Tag: lever

This is a three people drill. One is the observer and the switcher and two are working with contact. The job of the observer is to choose the interesting time to switch roles between the partners working and to learn by watching. The two work in this fashion: One takes the hand or fist of the other and twists walks turns goes up and down and side to side in order to create discomfort in his partner without placing himself in an uncomfortable position. The one being worked has to avoid becoming uncomfortable (remember! uncomfortable and swift movement means pain and injury) For this he or she will use these guidelines. Constant movement as to not react but act (count your steps and movement continuously in the form of 1.2.3) relax your eyes from focusing on the discomfort in your body and you will be able to see and feel more options to move and stay free, keep breathing and exhale the tension being built out, avoid unnecessary movement and be minimal in your twisting of your main body (example: if your wrist is in a lever, let it even out on its own and avoid jumping if there is no need) unless it is working for you keep your hands to yourself and avoid stretching yourself out. A tout lines breaks much harder than a coiled spring. when your arms and legs are closer to you you will be less tense and will have less ground to cover in order to let the tension out.
The last one is the most important: avoid plans and special movement. Move as it fits the moment and don’t be afraid to look silly or make a mistake. This way you will learn and clean yourself. Otherwise you will simply learn how to perform and not how to live.

Take a partner and walk toward him to hold or hit him as you please. His drill is to push you or hit you and you work to first evade with the body and to use his movement to bring him to you. For example if he raises a hand to push you away, make contact with it and come through the channel it creates while you use his movement to add some of yours. If he wants to push you away than his arm is moving away from him with force and you simply add a bit to it to connect and control his movement. A beginning where you simply make contact to just feel his movement will aid you greatly in this drill to understand when to start moving and how to move with him rather than try to impose your own intern.
Once you are close and your legs are inside him (meaning you can place your feet or one foot within his or very close and you know you can move freely with his body without learning or bending your own form) place one hand or arm gently on his head and with a step bring your head and your hand to lever his head with the movement of your body moving. This takes paying attention to your movement as most tend to tense up and use force to bring the person to them but this also plants us in place and limits both sight and awareness on our side. Use your legs for walking and eyes to look around so you remain free and aware of what is around you. There will be a clip to show the work later on. Once you are all comfortable with this work using your heads work with headbutts and the aforementioned tactic of bringing the partner to you using whatever he brings you to lever him down and once he is down start kicking your partner to help him learn that staying in the same place is not always a good idea with someone you are at his feet.
Keep breathing and remember to keep the mouth closed and relaxed through this drill unless you are over amorous of your dentist 🙂

Sometimes the work requires you to stay were you are such as in personal protection and in defense of wounded or disabled in some way. For example if you have a small child you may be able to run with him on your person but a grown up is much more difficult to carry because in most cases he or she will interfere in the work in some way. Start by having a partner stand and try to stay where they are and you work to bring them to safety while another partner is working to touch him using a stick or anything else. Work on directing his head gently in the direction you wish him to move and working with your body to affect his spine so he will himself move to safety. For example you place your hand on the side of his head and turn his head so his eyes face where you want to go and with your hip you take the place of his hips so his spine is not aligned with gravity. Now let him regain his alignment and while he does that he will follow the gentle direction of your touch. You can add a push from your foot or knee to his body in the situation warrants this.
Another way to do this is to take hold of a neck or arm and simply sit down and roll with him to take him out of the cross hairs. Remember that you need to keep breathing thinking and moving and any one of them which is not in play will put you in more danger. Work with two partners on keeping one from the other by redirecting the movements of one of them as they try to join (for example if your principle is annoyed with a comment from the crowd…) Remember to use all of your body to do the work and keep your eyes and spirit calm and free from affixing on one thing and staying there. Keep breathing and keep moving.
First start at a comfortable distance from your partner and place a hand or leg on him anywhere you like. He works to lever one of your joints (the neck is a lot of joints and free game) as a part of him walking and changing the angles between your bodies as a way to let you complete your move. He needs to feel the direction of the hold and move with it a bit and than to add a direction and lever you. Your job is to slap or hit him in the face or neck if he stands still and wants to lever you with just his arms or legs in place.
Fore example if Johny places his hand on the back of my neck and pushes backwards, I take a step foreward and turn at the same time and lift my lebow to lever his elbow. If I turn in place he can kick or hit me to let me know I am a sitting or stading target and using him as a point of reference in space.

Next do the same drill only using both arms or anything you like as you walk and your partner is coming to lever you and you work on relaxing and first moving with his direction and rolling as you lever him. Consider this a drill in relaxation and humility and not as a mode of conduct. Sometimes it is better to fall or roll than to be stabbed in the back or in the leg.  Your partner will make sure you are removing all of your body out of the way by finishing his movement to help you learn to be aware of all your parts.

