bladed weapons, all the way to the tactical use of personal firearms, and I have taught the use of improvised and concealed weapons extensively, including to specialist military units from various countries, not to mention having used virtually every conceivable object as a weapon throughout various live encounters - the point I'm making here is that some things are effective, and that some things are gimmicks that don't perform as well for real as they do in training - often they may look 'nasty' but can be a hindrance in actual usage.

A lot of this stuff looks more effective than it really is, and there is always the thought of the slashing etc scaring people to the point where they back off - problem is, that's an awfully big positive assumption to make, I've used all manner of 'tools' for real and it's not as simple as that - more often than not it drives the aggressor into a panic/frenzy and amidst all the red mess I've had to revert back to 'Speed Dial #1' and just bang a big dose of sleep into them!

Generally there are 3 certain ways of stopping a human:

1. Kill them - actually very difficult, regardless of what movies you've seen, plus outside of the moral reach for most.

2. Incapacitate via Trauma - causing so much injury that the person is physically incapable of doing anything offensive, including pulling a trigger. Very difficult and distasteful for most - would be a very messy aerobic workout with a key or pen implement.

3. Incapacitate via Knock Out - actually the easiest and most accessible of all the above. Can't be done effectively by any means other than direct impact to the head/neck area, or some form of strangle/choke. Puncture/slash wounds won't have this effect unless the victim loses so much blood as to become unconscious.

A lighter and weaker person, male or female, can render a man unconscious using impact - during the late 80's I was teaching women almost exclusively as an advisor for a division of the Metropolitan Police and used to subject them to padded assailant drills using some of the first FIST gear in the UK, we had numerous big tough padded assailants knocked clean out by some tiny girls who just got stuck in with basic repeated strikes and a truckload of attitude. I did cover improvised sharp weapons on that course also, but mainly as anti-grappling tools, and other items as impact enhancers, but always chosen so long as they fitted the criteria set out above - otherwise it was the Mk1 hand that did most of the work.

In the vast majority of cases a simple bare hand blow, not even from an especially heavy or powerful person, will produce more stopping power, and this stopping power is increased using repeated blows to the same target.

The crucial thing is that most items such as keys and pens will cause a superficial wound only. It's a malicious thing, that's all. This stuff isn't training theory to me, I assure you. Forget Hollywood stuff when it comes to 'fashionable' improvised weapons. It's fiction!

The amazing 'access' sequences of grabbing some 'innocuous' item and employing sometimes elaborate blows are most often ridiculous if you stop to think "Could I have just piled in barehanded instead?" - as the answer is generally "Yes" and you'd be landing credible shots long before you would have some half-cooked 'weapon' in your hand!

My advice is to only consider using something as a weapon if it affords a real and distinct advantage concerning reach, durability and/or stopping power. If it doesn't it is possibly a foolish stunt that will probably prolong a situation and make it worse.

I'm not talking mere cynicism here - you name it and I've more than likely had a real go with it! I taught the use of such items to an 'interesting' group once upon a time, and it quickly became apparent with research, practice and actual use 'operationally' what worked, better than a bare hand, and what didn't. Whole lessons spent practising against actual meat targets, not milk cartons and cardboard sheets, using a variety of drinking glasses, keys, pens - everything possible that can pierce or tear flesh - and the results were disappointing, as were the operational attempts at the same when compared with far simpler means of being unpleasant!

Making lots of little holes in someone with a pen or a key looks fabulously deadly in a movie, but is a different reality when done for real - it's messy and might dissuade a half-hearted attacker (wish I had more of that type!) but a decent right hand, or two or three, will end the encounter. It's as simple as that.

