For the past 2-3 lessons, we've been working on my pressurer style. At the moment, I'm probably the only guy without a truly defined style in the class.
- Owen is an angler/runner with counter-punching with a long reach and a loose game.
- Jeremiah is a counter puncher who hangs back and picks his punches while locking down on his defense.
- Chris is a counter puncher relying on accuracy and timing.
For me, I don't quite know what I am as I switch from style to style depending on my opponent. Psychologically however I'm most comfortable when hanging back and counter punching but at the same time I enjoy taking the initiative which doesn't quite gel together. These two factors lead to an inconsistent gameplan and strategy where without mastery of either, lead to an unhealthy rojak lacking coherence.
Hence our decision to try working a new style, one that I only knew in theory: the pressurer.
Here's a description of the pressurer style from Rodney:
The Pressurer Style is recognized by strategic forward pressure. Pressurers are the battle tanks of the fighting styles; Pressurers have presence, guts and are fearless. They know how to control space between them selves and their opponents and are always poised to take advantage of any weakness the opponent presents.
Owen's style particularly gave me the most problems with my regular style (if there is one). He stays right out of firing range, in fact slightly past rimshot and waits till I engage forward and then punches me with a few quick combos while circling off. Owen controls the distance where I cannot reach him but should I lunge forward, he would step off and angle. His guard is very loose which breaks the basic rule of CMD of keeping a tight defense but it works for him because of his reach advantage and nobody having an effective cutting-off strategy to place pressure on him.
I didn't quite understand this until last week when I tried to play his style of game while sparring with Albert.
At first Albert played this annoying game to examine my problems. Despite Albert's shorter reach than Owen's, when playing my normal game, I was unable to take the initiative. When I tried to, I just got shot in the face. It became rather funny as whenever I tried to engage and punch I would almost immediately get smacked from an awkward angle even when I was doing a reasonable diving board punch. It was obvious then I was having a particular issue against this strategy using my regular game. Albert told me to try cutting him off but it wasn't really sinking in as I thought I WAS trying to cut him off. Apparently it wasn't active enough.
Then I tried to play Owen's game. I found that having your hands loose makes it easy to pick targets and swing them in unpredictable angles. They don't have much strength in them but what they sacrifice in power they gain in annoyance factor. The game only falls down when there's a lack of space or you're facing someone who particularly can pile on the pressure. Albert showed me how this was done and I realized you needed to have a lot more conviction in moving forward if you were trying to pressure. Being a pressurer requires a mindset to say, "Yes I may get hit but it's not going to be bad and I will actively corner you and make you pay." You have to want to OWN the space your opponent is having and not be furtive when moving forward or hesitant when hit.
When I tried implementing this, I noticed a marked improvement. Yes I was still unable to do much when he had a lot of space to maneuver but once I had closed off the space into a corner and was active about it, I fared much better as the loose defense crumbled under pressure.
There is still plenty of room for improvement and possibly the two important things to work on for now is:
- Tighter defense especially with the diving board
- Maintaining relaxed awareness especially when piling on the pressure. Remembering it as a fun game (and playing Michael Jackson music) does wonders
and I definitely want to see how it looks like on video!
While I still don't quite know which fighter type I am, heck I'm enjoying the journey in finding out!
Here are some videos of our lesson last night! My lower back was still a bit injured so I was a bit more upright than desired.
We have finally moved on from the physical aspect of CMD to the strategy aspect and for the past few weeks have been delving into Fight Compass. To be honest, when I first started CMD, I didn't really give much attention about the strategy aspect. As an Aikidoka, we were in a way drilled in a school of thought in which the technique is ALWAYS right and if it doesn't work, you're doing it wrong. After all, who were we to question the great masters who had such and such lineage and had trained every day to come up with the technique?
Aikido in its highly controlled environment where the boundaries of nage and uke are clearly drawn, it is hard to develop any sense of strategy. You know you're safe, your attacker is co-operative and attacking you in a pre-determined fashion or at least in a range of pre-determined attacks.
CMD on the other hand is in its very nature much more chaotic and random. It is suddenly ok to feint attacks, vary your rhythm, attack from odd angles and in fact is even encouraged! This was quite a big departure from my 16 years or so of experience in Aikido in which I thought I knew at least the fundamentals of a fight, but realized I didn't know two hoots about it.
