The Guard

The Guard

"The Guard" is something that is talked about in Jiu Jitsu a lot (I mean Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or the wrestling type of Jiu Jitsu). The guard is the other person's legs, which they wrap around you when they're trying to stop you from getting into the mount position.

Anyway, there's a lot of talk about it. In stand-up fighting, there's minimal talk about the guard. For MMA fighters, boxers and kickboxers, who form the bulk of professional fighting athletes these days, they pretty much have one type of guard - it's where your hands sit on your chin, and you take the impacts of the other person's punches on forearms, shoulders or back of the hands.

A good video that goes over this type of guard is here: 

Let's call that the Closed Guard.

Whilst this is an excellent type of guard, it really does have a few flaws.

First up, it basically has evolved from boxing, wherein you have some gloves on (they're usually pretty massive), and you can take a heck of a pounding. In this case, it is a fantastic defence.

But in a pure street-fight scenario, you do not have gloves. So you're going to cop that punch in the back of your hand, take a solid concussive impact on your head - and if you're not really well conditioned, that's going to hurt a fair bit. Granted, if you are conditioned well, you'll probably take it okay, but you are guaranteed to get hurt a bit at the least.

The other basic type of guard is what I call the Open Guard.

And this is the interesting part: this guard is taught in Karate, Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, all types of Kung Fu and virtually every "Martial Art."

It is also sneered at by all boxers, kick-boxers, MMA fighters and so on. Because most of the time it doesn't work.

But why doesn't it work?

I mean, these arts were developed when people were still chopping each other to bits with swords. People had knives too, and they'd be more than willing to stab you with them. The Japanese weren't exactly known for their kind nature in the past few hundred years.

So why "doesn't it work?"

I wondered this a lot myself, and then tested one of my instructors in some pretty rigorous sparring. And watched more You-Tube... and sparred some more people... and so on and so on... and do you know what I discovered?

These Martial Arts have not been taught correctly.

That's all it boils down to.

The Open Guard works just as well, and often better, than the closed guard. Because it also blocks the nasty groin shots that are so effective in a street fight - and cannot be used in a sporting environment such as boxing and MMA. These are actually sports, even if they are incredibly brutal, and so their techniques reflect this.

So How Have They Been Taught Incorrectly?

Okay, so with a statement like that I have probably made an enemy of every single instructor throughout the world - and a large number of them could annihilate me.

But my point is, in fact, that I have seen people use these open guards effectively, but often fail to pass it on to their students in such a way that the student is going to survive in a street fight.

And let's face it, you don't want to just survive in a street fight. You want to dominate. You should be able to control the fight so that it ends the way you want. Or at least, you should be pretty bloody confident, and have the skills to get you out of almost any trouble you get into - and that includes things like weapons, and group attacks (because how many fights happen with just one tough guy?).

It comes down to a lack of correct drilling.

In Kenpo for instance, there are several hundred techniques. They get progressively more complicated. You practice them in the air. Then you practice them on an opponent. You know what your opponent is going to do. Then you do the move, and he let's you do it.

There is no REALITY there.

The most basic reality of a real fight is that you do not know what is coming your way. So you have to drill accordingly.

Also, you have to drill people really trying to hit you - and you should know more than a single technique move once the fight has started.

Now, often the reason given for lack of such drilling is that someone's going to get hurt (particularly if there are knee shots, throat shots, groin shots, etc.). And that is a valid point. But you can modify techniques to a degree. And there's no reason why you can't practice basic blocking and counterattacking with great reality.

Personally...

I'm going to practice both guards - open and closed. Because the great thing about the closed guard is that if you don't know what's happening, you just brace up and take the hit. At least it won't knock you out, and you should survive okay. But if you've got your wits about you, and you're as quick as lightning, you should actually be able to block the attacks that come in - and that leads to some really cool techniques.

The most important thing is to actually start the drills on a low enough gradient that people can do them - and then build up a step at a time, with reality the whole time. Eventually you should be able to do this:

And that's really, really cooool. It's also yet another tool that can be used - and who would think you could move like that?! It's just a matter of drilling, drilling, drilling.

Economy of Motion

You know a really important principle in Martial Arts - and in warfare in general - is "economy of motion."
This is what my instructor commonly calls "shortening the circles."

