Starting the year with a "gasp!" On chokes...

     One of the techniques we have been working on in jujutsu class is hadaka jime, or naked strangle (the naked designation used because it does not require the gi or uniform to apply it as other techniques do).  It is an ancient technique for sure, used in early Greece's pankration (competition combining boxing and wrestling, MMA of the classical times).  It is a staple of jujutsu and judo, made its appearance in WWI and WWII combatives manuals, and a modified version is taught in almost all law enforcement restraint systems as the Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint as a court defensible technique to subdue resisting suspects.

 

Early grappling & striking techniques of Judo

Pankration techniques

 Standing hadaka jime in Judo

Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint used by police officers

     What makes this hold so universally practiced?  Well, I would say that first and foremost, it works quite well when properly applied, causing unconsciousness in as little as 3-5 seconds when the carotid arteries are sealed, and a bit longer when the windpipe is compressed.  The carotid choke is especially useful against larger opponents, as it requires less strength to apply, although somewhat more refined skill to pull it off.  It can be used from the rear or front; standing, kneeling or on the ground.

Some variations of the naked strangle

     My own experience with the technique prior to jujutsu was as part of self defense technique sets in tae kwon do, and later on as a component of defensive tactics training.  After all, if something works so well it makes sense that others would assimilate it to their own ends.  Yet I can honestly state that until now I had not experienced the strangle as it was meant to be applied.

 

     So, what's different you ask? For starters, I always thought that if someone tried to apply the strangle to me I would have time to respond appropriately.  Guess what? While there is usually time to do something about the choke before it is completed, the time is definitely less than you might think... a lot less. What this means is that a lot of the preconceived notions you might have about what you can do are gravely mistaken. The entire sequence of grabbing the attacker's arm and throwing him/her over your shoulder might not work out so well if you are still gagging from their forearm striking your Adam's apple, quickly followed by blinking lights...

     A skilled person can have you cold in no time, even when you know the strangle is coming. How can this be? I've experienced this as a subtle manipulation of my incoming attack, where a firm pull on a limb, a nudge against the side of my hip, or some other seemingly unrelated body twist/push/pinch/etc. gets me moving inexorably towards the completion of the strangle by the instructor without him having to work too hard at getting there. Such sensitivity skill can only be acquired through close body contact work, much like chi sao and push hands.  Martial arts like tae kwon do and hard styles of karate do not spend a lot of time on this, as their strategic framework does not require them to do so (their main tactic to forcefully break down incoming attack structure followed by percussive blows to end a threat). Grappling systems, on the other hand, cannot accomplish their goal otherwise.  

     Another thing I learned: it is somewhat easier for a person with a slimmer or smaller build to effect a strangle (especially a carotid strangle) than a larger one.  One of my partners in class is a small frame woman about my age, 5'5" or so and maybe 100 lbs.  You'd be surprised how fast you can start fading out once those slim arms are in the right position around your neck!  A larger person might react forcibly against someone their size or larger if they feel the choke coming, but a smaller person's arm somewhat snakes along so quickly it might take a second or two to make the connection... a second or two is too long a time space when it comes to a choke IMO.  

     I definitely have a better understanding of the dangers of the strangle now, and thankfully have not soiled myself in the process of learning about it (although the void did come close a few times so far).  I would not say it's one of my favorite techniques (although I've had used it successfully twice on the street), and definitely would not recommend it in most self defense situations (where tying yourself around another person might not be advisable if there might be more than one attacker). Still, it is a common attack (if somewhat improperly executed most times) and what better way to defend against it than knowing how to apply it? 

The 6th dimensional paradigm of self defense: societal violence dynamics

A friend on the TFAF site commented on my blog post regarding the multi dimensional paradigms of self defense, specifically how the premise of the 6th paradigm seem incomplete and vague. Link to the blog post is below:


http://mdpofsd.blogspot.com/2011/10/6-dimensional-paradigm-of-self-defense.html


While I cannot speak for the author (but hope to contact him soon to get further explanation on his thoughts regarding this), I can make some observations based on my own understanding and experience... I think the author is trying to use a sociological model to explain how self defense situations are affected overall by deviance inherent in acts of violence. That is to say, in some instances a threat or violent act might seem justified under a specific set of beliefs held by a majority of people, whereas such beliefs would be untenable to others in a different social or cultural strata, whether the division be religious, racial, gender or ideological bias.


Thoughts, opinions? Feel free to comment!!

