Understanding knife fighting helps your empty handed defence as many of the techniques and concepts are similar and you get to understand the knife from an attackers viewpoint. If you want to be a great Martial artist I think the knife is an essential way for you to learn principles that would take much longer only doing empty hands.

For those who came to the knife class here’s a reminder on what we covered. We did a number of counters from a running or lunging attack at the mid section or upper chest.

First we scooped or ripped with the knife in Icepick grip against the thrust in hammer grip. This is often called Palusut. A good way to think of this and get over the language block is to think of it as pala-scoop. We did this and initially followed with a descending pick thrust to the arm then did it with both a slash to the biceps when on top and a slash to the gut if under his arm. Both of these were followed by a stab to the kidneys. Important in both of these is you have to use the other hand to stop the opponents knife coming back online or you have to use your own arm (which has the knife) to ward it off whilst you slash.

We then covered Panastas or slashing counter attack. Think of this as pana-slash and it sticks in the mind easier. We did this to the biceps, lower arm or neck depending on timing and distance. Important here is to tuck your body and post on his arm with your left arm so his arc of attack is changed.

Finally, we covered Segun where you block his attack with the blade of your knife-this we then rolled as if stuck in the bone and slashed either below or above the arm as above.

In the class we covered disarms from this flow drill afterwards and a number of key points. Knife class is every thursday. Hope to see you there next week where we’ll be covering the same thing in great depth and putting both the techniques and principles into your fight DNA.

In the last class this Thursday we just covered sparring. This was done with bag gloves as this most closely represents street fighting and you have to work on being highly skilful, there’s no hiding behind big pillows. The aim of the session was to use the stuff that we’ve been practicing so student made it their own. Lots of times you get people saying “I know that” but in truth they know of it, but can’t do it in action, therefore they don’t know it.

First, we covered just sparring the jab with the emphasis on being non telegraphic. If you do this with the arm moving first then the body it’s very hard for your opponent to see. We added doubles with penetration and footwork, then added the cross. What I got everyone to do with the cross was to think of only having five so you don’t waste them. All the fighters were advised not to chase after fleeing targets but to wait and use the punch either in attack or in defence when you were sure to score. . Setting this cross up with a non telegraphic jab or double jab makes it much easier. As you can see, it’s a linear approach. If you don’t get the first bit right you’ve got more work later. So application of the basics and true understanding of them is the place to start, and to come back to, over and over.

We then added front kick and fighters used the front of the box for punching then retreated to the back of their stance/ box to stop kick. Adjustments were made with the drag step we’d covered in the first class of the night. Keeping him at the ideal distance for you to hit is a crucial part of the art. Everyone was fighting really well by now.

We then added the simple trapping that we covered on Tuesday. Why learn it if you’re not going to use it? As in the jab it’s a case of the hand going first if Pak sau is your trap. This worked really well for lots of people and killed the non telegraphic jab that the opponent was using. A couple of people did classic lop sau grabs and landed wonderful cross punches. The theme of the night though was ‘ Using It.’ Whatever you learn it has to go into the mix. I only cover things that you can work in sparring. If you understand this approach each tool or technique can offset or counter another attack so you need to have some technique depth. But in essence it’s a simple game. All in all this was one of the best sparring sessions in ages. Generally in the classes we’re doing a technique, then putting it into some game or flow so it’s less defined and you learn how to see it in flow, then we’re sparring it. This has been very successful. Once you’ve got something to work like this it’s yours. Do it successfully a few times over a number of weeks and it starts to go into your fight DNA. Bruce, as always, said it first. “To know and not to apply is not to know. “ Congratulations to all who trained as it was a great night, those who went to the pub on what was a lovely evening missed a special session.

This week we’ve been covering some of the grading syllabus. In last nights class we just concentrated on trapping. The first thing that I covered was: Why Trap? As I explained your main intention should be to strike your opponent supposing a scenario where if you don’t strike them they’ll strike you. I said that a single direct attack is often enough but this requires timing and a good set up to work all the time. If you’ve got an opponent who’s got good counter attack skills he’s going to hit you as you move in. Using trapping you isolate the front hand and supplement your jab. Lots of people think of this as slap the arm ( pak sau ) then punch (pak sau da) as that’s how it’s sometimes taught. A more effective way is to think of it as the first move of a combination in this case the jab of jab cross and hook-or any other follow on technique. The rear hand which pak sau’s or slaps just assists the jab as it goes towards the target and slaps any branches or arms out of the way. Directly afterwards throw the cross and the hook. Seeing it like this it just works better, concentrate on making it seamless and smooth. We also covered what to do if he’s a passive blocker with the rear hand. First, as we’ve already covered, you hit with a combination or secondly a body tackle. We concentrated getting a good cut on the ribs with the left hand and palm down with the left and palm up with the right grip. This gives you the tightest of grips and makes it very difficult for your opponent to counter. A good base is essential preferably on his side where his tools don’t work. From here we did a takedown and followed with a V arm bar from the mount.

Those who were in the class also learnt the three big and simple counters to the pak sau and punch. I trained the basic trap today with Steve Payne in my garden and he found it was very hard to see or stop. This is what you want. Simplify how you think of trapping, just think of it as clearing the path to the target or a way of assisting your jab. It works on even the best fighters so should be part of your game. Once you can do it then apply it in sparring. David Onuma looking at the class wrote a version of a quote from Bruce Lee on the board. ‘To know and not to apply is not to know’. Thanks Dave. Good training.

Last night we spent a lot of time on defending against front kick from either leg. We started off using a simple retreating strategy. Either using a drag step to move your whole body back out of distance. In jun fan you’d call that retreating your horse stance then we did retreating the lead leg and riposting or replying either with a hand or leg counter attack. Obviously, just retreating in a straight line doesn’t work all the time. Otherwise your opponent just attacks deeper and deeper until they get you. We addressed this firstly for the attackers by adding a small step at the beginning of the kick or hopping to extend the distance of the kick.

On the other side we added stop hitting for the defender. This counters those who want to attack really deeply. Often they no longer attack where you are, but where they think you’re going to end up. Most people on the street do this if really trying to hit you. That’s why you need to have the courage and understanding to stand your ground and ‘stop hit’. The great japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi said, if surprised, he’d step forwards. So it should definitely be part of your game.

Played together this retreat and stop hit approach gives you a simple but profound ‘attack by drawing’ scenario. On retreat you have to retreat so their kick just misses. Important here is that you judge the distance so its just enough. Too far, and you’ve created work for yourself on the counter attack. Often, as It’s a near miss your opponent has another go. Surely he’ll be more successful a second time! Normally you’d retreat again, then when he goes to attack the third time; stand your ground or move forwards and take him out with a simple hand attack. In this situation you’d normally kick him as he retreats. Thus the circle goes. Empathy and reading of your opponent is really important in all of this. It’s not a fixed formula. Intuition and experience help immensely. This was just some of the stuff we covered. Here we’ve only covered the forwards and back axis. We also covered moving left and right and ‘tai sabaki’ body evasion. I’ll cover this in a further blog. Good training.