FMA disarms/stick by beltless

I am totally listed as the thread starter.

Thanks, I've learned a little about the Alive Hand.

Last week I had to do a drill where we went through a standard type drill where I had to check the teachers hand with my Alive Hand.

The first few times I missed completley, and realised I had to think in advance to do it right.

Even then, I still got wacked on the knuckles a few times.

And that drill was pretty much entirely compliant, I can't imagine how hard it would be against a resisting opponent.

 

That's just it mate. No, you aren't expected to back your claims up with thoughtful explanations. You're expected to back them up with evidence.

A lot of people can bring the verbiage. They can talk about vectors of entry and keeping a still mind and countless other theoretical gems. You're actually quite good at it. But it's not action. It's not evidence. And no matter how convincing an argument looks on paper, the proof still rests quite comfortably in the pudding. So show us. Get a video camera and show us the ease with which you do these disarms. It's simple.

And before you say "I don't have to prove anything", I know that. But then nobody else has to listen to you either. That's the simplicity of this equation. If you back up your claims, people will listen.

For the record, I'm firmly in the "disarms are difficult" camp.


Stuart

 

But simple disarms are easy.

I do not have much trouble gaining a disarm once I have latched onto the stick or hand which only takes a split second.

They can be difficult on occasions if you are training or fighting with advanced guys who also can feel for what you are going to do. But this is when it becomes fun and when I rely only on simple disarms, because they have to be executed immediately with no hesitation.

However it is generally easy to pull a disarm off on the untrained for example, the unsuspecting thug in a nightclub.

They are as easy or as hard as you make them.

I have often pulled disarms off under pressure in a Black Eagle bout (no rules), so I have pressure tested myself against experienced people too.

Only December 2005 in the full contact padded stick world championships I also pulled off three disarms in one round, winning me the fight by technical knockout.

And I cannot even begin to count how many I have pulled off in the WEKAF format either. Again I have won many by disarming three time in a bout.

My advice is to keep them simple but to counter strike while applying the disarm, this helps to distract their attention on something else.

You have to train them and believe in them for them to work I am afraid and don't look for them, just recognise the opportunity when it arises in front of you.

I would say some of you will be unfortunately trying to disarm experienced people from the start and they will easily be able to read your intentions and counter them. This in turn will do you no favours in the longrun as you will have no confidence in your abilities.

When I train people, I let them get the disarms until they get better and then I make it harder and harder until they are at a higher skill level, then I spare them no quarter, encouraging them to stand on their own two feet and battle it out.

I remember when I found it impossible to disarm Pat :bang: , but Pat kept making me train them to the point that I found it incredibly easy to disarm others and now even disarm Pat from time to time. But now he has trouble disarming me too. :woo:

If anyone wants any advice just ask, I will do my best to answer any queries.

Lots of love :love:

Lucy

 

Means something a little different coming from you Lucy. Anyone who wanted to see you do what you describe could do so if they checked out the WEKAF or Black Eagle events you describe. So there's not a doubt in my mind that you've worked out what works and what doesn't. And I've been TKO'd by disarm myself in WEKAF competition. (Reginald Burford, back in the nineties.) So I know it can be done. But I'm not convinced that Beltless can perform disarms with the ease he suggests.


Stuart

 

Well to start off with I think Beltless is a little clueless when it comes to the Dog Brothers, what they do has to be commended and we in the FMA salute them They are pressure testing their skills in a way very few have the balls to do and if he really looked at them in more depth he will see at times disarms happening, when the opportunity arises of course.

Coming on with all the, all you need to do is X then Y will happen, tells me straight away his expeariance of FMA is somewhat limited and I would advise that he go do some more training and pressure testing of his own in order to back up his thoeries with actual tried and tested fact.

But saying that and to back him up a little Disarms are easy if applied at the right time and given the right opportunity. No long winded explanation of how they should work just like FMA it is very simple.

