H2H General Knowledge.

[jmjkd]

H2H General Knowledge.

1. Never under estimate anyone
2. Big people cause Big problems, Size matters.
3. Athletes make the best fighters, because they have attributes.

Attributes are athletic qualities, strength, speed, timing, balance, rhythm, coordination, conditioning etc. If sports came easy to you as a kid, you had attributes. If you run into a big, strong aggressive athlete, with high pain tolerance, a strong will and a bad attitude, you are going to have your hands full, and I don't care how many Black belts you have.

Put an ax handle in the hands of former Pat’s player Rodney Harrison and get between him and his loved one's and see what happens. He will pounce on you like a jungle cat and beat you like an unwanted step child in seconds even if he had no fight training at all. He can do this because he has attributes.

Bruce Lee (Founder of Jeet Kune Do) wrote;

” The individual is more important then, any established style'

What this means is, build the person, build strength, learn to understand and judge distance, work on timing and don't bother trying to memorize flowery routines and pre-determined patterns.

Test and evaluate your performance
Testing will verify and help you draw honest conclusions of your performance and progress. Speaking of verifying?

When I invite folks down to train it's not to beat the shit out of them...NO!!! I am verifying attributes in real time. I’m checking to see if this guy can judge distance, does he have timing? Does he know how to coordinate his breathing with his movement? Does he have a working knowledge of tools to attack? Basically how does he move?

And he gets to check me out, if you understand distance, you will get hit less, if you understand how to coordinate your breathing, you can fight longer, if you understand timing, fakes and broken rhythm, you have game.

This will be as apparent as playing B ball and you win 26-6. No one got hurt but something definitely got verified.

This method of training is what I suggest when you get with your buddy, neighbor, wife, kids whatever. As we move forward I will discuss techniques based on your personal attributes.

If you were an athlete at age 10, you are still and athlete at age 60. Sure you lose that first step, get tired a lot faster, and have a tough time twisting with that beer belly, but you don’t all of a sudden become an uncoordinated clumsy klutz. With the exception of injury or illness.

That’s why you hear about the 65 year old who punched out some 26 year old punk, and that’s why some Black belts get their ass kicked in bar fights. Just because you can spin around with some flying back kick and break a piece of pine with some screaming kei, don’t get that confused with some big pissed off dude who is bent on your destruction and can move.

We will discuss high % techniques and how to spar a bit later, but if you guys are really serious about learning FREE with a couple of buddies, you will need some gear.

Free’s for me, but cheap is ok. Go to Job-lot or something and get some cowhide gloves, (some have fur insulation…Nice) you might find them in the out of season bin maybe 6-10 bucks. Opposed to Everlast, or Ringside where a good middle of the road boxing glove will run about $60-80. But you want to be able to grab as well as strike. Boxing gloves are not ideal for what we want.

Go to Dick’s and get a boil in water plastic mouth piece, maybe $3-5. Lacrosse head gear is good, see if these are off season prices as well, or crag’s list, yard sales, anything will do that has a mask. You will need groin protection, and elbow and knee pads. If you got the $$$ do what you want, I personally think the stuff is WAY OVER PRICED and you can go cheap, but that’s your call. Some may already have this gear laying around, even better.

You are ready to start. see ya in a bit.

 

[Boghog1]

Now tis is the sort of thing we like to see from you, keep it coming

 

[newenglandjeff]

Do you guys have a regular schedule? I'll be straight with you, I have no interest in JKD, but I might be willing to come mix it up at some point.

 

[jmjkd]

Jeff when I had a public school we use to have open ring/mat time for drop ins. I'm private now and I don't offer that anymore. But there are a lot of places to bang around, where do you live? and what type of mixing it up are you looking for, Boxing? Grappling? MMA?

Lets continue with some general knowledge to build your battle plan..

12 weapons of the body.

When most folks think about fighting they think typically punching and kicking, Threatening with fist in face or putting the boots to someone.* However your entire body can and should be used as a weapon. The most obvious reason why certain weapons are more popular and used then others is because of education and what you have seen or been told, what you watch on TV, school yard fights and the occasional class at the local Martial Arts school.

If we put the fighting aside ( Self preservation) and stay with the theme of science of movement (Self perfection) we can see that there are only certain weapons or what I call “tools” that can work in their natural perspective distance ( range).

