tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67707400149743902282024-03-04T21:55:36.468-08:00Martial Arts ScienceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-32430844438912563322016-05-22T09:46:00.000-07:002016-05-23T09:52:27.661-07:005 Common Martial Art Drill Mistakes <div>
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Practice makes perfect, right? Well, not quite. If the way you practice sucks, then <i>you</i> will suck too. This is true for martial arts just like everything else. The goal in martial arts training is to safely produce situations as similar as possible to the violent situations that the students are likely to encounter. The <b>reality</b> of martial arts drills is that, <b>without diligent effort</b>, people will unwittingly fall into a number of bad habits for a number of reasons. These reasons stretch all the way from trying to be helpful to fear, laziness, and lack of creativity.<br />
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I've practiced in various schools across states and styles. I've gone to seminars for even more styles and trained with people from even more schools. Regardless of where I go, I see people making these mistakes. </div>
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Awareness of these mistakes and the conscious effort to <b>stick to the goal</b> of drills (to develop attributes and skills to assist in dealing with real situations) is all it takes to avoid the mistakes. So, let's jump into it.</div>
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Not Aiming To Make Contact</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWZyKlB2pp5lPxmCxyUR5Cj3u7MfxvcRt4xum8G2CwVz1YMkwPLeeZIdVoQqNDeBjz5nG7KIqD9KZKgvWgcJ0k0QlWpxqexVbgEeL-klhPi76lXj0qw_THtW55D2UGxWiAvAhCANdxec/s1600/fe7Ad.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqWZyKlB2pp5lPxmCxyUR5Cj3u7MfxvcRt4xum8G2CwVz1YMkwPLeeZIdVoQqNDeBjz5nG7KIqD9KZKgvWgcJ0k0QlWpxqexVbgEeL-klhPi76lXj0qw_THtW55D2UGxWiAvAhCANdxec/s400/fe7Ad.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes to win, you don't have to do anything</td></tr>
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You've probably experienced this. The drill is to have one person, the attacker, throw a punch at the defender's face, and the defender is supposed to...do something about it. The attacker then proceed to throw a punch <i>near</i> the defender's face. Maybe it went off to one side or the other. Maybe it stopped so ridiculously short as to offer no threat whatsoever to the defender. <b>This is bad</b>. </div>
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First, for the attacker, they're training themselves to miss. That's not a good habit. Second, the defender gets an invalid picture of what an attack looks like. Third, if the defender still tries to do the desired technique, it's likely to "be a bit off" since the relative position of the two people is not what would happen in a real fight.</div>
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Many times, when I'm the defender in situations like this I'll simply stay still. I won't move...at all. When the attacker gets a confused look on their face, as if <b>I was the one</b> that did something wrong. I'll just look back at them and say, "See how masterfully I deflected your attack using nothing but the power of my mind?" Usually that gets the point across...at least until they forget and slip back into bad habits. Sometimes (when we're wearing gloves) I'll stay still on the first repetition just to make sure that they'll hit me if I don't move. This is not only to verify that they are aiming properly, but it's also to reassure them that they won't break me. This helps them get over the fear so we can get down to training properly.</div>
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Crappy Body Mechanics</h3>
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Even diligent students will fall into this when they're tired, but it largely comes from a way of thinking that focuses on the defender's execution of the technique rather than the entire scenario. </div>
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I see it all the time when people are supposed to be defending against a hook punch. The attacker will, lazily, throw a straight armed hook (more of a close-handed slap, really), and the defender will do his thing. Sure, defending against such an attack is easier than defending a real hook (even a "street fighting" hook), but is that what we honestly expect to run into...anywhere? Maybe the attacker is being lazy. Maybe the attacker is trying to make things easy for the defender. Either way, this kind of thing is <b>unhelpful</b>.</div>
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Again, the attacker is training themselves to have bad form. The defender is training against a straw man of a technique, giving them a <b>false sense awesomeness</b>. Yeah, you parried every one of those slap punches. Great. If anyone ever slap punches at you, you'll be in great shape.</div>
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If I'm ever on the receiving end of a bad technique like this, I'll stop the person and say, "Come on. Give me some energy." I'll move around a bit, like we're in a fight. That usually works for a while. Keep up proper technique is difficult, but it's good for both partners to do. Stand like you would stand in a fight. Punch like you would punch. Kick like you would kick.</div>
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Unrealistic Distances</h3>
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Depending on the particular drill and sometimes even the style being practiced, the distance that the partners start off from each other may be unrealistically close or unrealistically far. <b>Both are bad</b>.</div>
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If the attacker has to take a huge, lunging step to land a punch, then the people should start closer together. Sure, the extra distance gives the defender the time to do all sorts of things, but realistically speaking an actual attacker will be closer and you'll have less time than in training. That false sense of awesomeness creeps in again.</div>
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Some people will try to combat this by starting off really close together. If you're working a grappling drill, this might be ok, but if you are doing any sort of striking drill, then there is such a thing as starting too close. I have a rule of thumb as the defender in drills. <i>If I can hit you, then I am hitting you</i>. </div>
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This means that if you start off close enough to where I can reach you without moving my feet, then I should be addressing the closeness of my simulated attacker. This might take the form of an eye strike, shove, groin kick, or whatever. Once the attacker takes a fighting stance, I'm assuming that the drill has begun. This trains me to take action when someone close to me takes an aggressive posture. I fancy myself as a decent fighter, but I don't have super-speed. If someone is close, then I probably won't be able to block everything they throw my way. I need that <i><a href="http://www.jkdwednite.com/close-quarter-tactics.htm" target="_blank">fighting measure</a></i>, as Bruce Lee called it.</div>
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This situation can usually be alleviated by bouncing and moving around like in a real fight and then when the timing feels right, strike. This will feel much less manufactured than planting your feet at a bad distance and doing the drill from there.</div>
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Never Mixing It Up</h3>
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I've been at schools that only drilled against known attacks. Even though the set of known attacks was vast, when the time came to do the drill the attack was known before it was executed. There's a time and place for this, especially when first learning something new. But, this may come as a surprise to some people, <b>real fights aren't so predictable</b>.</div>
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As Hock Hockheim has said many times, we have to avoid becoming drill masters. Drills are good. They provide a nice framework for us to learn on, but eventually you should throw that framework away and learn to flow with the situation.</div>
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I see this in students all of the time. We'll work two drills separately: two different attacks, each with their own response. When we then allow the attacker to choose between the two without indicating which one it will be, the defender will start to hesitate and "mess up." Well, in a real fight, there are more than two options. If you train to always know what's coming, how do you think you'll fare in the chaos of a street fight? If you're honest, you'll agree that things wouldn't go so well.</div>
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This drill mistake is usually the fault of the instructor more than anyone else. Drills should progress towards randomness until they look more like sparring. The job of the instructor is to recognize where the students are on <b>the spectrum from predictable to random</b>. Though, sometimes an instructor will allow randomness in a drill but students will settle into familiar grooves and end up being predictable anyway!</div>
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Reacting Too Soon</h3>
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When training in martial arts (especially in self-defense), some degree of acting is required. I'd rather not have my training partner <i>actually</i> stick his finger in my eyes. Some techniques have to be simulated and then the receiver must act as if it had really happened (having some experience and knowledge is helpful here). </div>
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Much like the other mistakes, this is a mistake made by the attacker (the person on the receiving end of the defensive technique). This mistake is particularly prevalent when drilling joint locks and throws. Picture the scenario: the attacker takes a swing at the defender, the defender blocks and grabs the wrist, grips for an outside wrist lock, and ... before he has a chance to apply the lock, the attacker flips over onto the ground...amazing.</div>
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What happened? The attacker gave the defender the benefit of the doubt and moved as if the lock had been put on in excruciating, violent fashion. <b>Who does this help? <i>Nobody</i></b>. </div>
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First, the defender, again, gets a false sense of awesomeness. They might be doing the technique all wrong. They might have an incorrect understanding of how far to move before the lock is "on." Second, the attacker is training to give in to the technique before it is a foregone conclusion. There are early, mid, and late phase counters to most techniques. Giving up early is a <b>bad habit</b>. </div>
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The attacker is also missing out on the opportunity to help refine the defender's technique. I'm not saying to sit there and have someone crank on your joints hard and repeatedly. But slowly go through the technique and resist long enough to know that it would hurt/injure you if they continued and went faster.</div>
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Don't be afraid of embarrassing someone because their joint lock technique isn't working. Help them fix it so that it <i>does work</i> rather than help them save face in a safe environment of learning. I'd rather someone help me save my life than protect me from some vague fear of embarrassment. If the attacker is worried about being injured from repetitively being on the receiving end of a technique, then slow down and at least feel a little pressure...you won't break. (If you will, then maybe you need to reevaluate your situation).</div>
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Conclusion</h3>
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Without diligent effort, it's easy to screw up drills. Don't be lazy. Don't be afraid of embarrassing yourself or others. Be realistic about the scenarios you're simulating. Go at a speed that allows everyone to train safely <i>and</i> effectively.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-65229828936502121332016-01-11T19:53:00.000-08:002016-01-11T19:53:23.218-08:00Ways To Strike With A Stick<div dir="ltr">
(Ok, I know it's been a long time since I last posted. Other tasks and the holiday depleted my available time and mental energy, but I'm feeling a bit motivated so I'm going to try to crank this one out!)</div>
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Having already covered guns and knives, I might as well cover sticks. There aren't likely to be any surprises here as stick are mainly used as impact weapons anyway.</div>
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There are basically three ways to hit with a stick: the shaft (think baseball bat), the tip (think fencing foil), and the butt or "punyo" as some are inclined to say (think reverse grip knife stab). </div>
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These options can have varying degrees of effectiveness and availability based on how you hold your stick. Different fighting systems that utilize sticks will promote one way of holding the stick over another. They all have their reasons, and there are pros and cons to each. Here are some options.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvL87_Caobx2RVE7r4CiaAJW41O6Y5AspKit6DTS-i6PN7zFKtZ5Q4tjrxdmZkM63g8DuWxiniZV0Szf1c3Qkzo9FevHSqjvwJIU44J8sq6RyKcNjPwAfRr9FaxITa2xVNovb2RKpk94/s1600/IMAG0272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvL87_Caobx2RVE7r4CiaAJW41O6Y5AspKit6DTS-i6PN7zFKtZ5Q4tjrxdmZkM63g8DuWxiniZV0Szf1c3Qkzo9FevHSqjvwJIU44J8sq6RyKcNjPwAfRr9FaxITa2xVNovb2RKpk94/s320/IMAG0272.jpg" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grip all the way at the end. This allows for maximum swinging velocity<br />and "stabbing" reach. It also avoids certain disarms that rely on the punyo.<br />The downside? You don't have a punyo to strike with.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9Pn4CyaP6zec7QQlEYI_JPErnz6zBIotgpvLTaMnmJZb5Y9BR9ejndpxDXJoycyuz629qzRnaeRfRteWBsdAjW9kWt8QXvtAIBJTIuc2ZNmItk1qeLZWb4ETAkJQpcVdiGf2hy7R7H0/s1600/IMAG0273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9Pn4CyaP6zec7QQlEYI_JPErnz6zBIotgpvLTaMnmJZb5Y9BR9ejndpxDXJoycyuz629qzRnaeRfRteWBsdAjW9kWt8QXvtAIBJTIuc2ZNmItk1qeLZWb4ETAkJQpcVdiGf2hy7R7H0/s320/IMAG0273.jpg" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A slight modification of the one above. This lets out just enough<br />stick to allow striking with the punyo but not enough to allow<br />for those same disarms that worry some people.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUVT_ZV9_iROmgP3uuMYhXgF6aaVVbJVfNEEk_NPKAjGXcK40fhObz6PCC8-JPYEjaVC2NA4OtPj_FGuivCGCRHIeVmTD-yOst6wzH5FpxLGkDItqAAIVxMH43BObQei0vr50llyMkcY/s1600/IMAG0274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUVT_ZV9_iROmgP3uuMYhXgF6aaVVbJVfNEEk_NPKAjGXcK40fhObz6PCC8-JPYEjaVC2NA4OtPj_FGuivCGCRHIeVmTD-yOst6wzH5FpxLGkDItqAAIVxMH43BObQei0vr50llyMkcY/s320/IMAG0274.jpg" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moving the hand up a bit more, this punyo is about the width of your hand.<br />It allows for striking with the punyo as well as hooking limbs and weapons.<br />In some cases, it can be used to apply compression locks, and yes it puts<br />you at a slight risk of being disarmed (it's still my favorite grip).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI29mci2FY8cSJ4mHe-ykrzziJfQy2BGsU8wlMfus1tUx3xDHr_imPvtrIe7F5GCrgJKEl8fd3oqC58gbZ2QdlpoDRVbttYmzLVpk-eSw_oB5kbcaTlWonvF1ggAA_CcnbxIcsDKzqeU4/s1600/IMAG0275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI29mci2FY8cSJ4mHe-ykrzziJfQy2BGsU8wlMfus1tUx3xDHr_imPvtrIe7F5GCrgJKEl8fd3oqC58gbZ2QdlpoDRVbttYmzLVpk-eSw_oB5kbcaTlWonvF1ggAA_CcnbxIcsDKzqeU4/s320/IMAG0275.jpg" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This relatively uncommon grip is not so great for swinging strikes,<br />but it is excellent for ground fighting. It can be used to hook, choke,<br />crush and do some strikes.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixu6z-bnlTjbS4kCSto_k6mjzrtLtSH_OKP-UhOT1rqxeFHLqHrV1i8Dfx-gqUyfW6_XQu60m90ARVFY3oHnmM_xl00WvKqkX5JaQ4EzmwCk9TSG2q9OTByi_ncLaAI9JyeEY_KRMwTW8/s1600/IMAG0276.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixu6z-bnlTjbS4kCSto_k6mjzrtLtSH_OKP-UhOT1rqxeFHLqHrV1i8Dfx-gqUyfW6_XQu60m90ARVFY3oHnmM_xl00WvKqkX5JaQ4EzmwCk9TSG2q9OTByi_ncLaAI9JyeEY_KRMwTW8/s320/IMAG0276.jpg" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Continuing up the stick, you might end up grabbing it so the majority<br />of the stick is coming out of the "bottom" of your hand. This<br />slightly modifies how you go about "stabbing" and swinging the<br />stick, but you can do the 3 ways of striking just the same.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BjStgkYiKlTwEQQD252h5P6v2z6TLq3Q9f4UUVbzAmq-8TAMwmyUK_TMNsXEq69T9KiiKyuRPntljUvxEtccUqIj8kPV0f34fsHKq3YSICbTWVnJeuJDYjjLN_nMl-r2ERmabYy8Hts/s1600/IMAG0277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BjStgkYiKlTwEQQD252h5P6v2z6TLq3Q9f4UUVbzAmq-8TAMwmyUK_TMNsXEq69T9KiiKyuRPntljUvxEtccUqIj8kPV0f34fsHKq3YSICbTWVnJeuJDYjjLN_nMl-r2ERmabYy8Hts/s320/IMAG0277.jpg" width="181" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An alternate grip of the previous grip.<br />This allows for more control of the tip in<br />the event that you want to stab someone in the eye.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Two handed grips have a lot of variety. You can hold it like a baseball bat if it is long enough. You could hold it like a rifle (one palm up, one palm down...hands near opposite ends or sliding anywhere in between, symmetrically or asymmetrically). Or you could do a more traditional two-handed grip with both palms down. With these latter two versions of the two-handed grip, you can't get the swinging velocity of a one-handed grip, but you <i>do</i> gain the shove and two-handed block, which is actually really useful. You can also get a lot more momentum and structure behind the tip strikes.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
<div>
So, this article was more of a taxonomy than anything else. Sticks have always been impact weapons. So, seeing how to strike with them is not likely to be as much of a creative leap as it might be for pistols and knives. That being said, there are definitely things to consider about how your grip might affect the quality and availability of the different ways a stick can strike someone. Think through the different scenarios and <i>definitely</i> mix it up in sparring to see what works best for you. You might be surprised.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-52591821233821233722015-11-04T20:27:00.001-08:002015-11-04T20:27:44.655-08:00Ways To Strike With A Pistol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6tzfzomMTDkReid2uEEZGCELqyE11Xkxcu1MgjOHV27R4McRzMGME2ZVuhmytG_UqkzgGrQhXODff2J89bfw8qRDQJ_2pzbgaxIa5RZQfGifn1I3CWAanp60Z99R07W-aIK8UR9J1R4/s1600/pistol+whip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6tzfzomMTDkReid2uEEZGCELqyE11Xkxcu1MgjOHV27R4McRzMGME2ZVuhmytG_UqkzgGrQhXODff2J89bfw8qRDQJ_2pzbgaxIa5RZQfGifn1I3CWAanp60Z99R07W-aIK8UR9J1R4/s1600/pistol+whip.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In pattern with the recent posts, here's a brief treatment of how to use a pistol as an impact weapon. Sure, shooting bullets is the primary way to use the weapon, but not all situations allow or call for such usage. Perhaps you're out of bullets. Perhaps your gun jams and the bad guy leaps on you. Maybe the area behind your target isn't clear, and you don't want to risk hurting an innocent person. Whatever the case may be, there are plenty of situations in which you may want to use a pistol as an impact weapon rather than a projectile weapon.<br />
<br />
<h4>
The Pistol Whip</h4>
<div>
Anybody who has played a first-person shooter game in the last two decades is probably familiar with this move. It involves striking with the bottom of the handle. This is a perfectly natural movement as it is essentially just a hammer fist assisted by a hard object.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