When I started CMD, I focused heavily on developing techniques, over-analyzing things and thinking consciously in sparring, "What technique am I going to do now? I'm going to do a jab, jab, cross now and then come off his side and etc etc...". Funny thing is, even with all this thinking and research...I was often still wrong (as Rodney King pointed me to an old post of mine that referenced to a site that described the CM Defense all wrong). You could even see this in the style of the first few blog posts which concerned almost purely on technique.
Rodney also said that lawyers also have the hardest time in picking up CMD as we always over-analyze things when really, it's not the brain that knows but your body that knows. I guess I had exceedingly tried to reduce what I had learnt into some form of text where the lawyer in me felt that it was more correct just because it was written (CAUSE THE BOOK SAID SO!).
Rodney also said that lawyers also have the hardest time in picking up CMD as we always over-analyze things when really, it's not the brain that knows but your body that knows. I guess I had exceedingly tried to reduce what I had learnt into some form of text where the lawyer in me felt that it was more correct just because it was written (CAUSE THE BOOK SAID SO!).
The way I see it, CMD's techniques are a base in which your strategy flows out from. Techniques are like learning the moves in chess or rather sharpening your sword. How you string the moves together in a chess game or use your sword is something entirely different. You may have the sharpest sword, but what's the point of it if you have no idea how to use it? Similarly, I would have my bets on someone who has had no formal training in martial arts but has fought on the streets to stay alive against someone who has just trained for years in a traditional dojo.
Sparring is therefore in my opinion the pre-requisite in developing a true understanding of a fight and strategy. Fight Compass made me realize that as I found an immediate improvement in my game over my fellow classmates who prior to this were more or less equal. Now they've caught on to the Fight Compass syllabus as well and things are in equilibrium again but it is amazing how a few key principles and strategies can alter the quality of your sparring game and is a testament to the importance of strategy.
That being said, that doesn't mean technique isn't important. When I first saw the Fight Compass DVDs, I absorbed it mentally but couldn't really apply it in my game as I did not have the necessary technique and tools to do so. I couldn't counter punch because I did not have the timing down right. I could not angle because I could not circle step fast. I could not run because my footwork sucked and I could not pressure because my defense was full of holes. So technique opened the doors to strategy!
I'll post soon with some videos of us implementing Fight Compass in our classes.
Monkey Mayhem 2010 brought with it many life lessons. I had expected it to be a great way to learn new techniques, refine existing ones, spar with new people and meet world class trainers from around the region but it turned out to be so much more.
First of all, it was a misconception for me to think of these seminars as an accumulation of techniques. Only a handful of new material was covered but it was the greater understanding of the fundamentals and more importantly the mental dimension that it provided that made the seminar a true gem.
I'll delve into the physical and technical aspects of Monkey Mayhem at a later time, but I wish to put down what I felt were the most important lessons gleaned from this short weekend which is already affecting the way I perceive the world and how I do things.
Look to the outside, not inside when sparring.
Rodney gave us a talk that wouldn't have been out of place in a Kung-fu movie: "When sparring, we should look to the outside not to the inside." Luckily, unlike the Tao/Zen/Kung-Fu masters who would leave us with that cryptic phrase, he further elaborated in that when we are sparring, our minds tend to engage with internal dialogue that cloud our judgment.
For instance, it is very hard to control emotions. Emotions of fear, being overwhelmed, the drive to win, excitement all are common emotional responses to the demanding nature of a fight. The traditional martial arts view of this has been to learn to calm your emotions, to control it and prevent it from clouding reason. Coming from a background of Aikido, this had been drilled into me and yet I still found it really hard to contain such feelings when placed in a stressed, chaotic situation. When trying to apply the techniques I had learnt from Aikido, it was a constant battle to contain my emotions and at best it would only hold for a few brief moments until I got hit again and would have to start the process anew. Perhaps I haven't had enough training. Perhaps I haven't been training properly. I've been doing this for close to 17 years, surely I would have some semblance of control? Or perhaps I've been doing it wrong.
Rodney's point of view is that rather than trying to fight the emotions, you just had to accept it and ride it out but without attaching any value on it. If you feel fear, accept that you are fearful. Observe it but don't start attaching value to it by trying to examine the reasons you are fearful. Internal dialogue is the worst enemy of a fighter. Talk such as, "This guy is a black belt, he's going to kill me that's why I'm scared" only serves to worsen the situation. He also mentioned that lawyers have particular problems in doing this and I totally agree.