WHY A DISARM IS DIFFICULT OR DOES NOT WORK:
1. The opportunity has not arisen.
2. You did not see the opportunity.
3. You are looking for the disarm and not concentrating on the fight.
4. You don't practice practicle disarms enough.

WHY A DISARM WORKS:
1. The opportunity has arisen and you have taken advantage of it.
2. You practice practicle disarms enough.

Gaining a disarm against an expearianced weapons fighter can be difficult, especially if they are as good at reading as you are at reading them. But saying that they do happen if the opportunity arises and you spot it, but just don't look for them or expect them to happen all the time.

Gaining a disarm against a lesser expeariance person can be easier if you are more familier with the workings of a weapons confrontation. But if the opportunity does not arise or you dont see it and take advantage of it then you know what I mean. Dont look for it as it may not happen.

I have taken countless weapons from people with ease both on the doors and on the street in a pressure environment, but there have been occasions it has been more difficult or darn near impossible simply because the opportunity did not offer it's self up to me.

And like Lucy I have taken disarms in FMA pressure areas such as WEKAF and Black Eagle bouts, but not always, the opportunity was either not their or I did not see it.

Wheather disarms work or not is a very grey area and is often debated, but like they say, they work for some and not for others, it is it more of a case that some get more opportunities to apply them where-as others may not, or some may train them and others may not.

But it is foolish to disregard them totally and just place this area of your training to one side.

I think Beltless is making a simple application sound a whole lot more difficult than it really is, but bearing in mind his lack of expeariance, this is understandable. For if he is who he say's he is he would not only know the very good reputation of the Dog Brothers, he would also know the links they have with the JKD Concepts school of thought. And would not be questioning them in the first place.

I too am curious as to his training with Inosanto (not via the seminars like others). I know he does not go out of his way to train people who do not attend his seminars here in the UK, and if you were training privetly with him would you not at least show him the repsect by turning up at his seminars anyway, after all would you not want to also see the wide veriaty he has to offer you at these events?

As for the training from the age of 3, it can be doubtfull in some peoples eyes but not impossible, after all my son who is only 6 has been training in some shape or form since the age of 3, but this would in no way be as intense as we would expect an adult to train and bearing in mind his age, And Beltless has only become one of those, just. So we can safely assume that at least 9 years of his training years can be discounted before he has had the oppertunity to test his skills in an adult environment. Lets say he has 3 years of real practicle expeariance, but in so many arts and for the time span in each art I am affraid you really do not have a real base to base you theories on and that I am affraid is why you are getting flack from some of the seriously expearianced FMAers on here.

Simply put. Prove it.

Best regards

Pat

 

I think you may be right about Clueless... Oooop's sorry I mean Beltless .

Old Reggie Burford eh! he was hot in the 90's, remember him from the 92 Worlds. Hot hot hot mate. He pulled a few good ones that year. I managed to pull off 3 in one fight myself that year too against Wendle Canete, I was not flavour of the month for a while though I must admit. But hey it's just a sport and let me tell you Wendle is certainly no slouch. I just had a good day that day.

If you see Reggie anytime, tell him I said hi and I have the picture with him, the brits and that very small jeep all of us managed to climb on to in Cebu

Best regards

Pat

 

Thanks for the feedback. Just so you know I'm not trying to put-down the dog brothers for the umpteenth time, if anything I'm just commenting on what I'm seeing. I don't assume I'd stand a chance against these guys, because I'm not at that level, but I would like to see more disarms going on or perhaps some attempt at their application. Mostly they see their stick as a weapon to bash people with until they can grapple them down into submission. I know disarms are hard, anything is without proper practise, but with lengthy training I haven't found it to be a case of pure luck and blind oppurtunity that determines their success when I've sparred full contact with weapons (although we don't use real knives ). It's clear I don't have the "right" to make such claims, but even if I did show you my videos and post my certifications under such-and-such characters, this would turn into a bigger argument on 'who has the right to say something, then back it up if I don't like it!?' rather than a discussion on FMAs limitations in full contact sparring. I just wanted to put a few ideas out, not crap on the current state of something then preach about how things should be with my martial arts CV layed out to the public as if that would make it valid. As far as I'm concerned, If I learn something I didn't consider before in your post, I don't need to check out your background to determine whether I SHOULD be listening or not. And I've been learning alot from many user's posts in this thread, so thank you (exceptfor the patronising insults).

