Open the fingers wide and match finger tip to finger tip in the other hand and press one hand with the other as the other resisting but yielding lightly. Do this with the breathing several times each way. See how your fist closes after you go through this drill and see if there is more room to shape the fist more comfortably and the thumb is more free even under pressure to close on the fingers.
Month: November 2011
One lesson plan > Learning to hit and to receive contact
Start: Learning to hit and to receive contact
4 basics slow 60 breaths up and 60 breaths down
4 basics swift 1-4 Inhale- exhale- pause
8 rolls
8 hold arm statically and step to only create contact with no pressing to your standing partner. The idea is to learn your distance without having to shift or lean so you always know where you are and can move in any direction.
8 rolls
8 hold arm and walk into the person and allow the arm elbow and shoulder complex to spring up and the fist to move and find the sinking positions into your partner.
8 rolls
8 have the partner fall into your fist, allow it to spring up and return the spring without pressing the person back but sinking the fist into him.
8 rolls
8 walk into the person and have the person place an arm in your way and you need to keep moving without stopping to think (thinking on the go is never overrated) and sink the fist in.
8 rolls
8 have two people walk into your perceived space and allow both arms to spring freely and unsparing into them each on their own. Avoid leaning into them with your body. keep breathing.
8 rolls
Walk into the person and alternate both walking into each other. Allow the fist to slide into a forearm on the contact and allow the elbow to sink in. Pay attention to avoid giving away your freedom of movement by leaning into the hit with no awareness.
8 rolls
5 minutes of rotating static holds
Everyone speaks on what they learned and what they feel about the movement.
Perspective
Consider why some of the experienced people are calm.
The person in front of you has a knife and is trying to stab you with it.
1 there is a hospital nearby and people in shouting distance that might care for me
2 I can see the knife and it is not in me, there is light to navigate and command the surroundings mentally and bodily
3 the knife is clean and smooth, no germs to kill from a scratch no metal teeth to tear up flesh
4 I can choose what to do instead of working a way to get a mission done…
There is a lot to be said about free will and seeing your options. Instead of speaking about it just pay attention.
Take a moment a day to run this thinking feeling moving drill in your head along with your body moving. See the effects over time with your life in general and avoid narrowing it to “fighting”
Push ups are boring. I never do them.
If you need to motivate yourself to do something it means you are not paying attention. Take for example the push up. On your fists, on a stick, from ropes, legs in the air, on a wall and so on. Inhale going down, no breath at all, one arm at a time, of a partner and so on. When you make something seem one dimensional it loses it’s functionality to you and so there is no dire need to do it. When you are cold and do push ups to warm up or keep limber in the sub zero desert it serves a purpose and there is movement from within without any of the silly I need to do this or that.
To me all things are breathing drills, paying attention drills, humility drills. All essential to my survival and well being. I don’t need to do push ups. I am someone who pays attention when doing push ups.
And nothing beats slow push ups in the tide 🙂 Gives a real sense of the importance of breathing and your own perception of time…
That Distance
People have notion from dishonest practice about their abilities that can prove fetal. Working in high speed on a low speed simulated attack or working hard against a complaint partner results in allusions of abilities that do not match what will happen if someone does not play by your rules. Have a partner with an open hand stand a step from you and have him place his hand on you where you work to avoid any contact by him. Do this from several angles from your body and see if this little drill makes you think of your ability to avoid being cut or stabbed (big difference!) Being swift and strong may not be the way to go when a deal changer like a knife or a sharp shard of glass is about.
Advance to standing and having a partner walk perpendicular to your station and have him again not reach out but while walking move his hand and touch you. Again mark your notes on the fighting from a stationary place and keep breathing.
A gentle reminder. A cut in the hand is a prolog to a stab in the torso.
Be safe and keep your shield up by paying attention and being honest.
The Martial Art of Walking 