While sparring people, here's a sampling of some thoughts that went through my mind:
"I hope I'm doing OK and showing a good game"
"Now I should do some CM2"
"Oh no, his CM1 is tight, my combinations aren't getting through, what now?"
"Holy crap, he's fast, what to do what to do!"
"I'm a TnT yet I suck worse than some of the students here, this looks really bad on me, I'm supposed to know this material better."
"I think I should counterattack now, I don't want to appear too passive."
Instead of having my focus outside, I was too busy thinking of irrelevant things. Thoughts that made me fearful, scared and embarrassed. It was preventing me from having a good time and enjoying it as a learning experience. It was also visibly affecting my game resulting in a very tense posture and being oblivious to what my opponent was actually doing which compounded the problem. I didn't even realize what I was having such a chatty internal dialogue within me until Rodney had talked about it. For me was a huge light bulb moment. Once I learnt to let go, the sparring became a whole lot better. It didn't stop me from being getting owned, but my game was definitely tons better and more importantly, I HAD A LOT MORE FUN.
Be a more internal driven person rather than an externally driven person
Interestingly the other important lesson I had seemed to be the opposite of my first lesson but it actually gels together pretty well.
I met a really awesome guy from Jakarta by the name of Yuri, a CM Trainer and we had a long chat in the changing room. One thing he said really drove home and it went something along the lines of this:
"I used to be a very external guy, now I'm learning to be more internal and I am a lot happier. Rodney is an internal sort of guy.""What do you mean?""I used to be the sort of guy who would constantly do things because I was worried about what other people would think rather than focusing on what I really wanted."
This does not mean you become a selfish prick but it's more about being true to yourself and not doing things just to please other people. Life is such in that if you let people take advantage of you, most of the time they will.
As is most wisdom, this seems blatantly obvious but it really made me examine what I was doing. I was constantly stressing over how something will offend someone or how it would make this person upset. This often really stressed me up. As a lawyer, most of the time, someone's needs will conflict with another person and there isn't always a way to make both sides happy and I have to accept that. I just need to do what is right even if it may make someone unhappy. Or even between myself and my client, my client will sometimes set unreasonable deadlines or demands and I will do my utmost to make them happy to the detriment of my health and sanity. There is a point you need to sit down and think, "What do I need?" rather than be a slave to other people's wants. I am my own person too.
The important thing is to make sure you have a strong set of principles to abide by to back this lest you become some sort of monster who constantly only thinks about himself. The key is to do what you believe is right and not to be swayed by other people's opinions or so called 'needs'. Life is too short to not live for yourself as well.
A quick reminder on things I need to work in coming out of the Monkey Mayhem 2010.
Learning to relax during sparring.
Focus on the external not listen to your internal dialogue when sparring.
Takedowns we learnt during the MMA core. Had issues with doing the knee takedown.
Had particular problems in trying to breakthrough in CM1. No strategy feels like I am sparring without any direction or aim.
Need to relearn hunchback stance to keep eyes looking forward. Too common that I end up looking at the floor.
Moving backwards to my lead side.
Did not know how to enter into the one up one down position from a punching perspective.
Learn not to be overly worried about what other people think or feel. As long as I conduct myself with respect for all my partners I should not feel bad that I am holding them back or that I'm getting a technique slower than others.
More fluid use of CM2
- Getting one underhook and one overhook.
- Secure your hands together and bring the person in tight.
- Depending on whichever hand is on top, the direction the hand is pointing to is the direction you'll take down the person.
- Turn your hips into him with a step and throw him over your hips. You want to do this in one smooth motion.
- You can also consider stepping your leg out and placing your ankle near his ankle to further trip him up as he goes over.
Reuben's solution:
As he turns his hip, stepping to the outside of the leg that he just moved to turn his hips to off balance and throw him.
Owen's solution:
As he turns his hip, jam it with your hand so that he cannot turn while you are free to punch him with the free-hand.
Albert also suggested something a lot simpler.
Albert's solution:
Drop your hips lower which lowers your center of gravity.
We also worked on several attack options from the sprawl where we have one hand wrapped around the head. This included several chokes such as the guillotine and another one where one of your partner's hands are wrapped around his neck and is used to choke him.
Chilling out during Albert's debrief (those gloves are comfortable!):
And here's a disturbingly happy shop of Jeremiah grappling with Owen. As Patrick says, "It's not gay as long you don't make eye contact!"
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