tallgeese

I think MP summed it up pretty darn well. The start of the whole process is knowledge. It's the base from which you'll draw experience. To elaborate just a bit, I'd say that experience goes in levels from training at your own school, the types of training you've done there on to how many other mats you've been on and the experiences and training there. All the way to actual use of your close quarters skills in live application. All are valid and should provide some sort of feedback. Experience will then feedback into knowledge. This is where knowledge gains real value, when you can look at it thru the hindsight of experience. This is where you'll see if your knowledge is getting you where you need to be. Rank is exactly what MP said, and the least important of the three.

Not as a matter of course. However, in my original art, there was a mandatory 1 hour continuous sparring sessions expected at 1st dan. That's led to more than a few increased workout routines.

The answers to your questions will vary widely between different agencies, academies, and states. 1) Usually it's progressively in 4 to 8 hour block thru an academy run. It starts with basic movements and increases in complexity. Included is baton work, weapons retention, cuffing, ground work and transitions between them. 2) At the outset, of course. It get progressively less compliant as you go. Our final included low light, high levels of contact and resistance in regards to striking and ground work with all sorts of distracting things going on (ie. squad lights in a darkened environment) while the aggressor tried to beat you up and/ or take your weapon. There's always control; however, putting cops out on injury before they even get to the street is not good. Additionally, very little resistance is given for joint manipulation due to the high likelihood of injury. 3) High level of resistance, specifically to the edge of their capability is hardly, if ever done. That's how officers get hurt. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about realistic training. However, there's a line and cops hurt equals cops off the street. That means that when I really need someone to help me out in a fight, they're at home sipping a mixed drink with their knee on ice while I"m rolling in a ditch with a coked up offender wishing I'd been the one to go out IOD for a vacation. For a couple of off comments, here's my take on some things we've taken steps to address lately. First up, we've about always trained cops on individual hand to hand skills. This is obviously important. Individual skill is the foundation that we build team skill on. But cops fight in packs often. Unfortunately, we don't train that way enough. This trend is changing, but it needs to change quicker. It's been left to guys to work together to just get used to each other and make things happen. And they do, but we could do it better with less injury to everyone if we spent more time training like we fight. Next, we need to step away or at least get more options other than a reliance on the straight arm bar to take down. In almost every CT system I've seen, they teach this. I can't tell you how many fights I've seen turn into dance contests do to the nature of applying this live. I come out of a system heavy on this sort of thing, and I've move almost all but away from it. What works at speed, without a reliance on pain compliance or attaining small joint position, is body lock take downs. Part of the reason they work well is back to the pack mentality. I've seen this work as many times as I've seen arm bars fail. We need work on clearing weapons DURING hand to hand incidents to account for the fact that most cops don't train enough. There's plenty of talk about using tools to defeat younger, better trained individual, but little actual practice about making it happen from the melee. Another factor we need to look at is a total UNDER reliance on striking. I was tasked with a review of all of our use of force incidents last year and what we found was that there was a significant number of incidents that rose high enough in threat to allow an officer to strike the suspect. However, only a handful did. We're just conditioned to grapple for control. Part of the problem with this is that the joint manipulation taught to many officers (usually JJJ derived) really relies on strikes to make effective. And we're not doing it, not enough. We've taken steps to alleviate this; however, we're still behind the curve. It's also easy to say "strike more" but the use of force issues can get fuzzier here. Throw in public perception of officer action and you do have an amount of discussion over their use. Let me know if you've got any follow up.

It sounds like your goals are not matching your chosen art. Nothing against where you're training at all, but it sounds as if you spotted a difference in what their focus is and what you want. Neither is wrong, but you've got to make them match. Schools like what we're talking about can be harder to find, but are out there. It's worth looking into. Conversely, look at changing arts altogether. Maybe try something outside the karate spectrum. Another option would be to start training outside your school with like minded students. You've been studying at least 3 plus years by the sound of it. You'll have proper technique by now, just focus on alternate training layout. One that addresses the concerns we're raised. There's plenty of research out there to help you. Just keep safety in mind above all else.

It's not a reflexive action at this point; however, I expect that it was at one time. When we roll, we're expected to have a level of control that you're aware of each movement. This makes it easier to internalize the motions. It also means that a lot of times you're moving slower to feel the control. Anymore, I'm usually moving at a rate that will allow me to feel the submission coming. Often, especially against less experienced people who might hold out to long, I'll let off before the tap or as the hand is moving to tap because I feel the tightness. It's not the tap that indicates the release, but it's simply a confirmation of what you should already know. As for how this translates, I can't say that I've ever had someone tap out in a conflict on the job. I've had the grimace, make noise, or other such indicator that I've achieved my goal. If you've made the mindset decision ahead of time and trouble shot you're responses, you'll be in a better position to not let go just because of what you do in training. If you've trained to feel and understand control, you'll also be in a better position to think thru your reaction to this. It's a situation where preparation prior to the incident is crucial as is breaking down what you're going to do in specific situations where you might use your skills.