The Barrel Push/Thrust</h4>
<div>
This is when you basically thrust the barrel of the gun into the other person. You can't quite get the velocity or power that you can with the pistol whip, but it'll hurt nonetheless...especially if you choose an effective target. Now, this isn't meant to be like in the movies where the bad guy <i>pushes</i> someone with a gun in a way that maintains contact. This is more like a powerful break in a game of 9-ball. Hit and retract. Part of the reason for this is the <i>slight</i> (I emphasize...slight) possibility that if you maintain pressure on the barrel such that the slide moves back ever so slightly, <i>some</i> guns may not fire because the firing pin can no longer reach the bullet. Like I said, it's rare, but I imagine that if you have your gun out then you want to take every precaution to make sure it does what you want it to, when you want it to.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
The Barrel Slap</h4>
<div>
You can get a bit more velocity on this one than the barrel push. You swing the barrel of the gun like a little stick and hit the bad guy using any side of the barrel (top, sides, bottom...if you're gun is long enough). If you hit with the top of the barrel, you might be able to get some bonus damage by raking the sights across the guy's skin.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
Purpose/Goal</h4>
<div>
The purpose or goal of hitting someone with a pistol in any of these ways can range anywhere from just hurting the guy to getting distance so you can get a clear shot off. It all depends on the situation. Maybe you don't even want to shoot the guy. He may have rushed at you thinking you wouldn't shoot, or maybe you hadn't drawn yet. You slap the guy around a bit with the gun to let him know you're willing to hurt him, you gain some distance, point the gun at him, and then let him quietly ponder his life choices as he realizes the seriousness of his situation.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
Caveats</h4>
<div>
It should be noted that guns are precise machines (some more than others). Slamming your gun into a hard surface (like a skull) <i>might</i> cause things to get knocked out of place. So, be ready to clear any jams that might occur afterwards. My understanding is that semi-automatics, having more moving parts, are more finicky than revolvers. Perhaps doing some experimentation at a shooting range (they may not like you slamming your gun into the table so going out in the country might be better) would be a good idea. Another thing to be <b>very careful</b> of is the possibility of your gun going off because of the impact. Maybe the impact moves that firing pin just fast enough to pop that primer. All gun safety recommendations are still in effect. Be very aware of where your gun is pointing. Your intent might be just to hit, but your rickety old pistol might just go off when you do it. KNOW YOUR WEAPON.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you found this article eye opening, then you might also want to check out my similar <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/10/ways-to-strike-with-knife.html">article on alternate striking methods with knives</a>.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-40144603691809445842015-10-30T08:27:00.000-07:002015-11-04T20:23:19.838-08:00Ways To Strike With A Knife<div dir="ltr">
The ways in which you might cause damage to an opponent when using a knife might seem obvious, but there is more to this ubiquitous weapon than just cutting people. As mentioned in my <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/10/weapon-taxonomy.html">previous post</a>, most knives can be used as both an edged weapon and a pointed weapon. That covers the slashing and stabbing that people associate with knives. But let's not neglect the potential of the other parts of the knife.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
As an example, let's look at my CRKT M16-04Z.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZfumyIk54_k5P-q8MnTUx2ybYp0m9YVxRakuu4DaozhKmUcYysvt9KMkJx1bVhd_7DBREu5uoq4TtjuPirvX21K9X-cEzIKsw4MvN_ksJEd93nv78dzItSy-v0fkEZnXWSvi6K4n0fE/s1600/IMAG0243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZfumyIk54_k5P-q8MnTUx2ybYp0m9YVxRakuu4DaozhKmUcYysvt9KMkJx1bVhd_7DBREu5uoq4TtjuPirvX21K9X-cEzIKsw4MvN_ksJEd93nv78dzItSy-v0fkEZnXWSvi6K4n0fE/s400/IMAG0243.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closed position</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowK23wTOtVQSectCdDnaEHF3KvsrdYPI68LxNGSx2mJsZHW21nYUGoY0CTWAB5qqYjGDFQzK5GnczyBzGlgK5pUvRWgrywpNzUoBlB1QmKWPiSiWPRrxoKZp4RV4hsfcJ3yjFx5sVjaI/s1600/IMAG0244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowK23wTOtVQSectCdDnaEHF3KvsrdYPI68LxNGSx2mJsZHW21nYUGoY0CTWAB5qqYjGDFQzK5GnczyBzGlgK5pUvRWgrywpNzUoBlB1QmKWPiSiWPRrxoKZp4RV4hsfcJ3yjFx5sVjaI/s400/IMAG0244.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Stay away from me if you know what's good for you" position</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Just for reference, the blade is 4 inches long (in Texas, you can legally go up to 5.5 inches). From end to end, it's about 9.25 inches. Here's what it looks like in my hand.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBHZkECaK9ZUaBeiW7LhzIdbp0p8lRAc8Vcf61MJ5EKTh4Ss7I8IU89HJ2d-n9DbJMs8PqH3qFKwYjxdctiC9Ha0GUZDif_ahzuFkFnfqXN8CK2OCN2oWWD_Ezk9UxGh0D2owPPgrS4w/s1600/IMAG0245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBHZkECaK9ZUaBeiW7LhzIdbp0p8lRAc8Vcf61MJ5EKTh4Ss7I8IU89HJ2d-n9DbJMs8PqH3qFKwYjxdctiC9Ha0GUZDif_ahzuFkFnfqXN8CK2OCN2oWWD_Ezk9UxGh0D2owPPgrS4w/s400/IMAG0245.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If we're not friends and you see me like this, <br />
your day is not likely to improve</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As I said, the blade and point are the obvious danger zones of this weapon. But there are some other ways of striking with it. For example, look at the part of the handle that protrudes out from the bottom of my hand. It may not be "sharp" per se, but it's enough of a corner to do some serious damage as an impact weapon. I'm a big fan of hammer fist strikes already. So this part of the knife just augments those strikes. In the Apache Ghost Dog system, striking with that part of the handle is called an "eagle's beak". If you've ever had, the back of you hand hit in knife sparring with one of these...you know it hurts badly.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Let's not forget that the blade (particularly the one on this knife) is a slab of metal with some weight behind it. Beyond the cutting/stabbing parts of the blade, hitting someone with the flat of the blade can be jarring and painful. In sparring, I do this using a whipping motion similar to a back fist strike. I use it to either hit my opponent's weapon out of their hand or to just do damage to their hand. It's very fast and gives up a minimum in terms of openings. In the Apache Ghost Dog system, this is called a "snapping turtle". When you feel it, you'll know why. Now obviously, if you have a little blade, this isn't going to be as effective as, say, a bowie knife. So, know your weapon.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Now, most knives that people carry around these days are folding knives rather than fixed blades. Just because a knife isn't in the open position, doesn't mean that it can't do damage.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_j-yWfifC3P32YMkJhvAlQFkX184-Dqw9UZVNibpMAwXqy-Y7XI2MBXqlJx1UPqGBMGumR5jAAD2Q1drk_aTR-T2UCF_W1t60QngRwiL_M4pFrhNnjr5AOGjqehE41Ajqd48QTn1JME/s1600/IMAG0249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_j-yWfifC3P32YMkJhvAlQFkX184-Dqw9UZVNibpMAwXqy-Y7XI2MBXqlJx1UPqGBMGumR5jAAD2Q1drk_aTR-T2UCF_W1t60QngRwiL_M4pFrhNnjr5AOGjqehE41Ajqd48QTn1JME/s400/IMAG0249.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closed position, in hand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As you can see, I still have the eagle's beak strike available to me. I also have a similar strike on the other end. If effect, a closed knife is like a kubaton, which is a small impact weapon like the one below.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3APB-EdTuqAqrcqXVGY9Gax6UbeCUjQIC4g5vb5qDmou4UZZd-IuvpaR9yw6UkLOitPj65AwCTj2QI4V09yntvfzBPEbxoGQtGxmz9HRDbgmwo7LIfbyc-ku56_VuRuNwUY1tUZ9sRP8/s1600/spiked-kubotan-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3APB-EdTuqAqrcqXVGY9Gax6UbeCUjQIC4g5vb5qDmou4UZZd-IuvpaR9yw6UkLOitPj65AwCTj2QI4V09yntvfzBPEbxoGQtGxmz9HRDbgmwo7LIfbyc-ku56_VuRuNwUY1tUZ9sRP8/s200/spiked-kubotan-300x300.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spiked kubaton</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
You should also note that my knife fits excellently into my hand, weighting it for more devastating punches.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uuqKeEWllWXDEsY89QB1n8DViPIxtoAIOh_2X4_31gGrbZ1V1zVMHZF8DAA0eCg24u7SXlAT4NadbVV0RvtfSpSyzhQk5_LY6oSRovY24TeFAeuleSCpS64XgfNsTqkAfr-6iiSkJEY/s1600/IMAG0253.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uuqKeEWllWXDEsY89QB1n8DViPIxtoAIOh_2X4_31gGrbZ1V1zVMHZF8DAA0eCg24u7SXlAT4NadbVV0RvtfSpSyzhQk5_LY6oSRovY24TeFAeuleSCpS64XgfNsTqkAfr-6iiSkJEY/s400/IMAG0253.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not a roll of quarters, but it'll do</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
So, even in the closed position, I have heavy punches and impact weapon potential for hammer fist strikes on either side of my fist...all <i>before</i> I even deploy the knife. This can be useful knowledge when faced with a self-defense situation in which you are able to pull your knife but don't quite have time to open it. Hit the bad guy somewhere painful, and when you have a couple seconds to open your knife, do so.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<h4>
Conclusion</h4>
<div>
Knives are dangerous weapons in many ways, obvious and non-obvious. I didn't mention throwing your knife, but that's a possibility as well. Though I'm more in the camp of "why would I throw away a good blade?" All of this is just to highlight the point of my <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/10/weapon-taxonomy.html">last article</a> that weapons can fit into multiple categories. So, understand what you can do within a weapon category and you can quickly figure out how to effectively use any weapon that fits into those categories. In this case, knowledge of pointed, edged, impact, and even projectile weapons will help you to more effectively use knives.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-71980006991084385952015-10-22T21:13:00.000-07:002015-10-22T21:13:09.153-07:00Weapon Taxonomy<div dir="ltr">
There are a lot of different weapons out there. If you include all of the "traditional" martial arts weapons then the variety seems to grow tremendously. If you want to be as effective as possible in a self-defense situation, then you'd better have some weapons skills, but does that mean that you have to practice with as many different weapons as possible in the event that something strange or exotic is available in a fight? Thankfully, the answer is a definite "no".</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
What you <i>should </i>practice with are some weapons that are representative of their entire category. If you don't know what the categories of weapons are, then read on.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Like the classification of living things in biology, weapons can be grouped (and subgrouped) based on their characteristics. A good taxonomy will have non-overlapping categories. So, I'll do my best to meet that standard here. Keep in mind that while the categories don't overlap, there are weapons that fit into multiple categories. Not to worry though. If you understand how to fight with each of the categories, then that multi-category weapon will work just fine for you.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
1. Projectile<br />
2. Impact<br />
3. Edged<br />
4. Pointed<br />
5. Flexible</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Let's look at some examples.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jcvWoMduJhsvQ_6tABpcXVubtlgEAUBNETyD_y7aPBKXkTPlZBpr39-zlfbIQJUG9bd7iMBqo_orL2sIo32Uyc2wZgx69co92wyuzYXj6k3IUVBW2lSYEJ2s8F2kgUF9GpupDKjVAKk/s1600/xdm+compact.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jcvWoMduJhsvQ_6tABpcXVubtlgEAUBNETyD_y7aPBKXkTPlZBpr39-zlfbIQJUG9bd7iMBqo_orL2sIo32Uyc2wZgx69co92wyuzYXj6k3IUVBW2lSYEJ2s8F2kgUF9GpupDKjVAKk/s320/xdm+compact.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love my XDM</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr">
Guns are the typical example of projectile weapons, but they aren't by any means the only projectile weapons. Assuming that stinger missiles and ICBMs aren't in your arsenal, any of the following would also constitute projectile weapons.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXsSG0r1AJxGMasy8qq2QvUeOn8fzd7N22zdmLHL9DIYheF_Y-sK_44N-3xdxipM8zBm98DHV2iruLoVeMhxnj7ONSHOPdMN60y2Ia7zH_6EilFgBJVma5XZk7vgnMjvUo9QRpO1-7MM/s1600/throwing+knives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXsSG0r1AJxGMasy8qq2QvUeOn8fzd7N22zdmLHL9DIYheF_Y-sK_44N-3xdxipM8zBm98DHV2iruLoVeMhxnj7ONSHOPdMN60y2Ia7zH_6EilFgBJVma5XZk7vgnMjvUo9QRpO1-7MM/s320/throwing+knives.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throwing knives...of movie fame</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nh_j3p6fC3rwcq-pfEAlEp-G7sDbjcc3fCOMwEuIGMeTpT9nK2udtIbK5jkTahe81W9tVflGaCEsiDHPcHDJMKSFiros9nu7SwC8iR22mmm5EVLLAFsXGhmGhamGMH6qgIv6MyYLTqg/s1600/throwing+star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nh_j3p6fC3rwcq-pfEAlEp-G7sDbjcc3fCOMwEuIGMeTpT9nK2udtIbK5jkTahe81W9tVflGaCEsiDHPcHDJMKSFiros9nu7SwC8iR22mmm5EVLLAFsXGhmGhamGMH6qgIv6MyYLTqg/s320/throwing+star.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ever popular "ninja" star</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm2cL7N12reNXvUW1Aa0hNXghyphenhyphenh4nkdvaj3r6sT7tg0NC9A7sRvuiLyVvb4tIVgNG5Tzv7LY3dS5GTqWLdVY3YBp89HcO6WTN63lOjnTiQ_SbdGdt1cUBIaNJKAz1G8eCeP8-T4IJyTXA/s1600/throwing+rock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm2cL7N12reNXvUW1Aa0hNXghyphenhyphenh4nkdvaj3r6sT7tg0NC9A7sRvuiLyVvb4tIVgNG5Tzv7LY3dS5GTqWLdVY3YBp89HcO6WTN63lOjnTiQ_SbdGdt1cUBIaNJKAz1G8eCeP8-T4IJyTXA/s320/throwing+rock.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes...this is a rock</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Anything that you send through the air counts as a projectile. Let's look at some impact weapons, which are basically anything that you use to hurt someone by running into their body really fast while it's still in your hands.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaHRtzEc_pROxtXyCB8b3NoPn4ESOjWRuGcX8RQPMnMLmAD-tKR5jFQVpvEms3kCi83CGDiikg7W6H8XnZNG5WrV2FA_YC_i9bZ3yglo3D87xplYE-9ehFkqGUaD_M99Muz5ltd7EeuY0/s1600/impact+stick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaHRtzEc_pROxtXyCB8b3NoPn4ESOjWRuGcX8RQPMnMLmAD-tKR5jFQVpvEms3kCi83CGDiikg7W6H8XnZNG5WrV2FA_YC_i9bZ3yglo3D87xplYE-9ehFkqGUaD_M99Muz5ltd7EeuY0/s320/impact+stick.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the typical rattan stick ala Filipino martial arts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkb0B9rJXmYytNz02TnZQxWAA_HwDDcVYnr5cMqbHUPwXIFtiSHinR4ljBhqwTPMAsZp7uY88PqMOLoyO9WuXGSV9IaVORUIzm7HFLU_ZeHKEAj3DeQxMrA_MMsdGFJKHd7gG1ThnCw4/s1600/impact+tonfa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkb0B9rJXmYytNz02TnZQxWAA_HwDDcVYnr5cMqbHUPwXIFtiSHinR4ljBhqwTPMAsZp7uY88PqMOLoyO9WuXGSV9IaVORUIzm7HFLU_ZeHKEAj3DeQxMrA_MMsdGFJKHd7gG1ThnCw4/s320/impact+tonfa.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tonfas...like a stick with an extra handle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOUWkZZQO01xc5MiDyY4O4o-K8cJJaDMlvD7R0xeluh2ghS6ShlAE77udQEOCEXLUfpNpXYEPIXa2du3GnVbxNqPLKEF06C2fuuNI8UMkGrLtDPXLLBjNjUuE5dIjzZSrw4yqvwdo6II/s1600/impact+nunchucks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOUWkZZQO01xc5MiDyY4O4o-K8cJJaDMlvD7R0xeluh2ghS6ShlAE77udQEOCEXLUfpNpXYEPIXa2du3GnVbxNqPLKEF06C2fuuNI8UMkGrLtDPXLLBjNjUuE5dIjzZSrw4yqvwdo6II/s320/impact+nunchucks.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nunchucks are good for bashing people...<br />that definitely counts as an impact weapon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7bJSjogoLB4rawuzw7JJ3GcQoA01uQpsmbmJ9plUk4RHPKcsSryUirHCckjj3JgHG5ZBeaeJEi87N9szK7MKV6icIuWnsOmlHs6Z0QVEDEAH5M4wT_WQC85K_Sjt89M2Ksg0oYS5s6c/s1600/impact+table+leg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7bJSjogoLB4rawuzw7JJ3GcQoA01uQpsmbmJ9plUk4RHPKcsSryUirHCckjj3JgHG5ZBeaeJEi87N9szK7MKV6icIuWnsOmlHs6Z0QVEDEAH5M4wT_WQC85K_Sjt89M2Ksg0oYS5s6c/s320/impact+table+leg.jpg" width="44" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I witnessed the two year old version of my little brother<br />smash the skull of my older brother with one of these.<br />It looked like it hurt. So, this goes here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9-nhlxDnhp4tdbr9iXI21VQEOXQlmfLwgRGX6OAsFc6wT8C8o9Y0uRKl2JQs-6aGuyAiKBDEsxcGvmXFwJYl-9fqGxt3cKwSNXa7Fs-A1c6yLuXkVfc031pw1UXdO46xnzHC28nTy50/s1600/impact+folding+chair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9-nhlxDnhp4tdbr9iXI21VQEOXQlmfLwgRGX6OAsFc6wT8C8o9Y0uRKl2JQs-6aGuyAiKBDEsxcGvmXFwJYl-9fqGxt3cKwSNXa7Fs-A1c6yLuXkVfc031pw1UXdO46xnzHC28nTy50/s320/impact+folding+chair.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ubiquitous folding chair of pro wrestling fame</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
And just to make this explicit, you <i>could</i> use a gun as an impact weapon by simply bashing someone with it. Try not to knock it out of battery or jack up your optics, but...you know...don't die either. Keep your priorities straight.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
On to edged weapons...which are anything with a sharp enough edge to slice flesh open.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzXZm4kuU1JB6tKUJE00P47HHEJcWTVhVypAGfWSdI9CwmlhhyE-gM3aA0ItlNHbBZOS4gWiH7HxTmyuhh9wdmglrL9pqxtk6wzybGQz0hhb7td9DnPN6BX3AN5cwV_JU5v76DTmh2bc/s1600/edged+knife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDzXZm4kuU1JB6tKUJE00P47HHEJcWTVhVypAGfWSdI9CwmlhhyE-gM3aA0ItlNHbBZOS4gWiH7HxTmyuhh9wdmglrL9pqxtk6wzybGQz0hhb7td9DnPN6BX3AN5cwV_JU5v76DTmh2bc/s320/edged+knife.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CRKT M16 Z ... never leaves my side</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn27zFFVPO7-h685BTv2hc0Bk8zzzvD9ciKxBrXBjvxJuvL9dz4Nz7ucWxIgPif9aeaeEG4aLsbWwdj9ookvXu0IXw9RFqLk6Cdi79DyS_hqkb5tOtrPoOLgjgRy1L6t6ibGTE1-gdbkA/s1600/edged+cleaver.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn27zFFVPO7-h685BTv2hc0Bk8zzzvD9ciKxBrXBjvxJuvL9dz4Nz7ucWxIgPif9aeaeEG4aLsbWwdj9ookvXu0IXw9RFqLk6Cdi79DyS_hqkb5tOtrPoOLgjgRy1L6t6ibGTE1-gdbkA/s320/edged+cleaver.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Butcher" knife</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_yueGSIpka4QqaWS3LJYcS68002CDuK6BHpYwFdsAILJCGD1NS0vDBdhyphenhyphenvdo3adZfT0vX2Q1zF807mC6ldXyMXK-Me7jSQMr5UbKsCly31_O1EZ9Nci3jcxPO-XH4uXMjzzPpbdwJUw/s1600/edged+razor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_yueGSIpka4QqaWS3LJYcS68002CDuK6BHpYwFdsAILJCGD1NS0vDBdhyphenhyphenvdo3adZfT0vX2Q1zF807mC6ldXyMXK-Me7jSQMr5UbKsCly31_O1EZ9Nci3jcxPO-XH4uXMjzzPpbdwJUw/s320/edged+razor.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Straight razor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGeYGNK7AV_76yzYjNeCJ59YZI6AXy_kSVLUrm5tXsNuCM2GxgwZUUDodcgAhz0CubFuWb6raIKrf_LxouvQj8-xQvYsayrzV76N0MBkFgrDk53UKoesmXNoXdvQyX2cCSzJ2bT52YZ4/s1600/edged+glass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGeYGNK7AV_76yzYjNeCJ59YZI6AXy_kSVLUrm5tXsNuCM2GxgwZUUDodcgAhz0CubFuWb6raIKrf_LxouvQj8-xQvYsayrzV76N0MBkFgrDk53UKoesmXNoXdvQyX2cCSzJ2bT52YZ4/s320/edged+glass.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A shard of broken glass will cut you as easily as<br />any knife will</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