 

So, have you booked a ticket to Glasgow ?

 

Ehmmmm!

Are you going to Glasgow, or Bristol, or you could come to Yorkshire then their is a couple of groups down south. I think we can help you understand wherever you may wish to travel to.

Best regards

Pat

 

Your probably right mate.

Well sticks tend to for some reason bash people. And I think your missing the bigger picture here, they are not strictly FMA, they do what they do, and they do it well.

Disarms as I said before are not hard it is all down to opportunity, and if the other guy does not give you the opportunity then you are not going to get a disarm. Who have you sparred with, and sparring is not really pressure testing now is it.

But if you did show us your certificates and especially your videos, then maybe you would be taken more seriously and show us that you have a basis in your possition. We are here to debate, not to argue, but when you make inflamitory remarks then guess what? Yep you have yourself an argument.

As for the limitions in full contact sparring?????? The only limitations you have are the ones you yourself impose.

But that is exactely what you have done. ALthough I must say DBMA is not the current state of all things FMA they are what they are and as I said they are dam good at it.

That's true, but if someone has a background in the feild you are commenting on then surely you should be taking them a little more seriously and ask yourself wheather you are right ot wheather you are wrong.

Best regards

Pat

 

Some advice Beltless - stop typing, and go practice

 

There is no doubt though that the Dog Brothers are somewhat developing a style of their own, because in FMA theory, grappling at every opportunity does go against the grain a little.

If it was on the street, you would want to avoid the ground and generally in FMA we always assume you have a knife somewhere, so you would not grapple someone to the floor suspecting they had a knife. Which is the main reason for alot of the angling and methods of striking and controlling that are used. Just because you cannot see one, does not mean it is not there, or could come into play later.

But it isn't on the street, it is in a controlled environment and they know the other guy has not got a knife in their possession, so like MMA this is when it touches the realms of being a sport and everyone needing to be trained in all areas to be a good all rounder.

I have had some fights go to the floor, because when somone does ignore the headshot and runs/shoots straight in you have to go with it, but more times than not the fights I have in Black Eagle stay standing and you can see the skill of the fighters, holding each other off.

I still train my grappling though and am reasonably good at it, so in a controlled environment the floor does not scare me at all, but I do not want to get in the habit of going there as On the street this is the last place I want to be, so I act this way all the time. I somewhat programme myself to be scared of going to the floor, although I am actually quite comfortable there.

I still thought the video of the DB was good and one of the best ones I have watched in a while. But you also have to bear in mind there was also some first timers on there. It takes many bouts of this nature to become effective and skillful and there intention is to finish the fight hard and fast by any means, so they are in effect doing exactly what they teach. They are not in any way flowering it up to gain interest. What you see is what you get.

It is easy to say, do this or do that in this situation, but try thinking on your feet in front of someone trying to rip your head off. I have kicked myself hundreds of times after a fight, watching the video footage and saying to myself, "why didn't I do that or this at this stage or that stage". But this is how you learn from your experiences. I try not to make the same mistakes again.

It is a learning curve for all participants, so all I can say is get in there and try it for yourself then tell us what works and what doesn't. But again what works for one person probably will not work for everyone else. All you can do is learn for yourself and offer your learning experiences to others. They will take from it what they need or like, but they still have to make it work for themselves too.

I reckon adding some concealed weapons into the equation would make for some interesting watching.

Or go back to the old days of Martial Arts fighting. Line up 5 weapons the same on each participants side and while the other is not looking pick your weapon, turn round and fight. This would be fun to watch :Angel: .

