On working out and worshiping boats.....

            Today is an exercise day. This means that when I managed to drag myself out of bed I waved the Indian clubs around for thirty reps. I then performed thirty wall push-ups in a row. Then it was thirty dumbbell flies while lying on the floor, thirty dumbbell presses and then thirty curls. Depending on how the day goes, I may perform this routine again when I get home this evening.

            It occurred to me that there was an interesting analogy here. I don’t work out because I enjoy it. I don’t work out because I want to get particularly good at curling weights. There will be no convention where an adoring crowd surrounds me and cries “Wow, look at him curl!”

            I exercise because I want to be stronger. Better muscle tone seems to eliminate some of the random aches and pains I used to get. I look better if I work out, I walk straighter with better muscle tone and project more confidence. Working out helps bring down the beer gut. I am still carrying a little layer of subcutaneous adipose –I will never had a six pack!- but beneath that thin layer of fat is now a very firm wall of abdominal muscle. My stunningly beautiful girlfriend loves the leaner meaner look and she is not the only member of the opposite sex to approve.

            Thinking about this reminded me of one of my favourite quotes from Bruce Lee:- “A boat is just to take you across a river. Once you are across you leave the boat and proceed on your journey. You do not stay and worship the boat.”

            What Lee meant was that martial art styles as you first encounter them are just a means to an end. They are paths to a destination. These paths all go to the same destination if you follow them to the end. To claim that one path is “right” and all others are “wrong” is foolish and immature. Katas, Forms, Stances, Postures and other exercises are just that, exercises to teach you skills or ideas you will need at that time or will need to move on and advance.

            I use the weights because they will produce a certain result. Whether you like working out or not is not the issue, it is whether you want the reward. Martial arts are not self-defence, they are one of the tools you can use to get to a state where you can more effectively protect yourself.

Polearms -Butting in

            Watching this video of medieval fighting techniques and something interesting struck me.

 
           In the polearm combats, notice how often the butt end of the weapon is advanced towards the enemy. Recently I was rereading one of the Black Medicine books and in that text the author recommends if defending yourself with an object such as a broom or long handled shovel to keep the head to the rear. I looked at some contemporary illustrations of combats with pole arms and there were numerous incidences of fighters having the butt towards the enemy. Many of these seemed to occur during what might be interpreted as defensive actions. If you consider a rifle when it is used for close combat, with or without the bayonet the butt is to the rear. However, the rifle butt is the primary striking element of the weapon so functionally the rifle butt serves the same role as a poleaxe head.

            If we think about this, defending with the butt end of a pole arm makes quite a bit of sense. The butt end is lighter and therefore more mobile, quicker and more responsive. The heads of polearms sometimes bind together (as can be seen in the video clip), which may not be desirable.  Deflecting the head with the butt reduces this. For example one could parry with the butt, riposte with a strike from the butt end and then follow-up with a strike from the head of your weapon.

            Following this line of thought, I recalled something I had briefly scanned through recently. In a print out of a Di Grassi manual that used to be on line was the following passage:-

http://web.archive.org/web/20081230235358/http://www.musketeer.org/manuals/diGrassi/digrass3.htm

“But because these weapons for the most part  are exercised and used to enter through diverse Pikes and  other weapons, and to break and disorder the battle array,  to which end, and purpose, if it be used, then that manner of  managing and handling is very convenient which is much  practiced now a days, and thus it is. The Partisan, Halberd, and Bill (but not the Javelin, being in this case nothing   effectual because it has small force in the edge) must be  born in the middle of the staff, with the heel thereof before,   and very low, and the point near a man’s head. And with the   said heel, or half staff underneath, from the hand   downwards, he must ward and beat off the points and thrusts of the Pikes and other weapons, and having made  way, must enter with the increase of a pace of the hindfoot,  and in the same instant, let fall his weapon as forcibly as he   may, and strike with the edge athwart the Pikes. This kind  of blow is so strong (being delivered as it ought, considering   it comes from above downwards, and the weapon of itself is very heavy) that it will cut asunder not only Pikes, but also  any other forcible impediment.”

In other words hold your polearm near the middle, with the head back and defend with the lower part of the shaft until it is time to use the head. This position combines elements of both the high guard and the hanging guard. The rifle postion with the butt back and the muzzle raised combines the middle guard and the tail guard. Middle guard and Hanging guard are good defensive guards, while High and Tail guard cock the weapon ready for a wide range of counterstrikes.

This blog post confirms the practice and suggests that on the shorter models of pole arm the fighter gripped closer to the head to preserve enough shaft to defend with.

This explains why many pole arms have always appeared too long or too heavy to me. In the movies halberds etc are always shown advancing point first, like overweight bayonets. Their heads looked too heavy to provide a quick defence  and they had little room to generate power for chopping. In fact they were supposed to the held in the middle, head back.

         If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
The Books

Kubotan and Kongo Locks

Stuck in my files is an article on the kongo that I never seem to have time to finish, so today I thought I would post part of it.