If getting shot and stabbed with real purpose-built weapons, several times, won't stop committed attackers, what is your biro, key, mobile phone or 'tactical' (i.e. is black and has a clip!) torch going to do? Get real for goodness sake! As I've stated so many times already, wounding isn't enough - it's 'stopping' that needs to be done, and surprisingly enough this can be done often more easily with an empty hand. The blunt empty hand causes head 'displacement' and shakes the brain - whereas a sharp pointy object causes penetration, but little head movement. Jagged slashes across a face may cause someone to back off, but they have next to no 'stopping' power - so they may do the exact opposite - you wouldn't stop me with a facial wound, or any number of guys that I know, you'd just start me properly.

Sharp pointy things like pens are great for breaking a grappling hold - sometimes! They rely on pain, which is a wholly subjective animal. They can be used to extract passively resisting people from vehicles, and can be used to 'persuade' the truth out of a person for sure, but if you want to have a real fight with a credit card, pen or key, then get ready to be VERY surprised. Sticking a pen, pencil or key, in any fashion, into someone's neck is far less efficient than a good bang on the jaw when trying to incapacitate someone, or stun them so you can get away. You're talking about wounding; not stopping, someone like this - and that won't be enough.

Are you trying to end the attack through making the guy bleed to death? I hope you're a patient man! What effect will it have upon the guy? Do you think that some crazy will just stop and either roll over or run away when you stab him in the neck with your pen or key? It's very likely that you'll make the situation a whole lot worse for yourself, when you could have ended it early.

Sure you can puncture a major blood vessel, with enough holes to cause a massive bleed-out, but this is the only way it's going to be effective - talking of movies this would be the 'Casino' method - are you really prepared to do that, or do you just tell yourself that you could, at the time? Don't take killing a man for granted.

Ask yourself, could that situation have been resolved with simple blows to the jaw or side/back of the head, for example? Of course it could, but they needed to establish the character's viciousness, so something extreme was used.

Using a pen mid-fight? We're talking 'Bourne Identity' I suppose - fabulous fight-scene I agree, very nasty, but the pen was ineffective - even in the scene, it was done for the 'ooh/aah' effect!

Stop looking for the same attention-grabbers that Hollywood looks for - they're trying to give the audience something new and exciting, whereas you can more than make do with a plain-old punch or elbow to the jaw!


Think 'stopping power' every time. When you consider the use of any small item as an improvised weapon apply these tests:

1. Can it produce instant incapacitation like a basic punch-type technique?

2. Can it be instantly accessed like a basic punch-type technique?

3. Will it withstand repeated use like a basic punch-type technique?

If you get just one 'No' then just stick to the punch - or is that too boring, and too simple? Obviously insert 'elbow' or 'slap' or 'hammerfist' as required, but the overall concept is the same - avoid the Hollywood 'variety' approach and the desire to make more of a simple solution than is necessary.

If you can 'pick something up and hit someone', then fine - but you could have just 'hit someone' - even the sentence is shorter and easier to say! Do you get the point? Anything held in the hand limits the hand - so it had better be worth it! Don't rely on gimmicks over solid dependable 'always available' methods. The crucial factor when it comes to using any weapon, improvised or not, is access - it has to be ready to use when needed, and this is often spontaneously - if we are using good threat management practices progressive input gives options for avoidance, over and above the preparation of weapons.

Small hard heavy objects that increase impact by virtue of weight and/or striking surface are real and valuable improvised weapons - such as rocks, pool balls, steam irons etc. What real damage is a mobile phone going to do? Less than a punch without it is the real answer. Just a note on using a mobile phone here - most of the units currently available don't improve upon the Mk1 hand at all - in terms of weight or durability - and tactically it is a VERY bad idea to destroy a means of communication in such an emergency!

The best use for handheld objects that have no combative stopping power is that of 'Distraction' - throw the item at the face and follow-up with good solid explosive shots to the primary targets. Either 'casually' flick/toss the thing and pile in, or full-on 'launch' the object for maximum 'flinch' distraction, spontaneously engaging the visual cortex, then unload with all you've got.

This way, everything CAN actually become a weapon, but of DISTRACTION. Even a screwed up piece of paper, food/drink, a wallet, a coat - something you might actually have in your hand at the time!