Thanks, that would be much appreciated 11/15 ground mobility drills 40 min freeroll white and yellow belt angle drill attack and defend drills Here is the video of what I was talking about. On watching it back, I can see how one might refer to it as your super guillotine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcFVcG0p5yg

11/16 Drilled spider guard transition to inverted triangle. Kimura and arm bar options as well. 60 min free roll.

No Vader force chokes, but I'm hopeful that this will be imparted to me soon. GS, I've got guys coming over to roll tomorrow. I'll try to cut some video and link it for the series I'm talking about to share. 11/15 Drilled doubles and singles, running the pipe on the doubles. Drilled setting up takedowns from negative positions. Moved into lifting single leg. Finished by drilling mount maintenance. 15 min of randori for takedowns 25 min free roll.

You train, that's how you sharpen your responses to what you want them to be. Here's the thing, by applying science to a fight, you're looking for the edge that brings some sort of order to the chaotic events of a fight. That's not bad, the problem occurs when we train unrealistically. If you never try to induce the conditions you'll be expected to use these skills under then how can you drill them for actual use. I'm not suggesting that the only valuable training is all-out, go for blood, smash your partner injury fests, but you have to strive to build some aspects of a fight into your training. This includes doing when you're exhausted, in negative positions, and with some measure of non-choreographed, random attacks. The next thing to consider is developing and understanding the principles of your art. Technique might fail for any number of reasons, principle shouldn't. This keeps you from getting locked into a series of movements that aren't working. Lastly, look at your response patterns and make sure they fit your physiology, psychology, and needs. If your goal is self defense, and your taking tools that don't suit you into combat, this is a bad thing. Consider experimenting with other arts that push different tactics. See if they fit you better. Just a thought. To close, I'd like to go back one more time to the first sentence. Train. Whatever paradigm you pick, it will never get to the level of readiness if you don't train it. Build slowly towards your goal and put realistic training into your cycle in stages. But keep training.

It's certainly similar, especially with the hand positions. This one is very much an attack from side as a person makes an effort to roll into you though.

I guess it would be more appropriate to say, no arm in D' Arce. You're using the same motion, just without his arm involved. It's a bit less forgiving to get the blood choke this way, and can be more of a neck crank if you're not careful. What it is excellent for is creating a good transition to mount.

11/14 Drilled takedown set up off of pummel for multiple rounds Covered side positional work and worked on achieving pressure from top during transition. Drilled no- arm D'Arce. Transition to mount, arm bar. 25 min free roll.

Best episode of the season hands down. The idea of keeping walkers locked up in the barn is creepy. Real creepy. I can't wait to see the explanation for this one. The dichotomy between the main characters is defiantly becoming more and more evident. It seems that the theme of the show is growing into, and maybe has always been, hope vs. despair. The choice of mankind to struggle to rise above or the acceptance of settling for being near animal. It's even more priceless because they're obviously such good friends. Great work, and not overstated at all in this episode. On another note, was I the only one waiting for someone to tell the blonde that maybe she should go back to washing clothes?

Again, I agree. When you're new to BJJ, it's a bit overwhelming. The goal of the white belt isn't really strategy, especially early on. It's grasping the basic body mechanics you'll use thru you're career. There's plenty of time to get your head around the game (undoubted important) as you gain time on the mat.

I agree with ps1. The key point he brings up is both physically and mentally. The second being often overlooked. Specific to BJJ, you're really looking at breaking his posture (equatable to balance while standing). Using the guard position as an example, you have guard. You're partner will posture up, keeping good frame, to keep you from executing attacks from there. So, in order to throw effective attacks, you first need to think about breaking his posture so that you can do so. As for getting used to it, first up, you have to intently drill the technique. Not skipping steps or hurrying thru any part, but instead hitting every nuance of the movement. This will help you understand, from the outset, the importance of posture control. A quick run thru grappling bouts on you tube will show that this basic fact is overlooked many a time. Finding a good BJJ school is so important to imparting these concepts. Next, getting your head around the variety of ways to do this, again, come thru regular mat time and exposure to more tactics to do so. Then you'll start to mix and match based on the little intangible movements that happens during a match. Then you'll move this into positional rolling. So now, armed with a few tactics for breaking posture (lets say a collar pull, arm drag, and an arm wrap) you'll work those against a posturing opponent for rounds. He'll be working to break your guard. If either succeeds, you'll restart and continue to work the concept and tactics. After this, you'll utilize it more frequently in you free rolls. This is the ultimate "coming together" phase for all the tactics and techniques you learn during class. It's this training against restive opponents in open randori that makes BJJ so appealing. Then you'll start defeating posture by other, more complex ways as well. Moving into open guard and sweeping vs. posture for example. Now, expand that out across all the positions in BJJ and you can see the nearly unlimited set of drilling that can come out of such a simple concept. To build on what sp1 said, this also mentally dominates your opponent. If he is constantly fighting for position, he's not attacking you. You're ahead of him in the loop and therefore your odds of winning just increased.