From Eric Kondo's The Multi Dimensional Paradigms of Self Defense, the 6th Paradigm

Awesome blog on paradigms of self defense

This has to be one of the most comprehensive articles on a model to understand the various dimensions of self defense I have ever read. Written by Erik Kondo, the author cites many of my preferred authors on several aspects of self defense, from Col. Jeff Cooper to Rory Miller, Massad Ayoob and "Animal" MacYoung.

http://mdpofsd.blogspot.com/

This makes a very nice framework for examining several aspects of self defense, from the physical application of martial arts and systems to legal ramifications on use of force as well as societal dynamics involved in violence both social and asocial.  I for one have always believed that while in the actual instant when violence is occurring there is very little time for analysis, all things leading to the moment when it happens should be deeply thought about a priori... Yet many people remain locked in their viewpoints due to lack of experience (or in some cases, too much experience), personal preferences or belief systems.  Putting our own beliefs and prejudices under clinical examination is easier said than done, but what is a greater loss to you: the death of a part of your ego, or the possibility of an actual physical death due to a hard headed refusal to be critical about your own understanding of whatever knowledge you might think you possess?

Absorb what is useful, eliminate the unessential... to do this we must maintain an open, objective mind. Otherwise, how can we know what to keep and what to discard?

End of a year, start of a year...

So, here it is again; another New Year's Eve day... a chance to reflect on what I've learned, what I failed to learn and what I should focus on learning this turn around.  Notice a pattern? Yes, I am keen on learning, for good or ill; knowledge is neither, it just is. Like Master Oogway tells Master Shifu : "Ah Shifu, there is just news. There is no good or bad".

What have I learned this year, then?  Many things, when I take the time to slow down and think about it... most important has undoubtedly been that I am not as healthy or able to abuse my body as I did when I was 20 than I can now at over 40.  Such an easy thing to forget amid the hustle of raising kids, working nights and sleeping little... a minor stroke made me aware that my Superman-wannabe days are over, and a new approach to, well, everything  was in order.  There has been some success, from quitting smoking, losing weight and reducing my medication dosages to better sleep patterns and more energy. These have in turn allowed me a chance to resume martial training, which I missed greatly.  It's so much more enjoyable and productive to work with others than doing solo practice; we all need to do this, but man it can be such a chore to get yourself up to doing it...

Other things I've learned is how having the right person beside you can make all the difference in the world... celebrating my first wedding anniversary with Amy (after seven years of living together) was a reminder of just how easier things can be in tough times (and there have been many of those) with a partner that understands and supports you.  Watching my oldest son grow and walk into adulthood with tentative steps while trying to be supportive and not judge his choices... realizing now my job is to tell him what I think, not what he should do.  My daughter soon to be a teenager, still sweet but getting some bite in her words sometimes. My youngest boys not so young anymore, glad to see them enjoy their martial arts training and smiling inwardly as their mom yells at them to stop playing video games for a while and get some fresh air (hard not to, avid gamer myself).

At the lighthouse in Cape May with Amy, Celeste and the boys

Chris and Patrick with their new heavy bag 

My son David ("Junior") and his Xmas present from my mom

What else? It is detrimental to one's health and happy outlook to dwell on the past, regardless of how bad or good things were. Rather we ought to learn what we can and fuel our efforts in the present to make ourselves a better future...  Not all things should be said or done, there is a time and place for everything (a lesson in timing)... thinking you are right almost all the time can make one callous and unkind.

Pragmatism is usually defined by perception.

Not a bad year, not at all!  Changes have been made and more to be made for sure, but glad to be here to still make them. In my martial arts practices physically I can get better, technically as well... but my mind is more prepared now IMO than it was even at the height of my physical skill (30 years old, no less than 20 hrs a week at the dojo).  Time is definitely elastic, and I feel I can make richer gains in my development as a martial practitioner now that I understand the nature of what I've learned so far a whole lot better.  I have time also to be a better father, husband, and friend... to slow down some and remind myself of Ferris Bueller's famous words :

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Happy New Year everyone!!

East Coast TFAF meet 2011

I had the great pleasure of having Ryan and Jeff, fellow martial arts aficionados, over at my home for some talk about the arts, bunkai play time, and black beans & rice.  I've met Ryan and Jeff at the Traditional Fighting Arts Forum run by our Aussie friend Dan Djurdjevic, check out the forum at this link: http://www.traditionalfightingartsforum.com.
We've had many online exchanges on everything related to the arts: self defense, traditional kata, techniques and tactics of modern and classical systems, history, videos, etc.

