Headlocks and Hierophants

The Writings of WW Stevens

Teaching Transgender Students

June 3, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been doing martial arts for a long time, and I’ve had to come out as queer in a variety of spaces. I don’t consider myself transgender in the manner you think when you hear the word. I’m nonbinary. My gender expression is fluid, because of this I am afforded more respect and restraint by others than is given to my transgender friends. 

Even with this, I have experienced my share of violence in the martial arts world. I have been threatened with property damage, sexual assault, and death all for being a little fruity. And given my unique vantage point, I can tell you that trans folks have it pretty poorly in the martial arts world. Even with safe schools and organizations, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy road to walk.

Transgender people are wonderful. How amazing is it that someone loves manhood/womanhood so much that they risk state-sanctioned violence? Some people would say it’s courageous. Others say, don’t think of it as courage, think of it as purely necessary. Either way I have only met a few transgender people I didn’t like, and I’ve met a lot.

Not only do I train multiple martial arts, but I have lived a life that encourages and sometimes requires travel. Work, education, and family have moved me around the United States. Training and competition have taken me to different states and even across the Atlantic. And going into the future, I have no plans to stop traveling. This has given me a very broad and diverse view of martial arts and how LGBTQ+ people engage with it.

I have condensed my experience into a few basic ideas.

Trans people face five times more violence than their cisgender counterparts.1

I would argue that trans folks are in greater need of self defense and martial arts because of this. But you’re not always going to find them in these spaces. Martial arts gyms often have big loud people who look and sound like the kind of folks who enact violence against transgender folks. So it can be difficult for trans and nonbinary people to feel safe enough to join a gym.

And you might say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But if a trans woman or some “blue haired liberal” walked into your gym, would you really give them the benefit of the doubt? Because if they’ve walked in and tried a class, they’ve given you that benefit. They’ve taken that first step, can we take a step towards them?

Trans people often have to defend their existence. Don’t make it a debate.

This means that they are very tired of having the same conversations. So they probably don’t want to ‘debate’ you about some aspect of trans identity. They may be comfortable answering some questions, but you shouldn’t feel entitled to their time in this regard. If you are looking for good resources on the topic, ask them, or shoot me a message. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you follow me on one platform or another. So don’t be afraid to reach out. But don’t assume that everyone can expertly explain everything.  I mean, how many karateka actually know the history of their art, or how many jiujitsu players know the full story of BJJ’s development?                

On top of this, many of us see our kwoons/dojo/gyms as places of respite. While we may seek discomfort in the form of training, this discomfort exists for our self improvement. We’re not there to deal with the politics of our society. We’re there to learn. And this is true for most people, not just trans and queer people.

So make the choice to create a welcoming atmosphere where everyone can be as they are. Allow people to come to you as individuals, see them as such, treat them as such.

Trans people can not always utilize the full extent of violence that a martial art might advocate. So be prepared to discuss this issue.

This isn’t to say that they shouldn’t learn these arts. All people who look for self defense should know how to respond in stand, clinch, ground, and weapons scenarios. But trans people, like other queer folks, will often be perceived differently when legal forces are involved. So what might be treated as a cut-and-dry self defense case for a cis woman may not be the case for a trans woman. Currently only 20 states and the District of Columbia have outlawed the “LGBTQ+ panic” defense. This is a legal argument that attempts to reduce the assailant’s criminal liability by pointing to the victim’s gender and sexual orientation as a reason to panic or fear for their safety. It’s not a wash in and of itself, but it is used as part of a broader argument in the defendant’s case. So even if you do protect yourself and the assailant is brought up on charges, there may be no justice given.

On top of this, consider how nerve wracking it can be to deal with the police as a cisgendered person. Now consider that this person who has an enormous amount of power over you, qualified immunity, and the ability to make you disappear, may utterly hate you. And there’s nothing you can do in that moment to make them stop hating you. Some of you reading this may know the feeling already due to race, ethnicity, or religious backgrounds.

So trans people often have to find more ways to de-escalate, defend themselves using ‘soft’ techniques, or engage in bystander intervention. The Traction Project has a solid self defense curriculum built around these ideas. They are a great resource for anyone looking at LGBTQ+ oriented self defense training. And what they teach can even be integrated into what you already teach.

If you mess up, it’s okay. Just try again.

Just like in the practice of martial arts, we will mess up sometimes. We may accidentally misgender someone, or we may just speak ignorantly on a topic we know very little about. This might upset someone, but what’s important is to simply apologize and try again. And when I say ‘try,’ I do mean you have to make an effort to do better.

Don’t seek forgiveness, give an apology. I’m setting those up as separate things for a reason. Sometimes we ask for forgiveness, but we push the other person to forgive. It can lead to tension and doesn’t always help. Instead just give your apology for however you messed up and say what you’ll do better. Of course, you don’t have to only use this method of apology with trans folks. It’s a pretty solid strategy in general.

If someone in the gym is using transphobic language, nip it in the bud.

You don’t have to be angry or forceful about correcting language. However when someone is using language that makes others feel unsafe, you should show leadership and ask them not to continue that behavior. As an instructor you have power in your school to make change and can do so gently. This also applies to advanced students or even just students who have the right blend of patience and grit.

Martial arts teach us to deal with discomfort and frustration. But we don’t need to add undue stress when the rest of the world is so stressful. I know many instructors who don’t like politics to be discussed in their gym because it can be such a quagmire. And I understand their reasoning. Following that train of thought, that’s why we should be prepared to expect our students to treat each other with respect and kindness. Life in society is inherently political, so politics will follow us. But that doesn’t mean we have to abide by the black and white norms of government politics. You create the culture in your gym, along with your students.

And this doesn’t mean you can’t have humor involving queer folks in your gym. But is it about laughing with us, or at us? Trans folks usually have great senses of humor, very dark, very dry. But the earlier they are in their journey, the more vulnerable life can feel. So try and empathize. Trans people are not out here policing your language like some sort of corporate Democrat speech writer. If they ask you not to say something, it’s probably for a good reason. Be willing to not know all the answers, and listen to the people who trust in you enough to speak with you.

Transgender people in competitions are not the issue we make it out to be.

There are very few transgender people in our society. As far as we can tell, transgender folks make up one to two percent of the population.2 In 2024, there were roughly 7 million active martial arts practitioners in the US population.3 That’s about 2.14% percent of our population, using a conservative 326.7 million as our metric. But this could be a smaller percentage, as the Census estimated 340 million as of 2024. Obviously there is some overlap in the transgender community and the martial arts community, but it’s not a circle. Personally, I have had the great fortune of meeting many LGBTQ+ martial artists through open mats, seminars, and camps. I’ve even learned from transgender black belts in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

Some of the trans practitioners I know want to compete in their art, some don’t. And I do think they have the right to compete against other fighters. And I’m not going to get into the science of transitioning and athletic performance. There are plenty of articles on that.

What I know is that combat is one of the freest forms of expression in the world. No fight or match is the same and every time you get in there you are the only person who can be blamed for your performance. And competition teaches you in ways that light sparring and technique practice can’t. So yes, there are trans people in jiujitsu and Muay Thai and boxing and all these other sports. Fencing has competitions with male and female categories, but many meets are coed and women routinely beat men. So there’s no reason to stop a trans person from competing in a gender category in such a sport. And yet there have been fencers unwilling to compete against trans women, despite regularly competing against cis men in co-ed meets. So we can see this issue has reared its head even in martial arts with a practice of co-ed competition. This, of course, is a more difficult question in martial arts where competition is strictly separated by gender.

Everyone who is attempting to better themself through martial arts has a right to compete fairly. So what options are there?

  1. Hold competitions with gender absolute divisions.
  2. Hold competitions that specify they are trans inclusive.
  3. Some better third option I haven’t thought of.

The gender absolute division could be handled by weight divisions. So whether you are cisgender or transgender, you’ll be competing with people different from you, but still at least in the same weight class.

Gender-inclusive competitions would just be normal comps. Competitors just know when signing up that there might be a transgender person in their division. If you don’t like it, there’s plenty of other competitions to go to.

So as a coach or instructor, if you’ve got a trans student who wants to compete, look for competitions that accommodate them or even look for LGBTQ+ competitions like the Sin City Classic and Wrestling Without Borders. It may feel weird to go to queer specific events, but sometimes those are the only options available. And on top of this, you’re giving money directly to the community.