I realise that what I'm outlining above might be controversial - to some, but those of you that have 'been there' and not just 'researched' or 'practised' it, know the truth of the matter.

I most definitely don't discount the use of certain items as weapons - a heavy ashtray definitely fits my criteria of an object that lends weight and decent striking surface - and it used to be one of my weapons of choice in a bar situation - however it has to be said that they can disintegrate under repeated heavy use and I have the marks on my hand to prove it!

I don't completely discount the use of the pen either - again it used to be one of the main tools I taught to a certain group of professionals once upon a time, and I have used it on several occasions. Read above and you will see that I wholeheartedly agree that repeated blows to the neck will cause potentially fatal blows - but then ask yourself how many people would be prepared to do that?

As for screwdrivers and suchlike, I don't even class these as 'improvised' weapons - they are the real thing!

I disagree in some ways with the notion of psychological advantage - in that I believe any 'perceived' advantage can be dangerous, if it is merely psychological, and not physical. Not discounting the psychological aspects of combat obviously, without will there is no chance, but ultimately the immediate problem is fairly physical after all!

I am brutally honest when I teach, and when I learn, I want a 'real' advantage, not just a 'psychological' one. Just because you or I can perform in the extreme, doesn't enable everyone else to. Like I have stated earlier, I believe many people ignore the gravity of certain issues - to a point that believing that they can blind and maim, and kill, is taken for granted.

Practising a thousand ways to maim and disfigure a man whilst 'tooled up' can often lead people down the wrong path, and such acts are often taken far too lightly in my opinion, if a person is going to baulk at the notion of punching someone in the face as hard as is physically possible - and more than you imagine do - then what chance do you stand ripping a hole in a face? Most people will say, "but if I had to I could" and they'd be making a great big fat assumption, a positive one that isn't qualified and could fail badly - unless they have already done it.

Learning 'offensive knife' and suchlike from instructors who have never had a knife in hand whilst facing another man can be a touch 'off' as far as I'm concerned, it's theory plain and simple - learn new weapon handling methods and improved ways to cut and stab if this really interests you, but learning to butcher another person for real? If you really need to know how to do this, learn from someone who has, and see how it doesn't resemble what the theorists recommend - as usual!

I would rather focus on solid dependable skills, that I know will be employed when needed, rather than something so extreme that it will require a superhuman act of resolve to execute - maybe. We play the hand we are dealt in life, it is better to realise limitations and seek ways to avoid, than to fool ourselves into a false sense of security, with perceived abilities.

I have seen people fight on with the most horrific wounds and still pose a very real threat - and in the line of work that I choose I will most probably see so again. Stab wounds are often perceived as punches, and only take effect when shock sets in, so this in itself proves that wounding is not instantly incapacitating. Often stab, and gunshot, victims do not realise they have been wounded until after the incident - sometimes even being alerted to the fact by a third party. And they might have even 'won' the encounter!

What I do know, for a fact, is that an unconscious man poses zero threat, compared to a severely-wounded man who might go either way; curl up in a ball or make a frenzied last-ditch assault.

But my main reason for the cynical approach to the current fashion of 'improvised weapons' - which you must concede can start to get a little ridiculous, is to encourage people to stop looking at 'gimmicks' to give a quick fix - and leave that to the 'ninja/special agent' subculture types (apologies to any real ninjas/special agents out there!).

This is my major gripe against this subject in particular and the way the 'RBSD' movement can sometimes make a 'magic wand' out of it, when they should be doing good solid and functional training first, and second, and third.

I will always steer people interested in REAL self-protection away from such things and concentrate instead on the core skills, initially at least. If you are some covert-operative - fine, one day you might want to drive a stainless-steel pen into someone's subclavial region, or a gangland enforcer might elect to 'stripe' a rival with a credit card as punishment, or maybe you want to 'plunge' another convict on the landing with a sharpened heat-hardened toothbrush handle - but I guarantee a simple, boring, punch on the jaw, or two or three, with plenty of practice will serve you better, no matter who you are, whatever gender or what you weigh in at.

