Incorporating unarmed combat into your regimen....

[TimSheetz]

Post deleted by John_Clements

[Jay Vail]

Tim, I guess that post came on stronger than I meant it to. (I am really too opinionated for my own good.) I agree that it is a good thing to know wrestling. !

[TimSheetz]

HI Jay,

I thought that I may be reading it in a way that you may not have intended. That is the dilemma of the written word.

But it is not a question so much of how much we agree or disagree.. the act of the discussion is a beneficial one, as it surfaces thoughts and ideas that maybe someone hasn't considered.. or maybe it reconfirms their thinking about training one way or another.

All in all a good discussion!:-)

Thanks,

Tim Sheetz

[Stuart McDermid]

Hi Guys,

Trying to get some traffic here again. How many of you do falling, rolling and handspringing work in your training? We do none in the gym during the week but in my own little "sometimes weekend" group we do quite a bit. Being confortable with the ground is a useful thing because one of the best things you can do when being thrown is to get down there first, remove the resistance expected from you by the agent and as such break his balance. From here you can either pull them down or if you are really good/lucky trip them up and stand up yourself.
Cheers,
Stu.

[Shane Smith]

This is an interesting point Stu. Gene Tausk taught a class on this very subject recently at the Intl. Event.

At ARMA Virginia Beach,we don't practice falls and the like so much as actually incorporate them in the training as a matter of allowing the techniques to follow their natural course to completion(we went slowly in the beginning to learn HOW to fall but now do most everything with intent).For instance,when training in armour or simply wrestling,we carry the throws and takedowns to completion and then close to attain a superior position on the grounded opponent that would allow immediate victory by way of a strike or wrench of a joint as seen in the source-texts. I have found that actually taking the fall in freeplay,armed or empty-handed,really gives you a much greater ability to recover smoothly and with agility in those situations than training to fall only in the context of falling drills as I was taught in my years as an Asian stylist.

[Jaron Bernstein]

The ability to fall safely is critical in my view. I have taken a number of spectacular bicycle crashes (complete flip over the front handlebars) on concrete/asphalt and come away with little more than bruises and some embarrasment . I have also seen people who don't know how to land safely, when thrown, get injured fairly easily.

[Stuart McDermid]

Hi All,

Shane makes a good point in that grappling gently is the best way to learn to fall. I know of people with excellent breakfalling and rolling skills that can't actually access them when they are being thrown!

Too much training of breakfalls in isolation from their application is the cause of this IMHO.

I would have to ask why you would just train breakfalls when you could be training a throw and a counter around the skill anyway. (Except in the very beginning). Training against resistance is the best way...as usual.
Cheers,
Stu.

[Jaron Bernstein]

Hi Stu,

I agree that it is important to make you landing applicable to being thrown (as opposed to just doing tumbling exercises). I will say that doing roll falls over obstacles and on various surfaces is a good warm up exercise by itself. In our Shuai-Chaio class we typically:

1. Stretch out
2. Do forms and postures
3. Do solo break falls
4. Do paired throwing drills with a compliant partner (good throwing of a body for the thrower and landing for the throwee)
5. Free sparring.

In the ARMA context our workout consists of:

1. Waster drills in the air
2. Working pre-planned techniques at progressively faster speeds.
3. Free play.

I am trying to get my fellow chapter members to take up falling skills for the simple reason that this is an art that includes all ranges, and it is hard to defend against a zornhau while you are on your back.

Jaron
ARMA-Columbus