tallgeese

Lol, Kuma! It is odd we disagree, but it's heathy from time to time. Just out of curiosity, how many of your co-workes successfully pull off the straight arm bar? I do see it work from time to time, however, it's usually pulled off by one officer while another mobs the configuration from another angle. To me, this is a win for mass tactics and not the armbar but perhaps I;m being overly critical. I'm in total agreement with you on the shortcomings of acadamies on this front. I think also at a department level its something that gets pushed aside as well. With the attatude of throwing more bodies at the problem a cheaper and eaiser solution than more training that involves the risk of getting people injured on duty. It's interesting as well, to me. That we train 5 times/ year departmenatlly with our hand gun. Plus simulator time. Specialized units get about twice that. We train hand to hand control tactics 1/ year. Regardless of assignments to units. Last year, we shot no one. That's not every year, but it was the most recent. I can't count the number of fights we all got in. Now, I'm not downplaying or wanting less firearm time, I'm suggesting that we should bring our control tactics time up to reflect that it's a skill we need alot. Just an observation about how seriously we, and I'd guess most, departments are about hand to hand training.

Just a quick note to clarify. isshinruy, I don't think anyone is claiming that you need to be such an advanced level at anything. We'er talking about covering the bases as to have an informed option should the need arise. Most states that issue concieled carry permit for handguns do not mandate that those who obtain such a license to be able to operate with Delta. They do mandate a basic understanding of operation, safety, function, and care of said weapon. Certainly not beyond the realm of most dedicated martial artist. Considering that most ma's do some form of weapons to proficiency it's just a matter of defining what weapons you'll most likley be using in a modern sd context. Again, if we narrow to knife, club, gun it makes this much more managable. I'd argue that it's even easier to do this than become proficient in a wide array of traditioinal weaponry. It about generalizing tactics. Not necissarly to expert level in multiple ones. To use your analogy, the guy blowing the door with explosives is not the same guy doing surgical precision rifle work from extended range, even though both have went thru the same selection process for whatever unit they are with. Further, the more you can mimic or overlap unarmed skills with armed ones, the more reps you'll essintially be getting of everything. For instance, my shooting stance is almost if not entirely identical to my fighting posture. Which, is what I use with pretty much any other weapon in my hand. As to the time needed, sure it's a factor. And you'll go thru phases for sure. For the past two years, I've been focues on BJJ to the point where I train everything else less on a maintainence level alone really. Possibly with some degredation of those skills in favor of what I'm doing now. It happens. My knife/club skills are not what they once were because now, due to my job, I focus by far and away my weapons training on the handgun. It's about setting up your training to where you're at and what you're likley to encoutner and use at that time. Just some thoughts. Oh, and I just want more good fighters in the UFC, karate or not. Of course,, these days I really like to see good technical grapplers more than anything .

And Merry Christmas to you as well!

Welcome to KF! Looking forward to hearing from you.

I don't know, I've broken more of them than actually used them.

12/22 Drilled side control, then to knee in. Finished with move to choke. Drilled escape as well. 6,2 min rounds from side control 45 min free roll. Any workouts from here to the first of the year are entirely incidental. I rolled tonight. Probabily will next week as well once, but no running, weights, ect. Taking a bit of a rest until New Years.

Congrats!

There is a big difference between ripping out someone's pet's eye and dismantling an attacker. Also, just because one person will not choose to use a tactic, regardless of that persons background, does not make it null and void to everyone.