When people don’t understand distance they tend to use the wrong tool for the job and when you don’t know all the tools available to you, one tends to use what they know or what they have used before. It’s like the homeowner trying to take a facet out using the only tool he has while the plumber pulls out the exact tool for the job for an easy fix. The homeowner can still get the job done after a lot of cursing and scraped knuckles., but with the right tool, it just makes the job a lot easier.

So understanding the right tool for the job is critical, here are the 12 tools of the body
1.***** Head
2.***** Teeth.
3.***** Chin.
4.***** Shoulder
5.***** Inner elbow
6.***** Elbow
7.***** Hands
8.***** Butt
9.***** Hip
10.*** Knee
11.*** Shin
12.*** Foot

Each tool corresponds with each, or all of the 4 ranges of combat. Many people are looking towards Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) today because they have more freedom in movement and technique. They can utilize almost all of the 12 tools, this will help when countering a good boxer with a grapplers clinch, or maybe a take down and visa verse, a good boxer can keep the grappler at bay with quick hard punches. You have to know your tools, what job they do and how good you can use them. This would be considered the yang (your offense). Just as important, is to understand how your opponent uses his 12 tools this would be considered the Yin (your defense).

When you learn how to use all 12 tools your result and efficiency of movement increases, in addition utilizing the 12 tools gives you a huge advantage because your opponent may not have any clue of the weapon you are about to attack him with, and the element of surprise goes a long way.

 

[newenglandjeff]

Jeff when I had a public school we use to have open ring/mat time for drop ins. I'm private now and I don't offer that anymore. But there are a lot of places to bang around, where do you live? and what type of mixing it up are you looking for, Boxing? Grappling? MMA?

I would be down with whatever is on the menu for the day. Of course, I would not just show up unannounced. Given the opportunity, I am going to train with my own crew first. But, If you have a regular training schedule, I would keep it in the back of my mind, and maybe make it up there sometime.

 

[jmjkd]

Jeff pm me when you know when you will be in the area.


Sorry for the break,

There are 4 more sections to this general outline. The outline is no big deal, I usually have it posted somewhere for folks to just take, it's just to get started and to be used whenever you want.

No matter what technique is discussed, it will relate to the sections of the outline. Most of the time after people get started, questions come up and then we can get into sub-section, a typical question might be, my brother-in-law is really fast how can I get in on him without eating punches.? That would open up the topic of speed or timing.. So the more you try stuff the more questions come up. In a bit I'll give you guys some drills. But hopefully later the drills you learn will make sense and can be applied in real time and can be referred to in these sections.

Sections

12 tools
4 ranges of combat.
3 lines of attack
Occupying Center line,
Giving c line

4 ranges of combat.

We will continuing with the 4 ranges of combat in empty-hand fighting. When I say ranges, what I mean, is distance between you and your opponent. This distance needs to be measured. Measurement is a universal law that applies to everything in life. Measuring time, measuring space, carpenters measure, cooks measure etc. Every day we measure something, Martial Arts is no exception.

How close can I be without getting hit? For anyone to answer that question, you will need a measuring device similar to the carpenter and his tape measure, or the cook’s measuring cup. We use our own body to measure distance.

There are different Martial Art styles that emphasis fighting in a certain range or a certain distance. Tae Kwon Do for example, if you watch a TKD tournament you will see 80 % of the techniques used will be kicks. Therefore TKD is primarily a long range fighting style, but they do punch as well and some guys are awesome in this range..

There are 4 ranges: kicking, punching, trapping, and grappling.
Kicking range is measured by extending your front leg until your foot can reach your opponent. If you cannot reach them with a punch but you can reach them with a kick you are in kicking range, retreat 1 inch or more and you have just taken yourself out of kicking range. Advance closer until you can extend your lead arm and reach them with your fist and you have now entered punching range.

Every range has wiggle room, like one foot on a tape measure, that foot is made up of inches. Straight line punches take more room to execute then hooks and uppercuts, so a straight line punch is at the long end of punching range. Once you get close enough to reach your opponent with your elbow, you have just left punching range and entered trapping range. This distance (trapping range) is a bridge between striking and grappling ie wrestling. Grappling range is determined when both bodies of the opponents are pressed together, chest to chest, shoulder to shoulder etc. This would include ground fighting as well. These 4 ranges can be considered as one range that expands and contracts, breathing naturally from one range to another. To smoothly do this one needs attributes.