The above picture is of a Kenpo patch. I believe it's called the "Universal Pattern," though I tend to refer to it as "Kenpo Circles."
It looks really confusing at first, but when you have a good look you can see that it's actually divided into eight main divisions, and that everything on it gets smaller and smaller.

Shortening the Circles

Simply put, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line - so why would you add extra distance in?
The best philosophy on this that I have found is the Kenpo "Point of Origin" principle. Everything starts from where it is right now. You never wind up a punch or pull back to get extra power for a hit. Just strike from where you are right now. And then from there, hit again and again.

Of course, human instinct tells us to wind up. It's a natural thing. I do it, many great martial artists I know do it... and often they're still so quick that you don't notice. But those who don't wind up end up like lightning.

Actually that's the difference between life and death on the street. How long do you take to hit? To block? To hit and block (simultaneously)?

Pretty much every movie you've ever seen with martial arts in it has been dramatised. Even Bruce Lee dramatised his martial arts to make it look good - though it was still incredibly practical. A lot of them use big motions, cool-looking moves that are all fancy and require lots of time to strike. But they just don't work. Because in the time you've taken to wind up for that hit - you've already been hit!

Karate in MMA

This is a fascinating video on the usage of karate techniques in MMA.
Slowed down, it really shows how Lyoto Machida uses his karate origins to great effect.

Note how he draws back to the hip when he strikes. But note also the hands move around a lot (sort of windmill) when he and the others kick. Something my instructor always warned me against (that being said, it's being done with such speed that it might be hard to take advantage of such an opening).

These are very simple techniques that are quite effective as attacks that you can draw upon when attacking an opponent. In high-stress real-life combat situations, you need extremely simple manoeuvres that require little thought and as little movement or as simple movement as possible. Complex moves simply get lost in the rush.

It's also interesting that a lot of the strikes seem over extended and wild from a martial artist's point of view - and yet they're undeniably quick and very effective.

The Art of Trapping in Jeet Kune Do

What an amazing video.
This is a tutorial by sifu Paul Vunak regarding Jeet Kune Do Trapping.
For anyone unfamiliar with Jeet Kune Do, it was the martial art created by Bruce Lee, and which he discusses in the book "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do" which means "The Way of the Intercepting Fist."
Funny enough, Bruce Lee later said he wished he hadn't named it that, because his style was best called, "The Style Of No Style."
That's a pretty cool philosophy - one I'll definitely be finding out more about. 

Practical Martial Arts

Welcome

Welcome to my blog on all things Martial Arts, combat, and even war.
This is a bit of a personal diary of my own learning of Martial Arts, and in particular, learning to use it with absolute practicality.
I have studied Martial Arts for some 19 years, and have found it of great benefit to all aspects of my life. But there have often been aspects of it that I have found lacking. Every martial art is strong in its own specialised area and often skips out training on other areas.
Furthermore, as actual warfare is no longer conducted with swords, spears and usually not fists (though it still happens on the street), martial arts can tend to drift away from absolute brutal practicality and into fancy, dramatic moves that look good as displays, because that is often what they are used for these days. Also, many martial arts are also sports, with rules that prevent certain moves (and with good reason). However, limiting these sorts of moves puts you at a disadvantage in a no-holds-barred fight, when your survival hangs in the balance. Even UFC is a sport, with its own set of rules, and its own artificial environment to fight in - though it may come the closest to an actual fight for survival.

In all these posts, take it as just my opinion, rather than an authoritative statement. I wouldn't say I'm a master of any martial art, though I am fairly versed in Tae Kwon Do and American Kenpo Karate (though I'm much better at the Tae Kwon Do). Again, this is my own attempt to learn more practical fighting techniques that suit me and possibly the friends I drill with.

There are many martial artists who have developed incredible systems, no doubt extremely practical. Bruce Lee is the foremost of these that I am aware, though there are many even dating back to antiquity. And I believe a lot can be learnt even from old texts on warfare (or perhaps I just enjoy reading them).

I'll be looking through all manner of videos, tutorials, texts, handbooks and whatever else I can find that is of use. And then I will see if I can learn and use it. Again, I'm only really interested in whatever I can directly use in a street fighting situation.

I hope you enjoy the journey. I know I will!