Class Retrospective

This post is where we look back over key points and teachings that arose from the most previous class session:


EVASION AGAINST STICK -
The key thing to focus on in this exercise is to move at the most last moment possible. All movements should be quick and precise, moving the whole body at once by moving from the legs. The aim is to have the opponent think they have successfully made contact with and when they do realise they have not, they are either on their ass or looking around for you (you have either counter attacked or escaped from the danger area). To be able to do this effectively you need to begin with a calm, relaxed mind, this will give a calm, relaxed body and allow for quick fluid body movment.

The stick (or any other similar weapon) only needs to miss you by centremetres (it can even make contact in some instances but thats a whole other post entry!) meaning that your evasion movement does not need to be much to be effective.

Some students find it hard to relax and are really jumpy and jittery when doing this exercise. The consequences are movements that are too slow, uncoordinated and entirely unsuccessful. I understand it can be quite daunting to have someone swinging a 3 foot stick at your head but this essentially comes back to a subconscious fear of getting hit (again a whole other future post entry). We are doing this exercise with safety weapons, in a controlled and monitored environment, with an training partner who personally does not really want to cause you harm. This does not mean we take this exercise lightly, it should be undertaken with the seriousness of any other weapon defence technique, but use the safe training environment as an opportunity to practice having a calm, relaxed mind. Continuous training of this evasion exercise in this way will ensure that if you do encounter this type of attack in a real situation you will be much comfortable relaxing the mind and body and dealing with the situation.