I used a typical knife as the first example because that's what people tend to think of when the term "edged" weapon is used. However, <i>technically</i> it is both an edged AND a pointed weapon (but nobody really bothers to say that...because it's inconvenient). Edged weapons need not be pointed and pointed weapons need not be edged. As we will see below. Oh yeah, and all these examples except for the glass have impact potential...and they all have projectile potential. Anyway! Pointed weapons...</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVQpJOK56PyqfXyNj_zfvfr1pEn1x1Boc677BnZxPP5Y-RGJu0epGwJDDhJ8T9gevCpDapiCbGAvsw8XBd4ZL-I6jWbqCCQMvWpfoNNDQqs5fp6r3jYidPIvY03YvNH7ZXDbEc1bUUtU/s1600/pointed+prison+shiv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVQpJOK56PyqfXyNj_zfvfr1pEn1x1Boc677BnZxPP5Y-RGJu0epGwJDDhJ8T9gevCpDapiCbGAvsw8XBd4ZL-I6jWbqCCQMvWpfoNNDQqs5fp6r3jYidPIvY03YvNH7ZXDbEc1bUUtU/s320/pointed+prison+shiv.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prison shiv #1</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJR8vE1JZVdVGgKL4a_S2ND5pPZVweRRCWbVHvRtyJ1TyTA-m6sjizRco_Op43P-Qd84YdkkSgT0rLdlK31AUFqxcBHY7B_kQIEXOK9YW-6Km8T7mIn00v8XnzagQHOSHjZyxXXrPemAc/s1600/pointed+toothbrush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJR8vE1JZVdVGgKL4a_S2ND5pPZVweRRCWbVHvRtyJ1TyTA-m6sjizRco_Op43P-Qd84YdkkSgT0rLdlK31AUFqxcBHY7B_kQIEXOK9YW-6Km8T7mIn00v8XnzagQHOSHjZyxXXrPemAc/s320/pointed+toothbrush.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prison shiv #2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUTUAup_g7ivaMSxeKPI-sojcgab82kkDrF-5sB1uSXh5Z97R6v1Xw598ru1vjUoTgV5Ir-5zCogdoy5WZVy7xN34BaFKyvRx8LhEVn2ZOFj3jd3ple1DCn7wtXw6ZFnJeFbHcsiJqDo/s1600/pointed+pencil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUTUAup_g7ivaMSxeKPI-sojcgab82kkDrF-5sB1uSXh5Z97R6v1Xw598ru1vjUoTgV5Ir-5zCogdoy5WZVy7xN34BaFKyvRx8LhEVn2ZOFj3jd3ple1DCn7wtXw6ZFnJeFbHcsiJqDo/s320/pointed+pencil.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The school yard favorite...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdR2vsJOynUmh-SaDpGH2Icl0_0EmSNgfUnKD-o2gIY4Vama1gOKg3iTb7rD0XHj5SkF0jWK37SlrHT7bM__Q4Kw_BhCKtHAfZg6DnKydRtr_pImJcZd4jbg8sPzozPLZbMYWLhQitOvU/s1600/pointed+screwdriver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdR2vsJOynUmh-SaDpGH2Icl0_0EmSNgfUnKD-o2gIY4Vama1gOKg3iTb7rD0XHj5SkF0jWK37SlrHT7bM__Q4Kw_BhCKtHAfZg6DnKydRtr_pImJcZd4jbg8sPzozPLZbMYWLhQitOvU/s320/pointed+screwdriver.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ergonomic handle for really driving that sucker deep</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
So yeah, anything that you can stab somebody with counts as a pointed weapon. If you're <i>really</i> talented, then maybe you could turn these into projectile weapons.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Of all weapon categories, flexible weapons is probably the most neglected. Or at least, only a very small subset of these weapons have any sort of popularity. We've already seen the nunchucks, which are a sort of flexible/impact weapon crossover. But that's just scratching the surface.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hEXYlV094xEUgOB5_KoAfJlVWxEeLd3wE8x5pRJVW9flDgHzBdgkJhq-xob8fDF6yvl3HN_rHnJ_Sa1iYVbyFo1es31ekX6E6tSr1vBs_bAo_Wv882viS7XYQThqmCzizUD8Wm8Nku4/s1600/flexible+3+piece+staff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hEXYlV094xEUgOB5_KoAfJlVWxEeLd3wE8x5pRJVW9flDgHzBdgkJhq-xob8fDF6yvl3HN_rHnJ_Sa1iYVbyFo1es31ekX6E6tSr1vBs_bAo_Wv882viS7XYQThqmCzizUD8Wm8Nku4/s320/flexible+3+piece+staff.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three piece staff ala China</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxMAZA96DVl1a8qHBK5PgPt0xwGNt94GrO89QVxMLAxPu55F3muD-wAXU2acVtP3DqsOooDYnbKxgMnkSmNzidWmiN_QFHKb2ctuNjJ39HykZfE3_GveBTKhChIZxLvhOoN1uh_T3pLE/s1600/flexible+kusari+fundo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXxMAZA96DVl1a8qHBK5PgPt0xwGNt94GrO89QVxMLAxPu55F3muD-wAXU2acVtP3DqsOooDYnbKxgMnkSmNzidWmiN_QFHKb2ctuNjJ39HykZfE3_GveBTKhChIZxLvhOoN1uh_T3pLE/s320/flexible+kusari+fundo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kusari fundo ala Japan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDKEb2BAvBoTRu0DK_ChPWca0loLEgZGG5mCnnvPhzhHTGFKAh5Ufynd3SqK8SpJS2stYUdr1Bmz-8UaknJmIBytXidJK9ee1yHqHJBYbkhB8yIZYwn7u1QvqBP7L6vexYZqbLxrgsDY/s1600/flexible+flail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDKEb2BAvBoTRu0DK_ChPWca0loLEgZGG5mCnnvPhzhHTGFKAh5Ufynd3SqK8SpJS2stYUdr1Bmz-8UaknJmIBytXidJK9ee1yHqHJBYbkhB8yIZYwn7u1QvqBP7L6vexYZqbLxrgsDY/s1600/flexible+flail.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flail ala...miscellaneous European countries...I don't know</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGLKnqykg4dvLzq5stnQwJXRTo-cMQRpAInKCutMbmZNrQjQD5uRbK5kZmf02BAKy78BmXZMNBIAaOzOP36gnbMPWbXXcZCb6U0yvc9GzLbZOA161KxTBaMiERRVYJKPJDCTsH29CYpI/s1600/flexible+belt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGLKnqykg4dvLzq5stnQwJXRTo-cMQRpAInKCutMbmZNrQjQD5uRbK5kZmf02BAKy78BmXZMNBIAaOzOP36gnbMPWbXXcZCb6U0yvc9GzLbZOA161KxTBaMiERRVYJKPJDCTsH29CYpI/s1600/flexible+belt.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I actually wear this kind of belt virtually every day. The<br />metal doesn't look like much, but I could break someone's<br />bone with it I'm sure.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CXhxNCfvGutMmzbFMkxglBhXh8p5PS9mPspCO2byNZAzGIraWrTfhASbgky5wThlfWffxn6cSAvXkjPouxqt0J754bxWtPHnfpJvo-A5bSe4BWIWJ-wMf250FNkluEwq4Tuwsa-6dI8/s1600/flexible+sarong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CXhxNCfvGutMmzbFMkxglBhXh8p5PS9mPspCO2byNZAzGIraWrTfhASbgky5wThlfWffxn6cSAvXkjPouxqt0J754bxWtPHnfpJvo-A5bSe4BWIWJ-wMf250FNkluEwq4Tuwsa-6dI8/s1600/flexible+sarong.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the famous Dan Inosanto using a sarong (ala Indonesia)<br />to make some poor guy's day a little less pleasant</td></tr>
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Flexible weapons have a "bendy" part. They can be used to grab, immobilize, and strangle. When weighted, they can be used as effective impact weapons as well.</div>
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That is about it for categories of weapons. If you can understand how to use each of the categories, then you should be able to use just about anything that you pick up to defend yourself adequately. You should be able to improvise just about any object into a weapon of some kind. Adaptability is key.</div>
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I've been thinking a lot about various weapons and their applications in self-defense scenarios. So, expect to see more along this vein in upcoming posts.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-813057703546121542015-10-15T18:02:00.002-07:002015-10-15T18:02:49.344-07:00Rock, Paper, Scissors...Stab!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pYhwwaDfaqGbGJAfiC4s4oYh7n64kiXGtBvvLlreTnvAHQAeAT3MkzAikRef_m-hUK6EOlGu8I21NrawJKAmb3nyYJROsQkdLe4ek_IBJ11uQ5SN9rEoOuBJLP0AR_exDZzQ_1jQjqU/s1600/rps-10-event-icon%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pYhwwaDfaqGbGJAfiC4s4oYh7n64kiXGtBvvLlreTnvAHQAeAT3MkzAikRef_m-hUK6EOlGu8I21NrawJKAmb3nyYJROsQkdLe4ek_IBJ11uQ5SN9rEoOuBJLP0AR_exDZzQ_1jQjqU/s320/rps-10-event-icon%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Recently, I saw a video that inspired me to make a new drill for my students. The video took place in a kendo school. Two opponents knelt in front of each other. Between them were two toy hammers and a big bowl. They then proceeded to play rock, paper, scissors. The winner grabbed the hammer and tried to hit the other guy's head. The loser grabbed the bowl and tried to use it as a helmet as quickly as possible. If a clean shot was landed, then a point was awarded.</div>
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Beyond the comedic value of the video, I instantly saw a framework for what will likely be many games/drills at my dojo. The first of which I will do this Saturday and will proceed as follows.</div>
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Two opponents will kneel in front of each other about one and a half arm lengths apart. In front of them will be two training knives, one for each of them. They will play rock, paper, scissors. The winner gets to grab their knife and will have 3 seconds to cut the other person. The loser must defend through blocking, parrying, and/or disarming. If the loser gets cut (probably restrict this to vital areas), then he or she has to do 5 push ups. If they tie, then they can both grab a knife and the same rules apply. If you lose the rock, paper, scissors battle and you grab a knife anyway, then you do 10 push ups on top of whatever else happens.</div>
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I'm pretty sure that's going to be a lot of fun. I like the drill for several reasons. First, there's a randomness to it. Often in martial arts drills, roles are assigned and everyone knows what they're supposed to do and when they're supposed to do it. It lacks a certain realistic uncertainty. Even having an instructor call out which person is supposed to attack can lead to some psychological predictions on the student's part because the instructor will inevitably want both sides to get an even number of tries at either role. The rock, paper, scissors pre-game eliminates all of that. The students have to be ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice. Second, because of the uncertainty, there's a requirement to be not only physically quick but mentally quick. I'd argue that mental quickness is the more important of the two in a fight.</div>
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I'm actually quite looking forward to trying out this new drill/game. I have a feeling that there will be some push ups to be had...</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-48194845323766004592015-10-07T16:45:00.003-07:002015-10-07T16:45:50.814-07:00Stopping Power? Physics and Bullets<div dir="ltr">
Being a martial artist, the topic of guns comes up frequently. When it does, the issue of what caliber of ammo is best usually gets brought up along with the all-too-popular point about "stopping power". Stopping power is often brought up by proponents of larger caliber bullets (.45 and up). The argument tends to go along the lines of claiming that the bigger bullet has a better ability to stop a bad guy that's coming at you. Rather than conjecture about whether or not it's a valid point, let's use some science to figure this out.</div>
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First off, let's agree that Hollywood movies do not constitute sufficient evidence of stopping power. Ridding our minds of the images from movies that bias our thoughts on the effects that bullets have on the human body can be difficult. That's why we have to let the science and math speak on the issue.</div>
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The most relevant physical law at play here is the law of conservation of momentum. The momentum of an object is calculated simply by taking the product of its mass (m) and its velocity (v), mv. The law of conservation of momentum basically states that the combined momentum of two interacting objects will be the same before and after the interaction. To put it in a formula:</div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">m<sub>1</sub>v<sub>1</sub>
+ m<sub>2</sub>v<sub>2</sub> = m<sub>1</sub>v<sub>1</sub>' + m<sub>2</sub>v<sub>2</sub>'</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Here the apostrophe after the velocities indicates the post-interaction velocity of the given objects. </div>
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An example of this type of interaction might be a bowling ball hitting a bowling pin. Initially, the pin has zero velocity and the ball is moving at some speed. After they hit, the pin is now moving (in the direction perpendicular to the tangent of the ball at the contact point) and the ball has slowed down somewhat. If this didn't happen, then the ball would just smash through the pin, the back wall and whatever was behind that...like the Juggernaut.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3eYp_WI48cTDsE-Z4qILSoUXn3R1_uBJlQW1drJg3khZStIUt2DdY_LpiKaE5rEYO-Zaq8XXRpdae-Y3ZfATDqY9CEOxWL_IO_XTnNMwWbjPyrera2UegpCQSZVCDv_iILUJ8NJFCf4/s1600/Cain_Marko_%2528Earth-12131%2529_002.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3eYp_WI48cTDsE-Z4qILSoUXn3R1_uBJlQW1drJg3khZStIUt2DdY_LpiKaE5rEYO-Zaq8XXRpdae-Y3ZfATDqY9CEOxWL_IO_XTnNMwWbjPyrera2UegpCQSZVCDv_iILUJ8NJFCf4/s320/Cain_Marko_%2528Earth-12131%2529_002.png" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm the Juggernaut! Once I start moving I can't be stopped!<br />This is bad for science but awesome for action scenes!</td></tr>
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In much the same way, we can look at a bullet hitting a human being and what effect that might have on his momentum. In other words, we can use the above formula to calculate just how much a bullet will slow someone down. Cool, huh?</div>
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Now, the was to affect momentum as much as possible is to have a "sticky" interaction, which means that the two objects stick together when they hit each other. A bullet that passes right through a guy isn't going to affect his momentum by much. So, let's assume that the bullet fully embeds in the bad guy (of course the target is a bad guy...we only shoot <i>bad</i> guys...right?!). I'm also going to make a bunch of other assumptions that will <i>only help</i> the "stopping power" argument. Like I said earlier, people who argue for stopping power tend to carry .45 caliber and up. Let's look at some stats on the .45 ACP round:</div>
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mass: 230 gr (15g)</div>
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velocity: 270 m/s</div>
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That's not too shabby. But for the sake of this exercise, let's assume that our hero's pistol fires .50 BMG bullets. (That's the big one in the picture below.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61aPGCZP1KOCDS_WudPd0tTrSSoRUfNgW8lQQ5ktCHv-nneR7xQ_LhcL0vyvwGiWeIGicC7mNfz4oy1kyoJ9jMT5hML9BsU62ftloNFr7BYinnzApIBebklA7X1NSHTCOQj35OPDvGUA/s1600/bullets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61aPGCZP1KOCDS_WudPd0tTrSSoRUfNgW8lQQ5ktCHv-nneR7xQ_LhcL0vyvwGiWeIGicC7mNfz4oy1kyoJ9jMT5hML9BsU62ftloNFr7BYinnzApIBebklA7X1NSHTCOQj35OPDvGUA/s320/bullets.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The stats on this bullet a bit more impressive:</div>
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mass: 800 gr (52g)</div>
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velocity: 882 m/s</div>
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Enter the bad guy. The average weight of a human male in the USA (according to wikipedia) is 195 lbs, but we're going to say our bad guy weighs only 150 lbs (68 kg). Let's say that the bad guy is charging at our hero. Now, this morning I ran 1.4 miles at about 3.5 m/s, which is NOT fast and certainly wouldn't qualify as an attacking speed. So, let's assume that our bad guy is not only small but also slow, traveling at a mere 3 m/s.</div>
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To summarize:</div>
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<b>The bad guy:</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">m</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1 </sub>= 68 kg</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">v</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">1 </sub>= 3 m/s</div>
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<b>The bullet:</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">m</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2 </sub>= 52 g = 0.052 kg</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">v</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">2 </sub>= -882 m/s (negative because the bullet is going in the opposite direction as the bad guy)</div>
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<b>Post-impact (sticking together):</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 20.7px;">m</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.3333px;">1 </sub><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">+ </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 20.7px;">m</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.3333px;">2 </sub><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">= 68.052 kg</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">v = ?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">We want to use the above formula to solve for v. (Who's up for some algebra?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">To substitute in the values that we know...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">68 kg (3 m/s) + 0.052 kg (-882 m/s) = 68.052 kg (v)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">158.136 kg m/s = 68.052 kg (v)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">which means...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">v = 2.33 m/s</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">v is positive, which means that the bad guy-bullet combo is still moving in the same direction as the bad guy was going before the impact. In fact, a FREAKING .50 BMG bullet that COMPLETELY LODGED into the LOW WEIGHT bad guy was only able to slow him down 2/3 of a meter per second.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">I won't bore you with more math, but the results for a more realistic situation involving a .45 ACP bullet and an average weight US male traveling at a typical sprinting speed (9 m/s) would be that the bullet would only slow down the bad guy by LESS THAN 0.05 meters per second. That's not much given most altercations happen at a distance of less than 6 feet. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">Conclusion</span></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7px;">Even if your bullet hits a major off switch, a knife wielding bad guy might still fall on you and cut you if you don't move out of the way. It doesn't matter if you're firing .22 caliber bullets or a .50 BMG. Personally, I carry a 9mm because it has MORE BULLETS. With more bullets, I can shoot more bad guys or lay down some cover fire to allow me or someone else to move. Many people will swear by their preferred caliber, and they may very well have their reasons. Just don't let "stopping power" be one of them.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OA2g6vkj18AWs2KjeXJyjAjQ8V77P2eFMaEjyahhPhVUW_Dz3N_5P-VKALI_mJzohLCJLv2zjcYwg6SXLNqvPLawfBscWNBSLjs9B-9khOEJB7yC7xHwVEdEngquuuqaQQDzTZJ43KM/s1600/xdm+compact.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OA2g6vkj18AWs2KjeXJyjAjQ8V77P2eFMaEjyahhPhVUW_Dz3N_5P-VKALI_mJzohLCJLv2zjcYwg6SXLNqvPLawfBscWNBSLjs9B-9khOEJB7yC7xHwVEdEngquuuqaQQDzTZJ43KM/s400/xdm+compact.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Springfield XDM 9mm Compact<br />19 bullets using the full-size mag...19!!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-9848007084664326642015-09-27T07:20:00.002-07:002015-09-27T07:21:38.011-07:00Learning Techniques From Principles<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5g0qGBjAdb6XjFqHRh4vY7S8knLM4vRXAzoWPIB14qE8L6gopjFr1Q3E8dx_k7P46QyZjn114JqGvTfN4XV4S5jhyK5e44t8LwW8VHF7jPefwqM7BzrxhRAk3hfbdxFrqeCcqBrr49Q/s1600/autumn-rhythm%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5g0qGBjAdb6XjFqHRh4vY7S8knLM4vRXAzoWPIB14qE8L6gopjFr1Q3E8dx_k7P46QyZjn114JqGvTfN4XV4S5jhyK5e44t8LwW8VHF7jPefwqM7BzrxhRAk3hfbdxFrqeCcqBrr49Q/s400/autumn-rhythm%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autumn Rhythm</td></tr>
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With all of the science talk I do here, someone might get the impression there is no "art" aspect of martial arts and that everything can be broken down into a formula. Rest assured, that is not the case. In martial arts (as in life), the apparent dichotomy of art and science is really just two perspectives on one thing. They work together like dance partners. Science is about analysis and learning. Art is about expression and beauty.</div>
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In my <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/09/learning-principles-from-techniques.html">last </a><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/09/learning-principles-from-techniques.html">post</a>, </span>I talked about the scientific process that allows you to extract big ideas from individual techniques. Here, we go the other direction. Instead of analytical skills getting us to our destination, creativity is our vehicle now.</div>
