Tony Blauer's Night of the Living Dead Drill

This drill is very interesting: http://www.wilsonkarate.com/night.html

Hi Max
an interesting article mate, in my opinion all partner work drills should be done with control and intent, in addition to your impact/pad work which should be done for the majority then crossed over to partner work in order to gain target aquisition and gaining the feel of a moving, struggling and reacting human target etc.

It is often a good idea to do such drills quite slow to start with, this way we can learn to pick up on certain BL cues that you might otherwise miss at a full pace. The intensity must always accompany such a drill, even in slow motion I would target with intent.

For situational reaction stuff, which is what the article suggests I think it could be most usefull in order to pick up on any of the pre-cues to a random assault. This is particularly useful for attempted weapon access drills on the aggressor's part.

However I am a firm believer that whatever you put on the disc is what comes off the disc under stress.

For me the main thing that makes my main artillerly work so well is explosive speed, coupled with aggression and power, that sudden violence as a significant entry into the altercation.

Outside of my compulsary impact and pad work, I would simulate all physical response, be it active or reactive as fast, dynamic and as explosive as possible these two elements would form the majority of what I would strive to put on the disc.

Real fights do not occur in slow motion, however the slow motion drill suggested by Tony Blauer (a most excellent innovator that he is) certainly has its place for the reasons suggested in the article.

Namely it will help you to build and map in the correct reactions, as well as develop flow and the ability to adapt and improvise.

So I would suggest using it to its full potential, only think of it as a supplement a larger meal.

In other words work the drill in slow motion as suggested through all of its progressions, then take the hardskills employed and prioritse them for impact.

Then work the same drill via a dynamic simulation with plenty of protective kit and non-compliance in real time just like the event you are training for.

Video this if possible then de-brief and check out the tape looking for things that worked and elements that could be improved.

Then repeat the whole process with the slow motion drill based on those observations.

Bottom line is, if your simulation and scenario training performance starts to rapidly improve in real time, well you know that you're on to something good.

Peace

There are essentially only 2-drills: Counter for Counter & Feed and Attack; in the case of Blauer’s NLD drill, this fits into the Feed and Attack category. The Filipinos call this Numerada, where the feeder feeds in slow motion, but the attacker responds at about ¾ tempo. Basically, it is a concept that can be applied to anything you do and also helps you to transpose any new drill that you come across to fit into one of these two major categories.

What I like about Blauer’s approach to “Role Playing Drills” is the way he sets the primary goal for his students to win. Done correctly, this process is the key to role playing drills directly related to real world application. There are way too many teachers advising their students to take part in disorganised and dangerous role playing drills that really amounts to a schoolyard brawl. Oh, it might have been a good workout and the teacher in question may be a hard bastard, but alas, your mission has been thwarted because the average students in your class leave remembering only that they just got their arse kicked. I always keep this at heart- a good system should be judged on the average student; not the best and not the worst.

Hey Joe
nice to hear from you bro, hope you are well we need to catch up some time soon.
Take care Lee

Nice one Lee, I'll call you in the next couple of days.

Ciao

Joe