I had met Jeff once a couple years ago for coffee at a Starbucks in PA, and had a nice chat on an outside deck with a small lake for a view. We talked about Higaonna Sensei, how Jeff doesn't get aikido, knife defense training... also talked about our families, Filipino and Spanish culture similarities, and of his upcoming symposium held at Susquehanna University (which I've managed to miss twice already, hope to change that in 2012).  As for Ryan, this was our first face to face; last time we were supposed to meet I got awfully sick and had to call out my trip to Jeff's symposium.  His nom de plume on TFAF, Kumaken, is most apt; wonder if anyone on the forum got the Tekken reference to the bear...

We spent a long time talking while Jeff's kids had a fun time with my two boys; running around, playing Wii and arming themselves to the teeth with all sorts of weapons to play war out front and in the house. Boys... Between coffee and snickerdoodle cookies we shared views on Jesse's writing style (funny guy, so much great material intertwined with his humorous look at karate) and his book The Karate Code (getting e-book soon), and made fun of my vintage Ashida Kim publications Secrets of the Ninja and Ninja: Secrets of Invisibility (I have mastered the knowledge of the books already; hopefully next meet Jeff & Ryan will be ready to perform the deadly Hands of Death so we can make a video of it).  So funny the things we believe when we are young... We pumped Jeff for info on his upcoming book on Zen and Budo, Ryan talked about his experiences as counselor, groaned at mukashimantis diatribes on the forum and shared opinions on a martial artist's responsibilities when faced with a situation that might end up being volatile.

Afterward we recruited my wife Amy (thanks honey!) for some video recording of an idea for bunkai Jeff had on the opening move of seiunchin kata to share with forum members.  It was an awesome impromptu session: three guys, with a similar kata on their background studies as base, working something possibly new (and even if it isn't it was new to us).  Such "A-ha!!" moments are way better when shared with people who appreciate what they mean, both as a personal possibility of growth and a pathway to development of karate study as a whole.  Who would have thought I'd be part of showing the world a potential new kote gaeshi application (to be known from today forth as Jeff Mann kote gaeshi)? So cool...

Following the bunkai recording, I asked Ryan to show some chi sao drills; he is quite good at redirecting force while remaining stationary. I've had similar experience but always while being able to move in/out or around with circle stepping, a lot harder when you can't use movement to redirect incoming force or to get off a line of attack.  After we had a most satisfying lunch courtesy of my mother (Puerto Rican rice & beans with chicken is just the best!!), we took some time to work on some arnis sinawali and redonda as well as some single stick disarms for angles 1, 3, 5 and 7. While I am fairly practiced on solo baston technique from my cinco teros studies, only recently have I done any serious work with double stick drills; so Jeff and I tried our best to not bungle the drills too badly... Ryan has had minimal experience with Filipino arts so I showed him how to do a single sinawali drill with both empty hand motions as well as the sticks, and he got the hang of it after a short time. Jeff and I exchanged stick disarms variations, and I showed a couple that follow the disarm with an entry and knee push against the attacker's knee to collapse him rather than moving away from the opponent after the disarm.

I have to say, this was one the best times I've had on the day after Xmas. What better way to enjoy the holidays than doing something you love with friends who feel the same way?  Finding common ground over differences is the basic ingredient for harmony, and that is what Christmas is all about...

Ask questions

This was quoted by Charles James on his blog (lots of good stuff, especially for Isshin ryu students):

"If you want to be a better believer, ask lots of questions. Be curious and don't settle for superficial facts. Look closer, dig deeper, and investigate the source.  Learn how to tell the difference between a personal opinion and actual data, and be open to modifying your beliefs.  Then ask more questions, for questions help to expand your perceptions of the world.  Approach your questioning with enthusiasm for finding truth rather than a desire to denigrate and tear down other people's beliefs.  Most important- keep in mind that we can never know for certain the accuracy of any beliefs, even those we hold most strongly."  - Dr. Andrew Newberg M.D.

This is the basis for personal growth.  Think deeply about it ...

Defending against the knife: the devil's in the details

My first experience in learning defenses against knife attacks came from ITF tae kwon do, in the form of individual sets of techniques practiced as static drills very similar to hapkido's.  You know the type: uke attacks with the knife from a set stance with an overhead ice pick grip/forward hammer grip lunge/backhand slash/take your pick... the defensive action to follow as stylized and choreographed as any dance performance.