Lots of love :love:

Lucy

 

But they don't ??
(and even if they did, grapplings not that unusual in FMA, look at Cacoys Eskrido)

Like everything in Life, people have their own preferances. Some guys like to go to the ground, some don't. One of the reasons Krabi Krabong became an influence in the gatherings was because Salty Dog was looking for a way to increase his power & make it harder to be taken down. There are whole Blocks of material in DBMA that work on defeating the crash so that your not taken down. When I was in Bern earlier this year, Less than half the fights went to the ground.

There are also different reason that it could happen. as well as one guy liking to work the Ground, it could be that someone loses their footing, both guys could be aggressive & clash if neither backs off, or one guy could feel he was under too much pressure & close the distance in an attempt to minimise the damage he's taking.

I even had a conversation with a fighter from Italy, who is the President of a Submission Wrestling Assosiation there. When discussing strategy, he said "I'm there to fight with the stick, not go to the ground"

Like the early UFC, people seem to focus on the downsides of working the ground, rather than looking at the benifits of a good ground game & realising that it's only 1 part of the picture in DBMA.

Very true. It's also the case that as people find out what works for them, "fashions" become involved. I've not been part of this for long enough yet, but I have heard that after a while everyone got good at defending the knee. So people stopped going for the knee. Eventually a new wave of fighters came in & all of a sudden knee shots we back with a vengence

This also happens. I one of the more recent DVD's there's a clip from an empty hand v stick fight. The empty hand fighter manages to close & get control of the stick arm (without a head shot landing, proving it's possable even without headgear), you then see the stick guy reaching under his shirt to pull out an Aluminium Training Blade
I also noticed more than one fighter sneaking a training blade into the waist band of their shorts Last April

 

Don't threat petal , I was giving my pro's and my cons as I see it, and never discounted grappling, as I do train this area myself for the possible event that it goes to the ground and I am not bad either, even if I do say so myself. However I just try to keep as much to the art as possible by avoiding the floor, due to the fact that FMA is prodominantly blade orientated.

I have trained in Eskrido with Master Joe at the World Doce Pares HQ in Cebu and have to say they are not focusing on grappling at all. They focus with the emphasis on Unbalancing, locking and throwing and try their best to avoid going to the floor with you. I would say it is more like Aikido than Ju Jitsu. And when I trained in Eskrido a good 50% was spent on knife attacks too. You are not going to grapple someone with a knife.

Cacoy was in fact a senior Judo champion but during his challenge match with Issing he did not go to the floor but did however execute a standing head lock. This surely would have been his opportunity to go to the floor, but he did not.

The Eskrido throws are absolutely awesome, If I saw some of the basic Eskrido throws in the DB footage I would be impressed, but sadly there was not any of the Eskrido throws displaid as that I have seen.

The fact that they are introducing Krabi Krabong into their training just tells you it is a style of their own. At this point it is no longer strictly FMA.

This is not a criticism, I am just explaining that they are moving away from the art as we know it. I think they are doing great stuff and it is a pleasure to watch people pressure testing themselves, regardless of styles and backgrounds.

If you have two guys crashing in at once then they must be novices or in a state of panic. In reality this would get you killed. But it is not reality so you can get away with it. A very important area of FMA is keeping range to avoid the unexpected and to create enough time delay to deal with anything that may be thrown in.

Another reason you would not find two fighters crashing in at once, is because of the empthasis FMA has on blade work, this would get both fighters killed or at least one killed and one seriously hurt, which is why I say it is a style of their own, it is solely stick based from several different influences, some non FMA and they have included Ju Jitsu with the risk of extreme consequences (if it was reality).

I explained in my previous post that there were some newbies fighting, this is another time when you will see it rushed to the ground. Like you said they do not want to receive any pain so crash in. I have seen this alot on first timers fights. It is alot easier to just go to the floor than it is to keep it standing.