Obviously, I want trans people to be able to compete at the highest levels of whatever their passion is. And in some martial arts, that is already possible. However, in others this is not yet the case. So we have to find the best options available. And if you have the time and resources, maybe you can help make more opportunities for everyone.

The people making the biggest fuss about trans people are usually not doing so altruistically.

Plenty of people might have concerns about transgender folks because they don’t have experience with them. But the folks in the martial arts community who are railing against trans people are rarely paragons of virtue. We’re talking about sexual predators, misogynists, and scammers. This might sound like ad hominem, but it is a real concern. BJJ competitors like Gordon Ryan talk about the unfairness of trans jiujiteiras, but is himself hopped up on steroids and a sexual predator. Jake Shields has made a huge issue of LGBTQ+ people, and he aligns himself with neonazis. These are not people who have our best interests at heart. They are making a cultural scarecrow, a bogeyman, to keep people focused on. When people are scared of something in the distance, they don’t notice the man stealing their wallet. So whenever you hear someone fearmongering or dehumanizing transgender people, ask yourself what their motivation is.

Most trans people just want to do martial arts because they’re cool. Self defense is important, and many will have that as a focus. But a lot of people just want to wrestle or do sweet flip kicks or swing swords around. So if you’re cool with trans martial artists, just try and be supportive to the ones you meet. You don’t need to be their best friend or some white knight come to save the day.

This also means you shouldn’t take any guff from people who want to talk shit and put down others. If you wouldn’t tolerate homophobia, you shouldn’t tolerate transphobia either. Just treat them as they are, people who love something you love, and help them grow in that passion.

  1. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/anti-lgbt-victimization-us/ ↩︎
  2. ttps://www.politifact.com/article/2023/jul/13/how-many-trans-people-are-there-in-the-us ↩︎
  3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/191917/participants-in-martial-arts-in-the-us-since-2006/ ↩︎

Losing the Long Pole and Cutting the Swords

August 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments

In Wing Chun’s current zeitgeist a question or two surround the two weapons. Do we keep them around? How do we train them in the modern day?

Wing Chun has always been primarily an empty hand system, but its two weapons are also deeply entrenched in our art and are symbols of it to this day. Yet, due to the popularity of combat sports, and dangers of weapons fighting, some Wing Chun schools have started to move solely towards kickboxing.

Many schools do not place equitable emphasis on the weapons vs the fist. When I say “equitable emphasis,” I don’t mean you have to train weapons as much as the fists. But maybe in equal measure to the forms. Typically, Wing Chun has three hand forms, the wooden dummy, and two weapons forms. So theoretically, you should be training the Lok Dim Boon Gwan or BakJom Dao at least one sixth of the time. Yet many Wing Chun schools do not even come close to this.

As someone who comes from a school that actively trains the weapons, I find this very apparent. I travel a bit every year and find other schools to train with while I’m out there. Some schools practiced the weapons, others only practiced the blades, and some only practiced the empty hand techniques. So why do we have these differences in training and curriculum? One answer that I have heard is simply space.

A lot of schools don’t have a ton of room and since Wing Chun hand fighting takes up even less space, a lot of sifus will go with a smaller space to save money on rent. And if you’re in a big city with little space (like Hong Kong or New York), you may have little choice about where you can train. Wong Hong Chung even discusses this issue of space in his interview with Wing Chun Origins.

Other schools have a different approach to the weapons, which is to see the weapons as beautiful relics. Important to the development of Wing Chun in its past, but not necessarily needed for its future. Yet, these two weapons in particular are so important because they are truly Southern Chinese weapons. The long pole and the butterfly swords found in Wing Chun are common in other Southern Chinese systems like Hung Ga, Choy Lay Fut, and Lung Ying. And while the fundamentals are the same, each style has its own method of these weapons, including power generation, defensive tactics, and just the forms themselves.

One way around the space issue is to train shorter versions of the pole. For example, while I am certified under Michael Valenti, I have also trained with Larry Rice during my time in Asheville, NC. With Michael, we use the traditional length of staff and practice with care. Only a few people are ever training the weapons at a time and if we need to, we’ll go outside to accommodate the space. When I was at Larry’s, we trained using six foot poles probably 80% of the time and would practice with traditional weapons when there was room. While I prefer the traditional length, I think the six foot pole training was also valuable.

Practicing the form and techniques with a variety of lengths and weights taught me to understand the details of this weapon more thoroughly and how to apply the concepts more broadly. And this helps me apply the weapon’s lessons in a broader context, as we are taught to do. I use lessons from both weapons in my grappling and kickboxing. They teach a surprising amount about body mechanics and distance management, if you are willing to train them.

But what options do we really have as practitioners and teachers?

Option 1: Train the Weapons as They Are

The first option is the most apparent: simply keep training Wing Chun in its entirety. Wing Chun is an historical martial art. This does not mean it cannot be used for sport or self defense. It can be. But it is a solidified system that is not prone to changing that much. On top of this, the traditional structure of Ip Man Wing Chun has only certain lessons in certain sections of the curriculum. For example, the Lok Dim Boon Gwan has the only major examples of level changing. It would be a much weaker art without this lesson.

If we want to truly preserve the lessons of Wing Chun then we should be willing to perform all aspects of the art, even the ones that are difficult. And it may not be the most lucrative, but if we were worried about that, we would just teach Tae Kwon Do in a strip mall.

There are many ways to do this, like the shorter staves for practicing in close spaces and padded foam weapons for sparring.

Option 2: Turn the Weapons Forms into Hand Forms

One way to maintain the lessons of the weapons is to practice the weapons forms as hand forms. I personally do this already, even though I still practice the weapons as they are. Since the hands and weapons inform each other, it’s not that far of a stretch. While this would maintain the major lessons of the forms, it would turn Wing Chun solely into a kickboxing art.

Even though beimo is historically the primary focus of Wing Chun, we would be losing certain aspects of the art if we move forward in this manner. It would result in less well rounded practitioners. Weapons training improves you as a martial artist in ways you often don’t realize until after the fact.

If you’re worried about self defense, you have to know how to fight in Stand, Clinch, Ground, and Weapons. Wing Chun is only missing ground fighting. If we cut the weapons, we’re left with only the first two. Wing Chun’s weapons are not as dynamic as Kali’s, or as broad in scope as Kobudo’s, but few things beat a big ol’ stick.

Another issue with losing the weapons is the loss of conditioning. While basic hand and leg conditioning would still be apparent, the weight training, precision training, and core training of the Lok Dim Boon Gwan would have to be supplemented with other drills.

And if one decided to be rid of the blades as well, certain wrist and forearm conditioning drills would also be lost. You can’t go around fighting with weak hands. Wing Chun is not that internal.

Option 3: Lose the Weapons but Keep Their Drills

This one is even more austere than option two. If we plan to lose the weapons forms, we could keep the drills of those forms to maintain some of these lessons. For example, the arrow punching drills from the Lok Dim Boon Gwan are essential to Wing Chun’s explosiveness. The pole also is the only area to teach the sei ping ma and cat stances. Using these footworks makes your Wing Chun more fluid and quick.

But depending on your school of Wing Chun, you may not have that many drills for each weapon. Many schools of Wing Chun mainly focus on the forms for the majority of their training and may only have two or three drills for each weapon. The Bak Jom Dao form is so different in order from school to school, in part because it is just a series of drills.

So you may have to add some of these lessons into other forms. This leaves you with a system that begins to shift outside of the tradition. But this isn’t necessarily bad or wrong.

Each generation has changed Wing Chun to fit its needs. Leung Jan originally taught Wing Chun with a strict curriculum, but later boiled it all down to techniques with the Kulo style of Wing Chun. Ip Man taught the forms in different orders at different points of his teaching career.

Option 4: Teach Different Weapons

This one is a “Thanks, I hate it,” option for me. I’m discussing it here because this does happen and it can go well or poorly. I have seen Wing Chun from a school where the instructor was not required by his sifu to know the weapons to open his own school. He taught Wing Chun, but taught Eskrima solo baston as a weapon during his Wing Chun class, and frankly not very well. And I love FMA, I train it constantly, but it’s not Wing Chun. Nor is it wrong to train Wing Chun and another art. That’s often good. But there was a disingenuousness to this instructor’s decision.

