Monday, February 17, 2014

Head Movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSX0PCQXiO4&sns=fb


So the title of this video is 'How to win a street fight with head movement" ..... Aaaand ... I am not going to comment on that.

The reason why I'm posting it is because I think it illustrates quite well how 'defensive' play is not the same as 'waiting'.

What I notice is how our man is setting up the rhythm, giving opportunities or openings for the hitter to take, and thus controlling the timing and giving himself a far better chance of evading the punches that if he just kinda hung out and tried to read his opponent's intent.

He's an active participant in creating his opponent's choices, and he does this by footwork, the occasional shove, and then with head movement. This means the guy who is trying to hit him is behind in the timing and forced to react to him as opposed to the other way around.

The subtlety is that he is not moving around in a predictable rhythm, he KNOWS from obvious previous experience where the probable next shots are going to come from if he moves in certain ways, and he calibrates the rhythm to his opponent so he himself is less readable.

It's the same with swordplay, though perhaps even more important when evasion is so crucial to one's wellbeing.

Perhaps 'creating' and 'waiting' might be better terms than 'offense' and 'defense' ..?


1 comment:

FSD said...

Nice video there. And, aside from the juvenile nature of the guy's videos, he definitely knows what he's doing, and looks like a pretty good teacher. Hopefully his attitude and such is just a marketing tactic, but some of what he recommends (regarding hitting first in a bar fight, etc.) is pretty irresponsible. Anyway...

I once had an excellent boxing coach who told me something that connected to what I was beginning to see in stick/sword fighting, and led to a real revelation for me, related to all physical self defense. It was the beginning of our first session, he was getting ready for a fight, and asked if I would do a couple of rounds just trying to hit him. 3 minutes, and I don't think I hit him a single time in the face. I would continuously JUST miss, or he'd cover/catch/parry. I was amazed at how difficult it was to hit him, and how he seemed to know exactly what I was going to do.

So I asked him...how is it that you know exactly what I'm going to do?!? He said something like, "I don't. I have no idea. I just cover what's most likely to get hit, or move to where you can't hit me."

It's as you said regarding the video. He knows where the *probable* next shots *are going to come from*. And, *if he moves in certain ways*. I started calling this "Zone Theory" and the application of it the "Covered Blast".

If you move to a place that limits your opponent's options, and you know where he is and where you are, then you know the limited angles/lines that the attack can come in on. So as soon as your opponent moves, then you simply move to a place where those angles are negated, or you cover the limited potential targets. It's so much easier than attempting to determine exactly what your opponent is going to do (impossible) and matching a particular defense to that specific attack (exceedingly difficult at full speed/power).

When you combine offensive techniques with your evasions/covers, then you've got your covered entry, covered follow ups, and a covered exit. It makes it seem impossible for your opponent to hit you, but pretty easy for you to hit him.