I personally prefer to stay upright, even if I throw someone myself, I proceed to kick, stamp and muller with my stick keeping them at a disadvantage on the floor, while I am still standing. Unless I feel confident that I can lock or choke the guy out pretty quickly and am pretty sure there is no dangers by following them to the floor. Occasionally you find you end up there by accident, but unless I can finish it there and then, my goal is to get right back up.

I did not focus on the downside atall. I just explained that it is not strictly FMA. I also said I train in grappling too, because you never know when you will need it and I quite enjoy it too.

It may be one part of the picture in DBMA but it appears to play a very big one.

This will always happen within groups, especially within relatively small groups which the extreme fighters really are. People learn each others form and some people mimic others too, but we all learn from eachothers mistakes, so adobt defences and attacks from the circle of competitors. All it takes is some new blood to throw it all up in the air again.

I like the DBMA stuff, so don't take my opinion too personally. However I think they have moved away from their good old early days of fighting, testing their FMA skills and made it somewhat more commericial. As they are no longer sticking to the art they are strictly speaking not doing FMA anymore although it is still their base.

Please don't all kill me at once for saying what I think :cry: .

Lots of love :love:

Lucy

 

Newbie to the site,
Ill try not to step on toes - Respects to all, good conversation going on here.

Just goes to show, its what you dont know, that will most likely get you in trouble.

Always remember your roots, keep them alive and well so that you can grow strong. As the seasons change fresh leaves will grow. Its called evolution. Its all pieces of the pie. I admire DBMA for all that they are doing to weed out all the in theory stuff. Stay Progressive!

Always receive the tea with an empty cup...

:bang:

 

I think why some people like Beltless get confused and make rash comments without thinking is because they themselves have not really understood the bigger picture and why people like DBMA and the Black Eagle Society and many other groups do this type or similar formats not just in house, but open for all to play as they say. They are testing themselves to their limit, nothing more and nothing less.

Each group will be differnt depending on their point of veiw and what they are trying to acheive from it, that in it's self is what makes it all interesting because each group will come up with different results and ideas and can talk to each other in a way others don't really understand (comparing notes if you like), and the really wonderful thing is, is neither of them are wrong because they have tried and it has worked and are acheiving the goals they set out to acheive.

Were many people also miss the point, and this is the most important part of all, you do it for yourself and you dont do it for anyone else, you certainly don't do it for glory or credentials (this will get you hurt), this only comes by sheer hard work and getting in the thick of it, you look at your results and then you adjust as required, that in a nut shell is the byproduct of pressure testing.

What these groups are doing is asking themselves the most burning question of all. "WHAT IF" and not being happy with just Thoery, they go out and find out for themselves.

It is easy to critise a group from the sidelines, it much harder to show them your citisism has a sound base unless of course you go out their and show them, because without showing them they will not be convinced, but if you do go out and prove them wrong then I am dam sure they will be the first ones to say thank you.

Nw you have to take you hat to the Dog Brothers (who have been around a long time), they have been there, they have done it, and they certainly have the t-shirt. They have also over the years inadvertantly helped raise the profile of the FMA on a global scale and that in it's self deserves a round of appluase.

Are they strictly FMA? No of course not, and they will be the first to tell you that. Does this make them any worse or better because of it? of course not. It just makes them unique. They are the best of the best at what they do best, going at it for no other reason than to answer to ask that question "WHAT IF". They have their results, I have mine, and other groups of similar vent have theirs too, each one will be different, but at least it is results that they have and not just theory.

So I say, before citising them, go out their and pick up your stick and go for it. If you do go out and then you find something different, then you have the right to say so. If not accept them for what they are. Unique.

Be happy and best regards

Pat

 

Hey Lucy

This is where we get into arguements (sorry, I mean discussions ) of semantics. Having trained in Tai Jitsu, Ju Jitsu (Japanese and Brazillian) a plethora of other grappling styles over the last 15 years I'm still confused as to 'where grappling begins'.

