The dangers of point sparring

While valuable, point sparring has some limitations, and if overdone, can have serious consequences when it comes to real self defense.

Point based sparring can be a great workout.  You can improve your timing and experiment with angles and distance.  It can also improve your ability to identify your opponent’s ‘tells’.  That’s all great.

Overuse, however, can ingrain dangerous habits.  For one, point sparring has a set of rules for what you can and can’t do.  In the real world, excluding certain targets is dangerous.  You’ve got to use whatever is available at the time.  Even more serious is the very nature of point sparring.  You train yourself to stop when you land a point.  You fight as you train.  The last thing you want in a real violence situation is to strike and then stop, waiting for a ref to restart the match.

Point based sparring doesn’t allow more than the strikes or kicks.  Grabbing your opponent is not allowed.  For Jiu Jitsu and other similar styles, this is counter intuitive as they are typically hands on, in-close fighting styles.  While there are strikes and kicks, they are often used in order to close the gap and then apply the more intrinsic elements, such as balance breaking, throws, joint locks, chokes etc.

Most real fights do not stay in the fighting range of point based sparring.  The back and forth just doesn’t happen very much.  Most combatants ending up in close range, whether it goes to the ground or not.

You’ll also find most people who point spar hold their hands in a position that may not be optimal for street defense.  Most people I’ve seen keep their hands fairly low, as they are trying to cover the most ‘real estate’ that they can that is considered a ‘legal’ target in point sparring.

I am of the opinion that in a real violent encounter, holding your hands higher is a better idea.  While I know body shots can be debilitating, I’m more concerned about being knocked unconscious on the street, and the knock out button resides on our chins/jaws.  In a real violent encounter, you’d be better to take a body shot when you are moving in than to take a head shot. 

And since you aren’t bobbing back and forth, you are unlikely to receive multiple blows to the body.

Point sparring has a bunch of positive elements, but should be used judiciously.  Sadly, in some martial arts schools, this is the closest thing that students get to dynamic training.  An expert in point sparring may be unpleasantly surprised in a real attack. 

The message to take away is to know the strengths and weaknesses of any form of training.  Point based sparring needs to be balanced against more realistic forms of training, including continuous type sparring which starts at a range, but continues to a conclusion, such as moving in, a throw or take down, and a finish.  Dynamic randori with multiple opponents is also a valuable training tool.  There are other methods as well, stress induced training, the ‘red-man’ suit and such.  Each method has its good and its bad points.  Just make sure that you’re not fooled into thinking that, on its own, point based sparring is an effective method of learning true self defense. 

Food for thought.

Train well. 

The Karate Kid (remake) and Ip Man movie

I finally had an opportunity to watch the remake of the Karate Kid.  A long time ago I took issue to the title saying Karate when the preview had Jackie Chan talking about Kung Fu.  I also thought Jaden Smith was a little young to portray the main character.

Well, the film never tries to say it's about Karate, and it knows the difference. The title is just that, a title, and an homage to the original story.

I still think Jaden Smith was a bit too young to play the lead character, but all in all, he did pretty well.  That's a pretty talented kid.  It's eerie how much he looks like his dad at times.

The Good?

- The film stayed fairly true to the general story line of the original without being a copycat.
- Jackie Chan is a very talented martial artist and it shows, although the fights were a lot more 'Hollywood' than in the original.
- Jaden Smith was likable and clearly worked hard for the role.

The Not-so-Good?

- The story did not seem as deep.  I felt less connection to the characters than in the original.
- The bad guys were bad, but I never bought the whole 'redemption' or the 'realizing you were wrong' scenes.
- Everyone was too young for the type of fighting/violence that was offered. There is a scene where Jackie Chan is fighting the bad guys, and they're just a bunch of kids.  It just didn't look right.

I fully realize that I'm a little biased towards the original.  That film was a fairly important film of my youth.  To be fair, I'm not sure the youth of today would even enjoy the original.  The thing about the original though, is that it was very real, including the fight scenes, albeit they were mainly point sparring based Karate.

Overall, I didn't mind the film.  It had it's moments.  Mainly I felt it lacked a bit in the character department.  I know it did fairly well in theaters, so it's always possible I'm just getting old...

Now, on to Ip Man.  I watched this movie on a free channel one night.  I didn't expect very much, especially since it's subtitled.  I usually don't enjoy sub titles, with a few notable exceptions.