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Part of the reason that I emphasize generality so much when determining principles is because the more general a principle is, the fewer restrictions there are in applying it. This makes room for creativity. If the principle is truly a principle, then you should be able to apply it in many different ways and have it work. Using this in sparring, I've performed techniques (strikes, joint locks, submissions, throws, etc.) that I had NEVER trained before yet the techniques were applied successfully.</div>
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You just need to know what the principles are, when they are relevant, and have a few basic ways of applying them. Doing that will enable you to "make up" moves on the fly. For example, take the push-pull mechanic/principle. It applies not only to joint locks but throws, structure manipulation, weapon disarmament, and more. I could (and probably will) do a whole series of posts on how to use the push-pull mechanic to do joint locks on <i>every joint in the human body</i>.</div>
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So first you should gain knowledge about fighting and your preferred fighting style using scientific methods. Then take what you have learned and artistically express yourself through movement.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-65956814944372409632015-09-19T14:29:00.000-07:002015-09-19T14:29:05.028-07:00Learning Principles From Techniques<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, I talk a lot about the value of learning principles rather than just techniques. If you have an instructor the explains the principles to you then you're in good shape, but what if the instructor <i>doesn't </i>explain the principles? What do you do then?</div>
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If you want to extract the principles out of a technique, then you need to first deconstruct the technique into its components and then try to generalize each component as much as possible. Now, there is not one, unique way to deconstruct a technique and different principles might be learned from different deconstructions. In any case, you're sure to learn something.<br />
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Let's look at an example of something basic: a rear hand straight punch. Here's a good example I pulled from gifsoup.com.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwXAx0gvwUkVCmI2K0Efz3P6v2F2G4mQ3UVdnTY3bOICUROMXphDnDjxqVjAUYWbGsN89rGXkY-Vt8FKvPtGiBEJSQVJ-apj6fbqvSFtSIZZjCG30RFlg7qH2OiVs8ZEPogsrY2E2BRs/s1600/straight-punch-o%255B1%255D.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwXAx0gvwUkVCmI2K0Efz3P6v2F2G4mQ3UVdnTY3bOICUROMXphDnDjxqVjAUYWbGsN89rGXkY-Vt8FKvPtGiBEJSQVJ-apj6fbqvSFtSIZZjCG30RFlg7qH2OiVs8ZEPogsrY2E2BRs/s1600/straight-punch-o%255B1%255D.gif" /></a></div>
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<b>Deconstruction</b></h3>
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We can break this down from the ground up. First, I see a balanced stance with the back heel slightly up. He takes a lunging step forward and to the left of the target. He rotates his hips and shoulders, which seems to give the punch more power. He keeps his shoulders up, protecting his jaw, and his punch makes contact with the target before his lead leg touches the ground. Also, he pulls his punching arm straight back the way it left.</div>
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<b>Analysis</b></h3>
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So, let's see how we can generalize these components into principles that apply to much more. From the stance, I can see that he has both balance and the ability to move forward quickly. In fact, this stance looks like it can move in just about any direction quickly. That sounds like a good thing. So, we can get the principle of having a good, balanced stance. In fact, his stance demonstrates an even more general principle of mobility. Fighting on your feet, mobility comes down to stance and footwork, but on the ground your feet aren't going to help you so much. The doesn't mean that mobility isn't important on the ground. So, I'm going to say that the footwork in this technique is demonstrating the principle of mobility.</div>
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One of the goals of a straight punch is to do massive damage. As seen in the picture, much of the power from this technique is coming from the rotation of his hips/torso/shoulders. Is that rotation unique to this punch? Well, if he opened his hand up into a palm strike, that wouldn't really affect the need to rotate for power. An upward/thrusting elbow strike from the rear arm would likely also need the same rotation. Is rotating this way a striking thing only or does it also apply to other things like grappling? Well, if his hand had started on the target before the rotation, then the rotation would have ended up causing him to shove the target away. That sounds useful. So, I'm going to say that the rotation in this technique is demonstrating the principle of rotation to generate linear force.</div>
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In a fist fight, for the most part if you can reach the other guy, then he can reach you too. That means that you might have to deal with an incoming punch while you are punching. Keeping the shoulders up facilitates this defensive goal. I imagine that not wanting to get hit while in the middle of a strike applies to any strike, not just this one. In fact, anytime in a fight that you can hurt the other guy (striking, grappling, etc.) then you're probably at risk for being on the receiving end as well. So, let's generalize even further and say that your structure and positioning during an offensive technique should mitigate against the risk of a simultaneous incoming attack.</div>
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Watching the animation above, I see that he gets a pretty good result on contact. This is because of the timing of when his fist hits verses when his lead foot hits the ground. That results in all of the momentum and force being transferred through his fist. None of the forward motion is sent into the ground. This certainly applies to other linear punches...probably jumping kicks too (land the kick before the support foot hits the ground). Come to think of it, any time you make a movement that is meant to affect the other person, it would be better if none of your effort was wasted by having it dissipate into the ground (or really anything other than the opponent). So, make sure to use your motion efficiently.</div>
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Conclusion</h3>
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There you have it. Four extremely general principles extracted from a single technique. These principles not only applied to other techniques that are "near" the original like a jab or a front kick, but they also applied to grappling and ground fighting. If you think about it, they apply to some weapons fighting as well. So that's one of the scientific processes you can apply to learning martial arts. Use this to extract lots of value out of your training!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaYXz7ZIQIefivA2OlNPUu8nsBhUki5xwRRiFnatU9iLfmrsx6rNaFzFOHfQtTNpy4IyCaHxgZkfD5MRramGbCvLQR-OI_Jjo_fM9UCfkxa3go8cfNLC_RJMYYzp5TDLc634VaTpH_e0/s1600/701plato_aristotle%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaYXz7ZIQIefivA2OlNPUu8nsBhUki5xwRRiFnatU9iLfmrsx6rNaFzFOHfQtTNpy4IyCaHxgZkfD5MRramGbCvLQR-OI_Jjo_fM9UCfkxa3go8cfNLC_RJMYYzp5TDLc634VaTpH_e0/s320/701plato_aristotle%255B1%255D.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonus points for anybody who understands<br />why this picture totally belongs here</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-33946342153114432492015-09-14T17:32:00.002-07:002015-09-14T17:32:41.231-07:00Principles vs Techniques<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbr6UVIZJLECmtoTSqsW6FrHERxsKIbQ-SXZjQXHDGNq6o9UBdQCr4EUuoFqo5ZHZkBAaf1HRT8hgvvg-MiWcqgNPp0Jx6ePOiJ_JY123Td-nWQmTK-nu1EqJyewDyEAlDmHNuBfQsaM/s1600/51235ABPYHL%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUbr6UVIZJLECmtoTSqsW6FrHERxsKIbQ-SXZjQXHDGNq6o9UBdQCr4EUuoFqo5ZHZkBAaf1HRT8hgvvg-MiWcqgNPp0Jx6ePOiJ_JY123Td-nWQmTK-nu1EqJyewDyEAlDmHNuBfQsaM/s320/51235ABPYHL%255B1%255D.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This image taken from Amazon.com</td></tr>
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I grew up watching kung fu movies. Often times, the success of the protagonist depended on him or her mastering a particular technique or having more techniques than the antagonist. While this <i>does </i>provide a simple and concrete sense of character growth through a movie, it doesn't really work that way in a fight.</div>
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In fact, most street fights and competitions are won with very simple techniques that were just applied in a superior way (better timing, better distance, etc.). In competitions like the UFC, you very rarely see an "exotic" technique that leads to a win, but for the most part they use the same small set of techniques because they tend to work. In a fight, attributes like speed, power, distance, timing, and perception have more to do with winning than the actual techniques used.</div>
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There are a number of factors that go into this, not least of which is the speed of decision making. As <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick%27s_law">Hick's Law</a> states, the more options you have, the longer it takes to make a decision. In a fight, decision making time is scarce. So deciding which of your 101 techniques best fits the situation is not realistically applicable.</div>
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Rather than picking from many techniques, good fighters will apply knowledge of a small number of principles and then "flow" with the situation as it unfolds. In sparring, virtually every time I do something "impressive", it's a technique that I had never practiced before and hadn't planned. In fact, the technique I finished the encounter with is usually not the technique that I started with.</div>
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There are basic laws of physics that always apply and a handful of guiding principles that will get you through just about any scenario. Learn those and your decisions will happen faster because you have fewer options. When you decide faster, you can move faster. The faster you move, the less likely you are to get hit. I don't know about you, but not getting hit is really high on my list of priorities. In fact, when you fight this way, you're not the one choosing which technique you should use...your opponent is choosing <i>for you.</i></div>
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So learn the basic principles and mechanics of fighting and stop worrying so much about learning new techniques. The techniques you use in a fight aren't likely to look exactly like the ones you practice anyway.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-80657100674338576552015-09-08T16:05:00.002-07:002015-09-08T16:05:21.891-07:00Dealing With InjuriesMost people who train in martial arts for any significant length of time end up with some injury or another. Usually, it's not the end of the world or your training, but choosing how to deal with the injury can have a significant effect on your training.<br />
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Like I said in my <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-importance-of-routine.html">earlier post</a>, sticking to your routine is very important. You don't want to disrupt it if you don't need to. Something like a mildly pulled muscle or broken pinky finger might not warrant a total hiatus from training. Wrapping up the area, taking things a bit easier, and notifying your training partners of what to be careful of will usually suffice (assuming your training partners aren't going to be jerks and exploit your weakness).<br />
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However, if the injury isn't healing well or is severe enough to hinder proper form in performing techniques, then you would do yourself a favor by taking some time off of the physical aspect of training. For smart/good students, this time can be used to study your art on an intellectual level. Even showing up to class isn't out of the question. Most people probably don't see the value of simply observing a class, but if you are practiced in martial arts and have a good sense of body movement, then you can gain much from observing your instructor and other students as they attempt to perform the required movements for a class.<br />
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Now, some people try to push through the pain and train when they really shouldn't. Yeah, you might avoid some of the short term strength and coordination loss, but there is often a long term cost that young students in particular fail to recognize. I have enough minor aches and pains in my body to constantly remind me of this fact. I can remember where I got each of those aches and pains, and I also regret not taking it easy to let them heal properly. Instead, I'm left with a constant reminder of how stupid pushing through the pain of injuries can be. Don't get me wrong. Pushing through pain when it is simply your muscles or cardiovascular limits being met is great for improving. Trying to do 200 kicks with a broken toe is stupidity.<br />
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Don't be stupid. <b>Train for longevity</b>. Train in such a way, that you won't be crippled or highly immobile when you're 70 years old.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-72679118095118620332015-09-02T15:56:00.000-07:002015-09-02T15:56:12.829-07:00The Importance Of Routine<div dir="ltr">
Variety may be the spice of life, but there's something to be said for having well established routines as well. Sticking to a training routine is important for several reasons.</div>
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First, people tend to have habitual inertia. By that, I mean that we're more likely to keep doing the things that we're already doing. If you are going to the dojo/gym three times a week for several months, you'll likely continue that. However, if you go on vacation and miss a whole week of training, not only has your body lost a step in terms of conditioning but you are also mentally less motivated to get back into your routine. I find this particularly true of any routine that is difficult either mentally or physically. It's just like going back to school after summer break. It's painful at first, but<i> if</i> you force yourself you can get back into the swing of things.</div>
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As mentioned above, stepping out of your routine will result in a quick degradation of whatever physical gains you've achieved. As the saying goes, "use it or lose it". This step backwards actually makes returning to the routine harder for many people because of the feeling of wasted time and effort. And besides, do you know what's easier than going to the dojo? Watching TV. The TV never kicked you in the gut or hyperextended your arm (at least I hope not...otherwise you might be doin' it wrong). The longer you are out of your difficult routine (training) the more entrenched you will get in your easy routine (leisure).</div>
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To paraphrase a quote from Tim Ferriss, you should guard against the weaknesses of your lesser self. That means that if you <i>know </i>that breaking your routine will result in a downward spiral of behavior, then do everything you can to maintain that routine. A good tip is to never miss two days (or classes) in a row. Missing one day is just a slip up, but twice in a row is on its way to becoming a new habit.</div>
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In martial arts, we train to know ourselves better. So take an honest look and figure out a way to stick with the training that you<i> know </i>is good for you!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-59633600316557387032015-08-31T15:46:00.001-07:002015-08-31T15:46:23.453-07:00How Good Is Good Enough?<div dir="ltr">
I often hear people ask the question, "how long does it take to get good at martial arts?" It seems like a fairly straight forward question but more information is necessary to answer it. Usually, people have some mental image, implicit or explicit, of what they think being "good" at martial arts looks like. It goes back to <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/08/why-people-practice-martial-arts.html">what your goals are</a>. </div>
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Do you want to be the best fighter in the world? Well, that'll likely take a lifetime of training and you might not even achieve it.</div>
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Do you want to be able to win competitions on an international scale? It'll take several years of dedicated work.</div>
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Do you just want to be able to handle the average angry drunk at a night club? That'll take a lot less work than the scenarios above.</div>
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I like to think of it in terms of the entire population of the world. If I were in a fight with another person selected at random, what's the percentage chance that I have the skill, ability, and luck combination to beat that person? For me, if I can have a better than 80-90% chance of winning (and I think I do), then I consider myself "good". Maybe 90% isn't acceptable to you. Everyone has to make that decision for themselves.</div>
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All this being said, individual talent and athleticism is certainly a factor in how long it takes to achieve proficiency in martial arts. So, take an honest assessment of yourself, make your goals explicit, and then decide whether or not you have the requisite patience to achieve your goal.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-15120841864997439392015-08-27T15:27:00.002-07:002015-08-27T15:27:35.466-07:00Scientific Training<div dir="ltr">
Everyone knows that getting better at a skill requires practice, but what people may not know is that not all practice is equal. Sure, in martial arts, some drills are just more useful than others (I'd love to read about what people's favorite drills are...just as a side note), but what I'm talking about is what happens in your <i>mind.</i></div>
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Let's suppose that you practice a good drill for years and years. You <b>will </b>get better. You will improve. The question that you should ask though is, "could I have gotten to this skill level <i>faster</i>?". For the majority of people, I would say that the answer is "yes", and I can say that because I know that most people aren't taking a hardcore analytical approach to their training. And <b>yes</b>, I'm talking about forming a hypothesis, TESTING it, analyzing the results, and then adjusting your hypothesis until you get the desired outcome. </div>
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That's right...the scientific method applies to martial arts training. (by the way, this really works for any skill, not just martial arts.)</div>
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As in any good experiment, you want to control for as many variables as possible, keeping all but one (ideally) the same so you can see the different outcomes and attribute those differences to the thing you changed. When learning a new throw, perhaps you want to test how much you should bend your knees, how straight to keep your back, when the ideal time to execute the move is, etc. Change each of those things up, one at a time, so you can see the results. Also, repeat the test with a different training partner to make sure your conclusions will generalize to opponents of different shapes and sizes. Running this kind of test is easy when you practice one move for many repetitions (you <i>are </i>getting your reps in...right?).</div>
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At the beginning, the changes will be dramatic until you get the fundamentals of the move down. As you increase your mastery of a technique, the changes will be much finer and probably take longer to realize as you squeeze the remaining bit of effectiveness-juice out of the technique.</div>
