In the second hour of an online martial arts training course with a teacher from Drum Martial Arts and Fitness in the Republic of Ireland and his son, the lesson returned to the scarf hold. The son is preparing for an upcoming grading, with a focus on ground-fighting. The previous lesson explored attacking and defending from the position. This session shifted more clearly towards defence, especially the hip escape onto the back and the transition into an arm bar.

A grappling dummy will never replace a live training partner, but it can still teach useful habits if the session has structure. Tonight’s remote lesson with a teacher client from Hostlebro Taekwondon Klub in Denmark was meant to be boxing-based. We changed direction and moved into submission grappling instead. With no training partner available, the dummy became the training body, and the goal became clear: make the positions feel connected rather than treating each choke