99% of the time the only techniques you will need for using the kongo are the strikes. However, the reader is doubtless curious about “fancy stuff” such as locks so I’ll include some discussion of these in today’s blog, with the caution that it is better to keep things simple but effective in a real fight. Some of these techniques are “pain compliance” techniques so their effectiveness will vary between individuals and situations.

            Most of the locks described here are applied against the bones of the forearm. The forearm has two long bones, the one on the upper/thumb side being the radius and the lower bone the ulna. Locks should be applied so that the pressure is applied against either the ulna or the radius, depending on situation. Force applied against a single bone rather than distributed will be more effective. Force is applied to these bones at the ends where they joint the hand. Squeeze around this area with your fingers and you will soon locate where the more sensitive areas lie.

 

            In the following description my main intent is to convey the mechanical principles of how these locks work. For that reason I’ve generally described the positioning of the kongo first. In practice it is more likely that the opponent’s arm would first be gripped by the non-weapon hand and the weapon then brought into position.

            To avoid such unwieldy terms as “strong side thumb” or “weak side fingers” the following descriptions will all assume that the kongo is being used in the right hand.

The Pincer.

            Hold your kongo/ kubotan so several inches project from the top of the forefinger side of your hand. You may have to shift your grip slightly from that normally used for striking. At the same time stick out your thumb so kongo and thumb form a sort of “V”. We will call this configuration “the Pincer” and use it as the basis for learning the following locks.

            The Pincer itself is a pretty good technique. Grasp the foe’s thumb between your thumb and the kongo and apply pressure, using the weapon as a fulcrum. This can be performed against other fingers too. Or, use your pincer to take hold of the subject’s ear or other fleshy body part.

There are several other variations of the pincer-based locks. It is possible to hold the wrist, fingers or thumb in the pincer and use the left hand to assist in some other way such as manipulating the foe’s hand or thumb.

J locks.

            Put your right hand in Pincer form and slip your right thumb under the foe’s wrist so the kongo passes over the top. Slip the thumb of your left hand over the free end of the kongo and pass your left fingers under your opponent’s wrist. This is the basic mechanism of the lock but in practice it is more likely that you would first grip the foe’s wrist with your left hand and then bring the kongo into position.
            This technique can also be applied against the thumb. The opponent’s thumb is clamped between right thumb and kongo and your left hand grasps his wrist and hooks your left thumb over the free end of the kongo.
            A related technique against the wrist is performed in the same way but does not place the right thumb under the wrist. The kongo is laid across the bone and the free end taken by the left thumb. Disadvantage of this variation is that the kongo must not be allowed to slip around the wrist. The advantage is it can be applied in situations where the thumb could not be easily slipped under the wrist. I call this family of locks the “J locks” since the kubotan forms the crossbar of the J while the fingers of the other hand form the curved section around the wrist.

            Depending on the relative orientation of the arm these locks can also be applied against the ulna.

Delta Locks.

            Instead of taking the free end of the kongo with the left thumb it is also possibly to wrap the left fingers around it and slip the left thumb around the wrist. You therefore have eight fingers pulling against the kongo and two thumbs pushing into the wrist. Takayuki Kubota (inventor of the kubotan) stresses that when using this technique the web of the thumbs should form a tight “gasket seal” against the suspect’s arm. The advantage of this technique is that it can it can be applied to either surface of the arm.
            As well as placing the kubotan across the upper side of the wrist and the thumbs underneath you can place the kubotan under the wrist and push down on the upper surface with your thumbs. I think of this lock as the “Delta lock” since the two hands and the kubotan form a triangle

Eda Koppō.

            The Eda koppō techniques are taken from Matsaaki Hatsumi’s “Stick Fighting” (p56) and he defines the term as “Attacking the bones with a stick”. Many of the techniques are variations of those already described but one is worth dealing with separately.

            Slip your fingers through the loop of the kongo as though you were going to strike with it and open your hand. Place this hand on your foe’s forearm near the wrist so that the kongo either crosses the ulna or the radius. The fingers encircle the wrist and the kongo is sandwiched between your palm and the foe’s arm, pressing onto the bone. The other hand can be used to assist. How effective this will be will depend on several factors, including the diameter and shape of your kongo, strength of your grip and the pain sensitivity of your foe. For this reason my personal inclination would be to use this technique on the ulna if there is a choice, which seems to be the more sensitive of the two bones. The advantage of this technique is that it can be applied with your kongo in the normal striking position and does not need your grip to be shifted so can be rapidly applied against a target of opportunity.

            Suppose you are using a kongo without a finger loop or an object as improvised weapon? Brace it by placing your little finger and thumb under the object and your other three fingers on top. You can also brace it between your thumb and second finger with the fore finger on top. This is a good technique for a longer, thinner object such as a pencil.

            A final trick. Place your kubotan, kongo or pencil between any of the subject’s fingers, then squeeze the fingers together. You probably have a pen or pencil nearby as you are reading this – try it out on yourself.

         If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
The Books

Tanks, Cybernaughts, Daleks and Diving suits in the Middle Ages

              Tanks, Cybernaughts, Daleks and Diving suits in the Middle Ages!