The popular law enforcement opinion will be to create space, take some form of concealment or cover and issue commands from there. However, if you've got a visual on both hands, and they are empty, I don't have a radical problem with crashing to contact as long as: - the initial contact is surprising to the bad guy - the initial contact is overwhelming in nature - control is established quickly and maintained after contact It's less than ideal to have a gun in hand at that point, but I don't want to Monday morning quarterback the guy. It might have seemed like a good idea at the time. I don't know too many good cops who would let this guy walk out of the store. Back up is also ideal, but to his defense, it's alot harder to remember to do all those operations when the adrenaline dump hits. It's almost certain as well in this video that regardless he's going to have to take some sort of action alone. So, once we deal with the gun issue, either creating space or moving right to contact with it holstered- again, I won't pass judgment here each situation and officers training is different- let's look at the takedown. One of the major problems I see over and over again in police control tactics is the reliance on the straight arm bar to put people down. The problem is that it rarely works when one is operating by themselves. This leads to what I call "the dance of death" where both parties, now tied together via lousy arm bar, spin around while they via for control. There are a couple of reasons this happens: -lack of routine training in said arm bar -lack of willingness to strike prior to takedown on law enforcement's part -generally, it's a less efficient manner of putting someone on the ground than others out there There's just too much movement possible when you're only controlling one arm on the part of the bad guy. There's also far to little time to train multiple transitions thru small joint stuff for most cops to work on routinely. It's part of the reason I prefer body contact type takedowns. Modified doubles and singles, upper body locks, and when in doubt the old fashioned full body tackle. I've had much more success with these types of things than any arm bar type work. The times I've used limb initiated throws, I've found shoulder cranks to be more useful again than strait arm bars due to the higher level of control of the whole body. I think traditionally, le trainers have shied away from contact takedowns due to their fear that smaller cops won't be able to do them. Very possible. However, they're not having any more luck with the straight arm bar. It's cases like this that le trainers and administrations need to admit there are limits to the tools we give people and we need to work on transitioning up the use of force scale with those people. There's case law, it's okay. Ideally, for me, I'd gun out and get the guy to turn around. Once I could see the hands, holster and smash. We have the benefit of a spiffy emergency button that minimizes fiddling with the radio in the event you're surprised and in a fight. It's guaranteed to go off at least once a shift because you bump it getting into or out of your car, but it's good for stuff like this. Otherwise, you'll have to read the bad guy to see when your opportune time to get on the air is. This, you can't really call, it's dependent far too much on his actions, posture, and non verbal cues. Lots of good learning points here. I'm going to download this for use int control tactics refresher this year.

Getting used to being attacked is important. I agree. However, so is repping tools that you plan to use. The instinctive response this builds is what allows you to continue to use them when you're heart rate is going into panic mode. Research has borne this out. The difficulty of hitting an eye is great. However, it's much greater if one never trains it. Additionally, there is some physiological considerations that will make it a more effective tool;however, you need to be drilling it to learn these and how to apply them during conflict. Nor do I believe I said anywhere that this is "all" one should practice. In fact, I think I have argued several times across this board that no one should ever put all their eggs in any one basket. Doing so is sure to set one up for failure. Taking the time to develop multiple weapons across multiple ranges for multiple threat levels and situations and testing them with realistic simulations is the key to successful sd work.

I will say; however, that if eye gouges and such are part of your response options, then saying that You'll just using them without training them is counter-intuitive when we look at how response patterns are built. Under duress, the body starts to lose it's ability to conduct fine motor functions and vision might be impared. This can result in a loss of depth perception and an inabimity to do things that might otherwise be considered "easy". Research has shown; however, that it's training with repetition that helps us overcome these changes and gies us skill sets that are functional beyond the typical heartbeat threshold associated with them (see Sharpening the Warrior's Edge for a much better expainatino than I can give). So, if you're going to use a weapon, research says you need to train to use it. So assuming that just beause it's easy to say, and hit the eyes while comfortably hanging out with training buddies or drinking a beer is a far cry from doing it when it counts. To do this, you need to train it. Mentally, this also prepares you to use it. It helps you accept what you're about to do. Dealing with those ramifications before hand is vital to it's successful deployment. That said, I will agree that striking from a position of disadvantage on the ground is rarely a good idea. Your strikes are less effective and possibly open you up for further damage. But, this doesn't change the fact that if those skills are in your tool bag, you should practice them effectively.

Looking forward to seeing you guys too. I kicked the chew for 1.5 weeks recently. Glad to hear you made it the year.

12/19 Worked 15 min on takedowns, double, single, and underhook trip. Moved on to butterfly guard drills, to sweep then coutners to butterfly. 45 min free roll

Or, if the fight does go to the ground (very possible) best to be prepared with some training there to be able to survive and GET UP. This is always the answer I get when I talk to combatives people about the issue. The problem is, it's way harder to get up if you haven't trained in a ground system than if you do. If for no other reason at all this is a good reason to think about BJJ or another ground systems as a tool for self defense, not just athletic competition.

Bummer! Dude, don't I always say you've got to slow down . J/K. Seriously, there's little you can do about a toe in the mat. If you're lucky, you'll be far better in 4-6 weeks in the joints not involved. Ice, ibuprophen, and keep it taped to its buddy. Get somewhat mobile. I'll be down there in a couple of weeks for a day or two. Heal up, bro.

