The scene that got me so pumped, the following day I joined a Karate club!
Only a couple of weeks left until I put on my other hat.
Most of the time you read my blog posts or attend my gym for the fitness info, but before I was getting people strong, I was training like a maniac in the martial arts.
I got pretty good at it too!
A huge part of my own training motivation revolves around being fast, strong and agile enough so that if shit comes to shovel, I’m well prepared. And while I have accumulated somewhere in the region of 25 years worth of training under a variety of instructors in various martial arts systems I don’t teach any of this, other than to a handful of private students. Basically because being able to effectively apply many of the martial arts tactics in the real world requires hours and hours of practice.
In my life, I run a business, coach a stack of classes, clients and groups and have a family to spend time with. So I don’t have the motivation to put in the hours any more. I’d rather be home mucking about with the kids!
So what do I train and what is it I’ll be teaching on the Self Defence Course in a couple of weeks?
In short, when I train for self defence, I hang the bag and I drill heavy hits. Really heavy hits. I focus on the body mechanics required to create the best leverage and get my bodyweight into every strike. I have three strikes that I train with umpteen variations that can be applied from each of the three. I train a couple of kicks too, but not as much as the hand/arm strikes. I also practice two defences.
And that s about it.
But most of the time, this is all that’s needed.
Self defence is about stopping an attack. It’s not about scoring points, it’s not about punishing the attacker. It’s about getting the most effect in the shortest time frame and getting home to cuddle the missus.
There’s no medals. No glory. No refs.
Simplicity is the key to getting out of trouble quick.
And that’s what I train. It’s what Mick Coup, founder of the Core Combatives (C2) system teaches, and it’s the essence of Pat O’Malley’s Rapid Response system. Two lads that I’ve spent time with and hold in high regard. Both teach from experience and their core methods revolve around the idea of simple, effective principle based training.
Mick Coup talking about the punch
If it’s principle based, it has universal applications. If it’s simple it can be kept sharp even without regular training, although the more training you do, the better you will become. Simple techniques built upon solid body mechanics and supported with simple tactics. And that’s exactly what I’ll be teaching on Sunday 29th July.
One question that always comes up is “why don’t you kick more?”
This was asked when I taught the Rapid Response knife defence module in Tramore a while ago, the guy I’m using to illustrate the point is a classically trained dancer and also a Thai Boxer, so he can kick.
I’ve given him my arm to hold onto and all I’m doing is moving him around while he attempts to carry out my simple instruction:
Kick me as hard as you can!
Here’s what happened:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyYTehu2ROQ]
That doesn’t mean kicking doesn’t work, just that hand strikes are far more efficient.
And in the one day course, we’ll break down the strikes and rebuild them to ensure that when you hit, you hit with everything you have,
The course is running on July 29th at Wild Geese from 1000 – 1600. Get further details and book a spot CLICK HERE
See you there
Regards
Dave Hedges www.WG-Fit.com
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