TRAINING FOR COMBAT

It is important to realize that good fighting comes not from the repetitious practice of techniques, but the training in actually using them when you have to. This mostly comes from the drills we spend a lot of time with. We focus on drills like these for a good reason. They work. The following training methods are specifically for combat development. There are more to help you prepare for combat in other areas, such is wearing Geta on hard surfaces a lot, which helps balance and posture. Even being in good health will be beneficial to combat ability. But the truest power comes from the mind. So lets focus on that. The training will mostly be physical, but it is the mind that will really be getting the training. Circle Drill This helps a person prepare for attacks from all angles. The idea here is to react however feels natural, and not to think about it. A group of people stand around one in the center. They each take turns stepping in with an attack, and the person defends. After a while, you can have a couple attack at a time. Meditative Drill Have a partner stand before you. Get into a meditative state of mind while in a natural stance. Dont worry about what is to come. Clear the mind. When you appear ready, your partner can come in with a spontaneous attack. Defend against it in any way that comes naturally. Do not think about it. After your defense, get back into the meditative state of mind. Do not worry about if your defense was successful or not. It doesnt matter. Just relax. Then, when you appear ready again, your partner can attack again. Continue as long as you wish. Then switch and let the other person try. Spontaneous Attacks It really helps to have people attacking you at random times without you having any idea that theyre about to come at you. I used to always do this with students. Its one way to see if people are serious, because many get frustrated by it, while others love the challenge. I recommend finding several to train with and make an agreement to attack each other at any random time. Kumite Kumite is the practice fighting. There can be more to it than just a couple guys going at it for practice. When I have students do Kumite, I watch them very closely. If one attempts to throw the other, but fails, I may stop them by saying, Mate! Then I will ask, why did your throw attempt fail? I want to get them to really analyze their own skills. Also, if I see one get tackled, I may wait a moment, and then stop them and ask, why did you go down? Then I will show a way to easily counter such an attack and have them practice the technique a lot that day. The next time a tackle attempt is made, I should most likely see that move used. So use Kumite to test yourself, train yourself, and figure out what is wrong or missing.

Blindfold It would be of great benefit to train in combat while wearing a blindfold. But consider what you are ready for. Have your partner walk normally around you, not sneak around you. And they should go easy on you until you get better at this.

GENERAL CONDITIONING

Using Jars To Train Your Grip Find two jars with a top part that is about 6 inches or slightly less of a circumference. Or you can use anything that you can grip your fingers around. Fill them with water or sand, or any weight you can. Hold them out from your body at the sides. Simply hold them for a while. This will greatly strengthen your grip. As a variation of this, I live in the hills and have to gather wood for the fireplace all the time, so I often carry heavy split logs in my grip. Some of them are really hard to carry like that, which is the idea. Grip Training on a Tree Hold your body up on a tree branch. Add weights to your body for added difficulty. When you get really strong with this, you could try holding your body vertically. Conditioning the Shins This comes from the practice of Muay Thai. Roll a stick up and down on your shins daily to deaden the nerves. This makes them insusceptible to pain. Make sure you use some kind of ointment with this practice so they dont end up being extra damaged in the long run. Training the Eyes Look at a close object, like your finger or a pencil. The quickly look at a far off point. Then look back at the closer point. Go back and forth. Only move the eyes after the point comes into focus. Go as fast as you can. Training the Ears Sit in meditation. Listen to a far off sound. Extend the hearing further and further. Open the mind and ears. Dont let any sound distract you from hearing even further. Close your eyes so your vision doesnt distract you. Posture By maintaining a good posture all the time, it allows energy to flow more freely through the spine, and also is better on the back.

Makiwara This is the hand conditioning. Typically, it is done with a padding on a board at the first level, rope around the board for the 2nd, and the board itself for the 3rd. I dont like this. Our way is to fill a bag with beans (like in a bean bag) for the first level, attaching it to the board. Then stone pebbles for the 2nd, and steel ball bearings or something similar for the 3rd. Make sure the board is able to rock back a little when hit. The pebbles and such will conform to the shape of the hand better, which conditions it better, without having such a jarring effect, which can damage the wrists. Kicking over a Pole Put a pole in the ground at a reasonable height and do kicks over it. This is how I used to practice my spin kicks. The result was a whole lot of speed and power with plenty of balance. Kicking in Water-Great for power. Kicking a Tree-Conditions feet for kicking.

A Half-Log for the Feet Set a Half-Log on the ground and roll the feet back and forth over it. This will stimulate the nerve endings, leading to great health benefits for the entire body, plus an improvement in energy. Leaping Over a Rope Dont run and leap. Simply stand and leap. Set the rope one something so that if your feet catch it, then the rope simply falls, rather than tripping you onto your face. Leap forward, backward, and side to side. Any leaping you need to condition. This is also great for practicing your ukemi rolls over and under. We would leap over lined up people and roll at the other side of them. Back-flips Heres something a lot of people are dying to learn. How to do back-flips. The method of practice is quite simple. If you are by yourself, tie two ropes to a belt around your waist, and the other ends to tree branches. This will keep you from injury if you fall short. Itll send you right back to your feet. Also, if you have 2 partners, then have them hold the belt in such a way that they can follow your flip all the way over, and hold you up if you dont make it. A Trick for Pull-Ups Keep your legs straight. As you go up, bend them forward. As you come down, straighten them again. This will condition the abs greatly.