Congrats!

11/12 Drilled guard to spider transition. Sweep. Triangle, then arm trap and triangle. 30 min free roll

I think you're probably always going to have that group that will have that expectation. I've always operated under the assumption that you probably don't wan them anyway. They aren't going to be into your art, and even if they are with a mindset like that it's going to be hard to work with them long term. Best to encourage them to find a club focusing on what they are already doing, or (especially in the case of the brown belt and up) start their own. That way you plant another club. That brown belt that might not fit in real well at your group, might have skills that are worth training with him for. This way you get the best of both worlds, he's not disrupting your efforts and you have access to him for outside training if it interests either of you on a less formal basis.

Certainly, there's nothing wrong with that. And nothing will give you an in depth understanding of a certain aspect of fighting that attaining that level of commitment to an art. Depending on your goals, this may be the perfect avenue for someone. The downside to this, if it's in your goal set to be well rounded, you might not have certain aspects covered. For instance, a 4th dan in karate probably won't make you real proficient in ground work. Attaining the ability to fight professionally in an MMA gym won't give you weapons skills. You'll need to look outside a single art if you want prep in multiple areas to a degree past the most basic idea of that specialty. But again, it's about one's goals.

ps1, I gotta give you props for keeping everything delineated. I'll tell you flat out right now that I can't tell you exactly the line between the two forms of kempo I hold rank in. I'd have a hard time teaching each individually. That said, if someone comes and trains with me, they are getting a set of tactics that have been field tested and work in combative situations. If the student is looking for self defense as a goal, then there's really no disservice done. when we talk about letting students choose for themselves, this too is an acceptable approach, just with less clear lines of lineage. Guys looking to train traditionally aren't really lining up to train the places I do anyway. Again, we look at what the goals of the students are. For me, I take the principles from Bujin, and the mindset from Gokei (my two kempo based arts) as the most fundamental parts of my response paradigm. Tactics from both (which overlap considerably) get used as needed. My hands and elbows are heavily influenced by my time in boxing and MT respectively. Clinch work from my dirty boxing phase of mma. Past that, I too have come to relay almost exclusively on my BJJ once tight. Kicking has become less and less of an option for me lately (although I did my fair share in my first are and later in MT) . Largely due to the environment I work in. When I deploy martial arts, it's usually at work, meaning a bat belt full of gear, heavy boots, and body armor. This makes kicking challenging, even low line stuff. Given the crash and close mentality of a lot of guys you run into, picking feet up just isn't as safe an option as resorting to BJJ. It's also much more in line with the eventual control I'm expected to exercise on a suspect. So my responses have changed to match the environment. The same will happen (maybe for different reasons) for students as well. Everyone will match up their needs to the background of arts they've studied. While studying multiple arts is a great way to do this, training with an individual who has done so, and can present multiple options in a codified and sensical manner isn't a bad thing either.

There is defiantly a wide variety of leeway on the subject that I've seen applied here and there. I'm out of a culture that pretty much lets you wear your rank from another art on our floor no questions asked. We're not a knockdown style, but we do a lot of heavy contact sparring and spontaneous attack and defend drills that some karate guys are not comfortable with. That's okay. It is after all, very easy to tell the black belt out of another system vs. your own. And should be to all the student ranks as well. If someone comes in and stays long term, they keep wearing whatever kyu rank they had until they overtake it with our rank. Now, I'm the first to admit;however, that the area I come out of has less of a population base that practices martial arts of any kind than any larger community. I'm sure this affects the outlook on the matter. The only think I would expect white belts to be donned for (don't teach much these days) are radically different arts. For instance, there is no reason for a karate guy to expect to wear his belt onto a BJJ floor. Quite frankly, given the uniqueness of your rule set for sparring, I think you knockdown guys would fall under the same kind of thing, in my mind. What you do is different enough to require new belt rank. I would say that the reverse is also accurate in both of the above examples. As to the college environment, all the clubs I was part of (undergrad and grad) just went no-gi. Thus ending the problem altogether. Due largely to the questions you pose. The tradition wasn't worth explaining over and over again. Further, it let a lot of guys with alternate backgrounds come in and get involved and let us all work new things. But that's just what worked for us. I agree with ShoriKid, if it's applied across the board, no matter which way you go, you won't have a problem. Keep us posted on how teaching in that setting is going for you.

11/11 hip drill warm ups 3, 3 min rounds of BOB work 3, 3 min rounds of position work on downed bag abs

This is true. Even in it's day it was probably very introductory at best. However, the overall theme is solid. Too many martial artists don't look at personal fitness as a serious component of their defensive scheme.

11/10 am: 90 min free roll. Some specific work on high guard but primarily free roll. pm: Drilled hip bump sweep w/ collar control. Variant w/ bump. Add arm bar. Move to omo plata out of bump effort. 60 min free roll

Glad you like it. I consider it a must read in the field. Even if he does think highly of kata .