Good luck! Keep us posted on how things go.

Welcome back! Keep us posted on how the return to training is going.

Welcome to the boards!

12/17 1.25 mile run core work I'm officially calling an end to my run up to competition workout trial. It's been on around 6 weeks and worked really well. I also found this program to be hihgly adapatable and was able to work it around injuries I was nursing. So, back to being a bit more lazy for a bit. No need to do the extra work until around the first part of March!

About any quality BJJ gi company will suffice as well. Granted some are more than others. If you can find them, Padilla and Son's make a nice black model or two that will serve you very well. Additionally, they are very cheap considering the prices normally associated with BJJ gis.

I tend to go with Kuma here. Most of my program, when I can stay healthy, revolves around the core lifts. Bench, Squat, Deads, Cleans, ect. With some other exercises thrown in to round things out that are seocndary in nature. Remember, if your goal is ma, then you're not trying to be a body builder so stay away from those routines. Focus on stuff that is multi joint in nature and demands core work to do correctly. Also, don't be afraid to be inventive with exercises. I use crossfit.com quite a bit to pull from in regards to both conditioning and weight routines. Weights are great, but the are supplimental, as you suggest. You're definalty thinking along the right lines for your goals. To get better at ma's do more ma's.

12/16 BJJ nite: Drilled full butterfly guard sweep followed by butterfly guard pass. Finished with omo from half butterfly. 6, 2 min rounds of butterfly v. pass. 20 min free roll

I trained at a couple of similar set ups while at school and then grad school. I can say that is excellent experience and I strongly encourage you to take and enjoy the opportunity that it will afford you. It was a great time to see and do other arts and get a feel for things I'd like to persue later. You'll find that you get a wide variety fo people with different backgrounds. Even those who have a specific school for their art or club will end up swinging in to get more sparring time or mat time or train with some of the specilist you'll ed up with. I'd suggest that less formal is your best met. You're not ranking or tied by stylistic lesson plans. Have the required positions as mandated by the university but don't be too serious by the structures you see in most dojos. Cultivate those people who specialize in different styles. During my time in college I got to train with a really great stick guy. To this day I can't tell you what he studied, but I can tell you that this time really heightened my weapons game. If you've got a grappler utilize him. Come up with some training together to integrate things. Free fight and drill alot, more than dong style specific kata and such. People will usually come to a multiple dicipline club to train because they don't have a specific school there. Don't force feed them a whole new fight paradigm, let them learn how to apply what they are doing and pick up what others are doing as they choose. Try to focus on a single training goal each class and build those into short blocks that lets everyone get good at a set of skills or drills before moving on. However, embrace the mentality of this sort of club an don't be afraid to have nights where some people work some things and others work another. Consider circuiting everyone thru "art" stations once everyone has a basic graps of several speciliaty drills. It changes up things ans lets everyone have fun. Enjoy those training sessions. They were some of the best of my young ma career. Good luck, keep us posted.

I don't stress breaking the guard all that much. Yes, there certainly plenty of attacks from closed guard. However, most of the submission attempts that will be launched against you from the guard will be after your partner opens his guard on his own to launch those attacks. This will be true of nearly all the sweeps they will make the effort on. Therefore, I usually wait for them to break guard on their own. Until then, work a strong base and watch where you're putting your arms. Like JJN said, base and posture. Work on keeping him from cutting angles to attack. He'll get frustrated and open to work somthing else. Now you've got your moment. Pass once he's open. Now, to defeat the sweep, keep focusing on your base. Get a couple of passes that work for you and drill them till you're sick of them. Once you have success with them, start expanding your game. Once you've got a couple of viable options there move to a standing pass option. If you're base has been worked while low, it will be easier to work standing. I agree with JJN, strength will always be an advantage. However, technical skill will go further than any other advantage. Technical competence backed by physical attributes is the mindset you want to think about, in my opinion.

I'll second bushidoman here. Aggression, that's the best defense. Get "defense" out of your mind. Think instead of counter an attack with attack. Additionally, I don't take force out of the equation ever. Nor to I consider if I want to hurt this guy or not, I focus on controlling the situation. That mean's I'll use any amount of force needed to achieve that. Not more, but as much as it takes. Hence, injury will occur basedo n how hard he makes be work to attain control.