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This approach applies to both offense AND defense. When sparring, I recommend trying to remember what move worked best for you offensively and defensively. Also, track what moves your opponents did to you that worked well both offensively and defensively. Heck, keep a journal with this information so you can track it over time and help others later who find themselves on the same path.</div>
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Keep in mind, this approach requires that you have a degree of self awareness (how your body is positioned, how much strength you put into moving, balance, etc.), which is something that any martial art should cultivate in you anyway. However, having a beginner do this might be a bit overwhelming for them. It all depends on the individual. But this level of critical analysis is something that all martial artists with a strong desire to improve should do at some point.</div>
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Taking a scientific approach to training will enable you to make intelligent decisions towards improving rather than just waiting until you "get it".</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-77261776621795617022015-08-25T21:46:00.001-07:002015-08-25T21:46:59.133-07:00What does a stance reveal?<div dir="ltr">
In an earlier <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-to-quickly-gauge-experience-of.html">post</a>, I talked about using fakes to gauge the experience level of an unfamiliar opponent. To augment that, I want to talk briefly about what your opponent's stance reveals.</div>
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To discern anything from someone's stance, you have to have some experience (whether through observation or participation) in a variety of fighting styles. Most people without fight experience probably won't know the difference between a boxer's stance and a kick boxer's stance. So, step 1 is to broaden your fighting art familiarity. Know what fighters look like.</div>
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Step 2 just takes that knowledge deeper. Don't just correlate a stance with a fighting art. You need to know what types of techniques are characteristic of the art. Know how practitioners in that art tend to move. For example, even though Taekwondo and Karate are very similar arts, after spending 5 years in TKD and almost as much time studying Japanese arts, I can tell the difference between a TKD guy and a Karate guy just by the way they bounce around the ring. How is that helpful? Well, I know that both arts involve both hand and foot techniques (hence the name TKD...look it up), but my experience tells me that TKD people are MUCH more likely to throw kicks than hand techniques. In a fight, that would affect where I focus my attention, how I distance myself, and what I perceive as a telegraph of a technique.</div>
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There are A LOT of martial arts out there. TKD, Karate, Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Silat, Arnis,... The list goes on and on. The good news is you don't need to dedicate the rest of your life to familiarizing yourself with every art on the planet. From a statistical standpoint, ibwould recommend starting with the arts that are popular in your culture. In the USA, with the popularity of the UFC, I'd say to start with boxing, Muay Thai, and BJJ (yes, even grapplers have a stance. Many fights go to the ground, but almost every fight starts standing up). After that, perhaps learn about some of the more common traditional arts like TKD, Karate, and Judo. Recognizing a wrestler is a good idea too.</div>
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In another part of the world, the list of common arts might look quite different.</div>
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You can also take a more functional approach. Is the guy clenching his fists? Well, then he's probably planning on doing more punching than grabbing. Is he standing sideways ("bladed") to you rather than squared off? Well, then he's probably planning on kicking and keeping distance rather than punching and grappling. Is the guy standing up tall or squatting low? If he's up tall then he's probably going to strike. If he's down low then he might be going for a takedown.</div>
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All of these things can be discerned in a moment, and they reveal relevant information about your opponent. This being said, the opponent might be using his stance to deceive you, but that's another post!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-53254874205237530572015-08-24T15:39:00.002-07:002015-08-24T15:39:51.181-07:00Why people practice martial arts<div dir="ltr">
Here's an insight that I gained from running a dojo and being a martial arts enthusiast that has tried to convince and motivate many people to join a martial arts class.</div>
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There are (at least) 4 different reasons that people practice martial arts.</div>
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1. Fitness<br />
2. Sport/competition<br />
3. Art/Style (ie cultural aspect)<br />
4. Self defense</div>
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Some people (myself included) can fall into multiple categories, but there's usually a primary category that motivates the training. I had to analyze why some people, even people that are into martial arts, wouldn't come to a seminar or even try out a free class. Aside from the "lots of people are flaky and/or lazy" (like me sometimes :-/), a martial arts event won't appeal to all martial artists because of a mismatch in these four categories between the event and the practitioner.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
For example, it's hard to convince a life long Taekwondo practitioner to come to your ground fighting knife defense seminar. Similarly, someone who does cardio kickboxing isn't likely to want to participate in a sparring tournament. A guy who wants only the simplest self defense moves is probably not going to be interested in mastering a trapping hands drill. People have different goals. The market is segmented, not only by art but by motivation.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
Here's my motivation breakdown. I'm about 50% self defense driven, 40% art/style driven, 9% fitness driven, and 1% competition driven...and that competition aspect is probably because of my slight interest in doing a knife fighting tournament.</div>
<div dir="ltr">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr">
So, just know that's where I'm coming from in my future posts. I primarily want things to work...but I wouldn't mind looking awesome while doing it ;-). But I wouldn't sacrifice functionality for style. I guess what I'm saying is "know your audience".</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-48708896660110283182015-08-22T18:40:00.003-07:002015-08-22T18:40:57.016-07:00How to quickly gauge the experience of an unfamiliar opponentKnowing some moves in a fight is good, but not all moves are ideal against every opponent. Professional fighters will spend weeks, if not months, analyzing videos of their scheduled opponents in order to learn as much as they can about they way they move. In self defense, that option is not available.<br />
<br />
Most physical altercations tend to happen very quickly. Sometimes you're ambushed and none of what I'm about to say is even relevant in that situation. However, if you've watched enough street fight videos (world star, anybody?), then you may have noticed a few seconds of posturing before the first punch is thrown. In those few seconds, you can learn a lot.<br />
<br />
So, how do you gauge the skill of some random opponent? The basic answer is: you throw fakes and see how he (or she, I suppose) reacts. Now, if your opponent is a golden gloves boxer and you throw a big ol' fake, leaving yourself open for a quick 1-2 combo, then you're probably going to get knocked out just for that. Instead, start with the subtlest movement: a quick bend in the front knee, a jutting of the shoulder...something that an experienced fighter would recognize. Then <i>look</i> for a similarly subtle (or not-so-subtle) reaction. If you see one, then you'd better play conservatively because the opponent knows something things. If you get no reaction, then give a slightly more overt fake (while still maintaining good defensive posture in case they try to counter-punch against your fake). Repeat this process until you finally get a reaction. After three or four progressively more overt fakes, you should be able to figure out how experienced the opponent is, roughly. <br />
<br />
The whole process should only take you 3-5 seconds. Beyond that, punches are probably going to be coming your direction anyway!<br />
<br />
Finally, there is a bit of an art to doing believable fakes. You have to move in such a way that the opponent believes that you're actually going to strike. If the opponent is <i>very</i> experienced, they might see through your fake and not react, which might give you a false sense of superiority. So watch out!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-19803979593590279922015-02-12T16:01:00.001-08:002015-02-12T16:01:40.849-08:00Compression Locks<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Science Concepts: </b>torque,
pressure, anatomy<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I watch<i> a lot</i> of
martial arts videos online. I’m always
on the lookout for new drills or insights into techniques and concepts. I’ll watch just about anything having to do
with fighting: boxing, BJJ, kali, silat, muay thai, dumog, sikaran, sambo,
stick and knife videos. The list goes
on. There’s a topic that I don’t see
covered nearly enough (my opinion, of course), and that is compression
locks. I suppose that many grappling
schools refrain from teaching them to lower ranks for fear that they might hurt
someone in practice. This is evidenced
by the fact that the <a href="https://www.usgrappling.com/rules/">rules on
usgrappling.com</a> prohibit compression locks for anyone other than brown and
black belts. Since I lean more towards
self-defense than competition, I’ll teach just about any technique to someone
of any level that can provide an advantage for them in a fight, including
compression locks. <span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I <i>love</i> compression
locks. Just ask any of my students. They often have the (mis)fortune of being of
the receiving end of my demo techniques.
I’ll slip a compression lock into a series of moves, which will
inevitably evoke a drastic reaction out of the recipient. Then that recipient has to have the move done
to them another three or four times so everyone can pick up on the nuances of
the technique. (I do feel bad about
that…but how else are they going to learn?!)
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, in case you’re not hip to the hotness that is
compression locks, let me provide a definition.
From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_lock">Wikipedia</a>,
“<i>A compression lock, a muscle lock,
muscle slicer or muscle crusher, is a grappling hold which causes severe pain
by pressing a muscle into a bone.</i>”
The Wikipedia article then goes into all the gory/awesome details of
what kind of damage compression locks can do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are several things that I like, in particular, about
compression locks. First, they work
better on people with bigger muscles. So
they’re a bit of an equalizer. Second,
they are often available when someone defends against a regular joint lock. Third, they are easier to apply if you have
really bony forearms and shins, which I do.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Some
Compression Locks<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ankle Lock<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, there is <i>one</i>
compression lock that is popular. That
is the straight ankle lock. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1xpicwlhuRdBwz2EMGj1XAw-BwjqeLC7GDpqY5XluHLJEJpcw6uprl1ZzX8sYnl6Xgi_wFnksTX6xXXi9afO3zdqeS717QrTep74sW5QK1B1aJBxG7LzVuYC01gOn5jepUtjGxDEXRs/s1600/ankle_lock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1xpicwlhuRdBwz2EMGj1XAw-BwjqeLC7GDpqY5XluHLJEJpcw6uprl1ZzX8sYnl6Xgi_wFnksTX6xXXi9afO3zdqeS717QrTep74sW5QK1B1aJBxG7LzVuYC01gOn5jepUtjGxDEXRs/s1600/ankle_lock.jpg" height="276" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Technically, the pain first comes from the radial bone crushing the
Achilles tendon against the fibula bone.
In my experience though, the person taps out because of the pain of the
ankle hyperextending, which is a regular joint lock. (Unless of course, the person isn’t willing
to suffer through the pain of their tendon being crushed. Then they tap right away. But in competitions or when your training
partner is the dojo jerk that thinks every drill is a life or death war and
refuses to tap, they wait until the ankle feels like it’s going to pop out of
socket. While I’m thinking of it, here’s
a public service announcement: <b>Don’t be
a dojo jerk</b>. Just because you <i>can</i> power through something doesn’t mean
that it’s good to do so. More often than
not, you’re being a bad training partner, and you’re also reducing the
longevity with which you will be able to train…because you will force your training
partners to go full force, every time.
Injury city. Population: you)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Bicep
Slicer<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are literally so many ways to do a
bicep slicer that I couldn’t possibly list them all here. I <i>will</i>
cover several of them to give you some ideas though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Off of a punch - You could use a split entry or a zone block or whatever, just capture the arm and lay the bony part of your wrist as far into the crease of the elbow as possible and then push your opponent's wrist towards his shoulder with your other arm and/or shoulder. Some downward pressure from your body weight may help as well.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uire8QyZu7JIcGHxJdALh2uru13fn3fYe7tBCakg2gmnsLS0dp9wgjTQXDma76NWaM8TT-rdsD_B7clQaP_eGShzv50zVqoTwkNb_bp1tX_m9nwYhXYtmubRSaW8FnMfAuUnoXPLoHs/s1600/Standing+Bicep+Slicer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uire8QyZu7JIcGHxJdALh2uru13fn3fYe7tBCakg2gmnsLS0dp9wgjTQXDma76NWaM8TT-rdsD_B7clQaP_eGShzv50zVqoTwkNb_bp1tX_m9nwYhXYtmubRSaW8FnMfAuUnoXPLoHs/s1600/Standing+Bicep+Slicer.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here I'm using my shoulder to push the wrist down and out while<br />sinking my knees a bit and crunching my abs to get a bit more<br />pressure and velocity on the technique</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Dominant ground position - Sometimes you can trap the arm with your shin on the ground to inflict extra pain with the pain you're inflicting :-)</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvy876L5xq3dBlF4qfLsry6DZQVfoF07871eCQjLbh1R1MC3uyiiAkyzjJS_tK1Z8sx41hOEwTexh3OQIiMRw_D3X8RJXqKwIlACL-8D6YzkhDMrjS-csK_Hk8Vdo95VKumGqM2SskeW8/s1600/Bicep+Slicer+With+Shin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvy876L5xq3dBlF4qfLsry6DZQVfoF07871eCQjLbh1R1MC3uyiiAkyzjJS_tK1Z8sx41hOEwTexh3OQIiMRw_D3X8RJXqKwIlACL-8D6YzkhDMrjS-csK_Hk8Vdo95VKumGqM2SskeW8/s1600/Bicep+Slicer+With+Shin.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here I'm crushing Mike's bicep by driving my hips into his wrist towards<br />his shoulder while I wind up for a big hit...probably an elbow to the<br />solar plexus because it'll help push my hips lower to make the slicer<br />that much more effective</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Counter to arm bar defense - One of the quick ways to save your arm from getting locked out on the ground is to grab it with your other hand in some form or fashion. Well, if someone does that to you then you can hurt their arm by compressing it rather than extending it.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNccTh994VEysp1UDW6F9RmoOF840_ZHDaklcJMoLKVONsnF3OI_mMPmsg127GBz-wXUnU47LHJubQbnUGn62zYK7nkwUVj9Cc_Pd1BXgW0yUM-8ZMnmiiRXTJGtK21AaPGZjvWZ8G4Mw/s1600/Bicep+Slicer+Against+Armbar+Defense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNccTh994VEysp1UDW6F9RmoOF840_ZHDaklcJMoLKVONsnF3OI_mMPmsg127GBz-wXUnU47LHJubQbnUGn62zYK7nkwUVj9Cc_Pd1BXgW0yUM-8ZMnmiiRXTJGtK21AaPGZjvWZ8G4Mw/s1600/Bicep+Slicer+Against+Armbar+Defense.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm just using my left arm to crank down on his wrist for the picture, but<br />if you want to get some strength on this technique then get a leg involved.<br />Every time I am able to get into this position, the person either taps out<br />immediately or lets go of their arm and I arm bar them</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><div>
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Calf Slicer</span></b></div>
<div>
There are a number of ways to get to a calf slicer. The mechanics are essentially the same as the bicep slicer. This <i>tends</i> to be a ground move, but I've pulled it off at least once in sparring while both me and my opponent were standing up.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiimDcOoeos4MkFL6oMr1sgA4FoJ8aIJXNVLJDAY7FNYOhcnenJoYL4pMaAFEdKzRR1_nj6_6i8pcBDaRooGYjfHukcC75YISas2vDTtswItV4y3g8pxVYEqRUHBTImXbO_sEsibKOhpFQ/s1600/Calf+Slicer+With+Arm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiimDcOoeos4MkFL6oMr1sgA4FoJ8aIJXNVLJDAY7FNYOhcnenJoYL4pMaAFEdKzRR1_nj6_6i8pcBDaRooGYjfHukcC75YISas2vDTtswItV4y3g8pxVYEqRUHBTImXbO_sEsibKOhpFQ/s1600/Calf+Slicer+With+Arm.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here I use my forearm as the fulcrum and push his foot towards his<br />hip with my shoulder, driving from the ground with my legs for strength.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzPGu3yufGOm_qiDeDUUs3ZS2FEbVFL0sTV7idcCdmpMQ39KBxDZaeqbGmhwQQoCDlT4QYWtbHhXOYEJgyhv2rOg9vauxltUIanfOeIdquDLJbZ5O7jZ7f4vyVl4iiKxnqgrwEVooRjM/s1600/Calf+Slicer+With+Leg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzPGu3yufGOm_qiDeDUUs3ZS2FEbVFL0sTV7idcCdmpMQ39KBxDZaeqbGmhwQQoCDlT4QYWtbHhXOYEJgyhv2rOg9vauxltUIanfOeIdquDLJbZ5O7jZ7f4vyVl4iiKxnqgrwEVooRjM/s1600/Calf+Slicer+With+Leg.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The same lock but applied with my shin. Again, I'm driving forward with my hip<br />and I also have a grip on his shoulder with my right arm to help pull me forward<br />and stabilize me in the event he decided to try to squirm out of it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br /><br />
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Deltoid Crusher? (I don't know the official name of this one)</span></b></div>
<div>
This is a compression lock that I've seen in Kali and Silat circles and not so much with the BJJ crowd. It requires either more finesse or a nice diminishing attack to pull off, but luckily getting an eye shot on the way to setting it up is quite natural. I like to do this from (what I've heard called) a reverse split entry, which is where your outside arm goes to the inside and the inside arm goes to the outside, which is a lot less awkward than it sounds.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This lock is admittedly a fair bit different than the "slicers" but it's a muscle crusher just the same. It either puts the guy on his knees or his attempted escape leads right into a puter kepala takedown.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWDCD8GhzOMUnqK2J4eiX_Y93KnMM0zt0YCBHPN7maN345nEZeLNt4o3teOKA_vgn_F75q3F4P4vtZDN0FoCsxnZJTTGUcxvHUoN8wP4juuCEv_xueGyW3MWsWi0fXD334EVhepmQF-I/s1600/Deltoid+Crusher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWDCD8GhzOMUnqK2J4eiX_Y93KnMM0zt0YCBHPN7maN345nEZeLNt4o3teOKA_vgn_F75q3F4P4vtZDN0FoCsxnZJTTGUcxvHUoN8wP4juuCEv_xueGyW3MWsWi0fXD334EVhepmQF-I/s1600/Deltoid+Crusher.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I keep a hold of Mike's wrist to prevent him from escaping and then<br />torque my arm so that it pivots around the midpoint of my forearm, driving<br />my wrist down and my elbow up. As Mike would say, I'm using the "magic judo<br />finger" here to make sure that my arm is as uncomfortable as possible for him.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><h3>