All these opinions on the utilisation of certain improvised weapons must be taken in context - where limitations are considered before capabilities, so there are no nasty surprises when it 'doesn't do what it says on the box' when the chips are down and the stakes are high! Always pick fact over fiction, and function over form when it comes to real combat - reverse this when making a movie or nobody will watch it!

In conclusion, weapons training can always be a 'crowd pleaser', and everyone wants the ability of being able to effectively defend themselves and their loved ones, especially when some disparity of capability is present - the problem lies with investing too much credibility in a perceived solution such as the ability to utilise any common object as an effective weapon of opportunity. A great deal of commonly held beliefs and practices simply do not hold up in actual use but are propagated by the uninformed that simply 'want' them to work, and this can create a completely false sense of combative capability which in turn can actually compromise personal security measures if relied upon.

My closing advice is to consider, very objectively, what will actually occur if you use an improvised weapon such as a key. Consider what the actual result will be, and what actual effect is probable - not possible - if it is used against a determined aggressive adult male, intent on really hurting you. Don't think of these things in personal subjective terms - this doesn't count. Then consider how easily such an item could be deployed, and finally would you be able to inflict at least as much stopping - not wounding - power faster and more effectively without the 'weapon'?

Save the silver bullets for werewolves.

davidlewis

NEGATIVE THINKING (Always assume)


How many times have you heard about the virtues of positive thinking? How about never to make assumptions, and the dangers therein - ring any bells? If you'll bear with me for a little while I'd like to explore a touch of negativity and see how making certain assumptions can be more than a little useful.

Too often personal capability is all anyone considers - all the great stuff that they can do, the slick moves that they've put the work into - when really, being aware of self limitation is the real concern - knowing what you can't do best highlights real options for real situations.

Make assumptions, each and every time - but do yourself a big favour, make them negative ones, based on nasty limitations as opposed to lovely capabilities.

Training, just like operational planning, is best based around your limitations and the capabilities of the enemy - never the other way around! Consider and prepare for what may go wrong - with creating contigencies and transitions between such procedures a firm priority. Badly planned jobs - any kind - assume everything will go fine on the day, and so does badly planned training. Play devil's advocate, work out what you can't do, and this will reveal what is possible and viable with your current level of personal resources - in this case your physical, technical and emotional states - base your training on this instead.

To best consider limitations, think about three factors - Time, Space and Effect. Assume you won't have a great deal of either one, or all! Sounds bleak? Absolutely - did you really think otherwise? Don't fool yourself that real combat is, or ever will be, anything other than a pig's ear, no matter how many 'experts' try to make it into a silk purse! It's ugly, it's desperate - it hasn't got a lot going for it, so don't expect anything to go in your favour as a matter of course!

So let's look at these Time, Space and Effect limitations - what are they exactly? For the purpose of this article I'll define the terms and place them into context a little.

Time is a no-brainer, basically how long do you have to perform a given action, either physical or mental when the situation goes 'live'.

Space, like time, is basic in concept and refers to how much room you have available, both in terms of range and surroundings, to perform a particular manouever.

Effect is essentially what happens when you utilise and apply whatever method you choose, in terms of the extent of the intended outcome, does it work as planned?

Each of the above applies equally to your 'enemy' too - and the only saving is that he'll often be in as short supply of them as you!

Let's talk about Time first, given enough time almost anything is possible - unfortunately that's rarely, if ever the case and our training and selection of methods should really reflect the negative assumption of time being in short supply - on a good day - and completely absent in the worst - but most realistic - scenarios.

Everything leads to Time ultimately - and our training should focus heavily on methods to 'create' more of it - for us, not them. This is where the softer skills of awareness and assessment come into play with most effect - identifying and evaluating a threat at the earliest possible moment is the difference between being involved in combat or not most often.