Now, I've got a fair background in Aikido and have a few medals from competitive randori (yes Aikido spars and yes it has competitions). I would say that Aikido is, to an extent, a grappling art. Depending on the style (and I don't want to get into an Aikido arguement) the majority of techniques require you to have a grip on your opponent (or vice versa).

To create a kuzushi (balance break/unbalancing) I either have to hit somebody very hard (not grappling ), create the fear of hitting them very hard (they react, unbalancing themselves, again not grappling) or in the majority achieve control of the head or a limb (either by them grabbing me, or me grabbing them).

I would personally say grappling begins when a grip is taken (so alot of trapping wouldn't be grappling).

It's good to talk

Moderator hat on: Can I please ask that this thread remain on the disarms topic, we have a Dog Brothers thread over in general discussion, that this one was split from. Things could get a bit circular and crazy

ColinS

 

But when you take this statement in the context of the discussion

Having trained in Kenpo, Ju-Jitsu, Dumog and Wrestling and trained fighters for numerous Vale Tudo MMA events which all have a strong grappling base similar to what you see happening in many DBMA bouts, this is what many would be considered grappling as opposed to the up-right arm locking, unbalancing and throwing techniques of Eskrido where the whole point is not to go to ground with the opponent, becuase of the weapons being blade based.

That I think was the point trying to be made on this one.

Eskrido is very different from what most people would consider grappling. But again that depends again on how you look at it, we could say disarming of a weapon is grappling because it can involve join manipulation, but I personally don't consider this to be so, the same as I don't consider trapping to be grappling.

Most people generally would consider grappling (wrestling) to be: where each person tries to overcome the other by throwing / taking down and pinning the other to the ground forcing a submission.

So for the sake of the discussion and clarity I think what was being pointed out was that the Eskrido system that was mentioned and used as a comparisom is something that has not so far been seen in the DBMA or similar events.

Wheather you consider Eskrido to be grappling is another discussion entirely and not relevant to what is actually being discussed.

Best regards

Pat

 

In Eskrido,
A large emphasis is placed on actually disarming the opponent so acctually we are still on track in line with the thread.

Best regards

Pat

 

How pedantic. Surely you know me well enough by now that what I say is what I mean.

I was explaining Eskrido as it would seem some people have misunderstood the principles. Like if you expect me to listen to your opinion of Ju Jitsu because you have done it before, how about you listen to my explanation of Eskrido as I have done it before.

I think it is blatently obvious from my post that I consider Grappling to be once both opponents are on the floor. But now we are expected to argue the toss about where grappling begins. Not everyone is going to agree on specifics, but I think you could understand my post none the less as it was not a discussion of termonoligies.

I was having what I considered to be a decent discussion on disarms and the Dog Brothers. Yet you have decided it is an argument (Discussion) .

Now although this is the FMA forum, I am not alowed to mention the Dog Brothers , as apparently there is already a discussion about the DB elsewhere. Funny, I had to read the DB thread in general discussion to understand where the hell this discussion was coming from in the first place and then also the UFC letters about the DB were brought up in this thread, so funny, I felt it quite relevant to talk about their style.

We could also argue the description of grip....what do you consider gripping?

According to your argument sorry discussion, trapping now falls into the realms of grappling, depending on our point of view of what a grip is....we could go on and on and off thread, as you so kindly took us.

Anyway......lets say for arguments sake.....oops sorry discussions sake

So trapping is now grappling??? So why do we have all these different names, sod it lets call everything grappling then for future reference, so there is no confusion. You will have to start by getting rid of the JKD, Wing Chun and FMA forums and just head one up as grappling as it is all the same . Seeing as a majority of FMA requires the live hand to latch on, we must be permanently grappling. :woo: .

I know Beltless was an ass in the DB thread, but he has explained his mistake and apologised for it on this one. I mention the DB and get jumped on too. I am sure the DB's can protect themselves, they don't need you to silence me on their behalf. Afterall the DB's come from the land of the free and encourage free speach, shame we cannot practice these laws here .