To me, this plug and play mixing, it doesn’t show respect to the art as a whole. He couldn’t be fucked to learn the traditional weapons, so he throws some basic stick fighting into his Wing Chun class. I’m not saying you can’t cross-train, obviously you should do that. But there is the issue of misrepresenting Wing Chun to the next generation. There is the issue of not having all the tools and concepts to discuss Wing Chun and even how it relates to an art like Eskrima. And not fully understanding Eskrima and trying to add it to Wing Chun.

Wing Chun is not the only art I train. So I think it is fair for me to say that it is not a large curriculum, especially not for a Chinese art. So it seems impatient and immature to add a weapon to a system you have not completed.

And I treat that situation differently than instructors who have completed the curriculum and then added weapons or other techniques. I have been lucky enough to drop in during my travels on schools where the sifu has added weapons. One simply taught the blade techniques with machetes. The other kept the traditional weapons and forms, but also added cane fighting. They know what Wing Chun is and they have made a conscious decision to adapt it. There was intention about what they were adding and how it affects their student’s learning.

They are not incidentally severing their students from resources, the traditional weapons are still there. Or if they take out the traditional weapons, they have a good reason for it. They’ve done the work and they understand the choice they are making, and I respect that. These teachers took the fourth option, but applied Wing Chun to these weapons. In my limited experience with these teachers, many of the lessons are still there. And it is in a sense, an extension of what we already do with the weapons: view them not only as the weapon itself, but also as a prototypical signifier of any weapon you may pick up. So, while I may not personally enjoy it as Wing Chun, I have to respect it as an option.

So what do we do? Where do we go with this? Personally, I say go with Option 1. If you need, add what you feel is necessary, but don’t cut away the weapons that our kung fu ancestors saw as essential.

As the decades pass, arts will change and what we do now is not what Wing Chun will be in the next 50 years. That’s okay. That’s not a bad thing. But we do have to ask ourselves what is right to change and what must stay. When the art changes, does it continue the fighting spirit of Wing Chun or mute it for the next generation?

Terminology is Important, But Not That Important

November 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

One of the easiest arguments to find yourself having in mixed martial arts circles is not about ring control, or the right way to handle the calf kick, it’s about what you call that one move. And it can be a fun argument to have, but sometimes people take it a little too seriously and you’re left wondering if everything is okay at home. You may think, “It’s just a word, the move is the same.” Or you could be thinking, “You need to say it right, you need to understand what you are communicating.” And yeah, two things can be true. So what is up with martial terminology?

Terminology Gives Us Common Language to Recognize Complexities

By having more standardized words, we can differentiate between similar movements, tools, and concepts. At a beginner level, this is not too important, but as one moves into intermediacy it becomes more necessary. Details make the difference between a jab that connects and a jab that really hurts. So if you have a word to differentiate the two, you are ahead of someone who just understands the jab as one or the other. This extends to all aspects of martial arts. Footwork requires finesse, fight strategies need detail, even workouts need differentiation. 

Terminology Allows Us to Communicate How We See a Topic

By exploring terminology, we can understand how different arts and teachers treat certain tools. For instance, we have the armbar. In English speaking arts like Catch, we generally call it an armbar, showing that the lock attacks the arm by straightening or “barring” it. It is a simple and effective way to explain the concept. The details will change from technician to technician, so don’t get bogged down when you first learn it. The same is true in BJJ, even in Brazilian it translates to armbar or armlock. In arts like Judo, it is termed juji-gatame, or ude-hishigi-juji-gatame.

We can learn a lot just from this single term. “Juji” is the same kanji for “jujika” or “cross”, which can denote the right angle one takes to the opponent’s body, but also the manner in which the arm is outstretched. The next part is even more interesting, “gatame” is used for pins and certain locks. Most joint locks in Judo use the term “garame”, but certain joint locks have the term “gatame” instead. So why is that? Well the principle is that locks like armbars (juji-gatame) and head and arm choke (kata-gatame) can be used to effectively pin an opponent as well as submit them. On the flip side, “garame” means to entangle or twist. On top of all of this, “ude-hishigi” (arm break) denotes that this movement is a type of arm submission, that it causes pain. Look at how much information and context is contained in essentially four words. This is just one movement and we can see what the priority is in each art.

Terminology Can Cause Separation Due to Interpretation or Similarity

Unfortunately, sometimes we get so focused on terminologies that we forget to actually focus on the techniques. Terminology can cause conflict among groups that at the end of the day, doesn’t even matter. You may call it a double-wristlock, I call it a figure-4, and someone else calls it a kimura. At the end of the day, we’re all ripping some guy’s arm out of its socket. But how much time is spent arguing over these words? What’s more important is discussing details of the movement or technique. You can call it whatever you want, but if you can’t do it, it doesn’t matter. As helpful as terminology is, it is just a tool for communication. It is not the Gospel truth.

Terminology Can be Used to Create In-Groups and Out-Groups

This phenomenon is particularly frustrating. I have seen it most in kung fu circles. To give an example, in Wing Chun we have a drill called chi sau. It’s a sticking hands game used to teach the trapping range. At the beginning stages you are just trying to learn how to feel your opponent and stick to them to trap or strike. As you advance you start including footwork, head movement and Wing Chun’s full range of tools. Advanced chi sau is not sparring or fighting, but it is closer than beginner chi sau. Where I train we just call that advanced chi sau or sheung (double) chi sao, but in Cantonese it is often called “gor sau.” But we’re already inundating the students with all sorts of terms from a language they don’t know. We don’t need to overcomplicate something that can be said in English.

Some other Wing Chun schools don’t like that and have implied that my Wing Chun is bastardized or inauthentic. And it’s not that I don’t know words like “gor sau,” just that I don’t use them in general parlance. But I can actually fight with my Wing Chun, so they can keep gor sau.

Terminology is a Tool

When we focus on the terminology, we can learn a lot about the art or curriculum we are studying. As a self-professed word nerd, I really recommend that people dig into the terminology of their arts. You can learn a lot about the art, the history of the art (which most people forget), and it can even improve your form.  But I also have to caution against getting focused on what each person calls it. Unless you are the developer of a school’s curriculum, it’s not your job. Don’t argue whether it’s a “head and arm choke” or “arm triangle”. It’s both. It’s neither. No one cares, go train.

Chi Sao is Grappling for Striking; What Can it Teach Us?

November 7, 2023 / / 0 Comments

When people research Wing Chun online, the first thing they probably see is two practitioners playing the game of chi sao. It might seem like an overcomplicated game of patty-cake, but what it is really simulating is the moment of clashing. Chi sao is the term used for a large series of sensitivity drills and a game that comes from the same starting position. By staying in this moment, we develop sensitivity in our arms and legs so that we can navigate past our opponent’s limbs to strike. We’re learning to feel what the eye fails to see.

In all striking arts, we have to deal with reaching our opponent and not getting hit. Wing Chun seeks to do so with the art of trapping: seizing an opponent’s limb to capitalize on an opening.

Chi sao is all about navigating and seizing limbs, creating openings and going for the kill. Chi sao, like all trapping, is grappling. It is generally grappling with the goal of striking.Wing Chun as a whole has a spectrum of lots of grappling to no grappling. Some schools grapple, some only seek to punch. Chi sao obviously has its uses in striking contexts, but what can it bring us in the broader context of fighting? I put it to you that chi sao is an excellent addition to any grappler’s hand fighting. 

Below are some techniques that can be employed in chi sao that benefit hand fighting. For the purposes of this article, I am using the terminology of Wing Chun. This is not to complicate, but rather to give grapplers an avenue into understanding a bit of gung fu, as well as give some practitioners of Wing Chun a more expanded view of their toolbox.

Sheung Lop Sau

(Double Pulling Hand)

Wing Chun’s method of arm drag might feel a little bit stiff compared to Folkstyle or BJJ, but that’s because Wing Chun focuses on losing as little balance or opportunity as possible. Nonetheless, I highly recommend taking a look, as it may improve your arm drag opportunities.

A standard entry for the dai lop sao comes from the nucleus of chi sao. When our opponent pushes our left limb, we sneak our right hand underneath, like a snake. Once this happens, we snatch their right arm with our right hand and add our left hand to the effort.

A more dynamic set-up for this can be drilled as a defense against a collar tie attempt. When your opponent reaches forward, shoot out your right hand like a spear to clash against it and bring your left hand to the tricep. With one hand to grip each section of the arm, turn and snatch that arm to the ground.

