Control. In the martial arts world this is used to describe your ability to come as close as you can to your target without actually hitting him. In my Tae Kwon Do days, we took great pride in being able to come as close to the target as possible without making contact. This demonstrated our mastery over our bodies and our ability to "save a life, rather than take it."Little did I know, it was doing more harm than good.
To become more effective go here: http://www.theselfdefenseco.com/
Competitions were point tournaments. I would actually get penalized and disqualified for hitting someone hard in the body. The result was INEFFECTIVE TECHNIQUE.
Practicing control + Non contact sparring = NO EFFECTIVENESS
In my real life in 1988 I found myself in a real situation where I was locked up with a guy and my shots to his body had little effect, and while his friends proceeded to work my back, the only thing I could do was escape. At that point I was a little pissed and disappointed. And it was at that moment I did something about it (I went traditional!!!)
To discover how "traditional" training works in the modern world go here: http://www.theselfdefenseco.com/
Makiwara training, heavy bag work and bogu (traditional sparring gear) were the tools I used to gain real power. Sure, I never really won too many point tournaments, but who cared, my technique was REALLY WORKING.
Flash forward, kick boxing and the UFC, changed the way martial arts are looked at in the modern word, but self defense is still practiced like point sparring. You mast use control when you practice with a partner. This is an extremely DEADLY mistake. When you are stressed you will practice how you train. If you train to pull your punches in certain situations YOU WILL pull your strikes when the moment of truth arrives.
To be ready for your moment of truth go here: http://www.theselfdefenseco.com/
To train effectively you MUST go 100%. This is the only way to develop power, effectiveness and of course confidence that what you are doing will actually do some damage. The only way to do that is to train with NO regard for your target.
Even at the Training Center, we still do 80% of our training in Self Defense with pads and dummies. We rarely train in these methods against an unprotected partner (get your mind out of the gutter).
To see how we do this go here: http://www.theselfdefenseco.com/
We use the Training System as the only method of self defense preparation. We supplement our training with grappling but that is only an extra. The real stuff is here: http://www.theselfdefenseco.com/
For self defense you need FOCUS, not control. Save your self control for NOT over doing during the holidays.
Enjoy the upcoming holiday,
Damian Ross
CEO, The Self Defense Company
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1 comment:
Hi Damian,
I appreciate the article about control, it's place in sport karate, and how dangerous it can be to think of that particular practice as preparation for an actual life threating encounter. A good analogy in a speech by Rex Applegate exists in the training of police officers in the use of a hand gun. As stated by Col. Applegate "It is my opinion, that most of your have been "brainwashed" into believing that the Weaver (two handed sighted stance) is the only way to shoot a handgun in combat. Actually, the Weaver was developed as a means to achieve greater expertise in the sport of combat shooting. Unfortunately it breaks down under stress and instintive shooter reactions will take place in close quarter, life threating combat situations."
Col. Applegate goes on to explain the point and shoot methodology that takes advantage of natural instintive reactions. The article is Col. Rex Applegates Presentation to Police Firearms Trainers on Feb. 24 1998 in Seattle Washington.
It is important that persons training in martial arts not confuse the sport with actual self defense. Keep trying to set the record straight.
Larry
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