Time to Cover the Cover Part 2 (diary entry)

10.08.16   The second private class of tonight was my client’s seventh lesson in Personalised Martial Arts Cross Training. We are currently working on cover concepts. Last time we had a double lesson that mainly looked at self-defence methods for using the cover to regain the striking initiative. Tonight we looked at grappling options, where we trained three lines of attack: high, mid and low.   The grappling option is a back-up method if, for some reason, returning striking is not immediately favoured. It also transfers well into the sport Mixed Martial Arts, where a fighter might simply opt for grappling as he feels more confident in using it against a particular opponent.   For the highline clinch we mainly sought a Muay Thai plumb position transferring immediately to knee-strikes. The clinch can also be adapted to a single neckie hold whilst retaining half the cover. The cover can be used to execute spearing and slashing elbow strikes without compromising its shape. Moving into self-defence tactics we also looked at using eye gouges, ear-holds and head-butts whilst using the cover to move in on particular attack line.   The mid-line became the domain of basic body-locks. We specifically looked at taking the back for the waist-lock hold, which can transfer into various other holds from the back as well as a choke or a takedown or suplex.   Using the cover to attack the lowline is almost completely the reserve of takedowns. We used this opportunity to learn the double leg takedown. A staple of freestyle wrestling, submission grappling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts, the takedown is also one of Funakoshi’s nine throws. My student, a black belt in Karate, expressed her dismay at the irony that “traditional” karate rarely teaches these moves despite their undeniable presence in Shotokan Karate. It is also something of a primal grappling move, finding its place in the earliest form of football and now in its derivative sports of American football, Australian football and Rugby.   Photo courtesty of Charlotte Von Bulow Quirk photography, shot for my current book, "Mordred's Victory and Other Martial Mutterings" and my upcoming multi-volume book, "Bullshitsu and the Fight to Make Martial Arts Work". Resources9 Throws of FunakoshiKarate ThrowsSome Karate ThrowsKarate Grappling: Did it Really Exist?