Huen Sao + Tok Sao and var. With Tan Sao + Jut Sao

(Circling Hand + Lifting Hand) (Dispersing Hand + Yanking Hand)

In Wing Chun, we have a tool called the huen sao (circling hand). This is a flick of the wrist that sends an outstretched hand flying. We often use it to take the inside line and hit. In this example for grappling, we will use the same concept.

We’ll take the huen sao to their lead hand and send it outward, as they look to recover space, we’ll shoot that hand under the armpit with a tok sao (lifting arm), thus giving us the underhook.

This basic concept can be improved by performing a defensive tan sao + jut sao with the other hand. A tan sao is a simple open hand wedging motion. Jut sao refers to pulling or yanking towards your core. Think of a tan sao like offering some candy to a friend, and the jut sao is you snatching it away. So while you navigate past their lead hand with your huen sao, you can shut down the back hand with the tan sao and even turn it into a wrist tie with the jut sao.

Pak Sao + Fuk Sao

(Slapping Hand + Bowing Hand)

This one comes in handy when defending against a wrist or elbow tie. For the sake of demonstration, let’s say your opponent reaches for your left hand with their right. This is where you apply a right pak sao (slapping hand) to the inside of their arm and shoot your left hand forward to latch a fuk sao (bowing/hooking hand) on their neck.

Sheung Jut Sao + Sheung Tok Sao

(Double Yanking Hand + Double Lifting Hand)

This is one is not reacting to your opponent, but rather just attacking an opening and moving into the clinch. Many grapplers keep their hands forward, but lower toward the chest/belly, in order to handle attacks to the head as well as shots to the legs. If you are facing an opponent who routinely keeps their hands low, you can capitalize by seizing their arms with two jut saos. Think about grabbing at the fat of the thumb, where it coincides with the palm. After this, shoot your hands underneath their armpits to get double underhooks.

Why We Need Specialists

February 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments

First let’s define a specialist. A specialist is someone who focuses on one area of study or one art. So someone who only boxes is a specialist, just like someone who only grapples. But being a specialist can also mean someone who is focused on self defense, someone into ancient weapons, or someone who only focuses on sport fighting. A nak muay and a point fighter are both kickboxing specialists, but on different ends of the scale. So why do we need these guys?

Some People Don’t Want to Mix Their Martial Arts

We’ll start with an easy one. Some people just want to learn one aspect of fighting. It may be a preference for sport, such as boxing. Or they might have a concern for defense, but wish to handle it more gently, like Jiu-Jitsu. It could also be from a cultural connection, like folk wrestling styles. Sumo is not only a badass sport, it’s a point of national pride and cultural heritage for many Japanese people. While I for one love to learn all the nooks and crannies of fighting, I know many people who just want to box, wrestle, or do kung fu. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s great. Because this gives them something that I don’t have, which leads me to my next point.

Specialists Have a Greater Understanding of their Field than a Jack-of-all-Trades

A kickboxer will outclass a mixed martial artist on striking. A wrestler will do the same on the ground. They have more reps in that area and they have studied it more intensely, understanding concept and theory on a deeper level. This is why MMA fighters have striking, grappling, and conditioning coaches. They depend on people who focus on portions of the game to give them an edge and ensure they are performing to the best of their abilities. These understandings can go even deeper as well.

A grappler with decades of practicing Greco will have a better understanding of clinch grappling than a BJJ or Freestyle practitioner. So these specialists can look at a fighter and help them develop tools that fit their style. Now the flip side of specialists is also true. Generalists show the weaknesses and strengths of particular strategies. They help specialists understand the nature of their techniques more deeply, even if the generalist may not realize it.

Specialists Maintain Knowledge for Future Generations

This goes back to my point of specialists having a greater understanding of their field. Specialists can keep their arts or fields of study a priority. They don’t forget techniques and concepts just because they’ve gone out of vogue. We’ve all seen it happen, where someone shows off a move that they developed only for others to say, “Yeah we’ve been doing that for like a hundred years.” Human knowledge is not a constant pile that we all access equally. It is a flowing amorphous collection of understandings. Languages can be lost; so can artistic methods and even combative techniques.

This is probably my favorite aspect about specialists. As someone who spent much of their childhood in libraries, I love specialists. They’re like human textbooks. Consider a teacher like Roy Wood. He’s one of the foremost authorities on Catch as Catch Can wrestling in the world and he just wants to share this style and preserve what’s been given to him. Do his students have to only study Catch? No. Is he going to show them everything Catch has to offer? Absolutely. To be a specialist is to preserve knowledge that even you may not realize will be so helpful or revolutionary to someone.

What Does This Mean for You?

It means you get to decide what you want to learn. If you just want to study one art or area of combat, you can do that. If you want to study everything you can, then you can do that. But we have to recognize that there are tradeoffs to each method. For example, as a generalist I will never be as good at boxing or grappling as my specialist contemporaries, but in an MMA or street context, I have the option to take them where they aren’t comfortable. Would I win? I don’t know. But I’d certainly be harder to beat. In their disciplines, I’ll almost assuredly lose and my understanding of technique may never become as refined as theirs. But that’s okay.

We still learn from each other and we each have our roles in our martial communities. What we shouldn’t do is give in to tribalism and naysaying. What’s good will prove itself and what isn’t will fall by the wayside. Don’t worry, just have fun and train hard. And if you find a detail or intricacy that boosts your fight game, be sure to thank a specialist.

Attacking the Defense: Muay Thai

December 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Muay Thai is a popular sport based in the ancient hand to hand arts of Thailand. Oftentimes, Muay Thai is called Thai Boxing or Thai Kickboxing and that is essentially what it is: the indigenous striking arts of Thailand boiled down to their essentials with a few tools banned for sportsmanship. Muay Thai has had its evolutions over the decades as it spread across the globe, but the overall structure remains the same. So how does it stack up in terms of defense?

Let’s look at the guards of Muay Thai first. Muay Thai has a number of different guarding methods. These are more dependent on the fighter than the art, just like Western boxing. You’ve got long guards, dracula guards, shells, high guards, but it all boils down to keeping your shoulders high, chin low, and hands in front of your face. 

The long guard and the high guard are the two essential shapes of Muay Thai guards, the others are variations of the two. The long guard is essentially keeping your head protected with one hand while the other is outstretched towards the opponent. This outstretched hand can be used to probe, parry, and stick to your opponent. It also lets you connect to an oncoming opponent and take up the clinch. The high guard in Muay Thai is the same as the high guard in Western boxing. Hands up near your brow, shoulders high and rolled forward. Where the long guard is more of a transitional shape, the high guard is where you spend a lot of your time.

Nak muay often hold their weight in a 70/30 distribution, though there are plenty of fighters who are closer to 50/50. The 70/30 split gives the lead leg a faster reaction and makes that front kick snap like a whip. But it does make angulated evasions a little tougher. It’s a very tall stance when compared to some boxers and karateka, but it’s also very balanced. The feet stay shoulder width apart and Muay Thai rarely uses footwork that brings it closer than that. You can absolutely off balance a nak muay, but it’s certainly harder than a Taekwondo practitioner.

Shield Block: This technique works just like in Western boxing. Bring up your glove to defend the head against strikes. Nak muay are quite skilled at pairing the shield with evasive footwork to reduce the impact. One problem I do see often is that they are so used to blocking with the glove on that they don’t effectively block when they are gloveless. Luckily this is an easy fix, you just have to put in reps with smaller gloves or bareknuckle.

Body Shield: The body shield is an effective technique that can protect the body without losing too much head protection. Essentially you are still protecting from attacks with the fleshy portion of the forearm, but this time you are tightly covering the ribs and protecting the core. The body shield is an essential tool for self defense and the great part is you don’t drop your hands too low. A lot of other body defenses open you up to headshots and this one reduces that likelihood.

Defensive Teep: The teep is a front kick in Muay Thai, with various forms. Some people treat it as just a front kick, others say that it is its own beast. There are many ways to hit the teep, but I would like to just give two examples of the teep’s use here. The first is a kick to the chest and the second is a kick to the leg. 

If you want to move a guy, don’t kick him in the belly. That bends him over. Kick his chest to knock his balance backwards. This type of teep makes space and gives you the chance to control where the fight goes. The kick to the leg is another thing.

