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WEATHER SPECIFIC TRAINING

The inclement weather of the last couple weeks is a good reminder that you may have to defend yourself in less than preferable conditions. If it's the ice and snow of the East Coast or the unrelenting rain of the West you must compensate for weather and terrain in your training. It is difficult to deliver the same power in a punch or kick when the ability to keep your footing is taken away. Also keep in mind that in a grappling situation that goes to the ground the use of your guard changes as your back and feet are sliding on the ice. Some of the ways to train for these conditions are: - Use walls, cars, doors and other objects as a place to post your back while you defend. Also practice pinning the attacker to the same objects. - With a partner push each other back and forth while maintaining control standing on a rug or towel on a slick surface. This practice helps you keep your footing or gain it back if you lose it. -Practice pushing and ground grappling in dress...
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Reactions Faster than Actions, Study Finds | LiveScience

The mythology of the Wild West suggests the person who draws first in a gunfight is usually the first to get shot, and new findings now hint at a reason why this might happen. Read more via  livescience.com
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THE HAND VS KNIFE PARADOX

Don't attack the weapon, attack the unit. I will use knife in this setting but just to clarify the knife is interchangeable with any bludgeoning weapon. The gun is in a category of it's own. Over the years I have noticed that some of the most successful knife defense strategies don't involve the knife in the equation. What do I mean be this? What I don't mean is ignore the knife and hope it goes away, because it won't. What I do mean is full concentration of your intent on the knife seems to be worse than ignoring it. When I teach experienced martial artist how to elevate what they already know to work in street reality situations the first order of business to put their intent in the right place. In order to defend yourself successfully in the street your intent has to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. When I train my military clients I explain it like this. Don't attack the soldiers, attack the commander. If you continuously engage the soldiers th...
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U.S. Army's Basic Hand To Hand Fighting of World War 1 (Silent film)

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This is interesting footage of basic hand to hand combative drills from WWI.
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THE KNIFE YOU DEFEND AGAINST IS THE KNIFE YOU WILL NEVER SEE

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KNIFE DEFENSE IS DECEIVING I have seen a lot of knife defense over the years. Some good, most astonishingly bad. The issue with knife fighting is most fighters don't understand is what I call the  Hand vs. Weapon Paradox . When you first learn to protect yourself from a strike with an empty hand you are taught to block the oncoming attack with the standard go to defense for your system. There is nothing wrong with this. As you advance in your training you generally find that blocking the strike is far less important than attacking the unit (attacker) as a whole. When I teach new students we work on breaking the habitual mindset of having to block an individual strike and attack the whole unit (attacker). This rule remains the same for defending against edges or bludgeoning weapons.  SO JUST DISARM THE KNIFE, RIGHT? The  Hand Vs. Weapon Paradox  (which I explain in an  earlier post ) holds that in order to defend against the...
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