REACTION TRAINING

A very important and much neglected part of combat training is the training for reacting. We can have an arsenal of automatic riffles, but it won't help if someone gets the jump on us and we're not ready for that. And many carry a gun, but freeze at the critical moment. The key is training for reaction. I shall list several great methods that we use, and that work well. These are methods that go way back to the Ninja of feudal Japan and the Shaolin of China. They are well tested, and we have seen their effectiveness. Firsts let's take the example given above. A person must stand in a natural stance and clear the mind. Breathe. Get lost in the breath. When your partner sees that you're ready, s/he shall strike with whatever attack is chosen, which the defender will not be aware of. The defence must be natural and not thought about. If it fails, it doesn't matter. Each time, return to that state of mindlessness and breath. Then do it again. Also note the Geta (wooden sandals) on the defender's feet. They add to the difficulty and are very effective. They challenge balance a great deal. When you can do this easily while wearing those, you're well trained in reacting. Right from the start, it would greatly benefit you to spend some time every day with this next simple exercise. It requires no physical effort. Only patience, and not much. Suspend a coin (a penny with a hole nailed into the center works well for this) on a string at eye-level. Swing it just enough that on the back-swing it almost touches you, but not quite. Let it swing back and forth. Try not to blink. Don't flinch. This will condition you to not do so in combat, which can cause your reaction to be very counter-productive. It also conditions your ability to sense the approach of something or someone. And though for a while no success will seem to present itself, eventually something will occur that shows how effective the practice has been. An example may be a friend trying to surprise you while you sleep, but you snap up and pretzel the attacker. Now, let's get on with advanced forms of reaction conditioning. A blindfold shall find much use in the following. While blindfolded, have someone stand an arm's reach from you. When the person decides, they should slowly reach toward you. When you sense it, raise your hand. When good at that, have two people stand before you. One reaches. Point at the one you sense is reaching. Next level, have a person stand behind you. They should have a focus mit or something similar on their hand. Or just hold a target. The objective here is that when the person reaches, you should turn and strike the target. It will come toward you at various angles, so as to not be predictable. At a simpler level, swing a target on a rope forward, then let it swing back, and then strike as it comes back toward you from behind.

Sparring blindfolded really helps, once you're ready. And if you're able, wear a blindfold for a day every so often to really help get comfortable with sensing your way around without your sight. Circle drills are great for developing reaction to attacks. You need several people for this. They all form a circle around you and attack at random, and you must defend. But the circle doesn't break. Each person makes a move and then steps back. Rapid fire attacks are another great one. Stand with a partner within an arm's reach. One fires off rapid strikes while the other defends with just blocks. As skill increases, the attacks should increase in speed and force. IMPROVISED TRAINING EQUIPMENT

So many different kinds of training equipment. A person could spend a fortune trying to acquire everything needed. But most people don't have the money to spare on crazy prices. Perhaps the most important skill to learn is creativity in improvising. We stress this skill greatly, as it is better to get out there and build your own equipment than it is to be lazy and throw money all over the place. Here I shall give examples of ways that we improvise in our training equipment. Below are listings of different materials that are easy to come by, and the various ways they can be used. String & Rope Get as must as you can of this. Its use goes on and on. Most of the following materials can be used with string and rope to create various useful training implements. As for rope being used by itself, here are some tips... - To help with stretching. - Thrown over a tree branch or whatever else, it can be tied to some sort of heavy weight and tied to the feet for lifting, or used in other weight lifting exercises. This should save you money on a universal gym. - Leap over it. Tie one side to something, while resting it (unattached) over some object (or have someone loosely hold it). If you don't jump over it well, it'll fall with you, so as not to cause a serious injury. - Climbing. Old Socks Washed, of course. Fill socks with pebbles or sand and you'll have something that has many uses. - A makiwara striking bag, or iron fist bag. - A conditioning tool, used to strike at various areas of the body. - Many suspended from a tree, used as moving striking targets, which train accuracy and reaction, while conditioning the parts of the body that are striking.

- A single sand or pebble filled sock could also be suspended for training speed in kicking, or put high for spin kicks, teaching accuracy and balance. - Weighted down with rocks or whatever else, socks can be tied around the ankles like ankle weights. Dowel Rods These things have so many uses. Who doesn't know of ways to use them? - Strike against the body to condition. Start out with it padded. - Hanbo, or a 3' stick (in catalogs often called an Escrima, even though Escrima is a Philopino Martial Art). - Padded, one could be used like the foam bats shown in catalogs, which are mostly used to train kicking with a partner. Or use two. - With a partner, practice evasion by having the other person try hitting you with the sticks. You can evade or block. - Attach a weight (like a rock) to one end. Have you seen the Goju Ryu weights? Use it like that. Trees Trees are everywhere. Unfortunately, some live in places where trees are lacking. But for those who have them around, here are some tips. - Use a branch as a pull-up bar. - Wrap something around a tree (like an old shirt) for padding and kick it. - Climbing. Also, use some sort of weighting when climbing as fas as you can. - Hanging leaves make good targets for high kicks.

Stones - Grip your fingers around a couple to help train the grip. - Use them as weights. - Padded, use to condition the body by striking them, but only with certain attacks, such as the forearm and knife hand. Logs - Suspended from a tree branch by a rope, a log would make an excellent striking target and conditioning tool. - Carry one on the shoulders while running uphill.

Padding?? I certainly have mentioned padding a lot. But what are ya gonna pad things with? A favorite method of mine is to wrap a folded towel around something and tying the two ends with string. Pretty simple. Another idea is to use an old shirt with sleeves to tie it. Rope itself also works, though with less of a padding. Also, for the towel idea, it helps if you can fill it with gravel to add to the conditioning effect. Another great padding is straw or weeds gathered into a bushel, with something wrapped around them to tie them tightly. This works great for making a Makiwara board.

Mats? We don't usually need mats for anything, as the ground is soft enough. In fact, we'll even take advanced students to practice certain things on blacktop (like a basketball court.