Woof All:
Summertime means it is time for the Annual DBMA Summer Camp. The last few Camps have been held on the east coast (Guro Guard Dog Ryan Gruhn’s school in Central PA, Sean O’Dowd’s Vigilance Combatives in Aberdeen, NC) so this year we return to the west coast — specifically Martin Wheeler and Rigan Machado’s school in Beverly Hills/Los Angeles. Not only does it seem fair to have a balance between East and West Coasts for the Camp, but with airfares being what they are and the numbers of DBMA people in the LA area being what they are this seems to make the most sense.
As I see it, a Camp is where we go to return home afterwards invigorated with fresh ideas and deepened understandings. This can be from training with the best of the best in Dog Brothers Real Contact Stick Fighting (Top Dog, Lonely Dog, Dogzilla) fight tested in combat zones “Table Manners” (Sean O’Dowd) or the distinctive South African Piper knife system (Lloyd De Jongh).
This year we will be delving into Knife and Anti-Knife.
One of the guiding principles of DBMA is “Primal probabilities first.” Thus, in the first series for DB Real Contact Stick Fighting we began with four power strokes and the ability to hit hard, fast, and often– so that you would always be a fighter to be reckoned with.
1: ANTI-KNIFE: The Mad Slasher, the Prison Sewing Machine, and the Ice Pick Sewing Machine (a.k.a. the Jihadi):
Thus, in DBMA In anti-knife we began with the Dog Catcher against the primal ferocity of the Prison Sewing Machine– someone coming to pump us with repeated forehand thrusts from hammer grip. This year we will be adding two more primal modalities to solve: “the Mad Slasher” (also done with hammer grip) and “the Jihadi” (repeated caveman strikes from ice pick grip).
Among the responses taught will be TPI (third party intervenor) that I showed the Royal Bodyguard of King Abdullah of Jordan– some simple practical things to do should you inclined to jump in against an attack upon someone else.
2: EVERY-DAY CARRY KNIFE:
Another Guiding Principle of DBMA is always to ask first “What is the problem being solved?”
With regard to knife the failure to ask and answer this question typically leads to some variation of “knife dueling”. This can be done in martial arts & crafts modalities or “sport knife dueling”. SKD (see e.g. knife fights at “Dog Brothers Gatherings of the Pack”) wherein– agility, movement, coordination, timing, footwork, range control, etc are all worked in the adrenal state– this is very good!
That said, our sense of things is that is less likely to be the way you might need you use your EDC knife– and with that in mind our “Chupacabra” system looks to solve something quite different from a knife duel. It is a system for EDC sized knife against:
A) “Malevolent Mongo”: going frontally at someone bigger, younger, stronger, fitter, meaner, and crazier than us. (Some of you know my story of the 280 lb. Samoan ex-con bill collector who thought I might be the debtor in question);
B) “Cranky Crowd of Scurrilous Scum”: A CCSS is very common in mob/riot type situations;
C) “Pack of Jackals”: A POJ is a team operating with coordinated hostile intent.
Solving these requires both frontal assault capability (and knife or no knife, going at a Malevolent Mongo can be a very scary thing!) and “porcupine capabilities”.
Both of these require footwork!
Two Camps ago I introduced “the Chupa Blitz”– what we do when we have to sprint at Malevolent Mongo, and some ideas as to what to do upon arrival– which were based upon our thrust-slash training based around an hour-glass framework. This year I will be introducing techniques and tactics for dealing with a CCSS and a POJ.
Time allowing, we may also go into and DBMA’s “Z Pattern”. Our Z Pattern owes much to the Z pattern I learned from Lloyd, but has substantial modifications to meet our distinct purposes.
Which brings me to our Guest Instructor at this year’s Camp: Martin Wheeler of Systema.
Even after training with him several years in a small class setting, I am still hard pressed to describe what he does, so rather than try I will let these videos of him in action speak for themselves.
Knowing the doubt found in some internet chatter about Systema, I begin with him interacting with a NFL linebacker from the Chicago Bears. Such a man will not be BS’d about violent interaction!
Martin flowing- sombrada like training:
Empty Hand (begin at 00:58)
Staff
Anti-Multiple Knife
Martin on The Discovery Channel:
Rigan Machado:
Guro Dan Inosanto:
Marc Denny
It is not likely that anyone looking at my movement would say that I am doing Systema. It is not a common thing to improve in one’s late 60s– but somehow my training with Martin has opened portals for me.
Come to the Camp and experience him for yourself. He will be focusing on the aggressive use of the knife.
Walking as Warriors for All Our Days!
Punong Guro Crafty Dog/Marc
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