Key #7: Realistic Drills

Key #7: Realistic Drills

In the context of self-defense and martial arts training, I have heard terminology such as kata, sparring, technique, shadow-boxing, routine, etc.  To me the application is the most important, as it won’t matter how great you are if you cannot deal with the dynamic encounter of a real fight. 

Drills are a wonderful way to hone skills and learn to apply the technical aspects of your chosen style in a way that provides a meter of your real world ability.  The more realistic those drills, the more realistic your ability.  Below you will find a couple suggestions regarding ways to make your training stick and benefit you if you ever are faced with a violent attacker.

First of all, let me encourage you to perform your drills with a partner.  The sooner you start to encounter real resistance in training, the better.  Throwing a punch or blocking against a real person is very different than doing forms in a mirror.  You need to know what it feels like to hit and move while engaged with a partner. 

If you practice with people who just go along with your technique, you will be disappointed with your inability to handle a real fight.  So, be careful but make sure you are learning to apply your skills in as realistic a way as possible. 

Here are a few aspects of training that can enhance your experience and deliver rapid results for people of all levels. 

Distance and speed:

You have no doubt seen this yourself.  Two students stand facing each other in mirror stances.  One initiates an “attack” that falls several inches short of hitting the target.  The defender has no need to move at all, because the strike wouldn’t touch him regardless. 

But the defender does move, he performs his prepared technique.  And guess what…?  He is successful.  The attack is defended, and he moves on to safety. 

This is a terrible situation for the person learning defense.  He thinks he dealing with the threat.   But in reality, he has not developed the ability to deal with a real strike.  Even when performed at high speed, this type of inaccurate training only diminishes a person’s innate defensive tendency.  He is deprograming a primal skill of self preservation.

Realistic Application:

Make sure that the partner throwing strikes continues to press his strike forward at the target until he either hits the defender or his strike is blocked/redirected.  This is effective even at slow speeds, as long as the resistance and range of motion is real.  It is better to get hit while training than to be laid flat on the street.  Don’t let your pride keep you from learning correctly.  Let your partner’s strikes get really close before you move, allowing contact if necessary to train your body how to deal with reality.

Anticipation and reaction:

Another problem with prepared techniques is that you have already decided what movement your body will perform.  This takes place apart from your body’s natural systems (nervous, muscular, circulation, etc.).  The result is that you may be able to perform counters only when an attacker follows the pattern you have prepared for.

I remember countless times watching people utterly frustrated that they cannot demonstrate their martial prowess to their friends and/or older brothers, who just don’t seem to throw strike the “right way.”

Realistic Application:

Learn to apply concepts of action, not rote techniques.  It’s more natural to allow your body to respond and then work your martial skills into those reactions.  If you can only fight when your brain gives advance notice to your muscles, then I’m sorry but you are going to lose.  A fight just has too many variables and dynamic pieces of information for you to aptly process everything you need to respond.  Better to learn how to use your reactions as a launch pad for defense.  Besides, spontaneous training is fun.  Try it.

Mindset and aggression:

Your mindset can alter your personality and posture.  This comes into play in defense because you cannot control the outside world.  Things may happen that you are not looking forward to.  If attacked, you will be faced with a level of violence and aggression that you may not have known.  Some people are uncomfortable thinking of themselves as potentially violent.  But in order to survive an attack, you may need to tap into a more aggressive side of yourself. 

Realistic Application:

It is important to understand how you might react to real violence.  In training, you can simulate anger from the attacker and put pressure on the defender in an effort to develop an insight into your own psyche.  The point is that only a fool would go out into the world (thinking they possess defensive skill) without any idea of what it feels like to experience a violent mindset (either from the perspective of attacker or defender). 

Continued response:

I have personally trained hundreds of students over the years, and I am still surprised at the timidity of the general population.  Why we as a society have decided that it is virtuous to be civil in the face of danger, I have no idea.  But I can tell you that most students come into training with a peaceful disposition. 

After blocking/redirecting a couple strikes, they commonly counter with one strike (usually a poorly delivered palm to the strongest part of their opponent), and turn around to relax in victory.  I quickly instruct them that they need to continue to fight until the attacker is unable to present a threat.  Sometimes a light bulb goes on and sometimes it doesn’t.  But after they see a demonstration of how to take strikes to the body, they realize they probably need to do more.  

Realistic Application:

As a rule of thumb, continue to counter until you have brought the attacker to the ground (and maybe stomped him a bit).  Otherwise, you may just anger an already violent person to increase the level of aggression and return even more dangerous.  Always continue your motion to go through the attacker.  Always leave them with some damage to detour them from continuing the fight.  In most fights, someone gets hurt.  Why should it by you?  Think about it.

At any rate, please consider ways to make your training count in the real world.  Apply the concepts of realistic drills and have fun while developing a very real ability to defend yourself and your loved-ones.

Stand!