Anyway, I loved the movie.  Partly because it's great and partly because I expected nothing.

Without giving too much away, it's about Wing Chun Kung Fu, Yip Man (or Ip Man), war, pride, ego, honour, China vs. Japan, Kung Fu vs. Jiu Jitsu, and a whole lot more.  It was very entertaining.  Some of the fighting was over the top, but there was a lot of good martial arts in there too.

A surprise hit.  Donnie Yen is great in the film.  I recommend it.  I've yet to watch part 2.

So there you have it, some lighter fare amidst some heavier posts.

Enjoy.

Blog News

Japanese Jiu Jitsu:  A Journey looks a bit different now on mobile devices. Blogger has added some features for 'on the go' folks.   I hope you like it.

I've added the Budo Blog to my links list.  Check it out.

Fight or Flight Survival Response

To oversimplify, the 'fight or flight' response occurs when people undergo extreme stress, normally in the context of facing danger.  It's an evolutionary response, which, amongst other things, causes a massive adrenaline dump, which temporarily makes you stronger, and more able to fight or to run away. It also desensitizes your pain centers, making you more apt to make it through whatever you are facing.  There's a bunch of other physiological things that occur, but that's the substance of the concept.

John Coles wrote an interesting post on his blog on the fight or flight response.  Read it here.

In previous posts, I've touched on the fight or flight response, the survival mechanism and the adrenaline dump that occurs during combat or extreme stress.  It's important to incorporate some form of stress induced training to your regimen, and to understand what may or may not happen to you.

Equally important, and often overlooked, is understanding that your attacker may be experiencing all these same things, making them temporarily stronger and more resistant to pain.

So what happens when the fight or flight response doesn't kick in?  And why wouldn't it?

First off, it's a complex issue.  So many things are happening 'behind the scenes' in you brain, that it's pretty tricky to figure out all the whys and hows.

Next, it's important to note that the same person may react differently to the same stimuli on any given day.  So one day, the response might kick in at the slightest whiff of danger, and another it might wait until an attack is underway, or maybe after.  Or even not at all.

There are very real advantages and disadvantages to experiencing the adrenaline dump brought about by the 'fight or flight' response.  Following are just a few of both:


Advantages:

Increased strength
Increased speed
Increased tolerance to pain
Increased endurance
 

Disadvantages:


Loss of fine motor skills
Auditory exclusion
Tunnel vision
Distortion of time


Without the response,  you are more likely to intelligently respond and recognize threats and plan and identify options,   The irony is that, by experiencing the response, you could arguable be better equipped to carry out that plan or escape.

Brains or brawn, too bad you can't always have both.


Can you overcome or prevent the 'fight or flight' response?

Yes and no.

Training can reduce or eliminate the response.  Repeated exposure to simulated situations de-sensitizes you from the effects of the response.  This is only true of serious training.  If your mind isn't in the game, it's just playing around.

For military, law enforcement and security, training is developed to over-ride the stress response, or at least mitigate its effects.  This is where stress induced training methodologies can be useful.

More traditional martial arts training can do the same thing.  This can be a double edged sword though, especially for people who have never been exposed to real violence.  It can backfire.

Take a martial artist who has never seen or experienced any real or disturbing violence.  This person trains for a while, and feels pretty good about their skill level.

Now, this person gets attacked.  Since their minds have experience hundreds or thousands of attacks in the dojo, they don't get the immediate adrenaline 'fight or flight' dump.  Their attacker may be jacked up, but they are as cool as a cucumber. Until their response/defense doesn't work.  Wait a sec!  This has always worked in class, and it's not working now!  Oh Sh_ _!  And I'm hurt, I'm bleeding!

Now the panic sets in, the response kicks in, but it may be too late.  If it had kicked in a bit sooner, they may have been able to get away or fight back enough to gain the advantage.

Some will posit that we should never try to overcome this natural response. There's some strength to this argument for the majority of folks, but this is not always realistic or advisable, especially referring those tasked with making legal use of force response decisions.

The other reason to train for both scenarios is the variable nature of your own response.  What if you don't recognize someone as a threat, but they turn out to be?  You might not get the benefits, or the associated physiological responses until after the encounter has ended.