The Science</h3>
<div>
Rather than break down each of the techniques above, I'll just focus on one.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzEPhOTZUfxotohHJLsgcYVGLNUnKv1V5xTLtuNS80xuG4c6vLdeAiOwPBk87kWIkwZasBYCFgqnQekqF4KApifwDOB_o2PFSm2hQnlG-qvHIFgn8weNDsY6pKolqTdtS4c9k0uB-K5g/s1600/Calf+Slicer+With+Leg+-+With+Vectors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzEPhOTZUfxotohHJLsgcYVGLNUnKv1V5xTLtuNS80xuG4c6vLdeAiOwPBk87kWIkwZasBYCFgqnQekqF4KApifwDOB_o2PFSm2hQnlG-qvHIFgn8weNDsY6pKolqTdtS4c9k0uB-K5g/s1600/Calf+Slicer+With+Leg+-+With+Vectors.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the above picture, I've drawn in the important pieces for a compression lock. The green base that is drawn over the upper leg isn't going anywhere because of the ground. The blue arrow is the force I'm applying to the other green line. My ankle is acting as a fulcrum for this lever. The part labeled "A" is the part of the leg from the toes up to the point where my ankle is touching. The part labeled "B" is the part of the leg from where my ankle is touching up to the knee.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When I apply the force with my ankle (or whatever) in there, it generates torque at the location of the fulcrum. The longer I can make the "A" part by pushing my ankle closer to his knee, the more torque I can get out of the force I'm using. One of three things is going to happen.</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>He is able to counter-act my torque by using his quads to extend his leg. If he's <i>really</i> strong or I'm <i>really</i> light weight, then this might happen. It's unlikely though because he will have to provide A/B times the force that I am just to hold me steady. That's why I want the "A" part to be as big as possible.</li>
<li>His shin bones can't take the torque and snap at the red dot.</li>
<li>His shin bones CAN take it, but the ligaments in his knee can't and his shin bones are literally pulled away from his femur, dislocating his knee at the orange dot.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
The situation you end up in is going to depend highly on the person you're doing the move to. I've found that people with more developed muscles tap earlier because they just have more muscle to crush. Those people also feel the pain earlier (in terms of angle of the knee or elbow) because the muscle is taking up more room, giving you more distance to apply the move while in "locked" position.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As a point of application, you want the fulcrum to be as wide and hard as possible. You want it to be wide so the pain is felt earlier in the motion, giving you that increased distance. You want the fulcrum to be hard because that increases the <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/12/under-pressure-inflicting-more-pain.html" target="_blank">pressure (remember Pressure = Force / Area)</a>. You also want the little triangle that your fulcrum and opponent's bones make to be as isosceles as possible. For those of you who can't remember your geometry vocabulary words, that means that the two green parts of the triangle up in the picture are the same length. This has the effect of getting the fulcrum to push into the opponent's body at a perpendicular angle, which means that you don't have to use muscles to keep it in place (yay <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/10/striking-structure-with-pictures.html" target="_blank">vectors</a>).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
<div>
If you've never experienced a compression lock, then you may not fully appreciate all of the pain and muscle destroying goodness that these types of moves have to offer. The concept is simple. Just use leverage, pressure, and some basic vector math to crush a muscle against a bone. Compression locks are not only effective on their own, but they also complement "traditional" joint locks extremely well because they work in opposite directions. Try it out <b>slowly</b> (for the sake of your training partners) and see for yourself. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-15647164125992279162015-01-14T18:58:00.002-08:002015-01-14T18:58:42.136-08:00Structural Manipulation Technique: The Arm Drag<b>Science concepts:</b> torque, force transfer<br />
<br />
Things have been on the busy side. So, I'm going to have to keep this one short. In my martial arts class this week, we focused on the arm drag. We looked at the principles of the technique and a number of easy, yet effective, follow-ups to it. The main idea we focused on was manipulating the opponent's balance and structure through controlling a limb.<br />
<br />
In my absentmindedness, I forgot to get pictures and video to demonstrate the technique. So, some YouTube video will have to suffice.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Technique</h3>
<div>
There's actually a lot of extra stuff in this video, but Billy Robinson is the man when it comes to CACC wrestling. So watch at least from 2:00 to 3:00.</div>
<div>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gLoOX58AE9g" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Science</h3>
<div>
In a <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/10/striking-structure-with-pictures.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>, I talked about how force transfer applies to striking. The same principles apply when you are trying to pull someone off of their balance. Let's imagine, very simplistically, that your opponent is a tall triangle and that you're going to pull his or her right arm.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFo0Mf_S3xJ3uyPsavvhso2UaKzelrVQPNZko_421wb6VjcvFUT8Q4WuGfw9zYRW8ig43HMh0_8zRG8WmFq3furP94CRhdidveGv7tx-F-BbqDAc7xX22-KqmT_5jFqvudJBMt9z5PAs0/s1600/Arm+Drag.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFo0Mf_S3xJ3uyPsavvhso2UaKzelrVQPNZko_421wb6VjcvFUT8Q4WuGfw9zYRW8ig43HMh0_8zRG8WmFq3furP94CRhdidveGv7tx-F-BbqDAc7xX22-KqmT_5jFqvudJBMt9z5PAs0/s1600/Arm+Drag.png" /></a></div>
The base of the triangle represents the line between your opponent's feet. As pictured here, for optimal unbalancing, you want to pull perpendicular to the base of the triangle because there is no structure with which to transfer that pulling force into the ground. Instead the force is experienced as a torque. The torque has quite a long effort arm because it is basically the distance from the opponent's shoulder to the ground.<br />
<br />
If instead, you pulled parallel to the base, then the force could be transferred down into the ground, much like the way bridges work.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Application</h3>
</div>
<div>
There are a lot of equations that could be used to describe the exact effect of a given amount of pulling force, but let's just get down to business. You get a firm grip, you pull hard in a motion that takes the opponent off of his or her base, and they will be forced to step forward. In that moment, you can get behind them, you could follow up with a variety of chokes, takedowns, and joint locks. There is a bit of finesse in the way you twist and pull with your body though. I find that if I wind up my body at the same time that I'm getting my grip, then I snap back to center, which is structurally ideal, then I get good results.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
<div>
So, I presented a quick technique for you to try out...short and sweet. This idea of pulling perpendicularly to the opponent's base is actually a fundamental concept in grappling. Just look at some Judo throws to see the principle in action. As always, generalize and apply.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-83896216353902425732015-01-07T15:14:00.000-08:002015-01-07T15:14:25.079-08:00Pivot To Win It: A Tip For Kicking<b>Science concepts:</b> friction, normal force<br />
<br />
<a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/12/dont-hurt-yourself.html" target="_blank">As I've stated before</a>, pivoting for certain kicks (round kick and side kick, in particular) is essential for proper execution. Even after 5 years of Taekwondo, I found that I had to make some adjustments when I moved to a dojo that required shoes. The extra friction was causing my foot to stick to the ground, preventing me from getting a good pivot. This is an experience that I've seen happen to many students. So, I'm going to explain a little trick, based in physics, to mitigate this problem.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Science</h3>
<div>
<a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/12/sweep-leg.html" target="_blank">As we all know (or should know by now)</a>, friction is the force that resists motion. That includes spinning on your foot. The formula for friction is f = <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">m</span>N, where <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">m</span> is the coefficient of friction between the two surfaces and N is the normal force exerted by the ground as the reaction force against the weight of the object (in this case, you). So, when the surfaces change the friction also changes. This is what happens when you go from being barefoot on a canvas mat to using rubber soled wrestling shoes on a vinyl mat, for example. There's not much that you can do about the surfaces involved other than choose different footwear. The thing you <i>can</i> control however is the normal force.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The normal force is equivalent to the amount of weight pushing on the ground at the time. This is where the trick comes in. If you take some of your weight off of the ground, then you can reduce the normal force and, therefore, reduce the friction you experience when you try to pivot.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The Trick</h3>
<div>
So how do you take your weight off of the ground without turning every round kick into a cinematic flying kick? The trick is to bend your knee quickly and briefly so that your weight actually falls, momentarily, toward the ground. If you're not using the ground very much to hold you up, then it can't push back with a very big normal force, which reduces the friction. In practice, I almost think of it as pulling my heal up towards my body without an accompanying upward jump. As my foot pulls away from the ground, the friction is reduced. Keep in mind, this is only for a fraction of a second...just long enough to finish the pivot, which should be fast anyway. Here are some visual aids.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvsL51f15oCYCnkFVNmsxLEyw-iLi46tu8HnzXZrpBJD9zA0VygjcO75y0J2E4jNYzVrJmkjDVuDvWYsK6Qu09Ue6vAS69lN2X35J_LaMVTFPsGDm4OsyMOy4rxgtQruJVEaQFrLmbfk/s1600/Kick+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvsL51f15oCYCnkFVNmsxLEyw-iLi46tu8HnzXZrpBJD9zA0VygjcO75y0J2E4jNYzVrJmkjDVuDvWYsK6Qu09Ue6vAS69lN2X35J_LaMVTFPsGDm4OsyMOy4rxgtQruJVEaQFrLmbfk/s1600/Kick+1.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here I'm set, ready to kick</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaLTDPkfthP5YdmJJiqfv_UUMA496KEuRTtXN_Hxk-atL7crM81u4MingeMvg4lIyjWs1cMcwZeEdwm55zIhMWVWICRvJm3WP9usvhWR2NQqar1QtqPyGYltLSp-ChQh9DKF61GDAiqU/s1600/Kick+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaLTDPkfthP5YdmJJiqfv_UUMA496KEuRTtXN_Hxk-atL7crM81u4MingeMvg4lIyjWs1cMcwZeEdwm55zIhMWVWICRvJm3WP9usvhWR2NQqar1QtqPyGYltLSp-ChQh9DKF61GDAiqU/s1600/Kick+2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The black pants and angle make this a bit difficult to see, but<br />my heal is off of the ground and my knee is bent as I pull my<br />heal up away from the ground a tiny bit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqac9IWf9AD5Q0jCWrnUizZ4tneEKEiq6bEnhRfibwDIjpHjds6uL2xz2D_JSdsH_gNUVhBd5b5jlVhmQAI19f_ysamTMV9dvyPMlqJvtNg1Cu4Rwtfp6a6ukLDGinMz0yt-FFTjXf9As/s1600/Kick+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqac9IWf9AD5Q0jCWrnUizZ4tneEKEiq6bEnhRfibwDIjpHjds6uL2xz2D_JSdsH_gNUVhBd5b5jlVhmQAI19f_ysamTMV9dvyPMlqJvtNg1Cu4Rwtfp6a6ukLDGinMz0yt-FFTjXf9As/s1600/Kick+3.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once the pivot is done, I allow the heal to return to the ground</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a moving picture is worth...many thousands of words. Check it out.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyJDDufBgeHIUtHAz2iHJHiPsheGfLkHs0YRTDDInT8weDWmykUxt4fAOC5y0lxJ0m9wyQ9LBSz78XX9tfz' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
<div>
This particular trick is useful when performing a round kick or side kick when the ground and your shoes have a high friction coefficient. This general idea of reducing the contact force to reduce the friction has <i>all sorts</i> of applications elsewhere in fighting, but that's for another time. Happy kicking.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-62322325445047623572014-12-31T06:23:00.001-08:002014-12-31T06:23:12.442-08:00Under Pressure: Inflicting More Pain With Less Force<b>Science concepts:</b> pressure<br />
<br />
Seeing as how this is the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, which is my vacation, I'm going to keep this one short. It may seem a bit obvious, but obviousness (if that's even a word) is dependent on what kind of science background you have. So today I'm going to explain why edged and pointed weapons work.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Science</h3>
<div>
Pressure is one of the key components to causing damage to human tissue. Force is a component as well, but the area over which that force is applied can make the difference between a light massage and a stab wound. This can be seen from the formula for pressure.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
P = F / A</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
where P is pressure, F is force, and A is area.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This makes sense from a practical position. If I lightly push my palm into someone's back, they probably won't feel pain because the force is distributed over the entire area of my palm. If I use the same force to push a tack into someone's back, then it's likely to break the skin and draw blood because the tack has a <i>much</i> smaller area. This is the reason that pointed weapons work. Weapons in general are just "force" multipliers in that they augment a similar action that is from an unarmed person. In this case, pointed and edged weapons "multiply" the force of a strike by dividing it by a smaller number. A slap may or may not cause much damage to a person, but a slash using a knife with the same speed and momentum probably would.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Other Applications</h3>
<div>
So, this idea of pressure is pervasive. It applies to punching and kicking and any other strikes. When punching, if you make contact with just two knuckles, it's going to have greater pressure on the opponent's body (and your hand, remember Newton's 3rd law of motion) than if you made contact with four knuckles.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
<div>
Like I said, there's not really much that's surprising here, but if you stop to think about strikes and certain grappling (pain compliance) moves you can see a bunch of ways to apply the principle of pressure to your training. Now I'm off to fatten myself up a bit more so I can make more progress in my New Year's resolutions :-).</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-2327394027727132582014-12-24T14:09:00.000-08:002014-12-24T14:09:40.669-08:00Don't Hurt Yourself<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Science concepts:</b>
shear force, moment of inertia, F = ma, torque, anatomy<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Repeat after me,” said the second highest ranking black
belt instructor in my taekwondo school. “I am a legend...” We all repeated, but
he continued. “…in my own mind.” He paused to let us finish repeating his
statement. His point was that we viewed
ourselves as spectacular fighters, as I believe many martial artists do. A lot goes well for us in our mental theater
when beating down our imagined opponents. Or maybe it’s just me, but I doubt it.
In our day dreams, our strikes all have devastating effects on the bad
guys, but the fact of the matter is that running parts of your body into
certain parts of other people’s bodies can really hurt you. Here, I attempt to address some of the more
common ways that martial artists hurt themselves on other people. My assumption is that if you enjoy martial
arts the way I do, then you’re hoping to be able to continue practicing when
you’re 70 years old. As a side note, I
went to a Dan Inosanto seminar a few years back. Despite him being 70+ years old, I’m pretty
sure he could still whoop me. So, let’s
look at a bunch of <i>wrong</i> ways to do
martial arts and how we can <b>train for
longevity</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Let’s Take
It From The Top!</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have to start somewhere and a top down approach is as good
as any.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Headbutt<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the techniques of choice for fighting soccer players
everywhere, the headbutt can be a devastating strike but not just for the
recipient. Sure, the skull is shaped
well for structural integrity. The
likelihood of you breaking your skull from impact against another person is
slim. The skull isn’t what I’m worried
about. I’m worried about the brain. You know…that (roughly) three pound organ inside
your skull that RUNS YOUR ENTIRE BODY.
The reason your skull is so great at distributing force is because
protecting your brain is critical to your well-being and your survival. That doesn’t mean that you should use it as
an impact weapon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s look at the science.
Anatomically, the skull is not perfectly smooth on the inside. There are little jagged edges. They’re small…but jagged. Now let’s consider the physics of the
headbutt. You thrust or swing your head
towards the target, accelerating your skull and brain up to max speed over a
“large” distance (3 to 18 inches). When
you make contact, your skull decelerates from its max speed back down to zero
in a couple centimeters. This spells bad
news for your brain. Imagine that your
skull is a car and your brain is a baby in a car seat that’s not strapped
in. Smashing your car against another
car is not going to go well for the baby.
I’m going to stop the analogy there because the imagery is too gruesome,
yet it is accurate. Your brain will
splash (this is an official neurology term…brain splash) against your skull,
which has those jagged edges. So your
brain suffers blunt trauma and potential tearing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“But I don’t feel any pain when I headbutt!” Yeah, there’s a
reason for that. While the brain may be
made up of nerves, not all nerves are designed for feeling touch
sensations. There are no pain receptors
in your brain. This is good and
bad. It’s good because that way you
won’t get a tickly sensation every time you turn your head. It’s bad because you can bludgeon it and not
realize that YOU’RE GIVING YOURSELF BRAIN DAMAGE. Heck, one of the ways to knock someone out is
to give them that brain splash. When you
headbutt, you do that to yourself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a tip: don’t ask the brute of a martial artist that
has been smashing his head against things for years about headbutting, ask a
brain doctor.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My advice is to avoid putting your brain into a highly
accelerated or decelerated frame of reference.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Elbows<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The elbow is a very hard part of the body, which is what
makes it such a great striking tool.
Some arts, like Muay Thai, are known for their myriad elbow
strikes. It’s a great blunt instrument,
but it comes with caveats. Some people
might say that “the sharper the striking surface you can use, the better.” Typically, I’d agree, but not in the case of
elbows. To illustrate why, I have a
personal story to share.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Years ago I was spending a lot of extra time at the
dojo. We had some 180 pound, tall heavy
bags that were great for striking practice.