I actually agree with Beltless' explanation of distraction and use of the live hand, for self protection on the street, especially if you are in law enforcement or such like where you have to stick within the realms of the law. To be quite honest alot of what Beltless says on this thread is very typical of FMA. But we have to disregard it because he has no experience, shame as alot of it made sense to me.

O.k he has not tried and tested his skills in what we like to call a pressure testing environment, but we have to start somewhere, after all this thread was purely about disarms and not about the Dog Brothers, so why couldn't he give his opinion of what he has learnt.

In another thread on MAP in the FMA forum, I remember asking people for their experiences of DB style fighting and what they learnt and asking for scenario's of encounters and defences that they had executed in their bouts....and guess what? No-one could tell me anything. So how comes everyone else has the right to discuss the DB's but not us, because we do not have the same opinion . Shock, horror.

I am disgusted at the attitude of the MAP moderators on this one I am afraid.
It would seem you were never going to allow this one to be a discussion because it lays too near your own interests.

How can we discuss the practicality of disarms until we can discuss the different formats of fighting?

When I fight at the Black Eagle Society Meetings, I will destroy limbs from long range, using mainly redondo's (circular strikes) as these are fast, powerful and easy to repeat over and over at a fast pace. I generally go for the hands, wrists and elbows and as you close in the colar bone. Boney parts are best when fighting with a stick and fleshy parts would be your target if fighting with a sword (not that I am going to be sword fighting in a hurry).

If you want to close them down, it would need to be after they have commited to a strike and missed or following a successful block. This will get you in close and the live hand now has to come into play or you will just be having a toe to toe match seeing who can outlast the other. Latch on to the hand or the stick and control your opponents stick hand, while linear striking or butt striking I will execute my disarm. This is often when someone will attempt to throw/takedown at this range, but being ahead of the game is the key, pushing the base of the back can prevent a throw being excuted on me some may know it as a Jigatae (SP?). If I cannot execute my disarm for whatever reason at this stage, I would grab top of shoulder and knee several times to body, go for a jar on the arm on my way out and go back to long range where I can read the fight more easily.

When at long range I try to keep the same range at all times. If they move in, I will move out maintaining the range, but striking at all costs. Use the stick like a shield, putting a flurry of fast strikes in front of me does deter the opponent as they know it will hurt on contact.

If someone comes in for a low takedown/shoot that is their problem, I will just hit, hit, hit, if they show their back to me that is tough, I will still hit it and butt strike it. Trust me, they will not do it again in a hurry.

At no stage do I search for the disarm, it comes from training your live hand to latch and stick like glue to your opponent, but with some sensitivity, so they almost do not realise you are there.

These are just a couple of scenario's that have ocurred several times from my experience during a full contact bout. And as I have had some successful fights with these methods, I am not prepared to throw them away yet.

In two of my Black Eagle fights, I was taken to the ground late on in the fight by two more experienced male fighters. This is when my grappling skills came into play, and I rolled straight into the mount on both and began grounding and pounding both. One of them I executed a disarm and proceeded to butt strike the guy in the face (as I also had ripped his headgear off) everytime he tried to defend the stick I punched him in the face full on with my live hand and vice versa, when he tried to counter the hand I butt striked with the stick, unfortunately time was called at this point. The other guy I elbowed, head butted and punched until again, time was called. This was due to the takedowns being quite late in the fight.

These two fights that went to the ground came early in my career of Black Eagle Fighting, so I did have a lack of experience. I went away and trained my ground fighting (Grappling) in Kenpo (the original version that is the base of Ju Jitsu, Judo, Aikido and Karate) Since then I have never let any-one take me to the floor so far, who knows I am sure it will happen some day.

This is what I consider to be grappling, not Eskrido. So I hope no-one misunderstands me this time.

Lots of love :love:

Lucy