kickcatcher

Hello Steetguy, Are you an RBSD guy well versed in Geoff T, Dave Turton etc etc. If so, you will probably see where I'm coming from. But in answer to your specific queries: It uses boxing body mechanics for the punch. However, because it is a street confrontational situation you can't be standing their in a fighting posture -as Drunken Monkey keenly observes, it is from a 'fence' postion. This compromises body mechanics somewhat but life is a compromise. The other thing is that I've drawn the right shoulder higher than a 'pure' straight right. That has merits and detractors depending on exact circumstances but is nethertheless a valid variation. the arm is not shown fully extended but then since there is an impact, it probably wouldn't fully extend anyhow. Maybe you are mate. The forearm assists you in finding and steadying their head. Sure you can just go in with punches but if you steady it you get a relatively static target. The forearm placement also enables you to push them as you hit -this detracts power from your punches relative to if they were coming forward but at the same time makes it difficult for them to get good strikes in -both because of the inhibited shoulder movement and because they are going backwards. If they do start swinging off punches you can take advantage immediately and grapple them down using torgue type takedowns. Yes and no. It is a sucker punch. You're getting in first before he launches ghis atttack. The silly question is designed to occupy their mind whilst you hit them. For a moment they are relatively static so you have a reasonable chance of a KO. A left hook is also a valid option and some people favour that. I also drill a lead uppercut and a right power-slap for pre-emptive strikes.

I'm not your target market but I'll give you the benefit of my inexperience anyway.... After 10 years of MA and learning numerous stances, I've come to the conclusion that.... it is far more sensible to think of 'postures' rather than 'stances'. In the free-movement phase I use a boxingesque posture much like the fighting stance you describe (STR33T GUY). The hands are either up in guard or 'doing' something -like punching. On occassion -if a shift to a grappling strategy on your opponent's part is perceived, you should get a bit lower (not in the classical styleee) and wider or longer (I prefer wider but I'm no expert) and thus resemble a wrestler's posture. In clinch you partially base-out. This is a clinch posture and it is largely dependant on the grip. The extreme is sprawling (widest base). But again once you are 'doing' something like a throw or takedown, the posture becomes less definable. But weight is normally low. On the ground you have ground postures which naturally are the normal BJJ positions. The only other posture is the 'fence' posture used in real life confrontations.

My real aim is that they are unconsious with the first hit and the forearm bar becomes unnecessary. But I always try to have natural contingencies and drill them ad nauseum. The shoulder plain (not the same as the shoulders) control affects his countering ability and allows me to grapple him more easily if he tries to escape the throat bar -I hope. Of that and forward momentum, I'd say the latter is more important though. Arm locks on standing opponents???? you know me better than that... Ps. Mouse

Only me Looking forward to constructive debates with you guys. I'm an eclectic post-modernist currently cross-training in MMA. Not that I have an identity crisis or anything.... I've got 10 years in MA including 4 years of Karate, 4 of TKD and bits of boxing, Hung Gar, various kickboxing and training with other styleees. My main interest is reality SD though. Toodlepip, AS (aka Armchair Strategist)

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Yeah the forearm bar as I do it is a lot like an elbow with lots of shoulder structure behind it. On a more advance conceptual level I'm seeking to locate and partially control hisd shoulder plain so as to steady the main target -his head. PS. I draw with bog standard MS Paint.

Send him to the nearest boxing club to be cut down in size.....

Ahah! My first topic here Does anyone else drill or use throat-barring with the forearm as part of their SD toolkit? If so, how do you train it????? Here's the basic sequence I'm drilling on the bag and if I can get access to one, a "bob" dummy: http://usera.imagecave.com/armchairstrategist/chav2.jpg It starts with a pre-emptive strike from the fence and, if they don't go down, I seek out their throat with my forearm and put some body shift into their structure. Simultaneously I'm unloading my right hand in a sort of machine gun manner -ideally at their face. What do ya think?[/img]

I 'do' MMA but I'm a cross-trainer at heart -if that isn't a contradiction. The basic difference between MMA and Cross-training -at leasty on the UK scene, is that MMA combines the phases (strike, clinch, ground) whereas cross-training studies them seperately. But in the great scheme of things, the two genures are at the same (progressive) end of the spectrum -each with pros and cons.

I drill covering and smothering/clinching. Also crashing in with headbuts/elbows again into a clinch. But more specifically I train to avoid defensive actions as I'd want to strike first (pre-emptively from the fence etc). I can't remember ever 'blocking' anything for real -only throwing my own strikes back. But since I've got into RBSD and adopted the 'fence', which I've used on a good few occassions -my covering has never been tested. Touch wood. But cover and clinch seems to be the way forward.

I'd love to see Keith Moneymaker or George Dillman or Ashida Kim in there but only for the wrong reasons. lol. The first list was great. I'd love to see Kano or Mitsuyo Maeda in the ring -real Judo.

It is missunderstood more because people choose not to understand it. Whenever someone posts a topic like this it gets all political, typically with some 'traditional' (quasi-traditional a better term?) experts lecturing everyone on how it isn't anything new. It may be that the quasi-traditional mainstream arts feel threatened by MMA -whether they'd admit it or not. It's not what's in the syllabus, but rather what you actually 'do'. Having a move that sort of looks like a shoot hidden away in the dusty corner of a kata does not make you a grappler in any meaningful way. Yeah, so 'mixed' phase martial arts goes right back to pankration and beyond. But in a modern context (and this includes the so called 'traditional' arts), it goes all the way back to 1992. MMA does have weaknesses. The main one as I see it is that self-defence is not always addressed. Sure some instructors are very street real. But MMA clubs can be purely competition based. But on the plus side, the nature of the training and the basic techniques can, with a bit of street savvy, be an excellent base for Reality Based Self-defence.

Re jumping kicks v mounted soldiers: http://usera.imagecave.com/armchairstrategist/episode5-floweringmanhood.jpg