Next use a knife to lever each other in a sitting position and you move with the direction of the blade to survive and use the natural movement of the body to hit and lever your partner. Use all of your limbs and body and work slowly so you can clean out habbits that come from a tensed reaction and not from your natural relaxed movement.

Next use a small stick or a rolled up paper to work against the lever of the knife your partner is working and remember to use both hands and to avoid getting fixated on the tool.

Next close your eyes and walk slowly in the space you are working in and have your partners push you in various places to help you relax and move naturally. Next you start to hit or lever as your body naturally finds a way out and than do a few of the basic four drills to clean out what mental tension came in during the work.

Remember the learning is meant to help you live well and survive in any situation. It is not the goal but a way to it.

Have a partner take your head or limbs and start to lever them gently. Note to move with him before the point of discomfort and way before the pain to illustrate survival movement to avoid damage to yourself. As you move and blend in his movement tense and relax the part that is levered (neck, wrist, knee et cetera) This will help in learning to work through and control the fear in the body and to sometimes bypass it or use it to our advantage. Remember to keep breathing and to work on the ground, sitting standing. You can also use this to take the lead in the movement and to guide your partner toward where you want him by connecting to his imbalances and going from there.
Do this drill starting with sitting on your behind, go to sitting on one knee and than squatting and standing and than in motion.

Start sitting one facing the other side by side and have your partner push you in some way (remember to include the face and neck in this drill) as he pushes catch his entire body with the contact and your eyes and move yourself so he pushes in one way and you go along with him on your own volition and push him somewhere else so his body is spread and open to work with.

An example will make things more clear: your partner is pushing you with the hand closer to you in your shoulder backwards. You move your body back so he gets no support from your body contact and add a rotation of your hips so you roll away from him. Your leg rises with the hip turn and either pushes his non working shoulder back or works on his head and turns his look away from you and as you roll to the side you can control both your movements. Remember to stay within and avoid locks which lock you as well and open you to attacks and also lock your eyes and attention on him rather than the whole and remember to also work with him starting the push/pull at your back and at various speeds so you learn to relax and lessen the initial shock of contact (strong push or shove) and work.

Simple is not always easy 🙂

Start squatting in front of your partner as if you are tying your shoe or admiring your reflection in the polish of your boots. Raise your hand and place it on his leg and slowly feel where he is relaxed and where he is tense and let your hand slide to where it feels you can move him through it. Relax the elbow so it aligns with the opening in his tension and move to change his heading so he doesn’t face you anymore or take him down while you take care not to get a hello from his boots. Do this from several directions and use both hands to do the work. Once this is done, Start doing the drill where he comes toward you with the goal of tapping on your head or slapping your face and you need to avoid this and use your legs, body and arms to redirect or fell him.
Move to do this with running and leg hits and also work with several people as they come at the same time to close the circle around you. If you will be polite and take turns you are actually not letting each other learn and that is impolite.
Note that the legs are very easy to effect when the person is starting to transfer his mass to the landing leg and when the supporting leg carries all the mass by itself. You can learn to clean yourself of these openings by walking from the body so the legs are more free. Advance slowly and avoid being goal oriented within the other survive first and do the work. Instead of winning try not to lose. (Vladimir and Mikhail wrote this and from my humble experience I agree)
Sit next to your partner and let him hold your leg or arm or neck. Feel where he is moving and move with him but add another direction so the limb or neck lever him from the side of the part closer to you or from the part further from you. Next you do the drill half squatting and standing and in movement by a few partners. Note how your walking alone can do this work without too much effort.

For example: You both stand and he grabs your forearm. You feel he is pushing you forward and to the right so you follow and raise and turn your arm from the elbow side so he is uncomfortable and you can lever him further. Note that if he lets go that is fine. Your aim is not to lever but to work for freedom. Don’t get caught in the way to where you are going. It’s just that, the way.Avoid working in the place you are caught if possible and keep your breath continuous so he has less open doors to walk through.

Have a partner hold your hand and you work on moving up and down and walking without letting him know you are moving. Every time he feels you move (you can make him honest by closing or covering his eyes) he hits you by leg or by arm. Next have him relax his arm and shoulder but still hold your hand and you work with your free hand and arm to find out all the options you have to lever him by relaxing and feeling where the tension lies and where you can move. Again keep the shaken hand in place although you can move your body as long as he does not feel the movement in the hand.
This drill comes to learn to lever and to keep one of his points of reference stable. Why do we do this ? Try to work on levering each other by holding one arm with both of yours and moving both of them. Your partner will find it easier to follow with his body and stay free than if he has one point that is stable and the rest is moving. Work on experiencing the levers on you and remember not to press with your arm alone. You freeze and get hurt this way. Just relax it and walk.