So the carpenter relates the 4 ranges to his tape measure, and the cook relates the ranges to their measuring devices, this is the integration concept. IMHO anyone can relate what they do to the 4 ranges because it’s just measurement and we all have to measure.

Looking at Martial Arts as a science of movement, time, distance and space, one can eliminate discrimination, pitting one style is better then the other. When stripping away the facade and removing the brand label ( the style) one can be liberated and free to understanding Universal Law thus understanding and relating to all styles.In empty hand it’s MMA, then more extensively , JKD.

Center line concept

Imagine a silhouette of a person with a line drawn from the top of the head through the nose, abdomen, groin and into the floor, cutting the person in half. This is the center line and is used by many MA styles from the internal styles, tai chi, bagua, xing yi, to the external styles wing chun, and kempo mention in an earlier thread, in addition savate a French kicking art, western boxing, bando boxing from Burma and many, many other styles advocate the use of a center line.

All these styles can get confusing in the eyes of the laymen so forget all the styles and names and focus on the concept “a line that cuts the body in half the long way.” the center line.

You don’t need a 6th degree Master, or a 300 year old Taoist scroll to teach you to hit‘em in the Labanza!!! Aim for the middle (center line) The center line concept is not a wing chun or kempo concept, it is common sense and realized by all sorts of MA styles in addition to archery, firearms, fencing etc. go for center mass and there is a good chance you will hit something.

Of course common sense would dictate that you might want to put up some sort of barrier so you don’t allow someone else aiming at “YOUR” center line, so the arms, elbows, knees etc are positioned to block out your center line.

Someone mentioned in another thread about pivoting on center line, once again this is not a concept exclusive to any one style or even MA IMHO this is science. If we expand on the notion that not only the body is a silhouette, but also has width, height, and depth as mentioned earlier we now can imagine that the center line may resemble a pole that can be from the top of the head right through the body into the floor allowing the body to pivot or rotate. This works as a basic machine, a wheel and axel. When the wheel rotates it causes centrifugal force developing power and a 360 degree defensive barrier can be used as well..

The center line concept is not the end all but merely another concept to be recognized by one who is trying to learn the science of movement and develop their own style using their own personal attributes.

Giving up Center line

Protecting and attacking center line is a valuable concept to understand, but as usual during a fight things don’t always go our way. Your opponent might have a very strong C line offensively and defensively and this could be a problem especially if your opponent is taller then you and has a longer reach in all 4 ranges. How do you get in?

There is a concept called giving Center line. The Filipino art of Kali is well known for using this concept and western boxing as well. Instead of putting up a barrier protecting C line as discussed in the previous Center line thread. The Kali fighter tends to have a square (Feet side by side) fighting stance allowing their opponent to take advantage of a C line straight attack, thus countering by side stepping the straight attack and attacking at an angle from the side, (The famous boxer Sugar Ray Leonard used the this concept a lot.) Most often attacking the opponent’s limb as it strikes, this is called a limb destruction.

Kali is one of the chosen arts of Bruce Lee’s elements and believed every student should know the main idea of the concept. This system is primarily a weapons based art. In fact double stick training is what a beginner would start with because it promotes ambidextrous movement allowing freedom to attack with either limb evenly and not be a one sided fighter (Left or right dominance). This is why the squared fighting stance is preferred. The Kali fighter has a weapon in both hands, one on either side of C line, so when the opponent sees no barrier in C line and attacks, the kali fighter is free to side step either way cutting off the attacker’s limb., or what we call (defanging the snake) Please understand, Kali as with many of the ancient arts was created for War and in battle blades were used and in training rattan sticks. We don’t need to know this Ancient Art, we just need to pirate what is applicable for today’s fighting and dump the rest.

The movement of kali and the weapons is transferred to the empty hand fighting and so does the concept of giving up Center line, when the student can move in and out of Center line you now have a more complete and free fighter in the science of movement.

As a rap-up of the past few threads we now have an idea of Jeet Kune Do (JKD) as I teach it, the freedom to integrate, techniques, principles, and concepts from a variety of martial Art styles without prejudice. The understanding of timing and measurement as we relate it to the 4 ranges of combat, and the general knowledge of working in and out of center line.

I hope you guys can see that we are using a step by step formula, to educate ourselves to the science of movement as our foundation. This is not the fighting aspect but the learning aspect (Self perfection).

