Woof All:
On August 12-14, 2011 (Friday-Sunday) we will be holding the "Dog Brothers
Martial Arts Training Camp" here in Hermosa Beach (Seven miles south of the
Los Angeles LAX Airport). Hermosa Beach is a very agreeable place to be,
especially in August; as always, there will be plenty of socializing in the
evenings!
With this year's camp being five weeks before the Sept 18th, 2011 "Dog
Brothers Open Gathering of the Pack", the timing is perfect for the focus of
this year's camp, which will be , , , drum roll please , , , Real Contact
Stick Fighting (RCSFg). This camp is ideal for relative beginners looking
to raise their learning curve as well as for intermediate and experienced
fighters looking to put themselves to the test at Dog Brothers Gatherings.
For those fighting at the Gathering, this camp will help bring your game up
to a new level. For those who don't fight, training alongside and with
those who do will help you functionalize your skills more than you may think
possible.
While leaving ourselves free to go with the flow, the planned progression
is:
1) Conceptual Overview:
a) Our Theory of Seven Ranges and how it helps us to apply our skills
technically in the adrenal state. See my article of several years ago
posted in the "Ranges observed in the fights" thread at
http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=769.0 (Also see the "Snake
Range" article from ten years ago at the end of this newsletter);
b) The Triangle from the Third Dimension: Getting to the inner ranges
(medio, corto, clinch, and ground) scientifically, whether it be by
combinations, "attacking blocks", or "occupying strikes";
c) St. Foom: The art and science of maintaining the outer ranges and
preventing the close;
d) How RCSFg lays the foundation for "Kali Tudo"-- really applying
weaponry motions empty handed and in street situations (our "Die Less Often"
material) so that we have "Consistency across categories";
e) Footwork: Applied triangles and bilateralism;
2) Basic Krabi Krabong for DBMA: KK is the Thai military weaponry system
from which the combat ring sport of Muay Thai descends.
3) Dos Triques and Advanced Double Stick fighting: "Triques" is our
neologism for the initials of our subsystem that blends "Kali" and "Krabi
Krabong"-- KKK! For obvious reasons we want to avoid this!!! Thus, the bad
pun of Triques for "the three Ks". Dos Triques is the double stick aspect of
"Triques" and is where we install the triangular footwork matrix that
applies in all areas of DBMA.
4) Los Triques: Although traditional Filipino Martial Art theology posits
that kicking in a weapons fight is a really bad idea, our experience has
been that the KK approach to using of kicks and knees has a lot of merit. We
teach the integration of kicks with stick with triangular footwork in the
single stick portion of Triques.
5) The Science of Closing to Media/Corto/Clinch: In my opinion, one of the
fortes of DBMA is our ability to get to the inner ranges technically and
scientifically so that we arrive in a dominant manner in good balance with
our eyes open. This is where we
see Attacking Blocks, Closing Combinations, and Occupying Strikes.
6) The Salty Structure and The Bolo Game: Named after the legendary Salty
Dog, the Salty Game is the science of fighting from the off lead (weapon in
rear hand) The Bolo Game works very well from the Salty Structure.
7) Snaggletooth Variations
The Trident: Integrating the various games into the footwork matrix.
9) Applied Staff fighting
10) Applied Stick & Knife
11) Stick Clinch
12) Stick grappling
I am in a mood to really lay it down with this material and there is a very
good chance that the material from this camp will become a DBMA DVD
"Advanced Stick Fighting".
So, how much for this veritable cornucopia of stickfighting sagacity? As
always, we respect that value of your time and money with fair prices: The
cost is $100 per day, or $250 for all three days. 10% discount for DBMA
Association members, 15% discount for Law Enforcement, and 25% for US (and
NATO allies e.g. Canada) military.
The Adventure continues!
Guro Crafty
PS: For additional discussion of the Camp, please see
http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?topic=2200.0================
The following article is quite old, but perhaps it remains relevant
Snake Range,
by Guro Crafty (Copyright 2001 Dog Brothers Inc.)