I was doing a lot of elbows, striking with the point of the elbow for
maximum pressure on the target (Pressure = Force / Area). In class, we were also working on ground
fighting, which meant that my elbows often rubbed against the ground. All of this contact on the tip of my elbows
began to agitate my bursa. Prior to this
incident, I didn’t even know bursa existed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gTGvY4gYi8es8fJBksKlG6Vj9LjB2g8u_vRjPG7S5mZi2prjPYrR_26DTKNj0Nt44jNAAkzUWK2KJxyqBDz3cg8SwaIOMyiZTo3VGAw9HZ4AywmaB8s8YNpTr2pjk3RVAxkn5lpj-pA/s1600/Bursa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gTGvY4gYi8es8fJBksKlG6Vj9LjB2g8u_vRjPG7S5mZi2prjPYrR_26DTKNj0Nt44jNAAkzUWK2KJxyqBDz3cg8SwaIOMyiZTo3VGAw9HZ4AywmaB8s8YNpTr2pjk3RVAxkn5lpj-pA/s1600/Bursa.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bursa is a gelatinous cover over the tip of the elbow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When my
elbow began to look like it swallowed a golf ball, I decided to look it
up. The swelling after class was at
least an inch (no exaggeration) above where my elbow should be. Much like this:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIIuEgngA12n7WMy4ehVzw-BPS9KpXRagvcZyVhjRSzUgcFXlxOmzQfEzJBOLmijfeMwDuC_dQB8XY8qR2PxjCci2p0gg_5vxgtz1xpW7b9UplSESvQAJUHUvKy_R2JuUBcNJKuWaG0E/s1600/bursitis.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIIuEgngA12n7WMy4ehVzw-BPS9KpXRagvcZyVhjRSzUgcFXlxOmzQfEzJBOLmijfeMwDuC_dQB8XY8qR2PxjCci2p0gg_5vxgtz1xpW7b9UplSESvQAJUHUvKy_R2JuUBcNJKuWaG0E/s1600/bursitis.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I waited several days for it to go away on
its own, but it didn’t. It was terribly
painful and was disrupting my sleep. I
ended up going to the emergency room.
They drained it with a syringe and gave me some antibiotics (which
actually resulted in another crazy story…but for another time). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Needless to say, I changed the way I did elbow strikes. Rather than striking with the tip, I strike
with the final inch or two of my ulna bone or with the very bottom of the
tricep tendon area when doing downward/backward elbow strikes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After doing some searching online for “bursitis” I learned
that plumbers often get bursitis in their knees because of all the rubbing from
crawling under sinks. If you want to
train for longevity, don’t irritate your bursa.
By not striking with the very tip of your elbow, you also get the added
benefit of reducing the risk of chipping a bone, which thankfully has never
happened to me but it does happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Punching<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fists seem to be the weapon of choice for unarmed
combatants. Despite the commonality of
punching, it’s actually somewhat difficult to do correctly. In Hock’s Unarmed Combatives program,
punching doesn’t show up until level 5 (level 10 = black belt). It’s preceded by finger strikes to the eyes,
forearm strikes, elbow strikes, and hammer fists. Punches have a relatively small margin of
error regarding structure (link to structure article) because of all of the
joints involved.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But let’s put all of that aside for the moment and assume
that you can perform a punch perfectly.
Things can <i>still</i> go badly for
you if you hit the wrong target. For a
large number of psychological and sociological reasons, people like to aim for
the head. There’s some wisdom to taking
out the head in a fight. However,
remember earlier when I talked about the skull’s ability to absorb force
well? Yeah, that’s going to work on your
fist if you hit the hard, immovable part.
Just look at the anatomy here: fist vs cranium. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYX5nXJVB67t84_FwCGGU9O9JDTOxWtOVRORQP1YZaLBEtmf-j0bmrhI_yotG3_5BtiEnV1EHI8gDjLmkmt8Ruo75aTOUeuPHE7ClQG8p9nuFjxbULZoyGPZFFpWHAtqSZ8BHQSkAu8mA/s1600/Handskelett.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYX5nXJVB67t84_FwCGGU9O9JDTOxWtOVRORQP1YZaLBEtmf-j0bmrhI_yotG3_5BtiEnV1EHI8gDjLmkmt8Ruo75aTOUeuPHE7ClQG8p9nuFjxbULZoyGPZFFpWHAtqSZ8BHQSkAu8mA/s1600/Handskelett.png" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKcUjTzHfLirBH4jJT8YmO1bO87a2Q3eD7ejei2upfQJ3BNsVyULydBpoXY3Rknj_1fTUs_FPf872cQSM2VRCqDmQUBG0lztuNDEZnStsqETl9WM7yjgqvOaOTX99N2WFf-5ksE8EKOw/s1600/Skull_X-ray_-_lateral_view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKcUjTzHfLirBH4jJT8YmO1bO87a2Q3eD7ejei2upfQJ3BNsVyULydBpoXY3Rknj_1fTUs_FPf872cQSM2VRCqDmQUBG0lztuNDEZnStsqETl9WM7yjgqvOaOTX99N2WFf-5ksE8EKOw/s1600/Skull_X-ray_-_lateral_view.jpg" height="269" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Domes are basically meant for distributing force. So, when the comparatively tiny bones of your
fist slam into the bone that protects one of the most critical organs of the
body, things go badly for the fist. Just
do an image search online for “boxer’s fracture” to see what kind of goodness
awaits the fist swinging head hunter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The fist is a <i>great</i>
weapon. Just don’t run your fist into
anything structurally stronger than it and you’ll be ok.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Knees<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Knee strikes are actually, for the most part, safe to
do. I’m really only thinking of one
particular knee strike, which is somewhat rare.
Although, all of that stuff on saving your bursa applies here too,
though your knee is likely to be much sturdier than the elbow. The strike of concern is the one where the
knee is swung from the outside/open position to the center, which uses the
medial (inside) part of the knee to strike.
To see why, look at this picture of a knee. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGt0bnE_r4ce3u9RUOf35kGOLBcBplZZ0TNwTm7EiJSO_t3rtlGBQLyOPDHPBhJcSQUsZr7Lcd0vDKWTyx30XzUodnX1ZQNwvGzNcP0YsuGoA-sX6uemebq8oDMv5GMgVYUnOmEPN92tE/s1600/knee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGt0bnE_r4ce3u9RUOf35kGOLBcBplZZ0TNwTm7EiJSO_t3rtlGBQLyOPDHPBhJcSQUsZr7Lcd0vDKWTyx30XzUodnX1ZQNwvGzNcP0YsuGoA-sX6uemebq8oDMv5GMgVYUnOmEPN92tE/s1600/knee.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When striking this way, you’re smashing the medial
collateral ligament (MCL) against the target.
That’s bad all on its own.
Speaking of knee ligaments, the torque put on the knee happens in a
direction that the knee isn’t meant to go.
Forward/backward movement for the knee?
No problem. Side to side? Not so good.
Also look at the cartilage. When
the knee impacts something sideways the tibia and femur will put a shear force
on the meniscus. The meniscus is
designed to be squished not sheared.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without good, healthy knees your martial arts options are
very limited. Take care of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Shin to Shin<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I, like many people, was looking forward to the rematch of
Anderson Silva against Chris Weidman.
The first time was a bit of a fluke because Silva got too cocky. With skill like his, he can afford to be
fairly cocky. He just went a bit too
far. I figured that the loss would make
him come back as fierce as ever. No more
toying with his opponents. He had
something to gain by winning this time, and it showed. He was intense, pressuring, and fast. Unfortunately, he was a bit too fast. I knew what happened before he even set his
foot down after the kick. I’d seen that
motion before. It was the motion of a
foot and knee out of sync. Sure enough,
Anderson Silva snapped his shin. It was
empathetically painful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I wanted to see what he could do, and now I
probably wouldn’t get the chance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, like I said, I’d seen this kind of break before, but
the break got a lot of media play because it was Anderson Silva during a title
fight. So, people talked about it, and
it got me thinking. “What happened to
cause the break?” I searched for videos
of leg breaks and compared them to Silva’s.
I found a common element. You
might think it has to do with the way the defensive shin is raised, but that
defense doesn’t result in a break more often than not. No, the common element in the breaks was in
the kick. <i>Every single instance</i> of someone breaking their shin was because
they didn’t rotate their support foot.
By not rotating the support foot (I can just hear my TKD instructors
shouting at me now…”PIVOT!”) the hips can’t rotate over, which means the
kicking shin moves roughly at an upward 45 degree angle putting the flat of the
kicking shin against the edge of the defensive shin. <i>That</i>
is the key factor in whether or not the shin breaks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine taking two equal length 2x4 planks of wood and
hitting the thin edge of one against the wide edge of the other. Which do you think will break, if any? The wide edge will lose every time. This is due to <b>bending stress</b>. The maximum
bending stress that a particular object can endure before undergoing
irreversible deformation is of particular interest to us. A wire hanger is fairly springy, but if you
bend it too far then it gets stuck that way.
Bones are similar, but they’re not as springy. The maximum bending stress that an object can
undergo depends on what it’s made out of and its dimensions relative to the
load being applied to it, but enough of defining terms…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is A LOT of math that goes into these formulas and I
can already feel your boredom creeping in.
So, I’ll get to mathematical punchline.
The formula for bending stress experienced by a material is:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Symbol;"> s</span> = M y/I<sub>x<o:p></o:p></sub></div>
<br /><!--[if gte msEquation 12]><m:oMathPara><m:oMath><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:
115%;font-family:"Cambria Math","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><m:r>σ</m:r><m:r>=</m:r></span></i><m:f><m:fPr><span
style='font-family:"Cambria Math","serif";mso-ascii-font-family:"Cambria Math";
mso-hansi-font-family:"Cambria Math";font-style:italic;mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><m:ctrlPr></m:ctrlPr></span></m:fPr><m:num><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Cambria Math","serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA'><m:r>My</m:r></span></i></m:num><m:den><m:sSub><m:sSubPr><span
style='font-family:"Cambria Math","serif";mso-ascii-font-family:"Cambria Math";
mso-hansi-font-family:"Cambria Math";font-style:italic;mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><m:ctrlPr></m:ctrlPr></span></m:sSubPr><m:e><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Cambria Math","serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:
AR-SA'><m:r>I</m:r></span></i></m:e><m:sub><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Cambria Math","serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:
AR-SA'><m:r>x</m:r></span></i></m:sub></m:sSub></m:den></m:f></m:oMath></m:oMathPara><![endif]--><!--[if !msEquation]--><!--[endif]--><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">M = The
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bending_moment" target="_blank">bending moment </a>at the load point</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
y = The distance to the neutral
axis<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I<sub>x</sub> = The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_moment_of_area" target="_blank">second momentof area</a> about the neutral axis<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
M and I<sub>x</sub> have further formulas to break down
into. The formula for M is based on
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooke%27s_law" target="_blank">Hooke’s Law</a> and expands to different things depending on the
situation. I’m going to assume that the
shin can be approximated by a cantilever beam with the “fixed” point being the
knee. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">M</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">max</sub><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
= dF</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
F
= The load force being applied<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
d
= The distance from the load point to the fixed point (the knee)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will assume that the shin bone can be loosely approximated
to have a rectangular cross section (a wide side and a thin side). For our situation, the load is applied
parallel to the height.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLAbpMseDB3OJHLOLzA1azRvq-JQlJrkFkMs4zANR-BDQYT3yYYKsPDXmVFAubs04DkkmMsoghkwkCcFQuThmwM65Mn0nslSbNE1fssZ99xYfyGsx5bXya6WQ_g9MIq6rUn7RDqRFfag/s1600/Shin+-+Load+Drawing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLAbpMseDB3OJHLOLzA1azRvq-JQlJrkFkMs4zANR-BDQYT3yYYKsPDXmVFAubs04DkkmMsoghkwkCcFQuThmwM65Mn0nslSbNE1fssZ99xYfyGsx5bXya6WQ_g9MIq6rUn7RDqRFfag/s1600/Shin+-+Load+Drawing.png" height="200" width="97" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Therefore, I<sub>x</sub> comes out to<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I</span><sub style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">x</sub><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
= wh</span><sup style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">3</sup><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">/12</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
w
= The width of the rectangle<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
h
= The height of the rectangle<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, this formula for I<sub>x</sub> is where my intuition
comes from. Notice how only one of the
directions gets cubed? That means that
one direction is more important than the other for determining bending stress.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The final piece is the ‘y’.
The neutral axis is going to be near the middle. So, we can say that y = h/2. Putting it all together we get<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> s</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> = dF(h/2) / (wh<sup>3</sup>/12) = 6dF/(wh<sup>2</sup>)</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8666667938232px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.8666667938232px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(My apologies for the ugly notation...re-writing it by hand might make things easier to read if you actually care to see what's going on.)</span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whew! Ok, what does
all of this mathematical and engineering craziness tell us? Let’s handle the numerator first. We see that the higher the load force, the
more bending stress there is. That makes
sense. We also see that we get more
bending stress the farther from the knee we hit. This makes sense if you think of the load as
a torque that uses the shin as the effort arm.
Now for the denominator we see the dimensions of the
rectangle/shin. As elements of the
denominator get bigger, the bending stress gets smaller. That means that thicker objects experience
less bending stress. This makes intuitive
sense. The interesting thing is that the
height, which is the amount of material the load force is trying to push down
through, has a bigger impact on the bending force by a power of 2.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, now imagine two similarly structured shin bones hitting
each other (like the 2x4 example) where the wide side of one hits the narrow
side of the other. The formula tells us
that the one that impacts on the wide side will experience a greater bending
stress. If that bending stress gets too
high, then someone isn’t walking home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s the lesson after all of that pontificating? Well for one, <b>don’t kick people in the shin with your shin</b>, but if you do <b>use the narrow edge of your shin by
rotating your support foot</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Top of the Foot<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The advice on the fist vs skull issue applies here, for
sure. Definitely don’t kick people in
big, hard bones with your dainty little meta-tarsals if you don’t want a
swollen and/or broken foot. That being
said, there’s something else to be careful about when kicking. This is a lesson I had to learn the hard
way. The learning came slowly because
the injuries were never so bad that they lasted more than a few days. Eventually though, I became wise enough to
stop hurting myself with my kicks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my five years of TKD, we focused a lot on the round
kick. Being a 6’ 4” lanky guy, I was
able to use rotational inertia and angular momentum to my advantage for firing
off hard and fast round kicks. I was
trained to use the top of my foot as the weapon “for maximum reach” I was told. That works great in theory, when kicking into
the air, and when pulling your kicks in point sparring. Where it doesn’t work is on a heavy bag or an
opponent that has decided that blocking your kick by meeting it with direct
force. That’s a fact I discovered on
several occasions, resulting in slight sprains.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s think about this.
I’m told to point my toes to avoid breaking them on contact. That’s good advice but doesn’t go far
enough. By pointing my toes, I extend
all of the muscles on the front of my lower leg. When the top of my foot hits a target,
Newton’s 3<sup>rd</sup> law of motion comes into effect. The strength of my kick is received in full
reaction back to my foot, and since I’m making contact on the top of my foot it
torques my ankle to extend even further than it already is. The ankle only goes so far before the
ligaments get sprained. Now, the body
has a built in way to reduce this kind of torque on the ankle. It’s the muscles on the front of the lower
leg. You know, the ones that I extend
for the kick, preventing them from flexing?