So you need to train for both scenarios:

1.  Instant 'fight or flight' response
2.  Delayed - begins during an encounter

It is for this very reason that I stress the importance of learning effective self defense techniques that take into account both scenarios.  In my Mind the Gap series, I discuss this in greater detail.  For true, survival self defense for the vast majority of people, the techniques must work in both cases.  There is no adjusting for adrenaline.  You can never know, with absolute surety, when or even if, the 'fight or flight' response will activate.

For military, law enforcement and security, you need to train differently for both scenarios.  Adrenaline can help or hinder.  Just think about the effect an adrenaline dump would have on trigger pull and aiming and how tunnel vision and auditory exclusion effects threat identification and communication.

This is a much broader topic, but this is where mindset training is so important.  The will to win and the never-give-up mindset needs to be in place when everything else goes down the toilet.  The 'fight or flight' response can sneak up on this group and catch them more off guard than most folks, if only for the reason that it's unexpected after all the training.  When you've survived multiple violent encounters and have remained calm and fully in control, when you do experience the dump, it can be a very unwelcome surprise.  But I'm getting off topic.

It's very important to gain an understanding of what you may experience in a violent confrontation.  Research, find instructors who've experienced violence, keep a serious mind and make sure your training offers you the highest likelihood of success no matter how your body and mind respond.

Nature has given us a survival gift in the 'fight or flight', but we need to realize that some situations in the modern world do not allow us to maximize this evolutionary advantage.  Food for thought.

Train safely.

Yoda Sensei - Using the Force

About a year ago, I was at a presentation for a newly minted black belt.  A variety of instructors were in attendance, including my Sensei.  Part of the presentation and the event involved demonstrations from senior black belts in the style.  Many of them run their own schools, and several have created and teach their own unique style of martial arts, but they all come from roots in the style I am lucky enough to study.

Many of these Sensei have three decades (or more) in the martial arts and many are in their fifties, sixties and a couple in their seventies.  These martial artists, many of which I consider masters, all have their aches and pains.

They've all lived, worked hard, and have dedicated themselves to their chosen art(s).  As such, they each pop, limp, seize, groan, twinge, or otherwise show the associated wear and tear that is the life of most long term martial artists. Heck, I'm doing half of these things, and I'm far from their level...

I had the opportunity to sit back and watch my own Sensei from the perspective of a spectator, which is somewhat rare.  His uke for the day was a talented and young black belt, largely free from any age related ailments. Bottom line, he was young and fit enough to be tossed around pretty hard.

Watching my Sensei, I was reminded just how good he was.  When he wasn't limited by my limitations or his other more junior students, I got a peek at what he was truly capable of.  I barely recognized him.  He reminded me of the first time I set eyes on him, some 20 plus years ago, but he was even better.  He moved effortlessly, smoothly, and he tossed this young lad around like he was nothing.  It was awesome to watch.

It was later that I saw the Yoda connection. 

Why the Yoda reference?  This man, my Sensei, a master in my estimation, not an hour previous, had walked into the dojo, tired after a day of physical labour, his back was sore, his trick knee a bit dodgy, he had a bit of a cold. 

That person was transformed into a Jedi master.  It reminded me of the Yoda fight scene in the new Star Wars movies (not a big fan of the new ones, loved the originals...).  Yoda comes walking in on a cane, all Yoda-like, but then uses the force and has an epic battle with the evil dude.

Call it ki, qi, chi, the force, or martial magic, when you see it or feel it, it's impossible to deny that there's not something else going on.  Maybe there's something to this whole 'energy work' thing.  I'm amazed by it, I want it and I hope I get it one day.  

Imagine realizing that my Sensei is just like Yoda.  Wow.  Star Wars was so cool...

Awareness - Intent versus ability

Readers of this blog will know that I believe awareness is the single most important part of self defense.

Now, I exist is a slightly more vigilant state than most.  It's not quite paranoia, but I am always scanning my surroundings, scanning for potential threats. Military people, police and security can often be identified just by the way they scan any new bar, restaurant, store, subway car etc, that they are entering.  I am guilty of this.  My buddy called me on this not long ago when we were out at a pub.  He got a kick out of observing me observe others.  He wanted to know what I was looking for.  He understood about exit points, potential weapons and that sort of thing, but wanted to know what I looked for when I scanned people.

That part is a bit trickier.  In the example above, there were several dozen people in a fairly small pub.  It wasn't too crowded but there weren't many empty tables.

So how does someone scan 30 people in a few seconds?  I have, after all, walked out of an establishment based on a five second scan.