Time is linked to Space, each buys a little more of the other - and less of one also reduces the other. Again, training and tactics should focus on methods and means of creating, or at least maintaining, available space. To be realistic, we have to assume - negatively - that we won't have any space to execute all but a select few techniques, training should reflect this. Learning how to fight with no space means that you can perform with space - the same doesn't apply in reverse unfortunately!

Effect is probably the factor that is most overestimated - put simply nothing will work as planned! Whatever 'perfect' technique you practice in training, don't be surprised if it comes up short on the day. This is largely due to the lack of time and space, plus random movement and high adrenal factors can affect performance considerably. If you have more space to move you can increase effect as this is usually dependent upon leverage and acceleration of some part or parts of the body, if you have more time you can also increase the effect through more considered application, and so on.

No matter how 'reality based' your training is, if you fail to address - in some shape or form - such negatives, you are missing the point. Perfect conditions exist only in training scenarios, initially they are necessary in order to install proper form, but if they persist as the normal state of affairs you're simply not training realistically - however impressive your technique becomes.

Once the basics are properly installed, start training to fail, to miss, to mess up! Sounds crazy? Bear with me - I might make some sense sometime soon! How many times during some drill is a mistake made, and some kind of 'reset button' is 'pressed' - start again, take two, do it better next time? Think about this and the old 'as you train, so shall you fight' adage - don't programme in a mental 'hiccup' if a 'mistake' is made, keep going - learn to transition from bad to better without losing a beat. I would argue that this ability is one of the most important, and one of the most overlooked.

When it comes to 'mistakes' anyhow, there's really no such thing in real fighting other than getting beat. Too often you hear all about the 'right' way and the 'wrong' way of performing certain technique for instance - come off it, there is no right/wrong outside of 'branded' formal martial arts where things must be done according to a laid down standard.

In 'real' fighting there's only better or worse, everything works, everything can be effective - but some things are more 'efficient' than others. Ultimately the end result is what determines what works - try telling the guy who just poleaxed someone that his technique was 'all wrong' - at the least he'll just point at the guy on the floor and look puzzled at you!

Not getting too hung up on doing things 'right' might contradict the essence of good training - absolutely not, everything must be perfect, it must be twice as good in training bearing in mind it'll be half as good for real - but keep it all in perspective, the end result is where it's at.

If something doesn't go to plan - newsflash, it won't! - get on with something else seamlessly, instantly - kick yourself later! Don't let a quick flash of 'analysis-paralysis' nail you!

Time, space and effect - train like you won't have them, so if you do it's a bonus not a necessity. Find ways of making training harder or, to be more precise, more 'difficult' - little things like not grabbing and stoppng the heavy bag swinging between combinations, or having over-scripted pad drills that test the memory more than actually prepare you for fighting!

Don't obsess over perfection outside of training - the disappointment will kill you! Remember the old saying "It's not who's right, just who's left that counts" - getting the job done is all that is important, get it perfect in training before, and work on where it went wrong after.

Negative thinking, not so bad after all....

davidlewis

LOOK NO FURTHER (Feel the Quality)


Everyone seems obsessed with finding the perfect way of protecting themselves from violence - no surprise really, given that 'crimes against the person' have been on the rise, and get such dramatic media coverage.

It's no wonder also, that providing the perfect solution is such big business - who hasn't got their own take on it these days? We have various copyrighted and trademarked methods available - all claiming to be unique and original within the realms of personal combative training, painstakingly researched and developed, polished, then furiously and aggressively marketed - and defended!

But what is the real 'Holy Grail' of enabling and facilitating survival when avoidance has failed?

I'd like to offer my patent-pending tactical solution to the extreme problem of personal combat survival.

Before revealing this revolutionary tool by name, I'll issue the standard hype - I don't want to be left out in the marketing arena!

It's a method that after countless hours of fully operational application, after a seemingly neverending period of research and development - it has been proven supremely effective time and time again.