Yeah…I sort of dug myself into a hole with that one. The problem is even worse for me because my
feet are so big that I provide an even longer effort arm for the torque. Maybe small footed people don’t have this problem.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gaining an extra six inches or so on my kick is great and
all, but I feel that the negatives outweigh the positives. Kicks that contact at the top of the foot are
at a slight disadvantage because the ankle gives way during impact, <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/10/damage-dealing-it-avoiding-it.html" target="_blank">increasing the time of impact</a>. <b>It
would be better to make contact with the bottom of the tibia</b>. That part of the bone is HUGE by comparison
to the meta-tarsals. All of that stuff
above about bending stress can be used in your favor if you use the right part
of your body, and either end of the tibia works fantastically.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, that was a lot of text. Hopefully, the physics, engineering, and
anatomy references were enough to convince you to refine your techniques to
avoid hurting yourself when you strike. And if that <i>isn't</i> enough for you, then take my personal history of injuries as anecdotal evidence of how NOT to do things. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s the TL;DR summary:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t use your head as an impact weapon</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Be nice to the bursa on the tip of your elbow</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t punch the head unless you can hit at the
nose or below</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t use the inside part of your knee to strike</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t hit with the wide part of your shin;
rotate your support foot for proper form</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Don’t smash your feet into hard targets; prefer
the bottom of the tibia for kicks</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-87095581047699339622014-12-17T20:26:00.004-08:002014-12-17T20:26:50.420-08:00Whip It, Whip It Good: The Benefits of Compound Torque<b>Science Concepts:</b> torque, angular velocity, rotational inertia<br />
<br />
In a <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/10/damage-dealing-it-avoiding-it.html" target="_blank">previous article</a>, I talked about the importance of velocity over mass when dealing damage with strikes. What I didn't say was how you go about doing that. So that's what I'm going to cover now, at least for circular/curving strikes. This could be a hook punch, a round kick, a back fist, a stick swing, or any other kind of strike that involves curving motion.<br />
<br />
<h4>
The Science</h4>
In my <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-inner-circle-make-defense-less.html" target="_blank">last article</a>, I covered angular velocity. Generating a fast, curving strike is done by applying torque to generate circular motion at multiple parts of your body. In fact, generating power in all sorts of athletic contexts is done this way. It's the way a quarterback throws a football or the way a baseball player swings a bat. It's the way a hockey player shoots a puck or the way a gymnast tumbles through the air. Many small instances of circular motion combined, with the right timing, generate incredible speed and power.<br />
<br />
Consider this basic example:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOb8ZSdpKKrwTbDdFG_Xfi0hyphenhyphen05yec5KOUHMZAUtpBBXSaDUCQLkdRlYMCoqRrDX_PbresX8dj1_94RbWyilSEXWiJefAOYkaWylxUax3yhkiRL7uP0BnY6zJWhV6BEoh8NKCgR8bvJkY/s1600/Simple+Circular+Swing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOb8ZSdpKKrwTbDdFG_Xfi0hyphenhyphen05yec5KOUHMZAUtpBBXSaDUCQLkdRlYMCoqRrDX_PbresX8dj1_94RbWyilSEXWiJefAOYkaWylxUax3yhkiRL7uP0BnY6zJWhV6BEoh8NKCgR8bvJkY/s1600/Simple+Circular+Swing.png" height="208" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is essentially what happens when you move one of your joints. However fast your muscles that cause the movement can go is the limit of the angular and linear velocity. But what if the center of the circle was also moving? We could achieve that with a situation like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9o5tB2M7cyZ_RpPBAJwz84Jk2dtkqgpC-panQrdhO8Qa55DIES8qwubTs1Rm4UIyiaeKFKHJhmxqsZPpZAZMfxaVdW3uW4msJ8q1upFiX2b1m99B8HkYdckR0ufik2bgA3C-ZzDvz4Go/s1600/Jointed+Circular+Swing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9o5tB2M7cyZ_RpPBAJwz84Jk2dtkqgpC-panQrdhO8Qa55DIES8qwubTs1Rm4UIyiaeKFKHJhmxqsZPpZAZMfxaVdW3uW4msJ8q1upFiX2b1m99B8HkYdckR0ufik2bgA3C-ZzDvz4Go/s1600/Jointed+Circular+Swing.png" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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The first part swings the second part, which still has the same angular velocity as before, relative to its own center. However, the center of the second part now has its <i>own</i> angular and linear velocity, adding to the velocity of the tip.<br />
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Also keep in mind that each swinging motion has a beginning, middle, and end at which the speed is increasing, maximum, and decreasing, respectively. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYXKISHb5Qqh8328bVHkV04NG0f2eh-dwat3hliaqroKrXeyXZs3Drp_1ska1XulZiV_HuSOA2tmmiQMXqViDmk9FAOOiwR9ya1MxXlXjOwQmb66kboF5qAzIhs99CuKjQB3UnN75EGc/s1600/Angular+Velocity+vs+Time.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXYXKISHb5Qqh8328bVHkV04NG0f2eh-dwat3hliaqroKrXeyXZs3Drp_1ska1XulZiV_HuSOA2tmmiQMXqViDmk9FAOOiwR9ya1MxXlXjOwQmb66kboF5qAzIhs99CuKjQB3UnN75EGc/s1600/Angular+Velocity+vs+Time.png" /></a></div>
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Conceptually, this is enough to apply. Mathematically, we would find the angular acceleration of each swinging piece and find where it changes from positive to negative to determine the point at which the angular velocity is maximum. Yay calculus.<br />
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Another important concept for curving strikes is rotational inertia. Rotational inertia is a property of an object to resist a spinning motion. The exact calculation of this property depends on the density of the object, the shape of the object, <i>and</i> the direction of rotation. Wikipedia has an excellent entry on it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_of_inertia" target="_blank">here</a>. To see how rotational inertia relates to regular inertia (which is just measured by mass), let's look at the formula for kinetic energy.<br />
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K = ½ mv<sup>2</sup></div>
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K = ½ m(r<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">w</span>)<sup>2</sup>, this is because v = r<o:p></o:p><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">w</span></div>
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K = ½(mr<sup>2</sup>)<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">w</span><sup>2</sup>, this is just distributing the exponent and
regrouping to look like the original energy equation.<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>So, you can see that the third line is structured like the first accept that we have </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15.3333320617676px;">? (angular velocity) instead of v (linear velocity) and </span>mr<sup>2 </sup>(rotational inertia) intsead of m (linear inertia). Now, this is true for a point mass, but for more complex objects you need to get an average (usually via an integral) but on to the point.</div>
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Since the formula above involves the radius of the rotating object <i>and</i> since energy cannot be created or destroyed (one of those physic laws that is never violated, ever), if we change the radius by moving a limb in towards the center or out away from it, the angular velocity must change as well in order to keep the energy the same. The typical example of this is when a figure skater spins and pulls her limbs in to start spinning faster. She didn't create energy. She just shifted the source of the energy from the radius to the angular velocity. </div>
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We can use this idea for curving strikes as well. This shows up most easily in hook punches, hook kicks, and swinging stick strikes. If you use your muscles to get your body rotating with the limb out and then pull it in (as in for a tight hook punch) then the velocity will increase (every little bit helps). Remember: velocity has a bigger impact of the damage you do than the mass behind the strike.</div>
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You can also use rotational inertia in the other direction, with some good timing to help get a strike up to speed with less energy than staying at full extension. By staying tight to your body (think, back spin kick), you can rotate very quickly and easily. Once your speed is up and you're coming around to your target, extend your limb at the last moment (no pun intended) to get the best (ish) of both worlds. Because you extend your limb just prior to impact, the extra rotational inertia doesn't have much time to slow down your motion. So you can the speed from a tight spin with full extension. Keep in mind that your timing has to be excellent for this to work. Otherwise, your extension will just cause your strike to slow down and reduce the damaging effects.<br />
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<h4>
The Application</h4>
<div>
What does this mean for techniques? It means that getting multiple joints of your body engaged in a motion so that they are all moving in the same direction, for a moment, is the way to maximize your speed (and therefore kinetic energy). For a round kick your quadriceps swing your shin, your hip flexors swing your upper leg, your torso swings your hips, and your supporting leg pivots your torso. When all of these motions work together so that the maximum speed of each motion coincides, the result is a very fast and powerful kick. Combine that with a well timed extension, using rotational inertia, and you're going to be kicking very hard indeed.</div>
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<div>
Just apply these concepts to any rotating motion to achieve optimal speed at an instant of time.</div>
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<h4>
Conclusion</h4>
<div>
Curving attacks are just like any other athletic movement. You have to get your whole body working together with the right timing. That's what coaches all over the world will tell you. Scientifically, they're saying that you need the angular velocity of each joint in your body to coincide in time to match up at their highest points to achieve that ultimate result of a speedy...whatever it is you're doing. By using the concept of rotational inertia, you can provide a mechanical advantage to achieve even higher speeds. Think through your techniques and really analyze the motion of each joint of your body as you go through those techniques. When you get the timing right, the end result can be quite impressive.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-26393978500528987132014-12-10T14:24:00.002-08:002014-12-10T14:24:34.140-08:00The Inner Circle: Make Defense Less Difficult<b>Science concepts: </b>angular velocity, linear velocity<br />
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In the classes I teach, I almost always have the students do knife sparring as part of the warm up. I make it into a bit of a game where getting cut in various target zones requires you to do certain exercises (to de-incentivize bad habits). It's easy to tell who has been with us for a while and who is new by watching who is doing the most exercises.<br />
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One of the pit falls that untrained people seem to get into is watching the knife too closely. Now, I'm not advocating that you don't keep track of the knife. In a real situation, that's the thing that'll kill you. So, you should definitely track it, but I recommend that people watch the elbow (and the forearm to an extent) rather than the knife. Invariably, when I tell people to do this, they see immediate improvement. Why? Because of the difference between angular velocity and linear velocity.<br />
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<h3>
Definitions</h3>
<div>
Linear velocity is the easy one. That's simply how much distance is covered per unit of time. I covered this way back in the <a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/10/quick-and-dirty-physics-primer.html" target="_blank">physics primer</a>. Angular velocity is a bit different. It's all about circles. It is the portion of a circle swept out per unit of time. This is often depicted uses a unit of radians per second. Radians are a bit weird. They're a unit...but not. There are 2π radians in a circle (just like 360 degrees covers a circle). So, 180 degrees is equivalent to 1π. If a wheel rotates all the way around two times per second, then the angular velocity would be 4π rad/s.</div>
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To find the linear equivalent of an angular velocity you need to know the radius of the circle being swept out. Once you know that the conversion is easy. Just take the angular velocity, <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ω</span> (angular velocity...and acceleration...and angles are often depicted using Greek letters, this isn't a 'w' it's a lower-case omega) and multiply it by the radius r to get the linear velocity, v.</div>
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v = r<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">ω</span></div>
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Simple enough.</div>
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<h3>
The Science</h3>
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<a href="http://martial-arts-science.blogspot.com/2014/11/science-concepts-torque-and-tiny-bit-of.html" target="_blank">Like I've said before</a>, joints allow for circular motion. In the case of a slashing knife or a hooking punch, the shoulder is effectively the center of the circle. The elbow is about halfway out and the hand is on the outer edge of the circle. Let's look at a generic example:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWk5TDNVV9qZuidDHfWnoLg4lND_anEv-4P9Y0eoeK2_YbniRl2Or_cqOjkgRAvhnYUXGVIRaPp_PrzwfxVx77PrjjFkK6PdHxDqn0ybtukKMjnE_94qi1vKcT8jwmSp_zBfAC9jvb468/s1600/Basic+Angular+Velocity.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWk5TDNVV9qZuidDHfWnoLg4lND_anEv-4P9Y0eoeK2_YbniRl2Or_cqOjkgRAvhnYUXGVIRaPp_PrzwfxVx77PrjjFkK6PdHxDqn0ybtukKMjnE_94qi1vKcT8jwmSp_zBfAC9jvb468/s1600/Basic+Angular+Velocity.png" /></a></td></tr>
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The picture could represent a swinging stick. Though I'm just using it to illustrate the basics here. Since the stick is rotating about one end, each part of the stick has the exact same angular velocity, <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">ω</span>. The same number of radians are being swept out per second. However, the linear velocity of each point is different based on how far from the center of rotation it is. Here, the end point has a velocity of r<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">ω, but the midpoint has a velocity of (</span>r/2)<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">ω. That's half the velocity.</span></div>
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When trying to track motion with your eyes, slower is easier. The less degrees of freedom the thing your eyes are tracking has, the easier it'll be to keep up. This is why watching the elbow is easier than watching the hand. The nice thing about watching the elbow is that it'll reveal the direction from which the hand will strike you. So, you don't lose any information <i>and</i> it's easier to obtain. Win-win.<br />
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<h3>
Applications</h3>
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<div>
The applications of this principle are many and varied. At my dojo, we teach watching the elbow as part of our essential knife defense for beginners. When dealing with punches, we watch the elbows to increase effectiveness in capturing the extended arm. When stick fighting, watching the forearm and hand is <i>way</i> easier than trying to track the tip of the stick, which can move at ridiculous speeds (scientifically, "ridiculous" speeds are somewhere near "plaid"). As a former Taekwondo guy, I can say that watching the knee is easier than watching the foot and provides just as much information about where the attack is coming from. One time I landed a kick on a guy's nose using some TKD trickery. My success was only there because he watched my foot rather than my knee (probably...given that he was better than me). The list goes on.</div>
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<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
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Angular velocity is a relatively simple and low-level principle, which is why is applies to so many areas of fighting. Understanding angular velocity and how it is different from linear velocity will help you to understand why many techniques are taught they way they are. Also, getting a firm grasp on angular velocity (and angular movement) will be required for understanding slightly more complicated things like rotational inertia and how it relates to energy...but that's for another time!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04839158958946900091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6770740014974390228.post-4793929962185769912014-12-03T15:27:00.002-08:002014-12-03T15:27:26.573-08:00Sweep The Leg!<b>Science concepts: </b>friction, force diagrams<br />
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A big part of fighting successfully is unbalancing your opponent, in any way possible. Sometimes the unbalancing is purely mental. Usually, it's structural. Foot sweeps are one of the ways to structurally unbalance an opponent while in "striking mode." Different martial arts do sweeps differently, but what is the science behind each of the techniques? My position is that, once you understand this scientific concept, you'll be able to ad lib your own foot sweeps into a fight without having to drill the particular technique dozens of times first. In my opinion, there are only three different situations with which to be concerned.<br />
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<h3>
Definition</h3>
<div>
First, let me define what I mean by a sweep. For this article, I'm only talking about stand-up fighting. So, no ground stuff. A foot/leg sweep for my purposes here is any technique that directly attacks a leg for the purpose of unbalancing or taking down an opponent. The technique could be subtle or overt, beautiful or ugly. As long as it attacks the leg for unbalancing and it works, then it's a sweep.</div>
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<h3>
Three Situations</h3>
I see three different situations regarding leg sweeps. Some martial arts address all of them, some do not. The situations all have to deal with the percentage of weight being supported by the leg to be attacked. Without getting into specific numbers, we can effectively break it down into "high", "medium", and "low" weight distribution to the leg.<br />
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Sweeps that require a high percentage of the opponent's weight to be on a leg don't work nearly as well, if at all, when a low percentage of weight is on the leg. The reverse is true as well. If a technique requires either high or low weight and the person is more in the middle, then <i>maybe</i> you can force the technique, but it's going to be ugly and probably require some adaptation half-way through. But if the technique you're using calls for medium weight distribution, then you're good to go.<br />
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<h3>
The Representative Techniques</h3>
<div>
For the sake of illustration, I've chosen a technique for each of the situations described above. For the high percentage of weight on the leg a major outer reaping throw (known to some as "osoto gari") is a good technique. By "good" I mean that it not only applies to the situation but is also relatively easy to execute and is likely to succeed once you're in position.<br />
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(I was supposed to get pictures/video of myself doing the techniques, but it slipped my mind the last time I was at the dojo. Youtube videos will have to suffice for now.)</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mgjfBnTMn1c" width="420"></iframe></div>
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For the medium percentage of weight I could have chosen the basic Karate leg sweep, but I don't want Japan to get all the credit. So, I'm going to look at the sapu from Silat.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GgYjWjKeT7s" width="420"></iframe></div>
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For the low percentage of weight there are lot's of martial arts that do this technique. Judo has it. Wrestling has it. Silat and BJJ have it. For the sake of making things easy to understand, let's just call it a modified sapu with a leg grab.</div>
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(I couldn't find a video of this technique. Imagine a sapu that lifts the leg into your hand for grabbing.)<br />
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<h3>
The Science</h3>
<div>
The big factor that we're concerned with in all of these different weight distribution situations is friction. Friction is the force that resists sliding motion between two surfaces. In general, the friction force, f, is defined this way:<br />
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f <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">≤</span> <span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">µN</span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">where N is the "normal" force (the reaction force from the surface or ground that stops the object from accelerating towards the center of the planet), and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">where </span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">µ is the Greek letter "mu" and denotes the coefficient of friction between two surfaces (it's the "grippy-ness" between the surfaces)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">For examples of different </span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">µ values, concrete and rubber have a </span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">µ of 1.0 while brass and steel have a </span><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">µ of 0.51 (much more slippery).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">This equation tells us that the friction force is directly proportional to the normal force. The normal force is equal (but opposite) of the force pushing directly into the ground.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSm9fiosCCP6I42g8bbSfOGVPq0N-oj5TZt3_YQI4icnm6JOmKv1fD1kOkmttUlEeUjB4dj02IitkBNk0i_TZrF4911GA3XK3rr0jr-kJNX2epNZZms9LRFyGfXW8PwE246kVseE5toc/s1600/Wedge+-+Force+Diagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSm9fiosCCP6I42g8bbSfOGVPq0N-oj5TZt3_YQI4icnm6JOmKv1fD1kOkmttUlEeUjB4dj02IitkBNk0i_TZrF4911GA3XK3rr0jr-kJNX2epNZZms9LRFyGfXW8PwE246kVseE5toc/s1600/Wedge+-+Force+Diagram.png" height="237" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic "wedge" force diagram :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">The orange forces are reaction forces from the components of the applied weight on the ramp. I used a ramp here for illustrative purposes, but I could have used a flat surface with the support leg pushing into the ground at an angle (as is the case with a wide stance). The principles at work are the same in either case.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302948px; line-height: 20.3636360168457px;">So, the normal force is equal to the component of the weight that is <i>perpendicular </i>to the surface. The friction force is equal to the component of the weight that is <i>parallel</i> to the surface. This is why I separated foot sweeps into three categories. If a lot of weight is put on one foot, then the maximum friction applied by the ground is high, which makes a foot sweep like the sapu very difficult but the outer reaping throw ideal. In any case, the amount of force, parallel to the ground, that you need to apply to your opponent's foot to affect a sweep is dependent on how much weight they are putting on that foot and what the surfaces involved are.</span></div>
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<h3>
The Application</h3>
<div>
Like I said before, the technique for a good foot sweep varies with the amount of weight the person puts on the leg to be swept. With a lot of weight on the foot, you'd better apply <i>a lot</i> of force to get it to move. That's why the major outer reaping throw works well here. You can keep their balance on the foot that you strongly sweep away. If you sweep out their main support leg, they fall down. Mission accomplished.</div>
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Getting the sapu to work requires a bit more finesse. If they have too much weight on the leg when you attempt the sapu, virtually nothing happens to them. If they have too little weight, then they will simply lift their leg (because they can balance on their other leg) away from your sweep. Luckily, in that case, you can modify your sweep to scoop the leg up into your arms, which puts 100% of their weight on their <i>other</i> foot, allowing you to sweep that one with a big reap.</div>
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Each of these sweeps require extra force to be applied if the surface has good traction. However, you can alter the amount of force required by pushing or pulling your opponent, shifting their weight. In practice, I wouldn't expect anybody to memorize tables of friction coefficients to figure out how much strength to apply a sweep is necessary. You just have to train on a variety of surfaces with a variety of different sized people to start getting a feel for it.</div>
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<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
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The three techniques I listed here are just scratching the surface of leg/foot sweeps, but hopefully you now have the necessary scientific background to understand why most sweeps work. As with all of my articles, my goal is to provide the necessary knowledge for you to create your own techniques on the fly. This is because in the chaos of a real fight, you'd be lucky to start a technique without having to modify half-way through, let alone planning for a technique and actually have it work in reality the same way that it worked in your head. When you can adapt to the situation using scientifically sound principles, then you will be more likely to do the right thing at the right time.</div>
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