When your opponent starts their kick you can shut it down quickly with a teep to the thigh. The teep works best at the thigh, because it requires less precision than stopping at the shin. This method hits the part of the leg that moves the least in its arc. You’ll also be hitting muscle when you kick the thigh; if you try at the shin, you’re kicking bone. Even if you’re successful that still hurts.

Leg Checks: A leg check can be a very useful defense against a kick, especially leg kicks. Leg checks work well because they aren’t stationary and can be done within larger motions. This means that leg checks can be linked into combinations or evasive footwork. A lot of arts block kicks very statically, but Muay Thai’s leg checks can make or break rhythm.

Super Shield: The Super Shield (aka Full Shield) is a block using the same side arm and leg meeting to block a kick. It’s essentially a body shield and leg check together. This is that full body block that most people associate with Muay Thai. Oftentimes it is blocking a kick coming at an unknown angle. Maybe it’s to the head, maybe the body, either way you don’t want to wait and find out. When executed with the proper pressure, this block can handle an incoming attack and set you up to counterstrike. The problem with the super shield is that you are left on one foot with a lot of your body weight crunched in a single area. If you don’t have proper pressure, you will be knocked back or even knocked down. This doesn’t mean the Super Shield is a bad block. It just has its drawbacks.

Destruction Blocks: Muay Thai makes excellent use of destruction blocks. The most common is using the knee to block the opponent’s shin. This is the defense made famous by Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva at UFC 168. While most destruction blocks won’t break the shin, it is a possibility. This defense is the most important destruction block to learn, but it isn’t the only one. You can also take your knee or foot to the front of the thigh, to bruise the quadriceps. It’s a lot harder to kick when those muscles are seizing.

Spearing Guard: A variant of the long guard, the spearing guard in Muay Thai is often used to handle wide hooks. Essentially you raise both arms high and spear them forward into your opponent’s attacking bicep and the respective collarbone. Though not as popular as other tools, it can still be useful as the spearing guard keeps your shoulders high to protect the head and the forcefulness of such a technique often handles the opponent’s momentum. Plus you’re right there ready to clinch and throw some knees.

Catching Kicks: Catching kicks can be done well, but I don’t always agree with Muay Thai’s method. It’s more of an overhook method, which increases the risk of taking the kick’s force on your ribs. Muay Thai does teach stepping in, past the point of greatest impact. That does reduce the chance of taking real damage, but I think plenty of us have seen a bad catch go wrong.

Blocking into Sweeps: Muay Thai makes excellent use of leg sweeps, either with a block or a catch. One shouldn’t seek to catch a leg, but when it shows up, you’ve got to act quick. Sweeping your opponent can be a useful reaction, either to control your opponent on the ground or to give yourself the time and space to escape. Muay Thai sweeps emphasize weight distribution and timing more than other kickboxing arts. Muay Thai’s sweeps are on par with Sanda’s. These two arts probably have the best sweeps in striking.

Scooping a Leg: I’m not a huge fan of this one. It certainly can be effective, but scooping a knee or kick puts your hand low and opens your head. It can be married with an attack from the other hand, but you have to be certain and well timed. The move is a bit high risk for my tastes, but I can’t deny it is a useful technique.

Scooting the Hips: Scooting your hips back from a kick can be done and done well. A benefit of this is staying in range to counter and gain momentum. Yet it requires a distinct understanding of your ranges and the length of your opponent’s legs. The other issue with scooting your hips is that it keeps you in that same striking range. Not two sentences ago I said that was a good thing, but sometimes things are good and bad. If you can strike them, they can strike you. When considering self defense, it’s all the way out or all the way in. 

So how does this look as an overall defensive plan? Pretty darn good actually. Muay Thai has a mastery of foundational techniques and fighters generally keep strong defenses. The art makes good use of offensive defense, in terms of destruction blocks and marrying defenses with striking. It’s very hard to find fault with Muay Thai, it’s quite an effective art. Does it have holes? Certainly. It’s a pure striking art, so it has no groundwork defense. It’s sport background often means that the nuances of fighting against a larger opponent get lost in the mix. I’d even dare to say that it over extends itself with its kicks and that is a defensive issue by itself. But for any gripes I have, I’ve got to give Muay Thai an A- for its defensive tools.

Attacking the Defense: Wing Chun

June 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Wing Chun is an old system of kung fu from Southern China. Based in the arts of Shaolin snake and crane, Wing Chun evolved over generations on the Red Junk Opera boats and the rooftops of Hong Kong. Now it looks vaguely like kung fu boxing. It’s got kicks, chops, knees, and elbows, but most often it looks like a small man’s boxing. What makes it different from other arts is constant pressure and trapping skills. Its blocking system reflects that. Is that good, bad, or somewhere in between?

The structure of the Wing Chun resembles an old boxing guard, but more plaintive, with open hands. Even though the head is more open than I prefer, I must recognize it still holds the hands about as high as most fighters. The front hand sits above the collar bone pointing towards the opponent. The back hand hovers around the lead elbow, rarely lower than the chest. The benefit of this position is that it encourages your opponent to take wider shots. Your core is also protected and keeps your hands ready to cover the four gates. Wing Chun uses the four gates theory for attack and defense. Essentially, you have the left and right sides of your head, and the left and right sides of your torso. You can’t defend one without opening another. With both your hands starting in the center of your body, they can easily move to defend any gate.

The weight distribution is fairly contested in Wing Chun. Some schools put 70% of their weight on the back leg and 30% on the front, while others sit 50/50. Some schools even sit 90% of their weight on their back leg. I come from a 50/50 school and honestly I can’t see the advantages of a 90% back foot distribution. The 70/30 split has its advantages, the front leg is more ready to kick for offense or defense, much like the long guard of Muay Thai. Although it can lead one to not respond as well against someone barreling down your center.

Let’s discuss the primary deflections of Wing Chun. In Wing Chun, there are four primary blocks: tan sau, pak sau, gum sau, kan sau. These four are chosen as the primary blocks for two reasons. Firstly, the lead hand can defend while keeping the elbow on centerline. Secondly, these can deflect an attack and allow for a simultaneous counterattack with the back hand.

The secondary blocks are more focused on control of the opponent and sticking hands movement, even leading into clinch fighting. These blocks are bong sau, lop sau, huen sau, fuk sau, jum sau, and jut sau.

But what do all these movements with Cantonese names even do? Are they even effective? Let’s go back to those primary blocks.

Tan Sau: The tan sau (dispersing hand) is a deflection performed by placing your elbow in front of your solar plexus and holding the hand outwards, like awkwardly asking for money. This turns your forearm into a wedge against oncoming strikes, which are deflected or “dispersed” past your body. The tan sau is used in a variety of ways, but works best deflecting on the outside of the opponent’s arm. 

Pak Sau: The pak sau (slapping hand) is really just a parry. That’s all it is and that’s why it’s so effective. Parries are an essential defensive tool for striking. Pak saus are the most obvious example of blocking with a counterattack. Instead of parrying and then striking, Wing Chun uses the pak sau with a simultaneous strike, often called a pak da. 

Gum Sau: The gum sau (pinning hand) is used to deflect low attacks including fists, feet, and knees. It is also used, as the name suggests, to pin an opponent’s arm in trapping range.This is not a long term pin, but is instead pinning the arm for a second to allow you to attack. I’m not a fan of dropping your hands this low to block a kick, especially when Wing Chun has knee and elbow blocks. However, the gum sau as a trap is incredibly useful. When you use it this way, it opens a gate and collapses the opponent’s arm into their core. This affects their structure and often opens their chin even more.

Kan Sau: I hate it. The kan sau is a downward sweep of the arm, essentially a low block like karate’s gedan barai or gedan-uke.The kan sau is used to block low strikes, much like gum sau, but has no pinning capabilities. It’s not really a hard block, but that doesn’t mean it’s that effective. The only reason I, a Wing Chun practitioner, practice kan sau is because it’s a part of the system, I don’t use it when I spar or fight. The one thing I will give it, is that you don’t sacrifice structure to use the kan sau.

Bong Sau: The bong sau (winging hand) is a deflection that uses a corkscrewing motion to knock strikes off target. The rotational force of the bong sau is what makes it effective. It’s not a lifting motion, which is why it works. If it lifted, your shoulder would get beaten up and tired. Because it rotates it activates more muscles, including the pectoralis minor and the traps, and uses less energy overall. I have found a lot of use in the bong sau. I will note that unlike the primary blocks, it doesn’t really allow for a simultaneous attack and defense. Bong sau is a great set up for trapping and acts as an emergency block when your hand is low. 