It's so simple, and so easy to learn, it can be retained under stress, recalled under duress and performed without conscious thought.

It works for anyone, against anyone - and can be applied from almost any position in almost any environment, it's versatile, it's adaptive, can be accessed immediately and is often instantly and completely effective, it can be repeated and recovered without years of training and has proven results against multiple opponents and those using weapons.

Sounds good doesn't it - too good to be true? The problem is, I'm losing customers - all due to marketing really - because there are so many products out there that, whilst being noticeably inferior - and I mean noticeably - they have a greater appeal, they sell well to those wanting more 'bling', making my outstanding product seem tame, boring even, by comparison.

I really need a snappier name I'm sure, something 'dynamic' that I can trademark and sell.

At the moment I'm stuck with the old name, I simply call it a 'Smack in the Head' - not very catchy is it? Maybe that's why it isn't selling......

davidlewis

Hello all,

Just 5 a bit days left, only a handful of places left!!!

For the the undecided, check out previous posts on past Mick Coup seminars.

For everyone else, see you on Saturday for 2 days of brilliant training, a lot of knowledge and the customary bit of craic.

If anyone needs to contact me:

Email info@kapap.ie
Mobile 087 9376069

Thanks,

David.

P.S. we will be starting at 09-30hrs Saturday morning, so try to be there for 09-00hrs for registration:)

Musashi

No bother, see you then!

davidlewis

Hello Eric,

Look forward to training with you again, make sure and have plenty of Weetabix...


See you in a few days!

Dave.:)

Musashi

Should I horse up some Kettlebells as well?

I know you have some but if Mick is going to do any bit on them I'd like to see as many as possible having a go at them So I can see them suffer too!

davidlewis

Eric,

Sure bring what you have, they won't go astray. Better to be looking at them than looking for them!!

I'll be bringing some 8's, 12's, 16's, 20's and 24's

It will be brilliant to have Mick show his routines for kettlebell training, it will definitely be an eye opener, it was for me the first time I did them with him...

See you tomorrow!!

Dave.

Martin25

Is Mick ever going to visit anywhere close to Northern Ireland?
thanks

davidlewis

Hello all,

I'd like to thank all the guys and girls who attended the Core Combatives seminar this weekend in Cork, and of course thanks to Mick Coup for what can only be described as another quality weekend...

It was great to see the quick skill acquirement of the first timers and the progressive improvement of the people who attended past C2 seminars.

Mick was good enough to share some of his kettlebell knowledge, and demonstrate KB exercises he uses for explosive power and massive impact. It certainly gave the KB fans some new material, and it will definitely add to functional fitness needed for combat.

I have attached a picture of the crew, unfortunately we had a couple of guys who missed the photo shoot due to personal reasons - Jonathan, Mick & Jason.

Again a big well done and thank you to all who attended and gave 100%.

I'll keep you all posted on Mick's next planned visit, which will be sooner rather than later!

Dave.

Musashi

David,

Thanks again for the time and effort you put in!

Not only in bringing Mick over, the whole seminar was excellent. The t-shirts and included lunchs, the instruction and drills, the venue and the guys and girls who attended, all amde for a brillianr weekend. That little black haired girl in the front row booted the nuts out of me in two of our fights

Great to see Mick again, I know the new people got a lot out of the weekend, but the regulars had so much to build on from previous seminars that this was the best one yet for me. The drills built on what we'd done before and kept adding more difficulty and intensity, the kettlebell work was excellent. I see now what Mick meant about changing the moves to make them more relevant to striking power generation. The pace of the days was well thought out. We weren't leaving the new lads behind, but the more experienced could go ahead and mix up the drills for best effect.

Thanks again David, can't wait for the next one! Cheers to Mick for bringing his usual high standards of instruction, explanation and aggression :pac:

cardav

Hey Mus,

Sorry about the nuts !! Kind of got carried away with the drill.

Musashi

No bother!
I enjoyed it.......kind of