One of the main aims of martial arts training is to enable a smaller opponent to beat a larger opponent through the use of technique and skill. This is obviously composed of a number of factors: Placement, timing, experience, speed, and efficient technique. One of the most important though is leverage. Give me a lever and I can move the World Archimedes is supposed to have said. The original concept of Kano’s Judo system was just this; that a clever technically competent player could throw a much bigger man. The greatest embodiment of this was Mifune who had one of the softest styles,  yet could throw you as you were throwing him. Mifune went with the flow and used leverage to the maximum. A slight man he couldn’t fight his opponents using strength but had to use their strength against them. Helio Gracie the leader of the Gracie Jiu-jitsu family as we all know was also a very slight man. Everyone I’ve spoken to who grappled with him said he just used leverage to the maximum. Setting his body so you couldn’t crush him and using the stronger parts of his body in unison against weaker parts of yours. Both these men embodied the true martial arts way. Sparring and training against all comers until a very old age. Wisdom and leverage are a potent component.

Lauding leverage as I am doesn’t mean that strength isn’t to be sought after and used. It’s great to have strength and conditioning but these are easier for everyone else to also attain. The downside is it requires hard training and lasts only as long as you keep up the conditioning and strength programme. Training with strong people you realise that they don’t use half of their potential because generally they can power their way against less strong or less big opponents. I’ve been working with a number of large strong opponents lately and we’ve been sharing our experience. They’ve blasted through some of my tricks and I’ve been showing them how they can be stronger and make their techniques more painful by just focusing on improving the leverage of their techniques.

Initially this can just be making the lever arm of the technique longer. Think of an arm bar where you’re grabbing the wrist then move it up an inch or so towards the hand and you’ve almost doubled the force. Similarly use the whole of your body to put on locks not your arms. Standing arm wrenches and arm bars are much more effective when you rotate the whole body and on the ground using the hips and legs to do the work rather than the arms turns you into a superman. Even hitting or kicking I see people just hitting with their arms or legs and not their body as a unit plus not using gravity to help. Think of gravity as free bonus leverage points

There’s also lots you can do by hitting at the leverage sweet spot where you get the most power. (Think of a tennis player on his serve and you’ll know the sort of place) Distance makes a big difference as your lever arm is longer as does bringing more levers to bear on the problem. When using arm bars it’s also important to use the fulcrum well. Many people have a sort of blurred fulcrum using all of their chest to do a two on one instead of focusing your power on his joint by rotating and making the shoulder a sharp fulcrum. Where you put the fulcrum in relation to his joint is also hugely important. Do it in the wrong place and he can counter or power out of it. Do it right and it’s like turning on an electric light it’s so fast, and painful too.

You can see that it’s not more technique that’s important but understanding how to get the most out of what your doing. Above all look at, and polish, everything you do to see if you can make your levers more effective. If you have to work hard or use lots of effort thats not it. Feel the grain in the wood and go with that, not against it. Going with the flow is leverage in another way. You’re leveraging the moment. This approach makes training very Zen like. Is this easy? No but that’s the art.

Sometimes you have to have it done on you or be shown the way to appreciate how great it is when done well, but once shown you have to do your own research. When you can, use leverage principles in other areas of your life. Where can you get the most for the least effort?  Above all don’t beat yourself up about any of this the most important thing is to enjoy your training and enjoy it’s ebb and flow. Like all arts, it only takes a lifetime!

We now seem to have full power back at SPACe and I look forwards to seeing you all this evening for hard fun training. Apologies to those who missed training on Monday or Tuesday. I’ll also be changing the grading date by a week to reflect the missed time this week. See you all later. Bob

Apologies to all of those who came for training this week and found SPACe closed due to a power cut. We only heard at the last moment so we were unable to let you know.  Tuesday it was disappointing but a great opportunity for us all to go to the pub. The reason for the power cut is due to work being done by the electricity board whilst building a new railway station.

The people at SPACe are trying to remedy the situation and I’ll keep you up to date with all I know. We expect to be there teaching Thursday so see you there. Phone beforehand if you need to or check the website where I’ll post the latest update.

Once again accept our apologies though it’s nothing to do with us.  However, we’ve decided that as a way of compensating for your wasted time  members can come to any one of this years one day seminar for FREE. See the events page for details.

I’ve just looked at a martial arts forum for probably only the second or third time in my life. A person was asking about the club and various people responded. This of course then got involved in sort of claim and counter claim. Generally the news was very good. Like all clubs we’ve had our ups and downs. Back in the eighties we were very focused on functionality and did lots of sparring. Then by the late nineties when we moved to different premises business took over as our costs were high and though still one of the leading clubs I think for a time we lost that zeal.