Lop Sau: The lop sau (pulling hand) yanks an opponent’s limb to the outside of your body. This can be used to pull them into a punch, yank them out of your way, or even set up trips. Lop sau is quite useful, the problem being that it is often trained as a straight grab, but it holds more complexity than that. The lop sau works best if the elbow sinks into the ribs and the movement links the arm to the core to the hips and feet. Kinesthetic linking shows up a lot in Wing Chun; the lop sau is probably it’s most obvious example.

Huen Sau: The huen sau (circling hand) deflects an opponent’s punch away from centerline, thus causing them to respond behind the beat. Huen sau is great for counter attacks and also has an added use as a recovery tool. If you parry on the inside of a punch, make it a huen sau to get your opponent’s centerline back off of you.

Fuk Sau: Not really an initial defensive tool for most people, the fuk sau (hooking hand), is a great tool for sticking hands energy. Later, this tool can be developed for sensitivity and self defense fairly well. Fuk sau can be used to keep yourself safe in the pocket. However, that level of sensitivity takes a lot of time to develop. But uppercuts take a lot of time to get down as well.

Jum Sau: The jum sau (dropping/heavy hand) is a great tool. It’s really more about the elbow and forearm than the hand. The jum sau can be used as an elbow block to defend the ribs or as a trap. It’s also a great tool because after blocking, that hand is set up for a great counter shot to the head.

Jut Sau: The jut sau (jerking/shocking hand) is a quick jerking motion with your arms to pull an opponent’s limb down towards your body. This doesn’t mean the jut sau pulls it into your body, just more towards your centerline than away from it. This is most often seen as a defense against a grab or grapple, yanking the attacker’s arm in as you counter. It can also be a trap on a good guard, as consistent pressure is easier to fight than a shocking pressure.

Cut Blocks: This tool is an extension of the vertical punch, but with the obstructive energy of a tan sau. Essentially, you punch from the outside line as your opponent strikes. By keeping your punch on centerline, you cut across theirs, knocking it off course. This defends and attacks at the same time.

So what are some good examples of these tools in defense?

The most obvious example is the pak sau. Pak saus are parries, parries keep your head safe. Ask any boxer. Pak saus are essential, quick, tools. The best example of application is the pak da (slapping hit). As you deflect an opponent’s strike, you come over your pak with a strike of your own. The centerline punch of Wing Chun works really well in this. You can also parry and strike to the body, which works especially well for shorter fighters. These type of sector defenses are typical in Wing Chun. Students are taught not to simply defend. Attacks can be defense.

This pak da concept also works well against a tight guard. Instead of waiting for your opponent to open up, make them open up. When controlling the space, Wing Chun tends to be quite aggressive. This use of pak da exemplifies that.

The gum sau is often taught as a defense against a kick, using two hands to stop a kick near the thigh. I’m not a huge fan of this, but I mention it in the name of honesty. However, gum sau does have it’s uses. My favorite is defending against a tackle. As your opponent comes in, you gum sau to the side of their head and hinge one leg back. This angles you to your opponent and knocks their line of pressure off of you. It also lets you keep the fight standing.

The bong sau also plays a surprisingly useful role, bong sau leads into lop sau or tan sau quite easily and sets you up for kicks.

An important thing to remember is that in Wing Chun, these tools aren’t just prescribed for one thing. They are better seen as movements that can be applied as the user sees fit. For example, we have an horizontal elbow, pai jarn, that is often used as a destruction block as well as for bashing skulls. As students learn more, they are expected to test these out in new ways and deepen their understanding of the art.

Luckily we have maxims that help us weed out potentially dangerous interpretations. Let’s look at the bong sau again. We are consistently taught the bong sau as a transitory movement for defense and offense, but it shouldn’t be a stationary guard. On top of this, we are taught that elbows should return to protect the body. If bong sau were treated as a more stationary technique, the body becomes too exposed. So Wing Chun does have a method here, even though it may not look the way one is accustomed to.

The overall structure of Wing Chun’s defenses are pretty solid, the obsession with centerline protection is very useful. However, I don’t feel like it protects the head as much as it should. The tools that protect the head from circular shots aren’t as protective as I would hope. Tan sau can protect against incoming assaults, but it extends your hand too far for my liking. Biu jee works, but at a certain weight difference it stops mattering. I’m much more partial to the boxer’s shield. And when considering Wing Chun as a whole, culturally the kan sau is used more often than the jum sau for body shots. So Wing Chun is not perfect by any means. On a grading scale, I would give Wing Chun a B. In the right hands, it has excellent potential. But when taught to someone who can’t think for themselves, it’s more of a C.

Attacking the Defense: Krav Maga

April 19, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Recently, while shooting the shit with some friends, the discussion turned to how we evaluate martial arts. I realized that we often look at scripted techniques or how they attack. These are important, but we also need to think: How does an art defend? So I’ve decided to ask this question about some of the more famous and infamous martial arts in a new series Attacking the Defense. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at an art that creates a polarizing response: Krav Maga.

Krav Maga is an Israeli system of fighting initially developed for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). It’s goal is to teach simple techniques dealing with hand to hand and weapons defense. The founder, Imi Lichtenfield, wanted the techniques to be simple so that students could quickly and efficiently learn to defend themselves. To some, Krav Maga is an effective and lethal art. To others, it is an art made up of gimmicks. I think it is somewhere in between.

One thing to understand about Krav Maga is that there are many different Krav Maga organizations and they focus on different goals first. Some have a higher emphasis on fitness, others perform more “stress tests,” thankfully some even spar. If that sounded rude, it was. I am salty that there are schools presenting themselves as self defense schools with students who never get to actually practice their training.

The quality control in Krav Maga is not great. In this way, American Krav Maga is like Tae Kwon Do’s edgy cousin with a knife collection. I can’t speak to other countries in terms of how it is trained. I can only speak from my experience and that of my colleagues. This alone doesn’t mean Krav Maga has a bad curriculum. It covers stand, clinch, ground, and weapons. However many of its answers to these issues are dodgy, in my opinion.

Before I tee off on Krav, let’s discuss some things it does well.

Stance: Krav Maga teaches a very useful initial stance, the neutral stance. With open hands facing outward, it can be used for de-escalation. It also helps protect the head and keeps the legs in a position to move in any manner.

Simultaneous Attack and Defense: Krav teaches the idea of attacking while you defend. Don’t wait for a chance after defending, do it then. I actually applaud that mentality. Counterattacks are really potent and help a defender stop their attacker’s momentum.

Inside Defense: It’s good, it’s always seemed a little stiff to me, but it still works. Basically a ridgid parry. 

Head Movement: Krav Maga teaches slipping as well as bobbing and weaving. They also teach it relatively early in the art, which I like. This gives the student more time to practice as they move through the art. My only complaint is that it’s not practiced enough from what I’ve seen.

Covering Defense Against a Hook Punch: This is a really useful tool, I honestly think this should be their major defense against a hook punch. Covering your head with your arm gives you extra cushion to protect your head and reduces that chance of a punch slipping through. With forward movement, it keeps you protected from the point of greatest impact.

Defense Against Low Kick with Shin: Hey look, it’s a shin check! Anyone who’s ever had to spar with nak muay knows these work and work well.

Defense Against Spinning Heel Kick: This one is pretty great. Kick the attacking tool before it can fully fire. It’s a little more high level, but a solid defensive concept.

Plucking Defense: This one is okay. Whipping a kick away isn’t a bad idea, but it feels high level for a curriculum with something like 4 takedowns.

Now let’s talk about what Krav Maga doesn’t do so well.

360 Defense: The 360 Defense method is one of those things that might seem effective at first. This is mostly used for circular strikes. The defendant blocks at outward angles, think high blocks and low blocks, but with added mid angle blocks as well. One problem with the 360 Defense is that this is taught to everyone regardless of size, shape, or health. Trying to perform an outward block against someone heavier than you can really hurt.

It might work for someone in the IDF, but not for a soccer mom. It also teaches you to block low punches with your arms instead of crunching with your elbows. It really leaves your head open. Students are taught to bend at their waist when performing these motions, which makes your defense of incoming attacks weaker. Students are also taught this for knife defense. You don’t block a haymaker and a knife the same way. It’s just not great. 