As Juan Matus has pointed out, seeing what is not there as well as what is
powerful--in life as well as in stickfighting. I often see doubt or the “BS
alert” expression in people’s faces when they hear that Snake Range, the
first range of DBMA, is defined as “before contact is made”. To most people,
if no hitting is going on, then nothing of importance is going on. Yet the
idea of Snake Range is that what is done in the absence of hitting in order
to define the moment of impact (and its continuation) is one of the most
important parts of fighting.
So what are the elements of the Snake in DBMA?
First there is “the skill of moving your stick to protect your hand, hide
your intent, create your opening, and mask your initiation.”
Second, there is the analysis of your opponent’s psychological type.
Third, and closely related, there is the analysis of his structure which we
call “The Theory of Chambers”.
Fourth, there is a specific theory of footwork.
Fifth, there is using this range to AVOID contact, which includes both ST.
FOOM (an acronym for “stay the fornicate off of me”) and the specific
footwork theory for avoiding engagement. And sixth, there is the theory of
the skirmish (multiple versus one, and many versus many where numbers may or
may not be equal)
The first element we will leave for another day. For now we will note that
Top Dog’s distinctive circling of the stick we call “the clock” and that a
fighter seasoned in the Attacking Block Drills will be able to use a Upward
8 in a similar manner.
Lets turn to psychological types and games that one should recognize in
Snake Range. Here, in no particular order, are some examples:
a) "Mongo" (after the Alex Karras character in Mel Brooks's "Blazing
Saddles") Mongo looks to smash anything and every thing that comes at him or
is in front of him.
b) The Stalker: he lumbers after you, often with step and slide footwork.
c) The Evader: evades and looks to counter hit.
d) The Blocking Counter Hitter: he presses forward and looks to counter
hit after blocking your strike.
e) The Posturer: he doesn’t really want to fight. Typically Posturers
strut and posture just out of reach in the hopes you will overextend
yourself due to impatience.
f) The Salesman: uses the stick deceptively hoping to trick you into
exposing yourself.
g) Three Card Monte: a variation of the salesman done with double stick.
It mixes the chambers of each stick (e.g. holds one high and one low) and
tries to hit you with the one at which you’re not looking.
h) The Speed Merchant: not much power, but he scores and moves.
i) The Troglodyte: doesn’t care much if you hit him, he’s going to hit
you.
j) The Linebacker: comes after you like a linebacker blitzing a
quarterback. He wants to crash and take it to the ground.
There’s more of course and these types can be combined. For example, a Mongo
can be a Troglodyte Stalker.
The Theory of Chambers is the analysis of the physical structure of the man
in front of you. From where does he throw? Some examples:
a) From above the forehand shoulder is “the Caveman”.
b) Does he finish this swing with his elbow in centerline? Then he is
“elbow fulcrum”.
c) A “backhander” prefers to throw from the backhand side.
d) A “slapper” has bad form and tends to swing horizontally.
e) “Off-lead” is with the weapon in the rear hand.
f) Low Chamber is a low forehand position. This sometimes is in an
off-lead.
g) Siniwali Caveman is with the caveman strike in the rear, and the front
stick is a jabbing/shielding position (a.k.a. “paw and pow”).
h) Double Caveman is with each stick above its respective shoulder.
i) False lead is left shoulder and right foot forward, right stick in
right hand or vice versa.
These are but some examples. For each of these structures you want to know
what are the strengths and weaknesses and have solutions.
In addition to the snakey stick, there is also “the snaky foot”, which of
course is an oxymoron because snakes don’t have feet?but never mind that.
There is a specific theory of footwork for this distance which we will leave
for another day.
And in the street you may not want to engage and may want to keep the
jackal(s) away. ST. FOOM is moving your feet and swinging your stick so as
to create a bubble around yourself into which no one wants to step.
And the Skirmish is all the skills you need for multiple situations. This
is more tactics and strategy than particular technique. Technical competence
is already assumed, thus it is usually covered later in the training. If you
can’t fight one, you may not be ready to think about fighting more than one.
All of these are elements of Snake Range in Dog Brothers Martial Arts.
Woof,
Guro Crafty
