Rule of Thumb

Hi Dave,

Another good session on Saturday mate, really enjoyed it... though I know I'll pay for those kicks into Stu

I remember you mentioned a very general rule of thumb about how certain types of strike should be delivered. It also indicated how they shouldn't!

For the life of me I can't remember what the three guidelines were. I know there was one for hands, one for kicks etc but the detail has escaped me.

Do you remember the conversation or have I just finally lost the plot altogether...

cheers
Chris

I must admit I am struggling a touch to remember here mate..

the thing is people that Chris and Stu Cutty are two of the guys who 'test' me the most with very (VERY VERY) deep questions..

am I right in assuming that you mean the "Try and make him immobile for a second for kicks" thing??

More or less the ideas are (if this is what we were discussing amongst 20 other topics Ha Ha)

An attacker whose intent on punching you will attack where you WERE not where you have moved TO.. this means your tai sabaki has to weaken his positioning whilst strengthening YOURS.. so you strike in the bit in the original 'middle' ground

when you intend 'controlling' or 'grappling' him.. you attack his BALANCE/MOBILITY so he 'wobbles' and is more concerned about that than hitting you, then you can feed him into your controls

when you intend kicking, given that kicks require a single leg stance (which is inferior to a 2 legged one), so in order to compensate for it you have to momentarily make him static.. kicking moving targets isnt productive as the targetting and impact is greatly effected by your static postures (being on one leg) and his mobility (reducing your options)

thats not really well explained but in a nutshell (or THREE nutshells)

for strikes attack where he thinks YOU are
for garppling attack his balance
for kicks make him immobile

hope thats what you meant CHris


listen though guys.. Chris is a very modest moderator.. he is an excellent SDF 2nd Dan and once he 'gets' something he keeps it and understands it.

Mind you he IS surrounded by a couple of fearsome monsters from Stu Cutty's club.. and Stu ranks in the top three or four SDF men in the ocuntry .. he really is that good

Peterlee is band lucky to have him

thanks Chris .. you did well last Saturday mate

Thanks Dave,

You're bang on about Stu, anyone with the chance to train with him should grab it with both hands. I said this well before he ever became a mate but he's the best instructor in the north east for my money and just getting better.

Can you imagine the first training session years ago when I walk in and I'm faced with Lee, Bill and Stu. strit the frit out of me mate! Best training move I ever made though.

The conversation I remember was definitely in line with the need to immobilise the opponent for a second prior to effective kicking. Seemed to me that was a fundamental issue with most kicking outside of the ring. Major point for kicking for the street that people don't pick up on often.

Also, I liked the slight changes in the clinch we worked which seemed to make a massive difference. Far more pressure on the neck and much better control. Seems like recently especially you have been moving from teaching the core techniques into more complete methods of understanding the dynamics of violence. I'm enjoying the move down a little deeper past the whole "punch guy in head till guy falls down" which absolutely has its place but there's a whole lot more to learn about this stuff than just hitting.

True on the 'move into deeper stuff' ... its just a natural progression as you get more advanced mate

I probably didn't help matters much that first session... walking in and saying 'hey guys I found someone smaller than ME for you to pick on!' might not have been the most welcoming thing to have done.

Mind, there has been payback for that. And more.

Dave, if I might ask a favour - stop teaching Chris nasty ways to kick people. I got the lightweight girly no-pain version yesterday and I'm stragnely sore and lumpen around the leg....