Outside Defense (Green Belt): The Outside Defense series is kind of a followup to the 360 Defense. The idea is to use high defenses to redirect strikes to the head, often straight punches. It feels clunky and unnecessary to me. These defenses open you up, keep you in line for further strikes, and depend on tricky timing. They may look simple, but they don’t seem that simple to me. One exception to this is the “Outside Defense Against a Right Punch” in which you use a corkscrew punch to simultaneously shield and counterattack. That one is a solid defense, I wouldn’t try the others.

Blocking High Kicks: My problem with the way Krav Maga defends against high kicks is where they defend. The high kick always seems to be blocked at the apex of its arc and power. That’s a lot to ask of someone. Instead, why not move in to block where there is less power? 

Blocking Kicks with a Low Block: This is first explored with the 360 Defense, but shows up elsewhere in Krav curriculums, depending on the organization. It’s just not a good idea to open your head up that much, especially when you have a shin check in the curriculum.

The General Defense (Blue Belt): The “General Defense” is a technique used to cover the head and the ribs on one side of the body. It works by performing an inside block with the opposite hand and a stiff arm block with the arm closest to the attacking limb. It works okay, but when it’s performed incorrectly, the defender can get quite hurt. If the close side arm is turned in too much, it exposes a straightened elbow to a lot of force, and it could dislocate under that force.

So how do these positives and negatives look all together? Not great, but not terrible either. Krav has some solid defenses within its arsenal, but we have to remember which ones are taught earliest and most focused on. The 360 Defense is simple in concept, but it’s also very easy to do wrong. It’s also treated as a kind of catch-all defense for punches, kicks, knives, and sticks. There are other defenses for each of these attacks, but the 360 is treated as the core of the system. 

I find that there’s a lot of hard blocking in Krav Maga and students are often taught to block at the point of most impact. This seems counterintuitive to me, if you’re trying to make a simple and effective art that anyone can learn. You can’t eat a kick from someone bigger than you. If you’re in a self defense situation, they could be bigger and stronger than you. I think that for a member of the IDF (who may carry a rifle, sidearm, and knife) this is a fine system. But for civilian self defense, I don’t agree with it.

So Krav has some solid defenses in it. The cover is great and head movement should always be a part of an art. But once again, these are cursory tools in how they are trained. There seems to be a lot more focus on outside defenses that keep you in range for more punches. They do have simultaneous attack and defense. But it seems that in trying to maintain simplicity, they have collected a number of underdeveloped tools. So overall, I’m going to give this a D+ grade, at most a C.

Prayer Beads: a quick guide

March 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Prayer beads are a fascinating object found in traditions across the globe. As the name suggests, they are typically used for prayer and meditation. While the concept is roughly the same, marking a prayer with a knot or bead, the prayers and construction vary. So even though a Buddhist, a Sikh, and a Christian may all use prayer beads, they won’t use them the same way. They won’t always look the same either. This article will be a brief overview of the types of prayer beads found in Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Vedic traditions, and Baha’i.

So what exactly are prayer beads?  Prayer beads are a string of beads or knots that are used to mark a prayer. One may use a set of beads for a repetition of the same prayer, or one may perform a different prayer on different beads. There’s a diversity of uses and the practice is ancient. Prayer beads are so old that a statue from Assyrian Nineveh (now Mosul) depicted the use of prayer beads 1. Another example is the Adorants fresco in Akrotiri, Greece circa 1613 BCE. The English term bead, meaning a “material pierced for threading on a string or wire,” comes from the earlier Old English “bed,” or “gebed,” which means “prayer”2. Suffice to say, such garlands have been around for a long time. So how do different faiths use them?

Hinduism

Hinduism is widely considered to have the longest use of prayer beads. Within their tradition(s), these are called japa mala. Mala refers to a garland or necklace. Japa is the repetition of a mantra. Mantras can be a single word or a longer prayer like the Gayatri Mantra. This is their most common use, but are also used for other sadhana (spiritual exercises) and tantric exercises. Hindu traditions are incredibly diverse in terms of methodology, but japa is a fairly common exercise.

Hindu mala are often 108 beads, however there are different materials. Worshipers of Vishnu (Vaishnavites) will often have mala made with beads of tulsi stems, as tulsi is a sacred manifestation of Vishnu’s consort Lakshmi3. Worshipers of Siva (Shaivites) have malas often made with rudraksha seeds that are 32 or 64 beads long. Many Hindu japa mala are closed with a head bead adorned with saffron thread.

Buddhism

In Buddhism, we see the mala used within Mahayana (Great Wheel) schools of teaching. 108 bead malas are common, but so are smaller malas that can multiply to 108. For instance, a 27 bead mala could be used for four rotations. These are used to help keep track of specific mantras or simply speaking the Buddha’s name as a mindfulness practice. Buddhist beads often are capped with a head bead, sometimes called a guru bead.

Theravada (Elder School) Buddhists do not often use mala. One exception is Burmese Budhhists who refer to these as seikbadi and assist in samatha (calm-mind) meditation.

Jainism

Jain Dharma comes from the same Vedic background as Hinduism and Buddhism. It’s a diverse tradition with many schools of thought. Within this tradition, many meditation and prayer practices exist. Some Jains use mala for recitation and meditation. The most common of these is the Navkar Mantra, in which an adherent bows to the five supreme souls, the religious hierarchy. Through this, their karmas are destroyed. They end with a wish for the well being of all living things.

Sikhism

Sikh followers use a mala of 108 beads to assist them in shabad; reciting verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, the major religious text of Sikhism. Sikhs will also use a mala to assist with Naam Japo, which is meditation on the names/titles of God. While many Sikhs use mala, it is not required. There are even portions of the Adi Granth Sahib in which the Guru Arjan Dev and Kabir note the mala and tasbih as outward displays of faith which can distract from the true nature of God4.

Christianity

Christianity has a wide range of forms of prayer beads and methods of prayer and meditation that go along with them. In a short format, Christians have been using knotted ropes and beaded ropes for counting prayers all the way back to the Desert Fathers and Mothers in the 3rd century. These were often used for the Lord’s Prayer or the Jesus Prayer. This is why these forms of prayer beads are called paternosters; “pater noster” being Latin for “Our Father.”

Orthodox, Coptic, and Ethiopian churches still use these styles of prayer ropes with various forms such as the komboskini and levstoka5. The Roman Catholic church more commonly uses the rosary. The Catholic rosary holds 59 beads with a trailing crucifix, which acts as both the beginning and end of the practice. Catholics also have special prayer beads for saintly chaplets and may use a prayer rope as well, depending on their ethnic origin. 

In the late 20th century, some Protestant churches began developing their own styles of prayer beads, modeled on the Catholic rosary. These prayer beads are usually a bit smaller, still holding a cross, and have their own tradition of prayer attached. For example, the Anglican/Episcopal church uses a rosary of 33 beads, one bead for each year of Jesus’ earthly life.

Islam

In Islam, prayer beads are called misbaha or subha. They may also be called tasbih, after a practice with which they are used. Tasbih is the glorification of the God by uttering the phrase “Subhanallah.” A misbaha consists of 99 beads, sometimes broken into three sets of 33. It can be used for tasbih, for reciting the 99 names of God, and other such prayers. Misbaha may also have 100 beads or 33 beads6.

Baha’i

Baha’i’s are told to repeat the phrase “Allah-u-Abha,” meaning God is most Glorious, 95 times a day. The instruction is found in the Kitab i Aqdas, the major book of Baha’i faith. To assist with this, some Baha’i use a set of 95 beads or 19 beads (which are used for 5 sets).

So that’s a rough overview of prayer beads. Looking at the Vedic traditions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and arguably even Sikhism, there’s a common numbering system, rooted in Indian cosmology and mathematics. The beads are often for the repetition of mantras. When we go further West and look at Abrahamic faiths such as Christianity, Islam, and Baha’i we see similar practices in glorifying their deity, while the numbering and shape of their beads differs. However, many of these traditions still perform repetitions of a single saying or phrase, much like the Vedic faiths. There are small complexities and details to each tradition, so if you want to hear more about a particular faith, please let me know. 

Bibliography

Baha’u’allah. Kitab-i-Aqdas. 1st ed., Bahai Pub Trust, 1993. 

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Subḥah”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Sep. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/subhah. Accessed 26 February 2021.

