Does anyone actually need to learn self defence?

oh well... whoever he trains with he didn't learn very well. I have had no classes, but I have at the very least learned that life is to short to have that attitude.

 

Ya know the flinching/fight or flight thing has always intrested me. I have been useing a little saying kinda like a memory verse to help me during sparring its simple, control point. Control point to me is being very proactive instead of reactive at the moment either of us in in range of the other. I realized that if I reacted in a less agressive way like backing up or moveing to the side that it didnt take long for him to land a good shot or two, but if I backed up then came right back in with my own assault I could catch him, or if I blocked and immeadeatly countered every time with an attack of my own I could cause him to respect me, thus I got to do the stalking insteadof the running,lols It was a wonderful feeling, well except for my bumbs and bruises. So I guess my question is how does my experience translate into the pro jargon you guys are using?

 

is this in boxing or what kind of sparring? I went to that local kickboxing class once, when we did very light sparring I sparred with 2 or 3 guys. The feint leg kick worked everytime for me. They immediately were waiting for the leg kick, but then I went to the solar plexus either with a jab or straight right. Of course when sparring is light like that, you aren't as able to be as quick as usual, I felt I could have floored all the guys I sparred with (none of them were super experienced so i'm not trying to make it out like I am so good), but i'm sure they could have floored me too lol.

 

I practice an odd ball type of Martial Art its a mix of Boxing,Karate, Judo, and Jujitsu it even includes a few wrestleing techniques in there. The specific techniques we us are from all the above mentioned systems but the mechanics of each technique are slightly different from whats taught in the moves home system, this is mainly beause we dont train like a classic art, we train alot like kickboxers, boxers and wrestlers, that is to say we dont use the horse stance at all in fact all of our hand technique is mainly done from what we call a selfdefense stance which is a kinda of modified boxing stance, we dont do lenghty bouts of line drils at all, and we dont use deep stances at all, we train with the focus mitts heavy bag and kick shield alot. Self defense is really done well in our system as well there are only I think 10-12 sd techniques in the whole system and all of them address being grabbed in some way either a bearhug, head lock, choke or a hand grab type deal, we dont spend more than 15 minutes on selfdefense during class time though and we are encuraged to be good attackers in other words give sme good resistance to the defenders attempt to get free. The knife and club defense are pretty good, we are encouraged to run from weapon weilding attackers though lols, and the defenses are pretty basic, Try to getand maintain control of the weapon hand use kicksto groin and legs use head butt take weapon away so on and so on. So now to sparring, the coolist thing about my instructor is that when he was young hedidnt like to get hit, in fact the only reason he did martial arts was because his parents made him, I guess his dad was a Marine corp boxer and felthe should be a man and learn how to fight. Anyway he got over not likeing to be hit when he discovered how much he in fact liked hitting other people lols which is quit alot based on how often he hits me lols. So he came up with a very intensity progressive set of rules for sparring which slowly build up to full contact black belt test type sparring. In addition to ourtechnique training we also do semi frequent body conditioning such as knuckle push ups, board breaking, forearm, leg and abdomin strikeing drills, so after aout six months of this sort of thing sparring is alot less scarry, especially when you start light with less sensitive targets like shoulders and arms, chest and such as that. So its a Mixed martial art to be honest, maybe not in the modern sense of the word but its been around for like twenty years already.

 

It sounds interesting. We do a lot of the bear hug, lapel grabs, belt grabs, learn how to work off of punches, full nelson escapes, etc. A lot of that stuff I haven't gotten to yet, but I work with some of my instructors as a partner to help them with their next belts and getting their techniques correct. My wrists will turn and bend all over the place so I just let them know when things don't hurt so that they can adjust to things that do hurt, which in turn helps me because they make notes and then teach those things to me when I get to that belt so if I needed to use the same move on someone like me... I know it will hurt lol.

I've also been shadow boxing each night. I was told by a trainer not to use dumbells, so I work on 3 different combinations right now. I'll do those for several weeks every night until it's drilled into my head and then work on an added combo for another few weeks, etc. Hopefully that will help not to confuse me with to much at once.

 

I don't know the pro jargon, but the principle is "attack at all times" or in terms of specific guidelines, "apply constant forward pressure". Even when moving to the side or backwards, you can apply forward pressure based on your posture and attitude.