Now that eighties zeal is definitely back. It’s like the old days again, everything tested and slimmed down for action. The aim of our training is for you to understand both the technique and the concept plus the soft skills like timing and distance. It’s about less is more. Then once you’ve got the core stuff down and can use it the other stuff just slides in easily. Of course you have to train that stuff hard too so we squeeze as much into a session as we can. Instructor Neil Mcleod one of the Academy’s seniors often says. ‘ self protection then self perfection’ so that’s the path.

People often ask if I teach the complete Inosanto-lacoste system and I”d have to say not exactly. I’ve studied that system for thirty years and love it but what i teach is my own blend based around what I’ve learnt in forty plus years of training plus what works and also what I like doing. Being crippled for all of the nineties forged me and what i do. When you’re like that there’s no way you can do everything. You start to analyse and look at how to simplify and make functional. You look at ways to leverage your body to the maximum. As a result what I teach is a unique blend. With new titanium hips I’m a lover of movement and evasion but the close quarter stuff I learnt in that fifteen years is hard wired. I Love to pass this on to others. Whilst I didn’t like the constant pain I learnt lots about both myself and about technique and position. When you’ve got less you use it more wisely. At the moment I teach a blend based around Filipino martial arts but it’s got hints of Karate (the discipline, work ethic and perfectionism ) its got the flow and realness of Filipino styles, some of the structure of Lee’s Jun fan gung fu, the grit, grind and subtlety of boxing and Thai boxing. In many ways it’s true JKD,  the original MMA. Not sport based but where sport, reality and art meet.

Is it the best? As my friend Andy Norman of KFM would say ‘it is what it is’. It’s been my pleasure over the years to have played a formative part in the development of many of the leading instructors in the U.K and  throughout Europe. Did I teach them everything? Of course not. Hopefully what I did teach them is how to think and look and to train hard and cleverly. This is what I continue to try to do now. I try to keep the bar high so that people excel. Our grading system is organised so by the time you’re black belt you have an INTEGRATED knowledge of all areas. I often get called the grandfather of JKD or Kali but these terms were originated by others. Basically I just did my work. The Tao Te ching the chinese classic says’ to do your work and make no ado.’  So that’s what we’re trying to do . Our work should be our greatest promotional tool.

My thanks to my good friends David O, Carl and Gordon and Winston who share the load with me and to all our old friends out there flying the flag even though not currently training. In particular Pat O’Malley who unlike me seems to relish forums.

The next grading will be on Thursday the 25th of March. Starts at 7.30.

There will be grading focused classes on Monday Tuesday and Thursday. I want everyone to grade but only when they are ready. Gradings are a good way of marking progress and covering different techniques and concepts.  If you don’t feel you are ready that’s o.k you can take the grade at a later date. Conversely, if  I don’t think you are ready I’ll let you know. It’s important that the clubs standards are high not that you grade within a certain time. For a great day we’ll be happy to help you match up with a suitable grading partner.

Current downloadable syllabus on grading page.

We’ve been working lots of sparring lately concentrating on simple direct attacks like the front kick and generally working kicks more. What’s profound here is how many different things you can do with just front kick and a jab and cross. I taught the concept of boxes. First and nearest you have the punching box, if they step back out of that they’re in the kick box (if at the front then use your rear leg if at back then step and use your front leg.)  Here’s just a few of the things you can do. Fake the punch and then kick, try and hit them with the jab cross and when they step back out of that box kick them in the kick box they’ve just arrived in. Alternatively, Kick (kickbox)  and then follow them by stepping in and you’re in the hands box where you jab and cross. Start with different hands so there’s no fixed start point. Play with the timing or feint to draw their eyes upwards then kick underneath. Think about how many variations you could do here and then practice them a little and then do them in sparring. Keep the ones that work.

Fighting and music have lots of parallels so I always sort of cross train by listening intently. It’s all art. I’ve been listening to lots of Scarlatti classical minor key piano music lately and he does the same JKD thing there. A simple theme then just variation after variation showing how much he knows his stuff. Modulating through subtle changes. Sonny Rollins the jazz saxophone player does the same thing on ‘saxophone collossus’. Check them out if you’re into that sort of music. The thing with JKD is to realise it’s not about more but about deeper. Surprisingly, then you get more.  Do less and be more-how strange is that.

Congratulations to Guro David Onuma who won the European Brazilian Jiu-jitsu tournament again last week. David was also awarded his Black belt on the podium in front of all attending. This is a huge achievement not only to get your black belt but to be three times champion at this level. We’ll have pictures tomorrow as I’ll be teaching and training with David later today. David shows how talent and hard work can take you all the way. With a huge work ethic that puts all of us to shame he’s an inspiration to all. Well done.