(Self Preservation) is when you take the theory and bring it to the lab for testing.


Three lines of attack.

The three lines of attack, this is probably one of the easiest concepts to get.
For such a simple concept, understanding how to utilize this idea pays huge dividends because there is always one line open to attack, recognizing this open line, or even anticipating this line to open up puts you one step ahead of your opponent.

This is how you sector the three lines, get a piece of paper and draw a stick figure, the body is the center line. Now draw a horizontal line under the head and another across the belt line. That’s it!!! You just sectored the three lines of attack, the high line (head) , mid line (belly), and low line (groin and legs).

This is a great way to start to develop combinations, for example, punch the head, punch the body, punch the head, that = high, mid, high attack another combo would be kick the leg, punch the body, kick the head, = low, mid, high attack, this is a combo you might see in a karate or a kickboxing match. You can use any of the 12 tools of the body to attack single or in combination to any of the three lines of attack and utilizing 1or more of the 4 ranges...

With this concept what you are doing is building a battle plan utilizing sectors, again “science of movement”, moving from one line of attack to another searching for an opening or a weakness in your opponent’s defense.

By observing footage of your opponent or feeling them out on the spot you can analyze how they move through ranges, and defend the lines of attack, once you see their weakness you build a plan to attack, you can see what lines “they” like to attack and build your defense accordingly and prepare for a counter attacks.

In essence this concept you have just formulated can resemble a grid with a center line and 6 sectors, three on the left and three on the right, you can add the info provided on the past threads and use your heavy bag as your personal lab rat to develop your own way of movement in your basement, garage even your back yard.
Now you guys have a few building blocks and can start to learn on your own without coughing up one cent.

For beginner or advanced going beyond the fighting aspect and learning a formula to grow can give you tools even when you grow old and fat because the science of movement is first in the mind (theory) and then the body (the practical) the fighting, enhanced by attributes.

Some of my students are not into fighting at all but just love learning the science about it and others like to fight so there is something for everyone.
We have found that learning is much faster when you use general concepts, Police departments, Agencies and such don’t have time to train on a weekly basis, so we give them the crash course as well.
This is a fair amount of info to digest Any ? just ask.

I usually teach theory and practical at once, so you can see the concepts within the technique and then in a live sparring setting, but out here I think breaking it up maybe better. So technique and a way to train is up next. See ya in a bit.

 

[jmjkd]

We talked a little theory, now let’s check this stuff out “Real time”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjqsgp2qmQ

Check out this fight and try to pick out all the topics discussed earlier, ranges, lines of attack, tools etc..

My kid is in the Red.

Notice the ranges they fight in, long, middle, close. The opponent starts in kicking range, using the foot as his tool to the low line but way out of range, then Red goes right into punching range then right to grappling chest to chest while throwing knees ( A preferred tool in close) and foot stomps attacking the low line in the clinch/grappling range. Red takes his opponent down and maintains top position and then losses it to the opponents guard
(Seizer hold) then a little ground and pound from Red and the ref stands them up.

Both fighter stay in punching range until the opponent tries to a take Red down , Red pulls guard during the take down and chokes his opponent into submission.

Regardless of win or lose it's about evaluation and testing. I think you can see both fighters are Athletes, with attributes. My kid’s opponent was no chump, he was aggressive, experienced, had game and took it to my guy.
My guy’s performance was good but with a few big mistakes.

1.He entered punching range with a single direct attack, a straight right cross, easy to avoid and his opponent did.
2.After going into grappling range, he could not get a dominant body control and ate some knees and stomps and had to take the guy down.
3.Although on top , he lost dominant half guard position and had to except being in full guard.
4.After the ref stood them up, you would think he knows better, but NO. He does a single direct straight cross AGAIM. Opens up and exchange where he could have been knocked out, and only because his opponent did a crummy take down and stuck his head right into a choke, he won. He took advantage of his opponents poor techniques and pulled out the win.

Notice we didn't make a big deal out of the win, Red went over to fighter after to see if he’s ok. Sportsmanship. Sure he was happy but it's about the evaluation, what he did good and bad and what does he have to do to improve. This kid could care less about competing. His main concern is, if he had to protect his family right down to bare hands, can he? You don’t know until you test, and test, and test..

You don't have to compete and test yourself this intensely, but as you will see, you can train in real time without getting hurt.