There are two things I try to hone in on. One is the overall energy in the place. No matter what you want to call it, if the place has a bad vibe or bad energy, I'll go somewhere else.  I think most people have walked into a place and felt bad energy.  Something about the place just didn't feel right.  I say trust this. Unless you have to be there, leave.  Trust you gut.  Call it your sixth sense if you want.

The second thing I look for is intent.  I scan each person briefly to try to judge their intent.  I can't guess at any one person's ability, so the only sense I can get from a quick look is intent.

If I'm scanning a room, my mind and my eye easily 'rule out' most people as a threat in an instant.  It's those individuals that give off bad energy or intent that I take a second look at.  I could walk into a bar filled with martial arts masters of the highest calibre and would most likely rule them all out as potential threats in a heartbeat, providing they were there with good intentions.  That's the difference between intent and ability.  The masters would have the ability to be a threat were they so inclined, but if they don't have bad intentions, I would skip right past them on my 'threat-o-meter'.

I can usually tell the few people who are in an establishment with bad intentions.  The ones whose energies aren't focused on the positive around them, be it food, company or entertainment.

I might 'flag' a guy standing at a bar.  I might think that he might be threat.  If I had to drill down and explain why, it might be that every time someone walks by, they tense a little bit and stand a bit further back possibly hoping someone will accidentally bump into them.  It might be that they are giving mini 'stare-downs' at those around them.  Or they might fixate on someone not known to them or inappropriately stare at someone's girlfriend or partner.  They might make rude comments to be overheard by others.  They might deliberately stand in someone's way, making the other person ask them to move.  Their eyes may be cloudy or the pupils might be large, a possible indication of an intoxicating substance.  They might clearly be drunk, and loud etc.  There are dozens of little things, that when combined, get my hackles up.  And while clothing and appearance play a role, they are far less reliable indicators than actions and attitude.

It is actually harder to break down all the different things that combine to give you a good or bad feeling about someone than it is to make the overall assessment.

With the exception of certain professions, it isn't even necessary to break it all down to explain it.  Your brain processes all this stuff for you.  The neat part is that it's a skill that can be used and improved by anyone in any walk of life. It can even be fun. Make a game of scanning the room wherever you go. Look for bad energy or intent.  What's the worst that can happen? Nothing.  The best?  Maybe you avoid being present for an unpleasant situation, whether or not the bad intentions ever get aimed at you.

And remember, predators watch for victims that aren't paying attention.  If they see you paying attention, they'll move on to easier prey.

Be safe.  Have fun.

The Nature of Violence - Bad Habits

This is really one small part of a larger area of concern for me, one that I hope to flesh out in upcoming posts.

As martial artists, we have some bad habits.  A biggie is that we very rarely practice any technique from an inferior position, one where we're off balanced, have received a surprise attack or some sort of a shock.  Sure we practice a grab from behind, or a bear hug, but we still kind of know what's coming.  And our opponent very rarely really tries to knock us down or bowl us over.

I read some of Rory Miller's work and he made a simple but important point.

He said "Fights are painful, unfair, dynamic, chaotic, cluttered, and you don't get into them, as a good guy, unless you start out losing."


I agree with Mr. Miller on the whole statement, but the last part is very important. "Unless you start out losing."

In all your experience, how many times are you aware of someone being attacked in a face to face encounter?  The criminal element almost always initiates an attack using the element of surprise.  This is why it's important to work on awareness skills just as much as raw technique.  Criminals very rarely target martial artists (or anyone else) who are paying attention. 

So, how much time are you spending on defending from a losing position?  The reality of the situation is that if you get in a real fight, the initial flurry of attacks will have caught you off guard.  If you were aware of your surroundings, chances are you wouldn't have been attacked in the first place.


We have a bad habit, as martial artists, of sort of skipping over this reality in favour of fantasy-land thinking that we'll always be aware of our surroundings so we'll just drill what we're used to doing, a face to face anticipated attack.  That is not reality.  In real life violent encounters, you've already been hit, knocked off balance, or had a weapon used on you.  Your attacker may be one or many.  


We need to train for that reality.  We need to mentally prepare for the ugly, upsetting, painful, disorienting nature of a real attack.  We need to learn to fight back from that position, and get away.  No easy task, but definitely something we need to think about.


Food for thought.


Train realistically, and safely.