Moving onto Reactive Training (diary entry)

02.03.13

Training for these two clients is orientated towards preparing them for worst case situaitons in a country that has a far higher level of threat of interpersonal violence.  The soft skills took this into specifics about the area and I have organized a list of reputable defensive firearms training instruction in their new home country. 

The warm-up was basic shadow boxing working, focusing on correct hip movement and posture. We then began with an immediate revision of muscle memory training off the fence, minimizing hesitation and promoting correct target familarization. We then went on the focus mitts, drilling stun and run tactics as well as constant forward pressure and incidental combinations. Strikes from differen postures were also confirmed. The student did this to restrict movement and better recruit the muscle involved in the action. It is also covered so that the selected strikes are “owned” by the students and can be performed in compromising positions. Bringing it back into context, we performed the strikes in transition through the postures. The purpose of this drill is to encourage students to get back to their feet from any position as quickly and efficiently as possible. This was then overlapped onto the focus mitts and then through a pressure-test. The pressure test took on the usual “Predator versus Prey” or Strategy One versus Strategy Two format. The benefits of this multi-layered, but the over-riding lesson I am trying to teach is keep the “prey” in the mindset that they to be constantly working to escape and to avoid grappling engagement as much as possible.

Moving onto reactive training, we drilled the cover position from different scenarios and using the closed-eyes “Code White” format. This replicates the sense of sudden shock an assault inevitably prompts in a victim. We then brought this onto anti-grappling. First we trained striking from grappling positions, trying to over-ride the human default desire to grapple back at a grappler rather to strike. However, sometimes striking is not possible, so we covered eye-gouging and head-butts.

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