Use the outline and this fight to study, learn and recognize movement.

This is how you monitor your growth, and validate your training, while building and earning true confidence. You will get a realistic picture at where you are as a fighter with your victories, and your defeats.. This is what you will have to do on your own if you want to teach yourself. I’m offering some knowledge FREE but you will have to put in the work and learn to evaluate yourself and your training partners. You help each other,

We will talk about getting training partners nest time.

 

[jmjkd]

Aliveness

Before you consider a training partner you must understand training itself. There are so many schools that train in Martial Arts, what makes one better than the other” .The answer to that is” Aliveness'

A technique is a technique, that same technique can be trained in a dead pattern or with aliveness. What is the difference?

Motion, timing, and energy (Resisting opponent) =Aliveness.

This concept is not new, many gyms train with aliveness, Boxing, Judo, Thai boxing etc. . Here is a vid of my friend Matt Thornton, he explains this concept much better than I can ever do and has opened the eyes of many traditional Instructors. Defiantly check Matt out and pay no attention to his funny short pants…..

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2068450760833041053

When choosing a partner, your brother, wife, neighbor to train with using the concept “Aliveness” they will need a few solid traits, .get someone you can trust who won’t get pissed and hold a grudge.

You may not be able to find someone right way that fits the bill so you might want to get a heavy bag. You will not attain aliveness but you can use the bag for other training such as line familiarization, tool combinations etc. which we can cover later.
You will need at least an 80 – 100 lbs bag. Canvas or leather, even vinyl is fine. Any sporting goods store will have them. BUT go to Crags list, my guys get them for 20-25 and almost brand new.

Between a heavy bag and a good training partner you will be ready to start training.

I think Boxing is mandatory, along with Wrestling, Judo, Thai Boxing and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu the core of MMA. You can learn this by going to an MMA school or learn each sport separate.

Why these Arts/sports? One reason is, because they train with aliveness, second, the techniques deal with gross motor skills, where most traditional arts deal a lot with fine motor skills, too complex for real folk in real fights. Not worth it to a beginner student.
You guys can go to Utube and get more techniques then you will ever need.
With this knowledge you are well armed to teach yourself. Go to work.

All this info I gave out, some may think, he’s F**ked!!! He gave us all his S**T!!!
This is day one at my school, info I give for FREE. A member asked what makes us any different than all the other schools, especially now that you guys know MMA schools are realistic, so why me?

The first reason is the end result. In sports, the end result is a tap out, or knock out using a certain technique. Great, at IMDC the end result is GET TO YOUR WEAPON. Not many teach what we teach with that end result in mind, sure there are knock offs, like Krav Mega which does offer techniques that can be used with a good end result. . BUT they don’t train with Aliveness so all those deadly techniques learned won’t work in a real fight. Looks good though.

The second reason, as Matt Thornton said ‘Find someone that can simulate the real energy you would find in an unpredictable street fight’ Folks come to me to feel how it’s supposed to be, not just learn info.. As I said, you can get info anywhere utube, books, vids and right here etc. But not many places around here anyway, will you get to feel exactly what it is you are trying to learn and if they do, can they do it without getting you hurt. This is why people seek us out. They want to know the real deal but be able to go to work the next day especially those over 40 or Females where injuries, size and age matters. We are not kids anymore, I’m not anyway. So we create individual programs for each person.

The last reason is MONEY. People say they learned more in 6 weeks then they did in 10 years in their other school. It all boils down to money. Can I save you $$$$. This whole thread is about saving you $$$, learning with a buddy, making your own gear, finding alternatives to high priced equipment. Getting educated so if you do decide to check out a school you now have questions to ask, regarding Range, Tools, C-line ect watch and see if they train with aliveness, ask the instructor to spar and see if he can spank you without hurting you . Do they integrate blades, guns, environmental training. Do they ever train in low lighting, with gear on, gun belts, packs, winter clothes???

These are the things you want as a Survival Self defense system. Add in your preferred weapon, learn to integrate concepts and you are good to go.

I hope my spelling and caveman grammar didn’t put you off and you picked up a little general knowledge so you can learn on your own. If you need any help, I will do my best to answer questions or direct you to the best places to train. You are never to old.
If we get enough interest maybe even a NES workshop, who knows?

Thank you for your time and respect, good luck ..