This is a tough lesson to learn when in sparring because many start off having a very hard time with attacking and defending at the same time. Many people start off with attack and defense at two different modes. For example, if defending, then defending is all they can do... if attacking then attacking is all they can do... they are not able to attack and defend together.

You may have seen some strength training methods like tying a rope around the waist of a student and pulling them backwards during sparring drills. The student has to learn to push forward at all times. This develops strength, but if done correctly, the student is taught to keep good posture and constant forward pressure.

 

Honestly if it wasnt for shadow boxing Id be in pretty bad shape as far as technique goes, Its just my personal opnion but shadow boxing is really the ultimate tool for me, it cuts calories if I do it really intensely or if I do it a little slower it helps my form and it really makes me feel great its pretty low impact and besides the health benifits it transfer into self defense so if martial arts is a training multi tool I think that shadow boxing is the knife not the can opener lols, I mean I use it everday too. Im glad someone else has such a high reguard for shadowboxing, stick with it and you will see soereal improvements in your ma. Im only strength training twice a week right now if that since my new job is fairly heavy construction.

 

I love dumbells myself, In fact I dont think Ill ever start useingthe straight bar again, what cant be said for the dumbell. They are easily stored, the range of exorcize and bennifit is enormous and lower body workouts like lunges turn into total body workouts when useing the dumbell, its just awesome.

 

Some don't like them I think because of the momentum that they carry when you punch which might lead to over extension and injury, or the constant weight on the should could lead to a shoulder issue and I already have one, so stopping seemed like it would be a good idea.

 

When I used to be able to bench before my shoulder went out I used the barbell... I can't use it now until surgery and all of that later, but I will never use it again. I'll always do dumbell presses. IMO it just lets the body move in a more natural way.

 

Shadow boxing is an excellent tool. I read one trainer who said for the entire boxing game picking only one tool he would use only that for the reasons of low to no impact on the joints and it helps with fluid movements better. Of course everyone will have an opinion. It does help a lot with a good heartrate workout as well. I am working back up to it doing 3 different combinations of 100 reps a piece... so last night I threw a total of 1100 punches... and of course as much as I do enjoy my combat hapkido I would have to be involved in it for at least a year to do each move 1100 times lol. Gives an idea of why boxers can get good at what they do very quickly.

 

2 things on that point:

1) never fully extend your arm.

2) hooks work much better with weights.

But if you're nursing an injury, then yeah, if in doubt leave it out.

 

Yeah, uppercuts too.

In general punches that don't involve snapping-back.

I mentioned hooks in particular because you can do them in a continuous fluid motion. Great for working all around the shoulders.

I generally prefer weight work to include rotation. Used to be a big thing in physio, I'll ask about it next time I talk to one of my physio friends.

 

I agree with a lot of this, but there are times when offense can cause you to run into a punch which is worse sometimes than just getting punched while stationary or moving backwards... such as this lol....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEeZSxJGntU"]Marquez Hit That Knocked Out Pacquiao - YouTube[/ame]

manny is coming straight in and gets caught with the counter right hand at the same time (which you don't see) since one is a southpaw and one orthodox the foot gets stepped on. That forward momentum is a big part of the KO.

Attacking is great and moving ahead, but if you can't grapple or wrestle then you need to NOT do that. I cannot grapple or wrestle lol. If you must back away though it should never be straight back, only laterally or some other way. Straight back makes you easier to knock down and easier to hit.

 

All punches require opening of the scapula (edit: with the notable exception of the backfist) and engaging the lats and pecs. Upward-trajectory arced punches will use the pecs more. You can do them with or without torso rotation and driving with the feet, but either way the muscles supporting the shoulder will be engaged.

And I was talking more about using weights for a static exercise rather than shadow boxing.

 

Principles are always true, but how they are interpreted can change with context. Instead of looking at Manny, look at Marquez. Marquez is applying forward pressure when he knocks Manny out. If Marquez had been caught on his heels with weight shifted back, he would not have been able to punch forward with as much force. Instead, Marquez is moving forward when he punches.

Manny, on the other hand, was out of position. The power line for a punch is in the direction the foot points. To keep the powerline, Manny could have stepped to the outside of Marquez's left foot instead of down the middle when going right foot forward to left foot forward opponent.

20/20 hindsight is all this observation is. What ifs... etc.