Kasten, Patricia Ann. Linking Your Beads: The Rosary’s History, Mysteries, Prayers. Our Sunday Visitor, 2011.

Merriam-Webster. “Bead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bead. Accessed 24 February 2021.

Petruzzello, Melissa. “Holy basil”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Sep. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/plant/holy-basil. Accessed 26 February 2021.

Sahib, Guru Granth. Guru Granth Sahib.

Susan, Ferrence, and Bendersky Gordon. “Therapy with Saffron and the Goddess at Thera.” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, vol. 47, no. 2, 2004, pp. 199-226. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/pbm.2004.0026.

Winston, Kimberly. Bead One, Pray, Too : a Guide to Making and Using Prayer Beads. Morehouse Publishing, 2008.

Fist Conditioning: the Good, the Bad, and the Arthritic

February 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

In the wide world of martial arts, strikers often have differing views on how to toughen the hands and build their body to handle the impact of striking with a closed fist. Some of these methods are tried and true, while others will leave you with hands that can’t hold a spoon. After years of training in many arts and working to keep my hands safe, I have decided to make this list of methods to try and methods to stay far away from. Understand that I am not a doctor or a physical therapist. I am not a master of Iron Fist. I am someone who has practiced striking arts for many years. This are my personal views on the subject of hand conditioning. Talk to a medical professional before taking up any hand conditioning.

Works Best

Hitting the Heavy Bag

The body conditions best for an activity by performing that activity. So if you want to be good at swimming, swim. If you want to be good at striking, strike. There are of course secondary and tertiary exercises you can do to improve this. Yet the best thing to get your hand conditioned to striking is to hit with them. The heavy bag is perfect for this. It’s a soft surface that still has weight. This means you don’t risk cracking bone, but if your form is off on a punch, you will feel it in your wrist. You get live feedback and returning pressure. Hitting the bag (even gloved) causes microfractures to occur in the knuckles, mostly the ends of the metacarpals. Any striker worth their salt hits the heavy bag.

To hit the heavy bag for conditioning, start with gloves on. Get used to hitting the heavy bag at varying levels of power. Practice your speed, cadence, and footwork. Once you are thoroughly used to hitting the bag with gloves, just wear some hand wraps. Do the same exercises you have been practicing. After a while, try without your wraps, completely bare knuckle.

Do not hit as hard as you have been, especially not as hard as you can. Instead, work on form and speed. Seek to find what works well for you. When learning to hit the heavy bag bareknuckle, do so under professional supervision. One should also understand that even after learning how to hit the heavy bag bareknuckle, much of the bag time should be spent gloved. Heavy bag conditioning is a slow, methodical process. Be careful and practice good form.

I have found I can hit the bag with force and my wrists are fine. I’m typing this caption just a minute after taking this picture. No pain and suffering here.

Knuckle Pushups

Knuckle pushups are beautiful things. They don’t really condition by impact, they condition the supportive structures of the hands and arms. Pushups work the triceps, pecs, delts, serrati anterior, and your abs. Knuckle pushups do the same, but also work the muscles and tendons of the forearms to keep your wrists straight. This helps prepare you for hitting with a closed fist and is an essential tool in any striker’s workout plans.

Pullups

I know it seems counterintuitive, but pullups can help your punches. While pullups mostly work the antagonizing muscles of a punch, they also improve your forearms and overall grip strength. When punching with a closed fist, you want the punch to be loose at first and lock into a strong grip on impact. I would also like to say, if you’re not doing pullups, go do some. Pullups are so useful as an everyday exercise. I would dare say they are essential. If you don’t have the space for a pullup bar, you can always do table rows. These will help with grip strength and work your upper back. If you like outdoor sports, try rock climbing as well.

Works Well

Weight Lifting

Weight lifting conditions your hands the same way it conditions the rest of your body. You put strain on your muscles and tendons and because of this, they heal stronger. Proper weight lifting will greatly improve your grip strength. Plus, lifting can be a very useful part of any growth or fitness plan. The reason I put this in “works well” instead of “works best” is because of the equipment needed and the knowledge needed. I would recommend going through a strength training program with a certified trainer if you are new to weight lifting. You can often find such programs at your local gyms and YMCAs.

Hitting Sandbags

Sandbags serve the same purpose as a heavy bag. Some can hang on walls, some are single bags used for iron fist training. Most bags nowadays come empty so you can fill with what you’d like. The old progression often looks like sand, dry beans, pebbles, steel shot. All you really need is the sand or dry beans. Sandbags condition your hand the same ways a heavy bag does, through impact. If you have wall bags, you can practice punches, chops, palm strikes and even finger jabs (carefully). Unhung bags are more often used to practice the full range of open hand striking. Since wallbags and lone sandbags are backed up by something hard like a wall or table, you don’t strike as hard as you would on a heavy bag. Slow, methodical strikes are how should start training with sand bags. If you aren’t used to these, I would recommend finding a coach or sifu who can give you advice on use.

Sandbags allow one to practice a large range of striking.

Makiwara

Makiwara are striking posts used in karate, kenpo, and other such arts. The most common type is a single post of wood with a rectangular target at the top for striking. It can be made of rice straw, leather, rope, or sometimes duct tape and newspaper. Occasionally, you will also see makiwara with stone parts, but this is rare. Makiwara are an excellent resource for hand conditioning and striking training in general. I hesitate to put them in the “works best” category because they hold certain risks.  

The problem with makiwara is that one has a higher chance of damaging the knuckles or wrist. The point of makiwara is teaching the anatomy of a strike in karate. So you need to know how the makiwara will respond. This is why if you want to try makiwara, you should do so first under the supervision of a professional instructor. And I don’t mean some McDojo where you can blow through the belts. I mean someone who understands traditional fighting and conditioning methods. 

Sand Striking and Rice Digging

This one has a bit of a bad rep, but it does work. Sand digging and rice digging are great ways to build up your forearms and hands. These are great ways to help rehab wrists as well. It’s not the most bang for your buck in terms of strength, but helps with flexibility and tendon support. Striking into a bucket of sand or rice is also effective and allows you to help condition for strikes like eye jabs and panther fists. It can be a bit messy, so be sure to have a deep bucket and only fill it about halfway up.

Dangerous

Striking Steel and Stone

While there are traditional martial arts that engage in this, the risk is very high. Just because you see someone tapping their arms or shins on stone or steel, doesn’t mean you should strike it with your hand. I would also note that these practitioners only do so after years of conditioning on (relatively) softer materials. Even then most of the stone conditioning tools are show pieces and rarely see use. Don’t go around trying to punch rocks or smash your arms against concrete pillars. You will damage yourself. You will damage yourself more than is needed to build microfractures. You will regret it.

Iron Hand Training

Iron hand training is a large term that encompasses a variety of techniques. Essentially, the goal of such training methods is to toughen the skin and bones to withstand great forces and become better tools for destroying your opponent. The big issue with iron hand training is how varied the methods are. Some are simple and effective like striking sandbags and carrying weighted jars. That’s just impact training and weightlifting. More archaic methods of iron hand involve striking hot sand, punching large rocks and cooking one’s hands in an herbal soup. These latter methods will damage your hands and are just plain stupid.

One of the useful things that comes from iron hand training is dit da jow, but there are so many recipes and only a few really do the job. Plus, if you don’t have the time and money to make your own, it’s definitely not worth it. Most pre-made jows on the market are little more than slightly herbal rubbing alcohol. If you want to help your hands after conditioning, you’re better off icing them for a little bit. You can also throw on some menthol ointment or tiger balm, if you don’t have any cuts. Mentholated ointment (like VapoRub and Namman Muay) is menthol and eucalyptus based. Tiger balm is made from the same major herbs found in good jow.

Striking Wood Full Force

I’m not talking about breaking boards here. Board breaking can be a useful way to learn follow through with a punch. I’m talking about striking wooden poles, trees, and floors. It’s not helpful and if you’re new to striking, you have a large risk of spraining your wrist or even fracturing a carpal. Just don’t.

I hope this helps clear up some misconceptions for you. If y’all have any questions about any of the training methods here, let me know. I will be happy to go into greater detail on them.

Here’s one more tip: look at the old fighters. See who practices what kind of conditioning and see which ones can still write their name or pick up a cup. The ones who can move well, talk to them about conditioning.

Train smart, train hard, and never stop fighting.

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