Counter-Predator (diary entry)

16.02.14

General Lesson

With a turnout of mainly junior students, I decided to focus on straight hand impact development. We began with blitzing. This is a strategy that Matty Evans first covered with me. Yet it is the most basic of hand striking methods. Blitzing can be defined as striding forward and punching. I use it to warm students up by having them punch forward when running. Then it occurred to me that many might not be considering its direct application. So we started unpacking it.

I first looked at stepping with a cross. This is perhaps the most basic of punching techniques found across various different systems. It is also the foundation for numerous single technique strikes. We looked at the coordination and the emphasis on working the explosive movement forward in the hips. We then looked at the lead hand strike, which is easier to do and better for speed. Strikes were practiced in shadow boxing, against focus mitts and then in direct application with a partner. The strike was then taken to a restrictive position to address telegraphing issues.

The final third of the lesson focused purely on free-sparring, where I was able to critique every single fighter’s performance.

Private Lesson

We continued our theme on weapon related training. However, this time we began with unarmed movements related to boxing. The bobbing and weaving movement has several applications that are worth exploring. It is far more than just an evasive tactic.  Whereas its direct application as a defensive manoeuvre from a hook punch doesn’t have a lot of relevance in the asymmetrical predator/counter-predator nature of an unscheduled conflict, understanding good head movement through attribute training of this nature allows for better positioning at various ranges. After drilling rolling into hooks and then stepping away from low kicks to retaliating round kicks, we changed to edged weapon awareness. Prior to going back through hierarchy of standard edged weapon defence, we looked at evasive angling. We then built on this with trapping and controlling the weapon arm. Next we followed on with the equivalent response to blunt weapon attacks, leading to stick-on-stick drills.

This was all then fed back into kickboxing then MMA before we brought everything back to the main self-defence line. The final exercise involved a range of freestyle attack and defence pressure testing to confirm any coordination improvement.

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