Now don't get me wrong, the techniques I learned were not much different than those from aikido, jujutsu and those extrapolated from various kata as bunkai from karate.  Yet at the time something was missing from the training to make them useful out of the dojo and practical on the streets where the blades are not made of plastic and people don't get hurt when someone moves too fast or too late.

In the years that followed I learned many different techniques to defend against the knife, both armed and unarmed.  From trapping and stick disarms in Filipino arts, to wrist locks and throws in aikido and jujutsu, to strikes and sweeps in karate; defensive tactics used by professional bodyguards and bouncers...some work quite well for me, others do not but I study them and try to find ways they might correlate with and enhance other techniques I have learned.  It is this study that has given me an interesting insight which sounds obvious on the surface, yet it is forgotten often: the success or failure of any given technique is highly dependent on small details that can be easily overlooked during high stress situations.

Most martial arts and RBSD systems have definite lesson plans, patterns used to teach students the skills they deem will allow them to survive and prevail against a deadly surprise attack, armed or unarmed. Two man drills, sets or defense scenarios are practiced until the gross movements are ingrained, then faster execution follows to build reactive speed.  Nothing wrong with this method, it is used by almost all systems in some form or another because it works well at its purpose: basic reflexive skill development under progressively difficult and changing circumstances.  The problem is that sometimes such changing circumstances are not readily visible or identified and the end result is technique that works wonderfully one way but can be quite dangerous in others when the differences are not accounted for.

This becomes very important when knives are thrown in the mix, because of the unforgiving nature of such an attack.  Up close there is nothing IMO more dangerous than a short bladed knife: it's hard to see and follow, moves extremely fast, can be concealed until the very last minute by a semi skilled person, and very small motions can quickly cause major damage.  Techniques used against an empty hand attack can be used in many instances to defend against a knife wielding person, but the margin for error is infinitesimally smaller.  Furthermore, the way your attacker will react to your counter becomes important in some instances where their body will move in a way that becomes an unexpected problem.

Let us use for example a standard mugging scenario taught in many aikido and jujutsu dojo: uke is attacked from behind, tori grabbing the left arm at the wrist or upper arm while the right hand holding the knife either goes around the neck or to the side. We will use ikkyo (arm bar) or an arm lock to restrain uke. Now the basic technique calls for a pull down on the arm holding the knife with the left hand while the head is tucked in towards the arm, sliding under it and ending on uke's side ready to follow through with the restraint technique.  Things can be a bit more complicated if uke is holding on to tori's wrist rather than his upper arm, but not overly so.

Now let us examine some the things we might miss if we focus on the large gestures of the technique.  If uke were holding the knife to the left side of the neck and used his knee on tori's back knee to collapse him, how does that affect the knife's position in relation to tori's neck, and therefore how would the technique be affected? If the knife was to the right side of the neck with uke's arm laying over tori's shoulder and arm front rather than around the head, such a knee collapse would benefit tori more than uke, as it would drop his neck and head away from the blade and making an opening to slide out of uke's control. I give you another factor: where are uke's feet? Are they controlling tori making it hard to execute the turn into uke's arm needed to get on his side? What about the way uke is holding the blade? Which way tori turns is affected by uke's grip; if using a reverse grip with the arm around the neck things are more "exciting" than if he has a hammer grip on the weapon...

So many small things, yet they can profoundly influence the end result. The lethal capabilities of the knife present dynamics that are not as "final" if things go wrong as with empty hand techniques.  Now, I am not advocating you despair if ever confronted by a person with a knife. What I am suggesting is that in your training be aware both physically and mentally of details that can make or break a technique. Work with a partner through variations of grip, stance and foot position, leverage being used against body parts, placement or movement of the knife, etc. Use the basic form of any movement to expand the possibilities of its use, all the while keeping in mind that principles might not change but their application can be tailored to fulfill your needs.

  Honestly, if I were faced with a knife and had the chance to get away that would be my first option; of course, there might be the one time where there is no option but to engage and hope for the best. Be aware and meticulously study what has been passed on by your teachers and decide how to best implement it in a realistic way. It can open venues for growth and improvement that you might not have thought of before... because in a knife fight, every edge you can muster counts.

And remember: it is the man that makes the art, not the other way around... so whether you practice karate, aikijutsu, combatives or gung fu it is how you use what you've learned that decides if you go home safe or end up in a world of hurt.